The Bilkent Physical Education and Sports Center is offering karate classes for all who are interested in learning the skills of this Japanese martial art. The classes take place on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.
For those who think they might enjoy karate but don’t know much about it, the Sports Center has provided some background information:
Karate is a martial art whose physical aspects seek the development of defensive and counterattacking body movements. Although karate is less than 200 years old, it has roots that date back thousands of years.
The themes of traditional karate training are fighting and self-defense; however, its mental and moral aspects target the overall improvement of the individual. The word karate means “empty hand.” Adding the suffix “-do,” meaning “the way/path,” implies that karate is a total way of life going well beyond self-defense applications.
Today there are four main styles of karate in Japan. The Bilkent karate classes teach the Shito-ryu style, which was established in 1931. Shito-ryu combines aspects of both hard and soft, internal and external martial arts, such as physical strength and powerful stances.