Excuse me for quoting Twilight but remember in the books when Bella describes Alice’s fighting style as dance like? When I walked into the International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-do Federation (IOGKF) Karate room in Tuggeranong, and saw everyone warming up, I could see what she meant.

Their fighting had a smooth glide to it, almost as if it had been choreographed. Obviously they were warming up and not fighting, but it make me look at Karate in a different light…

The warm up was tough. It went for an hour and involved kicking, punching, jabs, sit ups, push ups, elbows – many things.  Sensei showed me the correct technique to use for each exercise which made it even harder. I felt I had little control over my own muscles. By the end of the warm up I had certainly built up a sweat.

Karate is a martial art which involves self discipline and hard physical training but it’s about control of the body; being able to use your body in the best possible way in conflict, self defence and to workout. For example, a kick involves balance, therefore strength in the body’s core and muscles. Karate uses every muscle in one way or another.

Nicola, a black belt, told me about the differences Karate has had made to her body and overall strength. She told me it was her friend’s transformation from baby body to rock hard abs which encouraged her to join just a few years ago. And the exercises I saw her doing and then attempting myself, simply proved her point.

After the warm up, I watched the class ‘fight’. Sensei took me slowly through some stretches and exercises. He showed me the importance of core strength, flexibility and the strength of the mind. Karate reminded me of little bit of Yoga. Both exercises use the power of the mind to complement the physical side and vice versa.

Sensei stressed how important it is to maintain personal health, weight and fitness. He said fitness is essential to beginning and maintaining Karate as a sport or exercise. Karate is used as the core of general wellbeing. It keeps the class and each individual together and alive as one source.

During these road tests, I have discovered that physical exercise is just part of the big picture. Mentally, exercise keeps our mind stimulated and strong. It keeps our body healthy and fresh. Karate is just another example of this.

Karate is about fighting, yes, and self defence, yes, but it’s also about maintaining health, wellbeing and mental health. If you need motivation, want to try something different or crave serious abs, try Karate!

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://hercanberra.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/clare-1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Clare is a born and bred Canberra chick in her mid 20s. She has an obsession with Europe and travelling in general and spent the last two years working for a PR company in London and travelling at every possible moment. She love fashion, shoes, fashion magazines, reality TV, chocolate and fitness- not necessarily at the same time![/author_info] [/author]