What Karate Means To Me

My karate journey began when I was just 8 years of age, with a best mate of mine from primary school. I started with Gojukensha back in 1995. I really enjoyed kata and going to class mingling with others and learning. I was with the club for approximately 3 years, which I gained my 1st kyu and then left to play other sports.

In 2007, I found my old karate club and wanted to achieve my dan grading. I would attend as many classes as I could, up to 3 to 4 times a week. I loved it and had that drive to learn. I spent the next few years picking my instructors brain and assisted with classes to learn and teach others.

It was then after 3 and a half years on I wanted to explore other martial arts, to see what other arts had to offer. I did this for some time then work commitments and life took over, but here I am back at doing karate once again with Shushin Kai.

I now ask myself writing this essay what does karate mean to me and why have I kept going back to karate all these years on and off. Karate has taught me lots of life skills throughout my life and it’s the simplest things when I look back. It has taught me to respect others, be resilient, have discipline and be kind to others just like we do in in every class that we attend.

Whether in the dojo or at work, I have applied the things I have learnt in karate such as interacting with new people, being patient with other and assisting people with problems. Karate has most especially helped within my current role having to deal with setbacks on certain work tasks whilst remaining calm and disciplined in what can very tense and difficult situations.

Karate has enriched my life and others around me. I feel confident in protecting myself my loved ones and the team I work with, but also being able to help others to protect themselves giving and them confidence.

That confidence over time has allowed me to be more self-aware as a person and then being able to help others not just in the dojo but life itself. I believe that every time I attend a class I take away a little something that makes me be a wiser person and do my best to be a better person in my everyday life.

I find that that I also need to be confident and aware in the dojo to show the juniors to be confident and defeat setbacks by being a role model to them, to improve themselves as a person as they grow into an adult life. Those words that our sensei or shihan tells us in class about everyday life you take that on board and apply it into your karate and life.

The future for me in karate I cannot possibly know, but I will continue to study the complexities of karate as it means a lot to me. As I have progressed and finally achieved my Dan grading once again, means that gates of exploring have re-opened as it means time to explore everything we learn in-depth.

I think I have possibly found my niche karate school, I do intend to pick the brains of my instructors, learn more of our schools masters and hopefully progress and evolve in my karate. I hope that in the future I can learn with other black belts in the school and teach others what I have learnt through my years and watch their progress on their black belt journeys.

Jordan Saykarosky began training at Shushin Kai karatedo on 10th July, 2018, at age 33 years. He was graded to Shodan)on 16th December 2021, at age 36 years.