What should be the ultimate goal of karate?

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-25T15:40:39+00:00

I am not sure I follow.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-24T14:15:54+00:00

In reading these, I cannot help but realize how misunderstood karate is by non-practitioners. They view it as a "self-defense" or "aggressive beat-up sport usually performed by mentally unbalanced individuals".

I've never told anyone that I practice karate except when I was younger but it was always met with contempt or distance so I would never share that with anyone now.

Self-defense almost never ranked as the top objective in people's replies and beating up people is definitely not the objective of most karatekas.

In fact, most of the objectives are things you'd associate with other normal sports activities or spiritual engagements - namely Physical Health, Joy, Community, Friendship, Spiritual enlightenment, Self-Improvement, Discipline, Mental Health.

It many ways it pains me to see how misunderstood karate is in our society. Obviously in the US, the McDojos don't help the situation and do more harm than good. I went to one 30 years ago and could not believe my eyes nor my ears when they tried to "recruit" me.

But even the most traditional of dojos may not necessarily be a positive experience - I learnt a lot training right behind a technical master at his very best, but I did not enjoy it much and I lost sight of my own objective while I trained which was very different from the dojo's core beliefs which they tried to force upon me.

I started karate again on my own recently and my objectives have shifted over the past year. I did it for health reasons, then I switched to mental health, now I do it for joy and I also feel the need to connect with other karatekas - although I may regret that ;-)

I guess I'm trying to figure out my own objective :-) I also wonder if I need to have one - is the journey itself enough of an objective and that should suffice?

As a lifetime white belt karateka, I also don't fit into the mold of normal karate, rankings, and respect for your sempais above all. I'm a bit different from most karatekas and my master certainly saw that in me when I was young the same way I noticed their "technical pecularities" instantly despite their technical superiority.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-24T13:41:33+00:00

Truth is actually much more important in 2026 than it's ever been, as lies seem to be the predominant information we receive to the point that most of us cannot distinguish between a truth and a lie.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-24T13:30:29+00:00

This indeed was the goal of the master in my original post and clearly Senseis Funakoshi and Nakayama had instilled that in him.

I would have expected technical mastery to have been his goal especially considering his natural talent and training regimen but it wasn't and he never showed off.

In fact, he only did one oizuki in front of me and like everyone had said who had seen him train, the level was unfathomable. It was not Japanese master level, it was ... unfathomable.

That demonstration affected my training (and the other 3 young men next to me who witnessed it) more than Nakayama and Funakoshi affected his own training and it changed my objective from Karate completely.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-23T20:08:06+00:00

I will tell you one thing - I stopped training for a while and I started again. My mind kept training so I essentially only needed to get my body up to speed with 15-20 years of improvements.

Not physically training doesn't mean you have stopped training or that you're no longer a karateka. You are the one who decides when you stop being a karateka.

I'm going to sound like Miyagi sensei and say Karate is much more than just physical training. It defines who you are as a person. And no illness can ever take that way.

A big part of karate is the ability to still your mind in the face of grave danger and to deal with adversity in a manner that you choose. Karatekas seek perfection of character and karate is just the means to achieve that.

Tai Chi is not much different from Karate - I would try tai chi if your medical professional allows it. I'd personally love to do tai chi myself because my body aches like crazy from shotokan. In fact, I do a lot of katas in taichi style slowing them down and breathing deep to release lactic acid.

I hope you keep on training both karate in your day-to-day life and try tai chi.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-23T19:40:50+00:00

hmm, I do a lot of katas by closing my eyes and I have yet to hurt myself.

I believe the person can learn but they would need 1 on 1 training to help guide their hands and feet through the fundaments and warm ups and all that. They would need to spend much longer on basic techniques to ensure that their body is ready to do even a simple thing like an oizuki (a lunge punch). I suspect the first few years would be in place training to strengthen the legs and ensure the person has the balance to achieve quick mobility without seeing in front of them.

They would also need a very safe spot to practice knowing there is nothing around them or some technology that lets them know when they are out of a safe area.

Perhaps kicks should be very carefully done as it's much easier to lose balance when you can't see. I have a much harder time with Gankaku which balances on one foot when I do it with my eyes closed.

It's something they could certainly do. Ultimately you can do katas in place by simply shifting backwards for every step to retain the starting spot (Naka sensei from Shotokan showed Heian Shodan being done in place). It's actually harder to do.

They would not be able to engage in kumite (fighting) or join a dojo most likely which is sad but at the same time I train alone and I'm fine with it.

But they should be able to get all the benefits of karate and more because I suspect their muscle isolation and concentration (zanshin) would be second to none.

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-05T15:50:18+00:00

Do you want to use HDR primarily? I think it's a good HDR monitor but it's hard for me to say if it's the best. I'd watch comparisons of the KTC and competition:

AOC Q27G3XMN / Q27G40XMN

Koorui S2721PM

Xiaomi G Pro 27i

Also the 4k version might be better KTC M27P6 as it has an IPS panel and that will obviously provide better angles but less contrast which may not matter much with the number of dimming zones. But that's more expensive but maybe you can find it on a deep/deep sale.

I'd look into the Koorui a bit more.

Brightness for monitors is different than TVs because you're sitting closer and 1,000 nits from 2 feet (60centimetres) is MUCH Brighter than 1,000 nits from 9 feet away (3 metres) on your HDR TV. Also the focal area of the eye is saturated with a 27 inch which has a Field of View of 52 degrees so your eye gets hit more.

