True Stories
Below are a few examples of how karate can change your life ...
Billy and the Bullies
Billy was being badly bullied at school and was very badly depressed.
His mother contacted the club, explained what was happening at school and how it changed their son into a "scared, frightened, and lost, little boy".
She did not know where to turn. Within the club we take this very seriously and said we would like to help him.
We made time to discuss the issues that Billy was having at school with him on a one to one basis. At this point he was very quiet and withdrawn.
The instructor who was helping Billy noticed that he liked reading and (when he spoke) he was articulate a very good conversationalist. The instructor set Billy the task of researching some of the basic history of Wado Ryu Karate (the martial arts are just not about physical techniques). We gave Billy some set goals to achieve.
Over the next few weeks Billy become very knowledgeable about the history of Karate, and not just the Wado Ryu style. He then asked to join the main group and started learning the physical aspects of karate.
In the lessons the instructor is always asking questions and encouraging the students to think and understand what they are doing, and why they are doing it. Billy’s hand went up every time a question was asked as he had done all the background study already.
Billy changed over the weeks and you could see the sparkle coming back into his eyes.
Billy is now a normal, confident lad and a valued member of the club.
If you believe in yourself you can achieve anything you want.
Nothing is going to stop Billy now.
His mother contacted the club, explained what was happening at school and how it changed their son into a "scared, frightened, and lost, little boy".
She did not know where to turn. Within the club we take this very seriously and said we would like to help him.
We made time to discuss the issues that Billy was having at school with him on a one to one basis. At this point he was very quiet and withdrawn.
The instructor who was helping Billy noticed that he liked reading and (when he spoke) he was articulate a very good conversationalist. The instructor set Billy the task of researching some of the basic history of Wado Ryu Karate (the martial arts are just not about physical techniques). We gave Billy some set goals to achieve.
Over the next few weeks Billy become very knowledgeable about the history of Karate, and not just the Wado Ryu style. He then asked to join the main group and started learning the physical aspects of karate.
In the lessons the instructor is always asking questions and encouraging the students to think and understand what they are doing, and why they are doing it. Billy’s hand went up every time a question was asked as he had done all the background study already.
Billy changed over the weeks and you could see the sparkle coming back into his eyes.
Billy is now a normal, confident lad and a valued member of the club.
If you believe in yourself you can achieve anything you want.
Nothing is going to stop Billy now.
Hypo-Extensive Joints
David had always wanted to do well at sports but had always found it very difficult as he had hypo-extensive joints.
Hypo-extension is where a joint reaches full travel before achieving "straight". For example, the knee comes to a locked position while it still appears bent, making balance and co-ordination very difficult. Generally, the only option is surgery which is not always successful.
Hypo-extension can be very painful and draining, as the person has to use twice as much energy as a the "normal" person to achieve the same result.
When David joined the club he had low self confidence, as was very self-conscious of his co-ordination and balance problems.
He was placed on a programme to develop his core strength to help with his balance. These were simple but effective exercises.
Also, in the class he practices basic movements at a slower speed. This gave David the time to develop correct movement, the building blocks required by all martial artists. You are only as strong as your foundation techniques.
Over the weeks he progressed steadily, and his determination to get it right was obvious to all. Determination, precision and the pursuit of technical excellence are valuable in all walks of life, not just the martial arts.
Love it or loathe it, you only ever get one body during your lifetime. David's karate practise helped him find ways to compensate for his physical limitations and to develop his strengths to the extent that he can now do things he once thought would be impossible.
After six months of training, David took his first belt examination and his face said it all when he passed. His first belt will not be his last.
Hypo-extension is where a joint reaches full travel before achieving "straight". For example, the knee comes to a locked position while it still appears bent, making balance and co-ordination very difficult. Generally, the only option is surgery which is not always successful.
Hypo-extension can be very painful and draining, as the person has to use twice as much energy as a the "normal" person to achieve the same result.
When David joined the club he had low self confidence, as was very self-conscious of his co-ordination and balance problems.
He was placed on a programme to develop his core strength to help with his balance. These were simple but effective exercises.
Also, in the class he practices basic movements at a slower speed. This gave David the time to develop correct movement, the building blocks required by all martial artists. You are only as strong as your foundation techniques.
Over the weeks he progressed steadily, and his determination to get it right was obvious to all. Determination, precision and the pursuit of technical excellence are valuable in all walks of life, not just the martial arts.
Love it or loathe it, you only ever get one body during your lifetime. David's karate practise helped him find ways to compensate for his physical limitations and to develop his strengths to the extent that he can now do things he once thought would be impossible.
