Karate is for Self-Defense
Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate, believed that one should be “inwardly humble and outwardly gentle.”[1] Only with a proper attitude (kokoro) and open mind can one truly absorb all that encompasses learning karate. While the practitioner – or karateka (空手家) – is taught punches, kicks, defensive blocks, they are also required to build character by learning tenants of good virtue. In this sense, we at Plus One Defense systems in fact are teaching karatedō. The suffix, –dō, is like saying, “the way of ________;” so, “the way of karate” in this case. We train and teach Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate to help the individual understand the proper techniques, as well as the appropriate time in self-defense when they may be applied.