My 49 years of karate practice: the transformative power of a martial art

Through constant and holistic karate training, which takes into account both physical and mental aspects, practitioners receive far more than it appears to outsiders.

From my personal perspective, the martial art of karate is a tool, an instrument that for many years has guided my outlook on life in a certain direction.

Through the clear teachings of karate, based on determination and discipline, I have for years received precise guidelines to make my daily life both coherent and flexible, freeing myself from mental blocks. Essential elements from this martial art have taught me to be aware of the day and to take responsibility with a strong determination.

Today, this mental attitude comes naturally to me and is part of my personality as I regularly train and strengthen my body and mind through training.

My many years of karate practice have proven to me that karate never views these two components in isolation, but rather they are symbiotically related. Learning karate develops both the body and the mind. What is important is one's own openness to these holistic teachings.

Not only do I live these teachings consistently in my daily life, but I also share them in my dōjō and technical meetings. It fills me with joy to see karateka embrace the karate teachings with equal enthusiasm and appreciate them as an enrichment to their own lives outside of training.

In my daily life, numerous small gestures and actions are based on the principles of karate: be it picking up an object, the way I gesture, walking, getting up in the morning, getting dressed, working, breathing, or even controlling my thoughts at certain times.

Karate is always present for me and positively influences my daily life.