After six months of training, David took his first belt examination and his face said it all when he passed. His first belt will not be his last.
Fighting before you can walk
I have been training in martial arts since I was 16 years old, despite having a problem with my knees that caused my kneecaps to dislocate. Karate was what I had always wanted to do so I decided not to let this physical problem prevent me from training.
I joined a local club and managed to train for five years in freestyle karate.
I had reached the grade of brown belt when they decided to do my first knee operation. This operation was small but unfortunately didn’t fix my knee. I was advised to build up the muscles surrounding my knee so I thought "brilliant, another excuse to train more"!
After the recovery time and a change of circumstances in my personal life I looked for a karate club that would accept the problems that I had with my knee and allow me to train with them. A year later I joined the Essex Wado Ryu Karate club.
Traditional Wado Ryu was slightly different to freestyle karate and with my year out I was very out of practise. I trained hard for a year learning the new techniques and getting my fitness back, then, following an assessment, I earned the grade of purple belt and a year later I passed my brown belt grade.
It was at this point I started to have serious knee problems again. My knee had started to lock bent and my kicks were becoming more and more wonky. I was struggling with most warm ups and could no longer hold a stance for longer than five minutes at a time.
EWRK were very supportive and understood my difficulties. They allowed me to adapt moves so that I could participate and appreciated that I couldn’t always train for a full lesson. However, for me this was really frustrating. I felt that I was slipping behind the other students in the class and I knew that I would never be able to grade again unless I did something about my knee.
It was one year since I passed my brown belt and whilst the other students in the club were grading again I went under the knife to have a second operation on my knee and so began the biggest physical and emotional rollercoaster of my life!
After this operation I was on crutches and off of work for three months. I couldn’t walk or drive, and being on crutches meant I basically lost the use of my hands too. I was now 25 and had lost my independence, self confidence and self esteem.
However I was determined that I wanted to carry on training and I set myself a goal to grade for my 2nd kyu brown belt. I knew I couldn’t physically train but I went to every single karate lesson anyway and sat and watched. Emotionally that was hard because I wanted to join in so badly, but it helped to keep me focused and I was learning by watching the other students and listening to the Japanese terminology, etc. I started incorporating karate into my physiotherapy exercises, straightening and bending my knee in slow motion to perform a front kick and making sure that I kept stretching so that I didn’t lose my flexibility.
After three months it became apparent that the operation had failed and had actually made my knee worse! My kneecap was sliding about with every movement, leaving me very unstable and in a lot of pain. I set about looking for a surgeon who could repair my knee and decided that this wouldn’t stop me training.
Wearing a knee brace that had bits of metal to hold my kneecap in place I went back to karate. Yes, I was "pants". My balance had gone, I couldn’t hold a stance and the pain was almost unbearable, but it made me happy because I didn’t have to sit on the bench - I could join in again!
EWRK were really supportive and gave me lots of encouragement and understanding. Sensei Alistair helped me to concentrate on the theory behind karate and allowed me to do some teaching. This was very satisfying. Although I couldn’t do the moves correctly I knew how they should be done and was able to help others.
Deep down I was feeling very low. I was being told by doctors that I would never get better and that I should register as disabled. I felt like giving everything up,. What was the point in training if I could never get better and perfect the techniques? However, I remembered my goal of grading for my 2nd kyu. I had never given up before and I wasn’t going to let my knee stop me from getting there. I kept fighting to find someone to fix me and kept training to keep me focused.
Finally eight months later the summer after the bad operation I found a surgeon, who said he could fix me He operated the following month and once again I was back on the crutches.
I set about learning to walk again for the second time in one year and of course started practising my kicks in slow motion. By the time I could walk I had already perfected my front kick in slow motion at body height! This time was different, my knee was fixed it was straight and getting stronger. Back on the bench at karate for just 6 weeks and then I started training again with no brace and less pain!
My knee now worked in a totally different way which meant I basically had to learn all my stances and kicks again. Imagine being a brown belt that can’t do a roundhouse kick! That was me for a few months! Again I received a lot of support from the club and my fears of looking stupid began to vanish.
Slowly I started to improve as did my self esteem and self confidence Gradually I got back to doing kicks to the head, I could perform all the stances, and could practise my katas and sparring.
Of course I still had a long way to go but now I could try to perfect the techniques rather than having to adapt them.
I progressed to training three times a week in the club and every night at home as I began to train for my grading.
On April 5th 2009 I finally reached the goal I set myself two years previously. I took my 2nd kyu brown belt grading and I got a first class pass!!!
