Karate is a martial art of Japanese origin. It is thought to have evolved from martial arts developed in China by an Indian Buddhist monk. Although martial arts are ancient, karate is a relatively recent variation. The first public demonstration of karate in Japan was in 1917, according to R.G. Hassel, author of the 1984 book "Shotokan Karate: Its History and Tradition." A karate master can injure or even kill multiple attackers.
Ranking System
Karate students are ranked by skill levels represented by belts of various colors, with the black belt representing the highest rank of the colored belt system. Once attaining a black belt, a student can proceed to nine further degrees of black belt second-degree black belt, for example, all the way up to tenth-degree black belt in some schools.
Black Belt Requirements
There is no governing body of karate that issues standardized requirements for black belts. Consequently, requirement vary according to the teacher or school. The basic building blocks of karate are katas -- short combinations of aggressive and defensive movements. Hundreds of katas are aggregated into a fighting style, and most teachers require a student to master more than one style to be awarded a black belt. These choreographed movements are analogous to a dictionary out of which the black belt may create a unique combination in response to the needs of a combat situation.
Time and Training
It normally takes between three and five years of diligent study to obtain a first-degree black belt, although requirements vary by school. It also takes at least two years to move from one degree of black belt to a higher degree, and the length of time required increases with each higher level. Up to the first-degree black belt level, a student may take several hours of classes a week and practice several more hours a week. Past the first-degree black belt level, more training time per week is required.
Legal Considerations
Special legal restrictions are placed on the right to use deadly force, such as a gun or a knife, in self-defense, according to Pennsylvania attorney Peter Hobart. If you have a black belt in karate, the use of your bare hands and feet against an attacker might be considered the use of deadly force, placing you at increased legal risk. In some U.S. states, a defender has an obligation to retreat as far as reasonably possible before using deadly force against an unarmed attacker. The use of deadly force against an attacker in violation of this obligation could subject the defender to civil or criminal sanctions.
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