Karate as an Adult? OH YEAH!

Have you ever wanted to take karate as a child? Did your parents ever tell you that the money for karate lessons was not available, or that time was not available? Well now that we're adults, the time is now!

I have been taking karate (shorin-ryu style) and muay Thai kickboxing for over two years and it has been great! I have always battled my weight and ever since I was 20 I was typically 40-50 pounds overweight. Well two of my daughters were invited to a karate birthday party and they loved it. So we decided to let my two daughters sign up for a free three month trial offer. For three months I sat in the bleachers with my other daughter watching kids and adults have fun training in karate. They were having fun and getting in shape, while I was once again on the sidelines, watching and getting fatter.

So I decided that my whole family was going to sign up for karate. Where we signed up they have a family plan. Most karate dojos have a family plan.

We attend karate at least twice a week. A typical karate lesson starts with 10 minutes of cardio, followed by 5 minutes of stretching. Then we do about 15 minutes of punching and kicking. After that we do about 15 minutes of kata (forms) or self-defense. Then finally its pushups, sit ups, and other strength training. Sometimes we do sparring, knife defense or gun defense tactics. It is never boring.

Karate has changed our lives. It is so different than other sports in that it is year round. There are no off-seasons. We can do it as a family. Also you get out of karate, is equal to what you put in. the harder you train, the better you get. It motivates me to exercise every day so I can do better in the dojo. By the way I didn't mention that I'm 60 pounds lighter since starting karate.

Perhaps my biggest motivate are my friends at karate. Many of the adults are in their 50s and training hard. They do somersaults and flips. I have a friend that is in his 60, a 5^th degree black belt and to watch him flip around is an extreme motivator.

Get out and do it! If you are a parent do something with your kids they will appreciate and be inspired by. When you children are 30, do you want them to remember dad who was on the couch with a beer, or dad who kicked butt and trained hard with them at karate?