A Little Introduction The word „Karate“ is Japanese and means „empty hand“. Karate is a Self-Defence martial art, where the body is used as a natural defence weapon, coordinating effective hand strokes and foot kicks. This martial art is known as the most effective and systematic self-defence in the world. Through Karate, a person gains a positive awareness of the punches while building up defence techniques. Our natural feeling of inferiority can be eliminated and one gains a strong self-confidence. You learn to deal calmly with your own aggressions. Karate training is a good practice for reaction and posture for the day-to-day life. Karate enhances the physical training, concentration and discipline for children. Women and men can benefit from a valuable strengthening of the physical and mental self-confidence. Karate is a martial art with a lot of traditions. “Thugs” and “bullies” come in many forms and in many situations in life. Through Karate, we purely and simply teach self-defence as a counter to aggression. Karate is peaceful; thugs and bullies have no place in our school. One of the most important principles in Karate is: Karate ni sente nashi – There is no attack in Karate. The interesting thing about Karate is the fact that no one will ever stop learning. You need more than a human life to master this martial art. We will teach you to walk the trail of Karate-Do, the way of the empty hand. You will never see the end of the way. Karate is a school of life, a confrontation with your own limitations. Respect for the opponent, trainer and fellow student is essential. You learn how to centre yourself and how to deal with yourself and your own body. We will teach you in training how to deal with feelings of aggression and how to prevent attack. Any violence will be channelized. Karate boosts the development of your own personality with this mentally layered sport and is pedagogically very meaningful – for adults as well as for teenagers and children. Sports physicians recommend Karate as a very healthy sport. Karate has a spiritual core. 20 basic principles build the fundament of this philosophy. The first principle is: Karate wa rei ni hajimari rei ni owaru – Karate starts with etiquette and ends with etiquette. In addition the work on yourself, the mental maturity, peacefulness, courtesy, straightforwardness, actions with responsibility, self-control and openness will be taught. Feelings of Inferiority will be relieved and you will gain a strong self-confidence. You learn to deal with your own aggressions. Each training session starts and ends traditionally with a short meditation (called Mokuzu). The aim of this is to bring a peaceful spirit into the exercises. You forget the problems you had during the day and unify body and soul, preparing you to fully concentrate on the training. You train barefoot and dressed in the traditional Gi (Karate suit). You only advance with steady and untiring training and a healthy fighting spirit (the same as in other sports or when learning a foreign language). Self-defence classes with only a few lessons are misleading and provide a false sense of security, so we do not offer any such courses. Our slogan is learn it properly or not at all. That is not to say that you won’t ever get bruised or hurt during Karate training. Nevertheless, the risk of getting injured while playing football is many times higher then in Karate. Karate is healthy, makes the body more flexible and increases the aerobic stress management. Karate helps insecure people developing a healthy self-confidence. Sensei Alex Neidhart states that he came to grips with his back problems when he started with Karate. As long as he trains regularly his back muscles are strengthened and he has no problems. But if he stops training for a few weeks (e.g. if he does not train during his holidays) he senses that his problems come back. “A reason not to go on holidays” he smiles. Who Can Learn Karate? Karate is ideal for young and old. The minimum age for children is six years. There is no limit to a maximum age. You can fight age by starting Karate instead of doing gymnastics. It does not matter if you are a man or a woman, tall or small, heavy or thin. It is never too late to start! Is Karate Healthy? From a sports medicine point of view, Karate is definitely encouraged because it exercises the full body. Karate consists of the following three basic pillars: 1 . Kata – a defined flow of techniques that boosts the concentration and spatial perception. 2 . Kumite – the combat 3 . Kihon – the basic techniques that boost coordination, movement, strength, speed and automation of movements. In contrast to other sports, the muscles used are well-balanced and the body motor activity of the student is well trained. Children can learn to use and estimate the particular movements of their bodies. A special meaning in Karate is also drawn to the training of the body. Next to the well-balanced development of all muscles a superior agility and ability to respond will be developed. At What Age Can I Start With Karate? The minimum age is 6 years, and there is no maximum age. It does not matter if you are a woman or a man, tall, small, big or thin. You can start any time with Karate. Why Our School? Our school was founded in 1987. All trainers are well educated (Jugend+Sport) and have many years of teaching experience. We teach traditional Karate (Motobu-Ha Shito-Ryu). Training possibilities exist in two locations for the same price (both in Dübendorf). Practice is available at six sessions per week (children / teenager and adults) with intense training and individual mentoring. Our school is the official lineage holder of the International Seishinkai Karate Union (ISKU), Japan. We are official members of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai International Division, Japan (DNBK). Member and official country representative for Switzerland of the “Verband asiatischer Kampfkünste e.V.” in Germany. The school offers six trainings lessons per week. Three sessions are for children and three for teenager and adults (one hour per lesson). In 2012, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Karate School Swiss Seishinkai Karate-Do. This is a big achievement for our small school. There are only a few schools that can look back on such a long history and is our confirmation of a continuous quality and satisfied clientele. The proprietors of the school are Alex Neidhart and Santo Giuga. They run the school with about 60 students together with their Sempai (trainers). The trainers are well educated (certified Jugend+Sport teachers) and have many years of experience. During most of the training sessions, there are two trainers present who individually coach the students. The students benefit from this personal and individual instruction. We teach traditional Karate (Motobu-Ha Shito-Ryu). The school is the official lineage representative of the International Seishinkai Karate Union (ISKU), Japan. Have The Courage … … and give Karate a try! You will find out that Karate is a very disciplined and popular sport. The success is, as always in life, with yourself. Your efforts will bear fruit with regular practice, self-discipline and patience. Do you have questions or need more information? We are pleased to be at your disposal. Please send your address information under “Contact” or visit one of our training sessions for a trial lesson without any obligation. All you need are training pants and a t-shirt. You can find our training hours under
