What Good is Karate, anyhow?

What good is Karate? Hard thing to answer.

Study for a couple of years, and you'll improve fighting ability greatly. Funny thing is that I've never been in a real fight, so who cares if I can kick and punch? Turns out I don't really need self-defence.

Karate is good exercise, I guess. If somebody wanted to join our club solely for health, I'd send them away. Yoga, or Pilates, or tons of other stuff are more healthful. Karate is not good for back problems, or bum shoulders, or hips. We use all those parts in a very, very harsh fashion, which causes a bucketload of strain. Fair percentage of Black Belts have some kind of interesting knee injury.

So what has it really done for my life?

I never wanted to teach Karate, but inherited that role by necessity. Got pulled into teaching the adults first. After a while, I began to enjoy it, and I turned out to be pretty good. Next I was pulled into taking over the kids classes. Didn't think I liked kids. Turns out I do, and was good at teaching them, too.

My wife is a school teacher, and I'd been watching her career, and started to be envious. She got to teach, and I was an lousy appliance salesman. When my job ended, I decided to go back to University to become a real teacher, too.

Got my degree, and entered the teaching profession.

Can't imagine any other sport that could have gotten me into a career I really, really love.