Nine months ago I couldn’t walk but focusing on karate gave me the strength and determination to get through it. I am now training for my 1st kyu brown belt and will never give up fighting.
I joined a local club and managed to train for five years in freestyle karate.
I had reached the grade of brown belt when they decided to do my first knee operation. This operation was small but unfortunately didn’t fix my knee. I was advised to build up the muscles surrounding my knee so I thought "brilliant, another excuse to train more"!
After the recovery time and a change of circumstances in my personal life I looked for a karate club that would accept the problems that I had with my knee and allow me to train with them. A year later I joined the Essex Wado Ryu Karate club.
Traditional Wado Ryu was slightly different to freestyle karate and with my year out I was very out of practise. I trained hard for a year learning the new techniques and getting my fitness back, then, following an assessment, I earned the grade of purple belt and a year later I passed my brown belt grade.
It was at this point I started to have serious knee problems again. My knee had started to lock bent and my kicks were becoming more and more wonky. I was struggling with most warm ups and could no longer hold a stance for longer than five minutes at a time.
EWRK were very supportive and understood my difficulties. They allowed me to adapt moves so that I could participate and appreciated that I couldn’t always train for a full lesson. However, for me this was really frustrating. I felt that I was slipping behind the other students in the class and I knew that I would never be able to grade again unless I did something about my knee.
It was one year since I passed my brown belt and whilst the other students in the club were grading again I went under the knife to have a second operation on my knee and so began the biggest physical and emotional rollercoaster of my life!
After this operation I was on crutches and off of work for three months. I couldn’t walk or drive, and being on crutches meant I basically lost the use of my hands too. I was now 25 and had lost my independence, self confidence and self esteem.
However I was determined that I wanted to carry on training and I set myself a goal to grade for my 2nd kyu brown belt. I knew I couldn’t physically train but I went to every single karate lesson anyway and sat and watched. Emotionally that was hard because I wanted to join in so badly, but it helped to keep me focused and I was learning by watching the other students and listening to the Japanese terminology, etc. I started incorporating karate into my physiotherapy exercises, straightening and bending my knee in slow motion to perform a front kick and making sure that I kept stretching so that I didn’t lose my flexibility.
After three months it became apparent that the operation had failed and had actually made my knee worse! My kneecap was sliding about with every movement, leaving me very unstable and in a lot of pain. I set about looking for a surgeon who could repair my knee and decided that this wouldn’t stop me training.
Wearing a knee brace that had bits of metal to hold my kneecap in place I went back to karate. Yes, I was "pants". My balance had gone, I couldn’t hold a stance and the pain was almost unbearable, but it made me happy because I didn’t have to sit on the bench - I could join in again!
EWRK were really supportive and gave me lots of encouragement and understanding. Sensei Alistair helped me to concentrate on the theory behind karate and allowed me to do some teaching. This was very satisfying. Although I couldn’t do the moves correctly I knew how they should be done and was able to help others.
Deep down I was feeling very low. I was being told by doctors that I would never get better and that I should register as disabled. I felt like giving everything up,. What was the point in training if I could never get better and perfect the techniques? However, I remembered my goal of grading for my 2nd kyu. I had never given up before and I wasn’t going to let my knee stop me from getting there. I kept fighting to find someone to fix me and kept training to keep me focused.
Finally eight months later the summer after the bad operation I found a surgeon, who said he could fix me He operated the following month and once again I was back on the crutches.
I set about learning to walk again for the second time in one year and of course started practising my kicks in slow motion. By the time I could walk I had already perfected my front kick in slow motion at body height! This time was different, my knee was fixed it was straight and getting stronger. Back on the bench at karate for just 6 weeks and then I started training again with no brace and less pain!
My knee now worked in a totally different way which meant I basically had to learn all my stances and kicks again. Imagine being a brown belt that can’t do a roundhouse kick! That was me for a few months! Again I received a lot of support from the club and my fears of looking stupid began to vanish.
Slowly I started to improve as did my self esteem and self confidence Gradually I got back to doing kicks to the head, I could perform all the stances, and could practise my katas and sparring.
Of course I still had a long way to go but now I could try to perfect the techniques rather than having to adapt them.
I progressed to training three times a week in the club and every night at home as I began to train for my grading.
On April 5th 2009 I finally reached the goal I set myself two years previously. I took my 2nd kyu brown belt grading and I got a first class pass!!!
Nine months ago I couldn’t walk but focusing on karate gave me the strength and determination to get through it. I am now training for my 1st kyu brown belt and will never give up fighting.
