What Is The Required Equipment For A Karate Class For Men?

Karate instruction incorporates a quasi-military teaching style requiring discipline, uniformity and a hierarchical structure. As a result, the equipment needed to study karate includes uniforms and rank insignia. Karate study requires physical contact that could lead to injury. Protective gear is often needed during karate sparring. Men need slightly different karate equipment than women because of the physical differences between the sexes.

Uniform

Virtually all karate schools require their students to wear a school uniform. This is called a "gi" in Japanese. The karate gi serves two purposes. They are loose fitting and sturdy to survive the rigorous movements required for karate training. They also give the entire karate class a uniform appearance. Dressing all karate students in a similar way is an important part of the quasi-military teaching style karate employs.

Rank Insignia

Signifying rank is vital to the hierarchy of a karate school. A karate student's rank is represented by the color of their belt. In general, the darker the color of the karate belt the higher the rank of the student. Karate students generally start with a white belt. Intermediate level belts include yellow, green, blue, purple, red and brown. Each karate school has its own belt coloring system. Black belts are worn by karate instructors.

Cup

Karate training involves striking and contact to sensitive areas of the body. Men are especially vulnerable to strikes to the groin. All male karate students are highly encouraged to wear a protective cup over their groin during karate training. This is especially important during karate sparring when accidental strikes to the groin are common.

Pads

Karate pads protect both the karate student and their opponent during sparring. Pads worn on the head, shins and chest soften strikes from punches and kicks that are received. Pads worn on the hands, feet, knees and elbow soften strikes inflicted on the opponent when they are hit with these parts of the body.

Weapons

Advanced karate students are trained in the use of a wide range of karate weapons. These include a 6-foot long stick called a "bo," a pair of short sticks connected by a chair or cord called "nunchaku," a stick with a handle called "tonfa," a pair of hand held pitchforks called "sai," a pair of hand held sickles called "kama."