Shotokan is a martial art whose ultimate aim is the development of character through training.
It is an empty-handed art of self-defense, in which the body itself is used as a weapon through techniques of punching, kicking, striking and blocking.
The primary importance in the study of karate are form, balance, “centered-ness”, power, speed, kime (explosive concentration of power), rhythm and timing. The quality to accomplish this is self-control. To become a victor, one must first overcome oneself.
The beauty of the essential techniques are demonstrated in the so-called "kata", fixed exercises, through which the Karateka rhythmically performs body movements such as bending, jumping and balancing backward and forward, left and right, up and down smoothly and fiercely, at low and high speeds. Anybody can train in Shotokan Karate regardless of your age, sex or physical stature.