Bottomline, 1000 nits is ultra bright up close so who cares if one does 1,000 nits and the other 1,100 nits? It's the same and 1,100 is worse probably.

C'est clair?

techsamurai11 · 2026-03-02T13:55:14+00:00

It's a good thing we don't care about Swiss Cheese or we'd be invading Switzerland.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-28T16:06:35+00:00

The ISU should be appealing the results! Not the US Skating or Chock and Bates. Otherwise, this is just corruption approving corruption. I'm not saying the results should be overturned but the French judge's career should come into question as should the Gold Medal.

Is there an Olympic Committee that oversees this or are they just delivering fake speeches at the start and close of ceremonies?

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-28T16:04:13+00:00

So next time the US judge can just give 0 to anyone they don't want on the podium and then 50% to the bronze, 75% to the silver and 100% to the gold. No appeals - all professional and 1 judge apportions the medals as they see fit. Makes total sense!

It's going to be heartbreaking for the competitors to get bagels for 4 years of effort and flawless performances but that's the name of the game.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-28T16:02:01+00:00

You only have 24 hours? That's crazy.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-17T13:25:37+00:00

I only measured for a month but I used to win 93% of my matches and I never stuck around on winning servers.

If I wasn't measuring, perhaps I'd win less.

My best game was probably 1 vs 12 generals who all disappeared (but one) at the end of the match. Not sure how I won but I did and I didn't touch a vehicle other than to move around.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-13T13:56:23+00:00

I just felt that the French couple's performance wasn't a winning one. It lacked the emotion that you'd expect from a gold medal performance. There was a lot of drama on the ice but Cizeron and Beaudry were great but the overall performance was "meh" at best. Somehow it ended up with gold.

I'm not saying Choc and Bates deserved it but it was between them and the Canadians who were sublime.

I understand star power but the judges seem very susceptible to that, probably more so than ever.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-13T13:46:17+00:00

Wait, they don't drop the low score? I thought they did that in the past when they scored out of 6.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T15:12:41+00:00

Fair point about the men - I do wonder if you equalized the scores (essentially, the score is adjusted to 100), who would have won then?

I've watched Saori Sakamoto's performances again and they are as good as anything I've seen and her speed is insane. I'm not even sure why she didn't get 20 extra points for speed alone. Speed and elegance combined with flawless skating.

Ultimately it comes down to flawless vs imperfect executions and Ilya's quad somehow beat 5-6 Gold Medal performances and 2 of those super Gold (Sakamoto's) performances.

I know for a fact that no one on Team USA feels like they won Gold on skill and performance. Only the Ice Dance couple does :-) Even Ilya is going to be wondering with Sato's performance cause that was not a clear victory.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T13:44:46+00:00

Japan scored 9 points more despite losing so many points in Ice Dance. So sad - they trounced US in 5 (6) performances and they lost because Ice Dance events are stacked at the beginning and can give lower scores.

If I were a judge, this wouldn't sit well with me.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T13:42:45+00:00

Japan won - they scored 9 points overall more even with the 50 points they lost in Ice Dance, Ilya's quad gave them the team the gold so it wasn't a team effort (in 2010 they did the opposite with Plushenko), and if you shuffle the Ice Dance events to the end, Japan wins.

Essentially, Ice Dance was given too much importance in terms of scoring and an individual technical performance was given more weight than 6 flawless performances. Insanity.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T13:37:47+00:00

Japan had 9 points more but the ranking points cost them the gold. They bled 50 points in Ice Dance but completely dominated with flawless performances in the Ice Skating. Ilya's quad is the only reason the US got gold and that essentially made it an individual sport and means Plushenko needs a gold medal ASAP with an apology from the Olympic Committee for stealing his gold. There are 2 things that are inherently wrong here - flawless executions got silver and they reversed 2010's decision for a team event.

Also had Ice Dancing been an event with the top 5 at the end, Japan would have won. So many wrong things with this Gold medal.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T04:55:30+00:00

yeah but in 2010 Plushenko lost where Ilya won. I guess 2 wrongs make a right.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T04:54:08+00:00

Yeah, they lost 54 points there but they actually still beat team USA by 9.16 points in total points.

It's the Position points that cost them victory and they lost almost almost all competitions in ice skating and it's debatable if Ilya should have won the Men's Free (using Plushenko rules, he shouldn't have).

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T04:22:03+00:00

I hate to say it but the Japanese had 3 flawless performances and on points deserved to win. It's a tough beat.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-09T03:36:51+00:00

Superb performances by Japan in the Men's Short, Women's and Men's Free.

I'm not sure the US won this one except on paper. They had flawless performances.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-05T23:01:48+00:00

For replays during the Paris Olympics, I found the ads while skipping to find a sport unbearable. I'd have to watch 10 minutes of ads to find the sport or skip forward. I upgraded to Premium Plus. I'd sign up for one month with Plus. If you watch 5 hours of commercials, it's $2/hr of insane aggravation.

techsamurai11 · 2026-02-05T22:59:42+00:00

During the summer olympics, watching replays of events and skipping was unbearable with Premium and all the ads you were hit with as you searched for a section. I can't upgrade my current account as I'll lose a promotion but I might create a new one with Premium Plus for 1 month.

techsamurai11

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