Hello friends of steemit! On this occasion, I want to share my experience in the world of martial arts, in this case kenpo karate. I started to get involved in this world when I was about 8 years old in a school called "José Ramón Díaz" which was close to the city where I lived at that time. My career as a kenpoist was in that school, there I learned everything I know about martial arts.
For those who do not know kenpo karate is a martial art whose purpose is self-defense, overwhelming the opponent to try to effect a combination of punches. Maybe many think how some of my relatives who had the idea that this sport is for men or that it seems very masculine, but the truth is that it never affected me, besides women can practice this sport and others if we want.
My day to day for a long time was to go to school in the morning and in the afternoon to practice kenpo. I liked to learn the katas that are many and, depending on the color of the belt, it was more difficult, but my favorite was the fight, in that category I won most of my trophies. At the end of the training, we meditate with the following words:
This is the creed of martial artists who practice kenpo karate.
This image is the shield that represents the kenpo karate, which is composed of the dragon, the tiger, the gray circle, the writings that are perceived on their sides and the letter K. Each one of them symbolizes different things. For example, the dragon represents spiritual strength and intelligence through years of practice, it is found on the top of the shield due to the importance of spiritual and mental strength over physical strength.
This is a pretty old photo, when I was just in yellow belt (beginnings) doing one of the katas.
Here I was more advanced with the orange belt. In this photo I was waiting for the opponent to arrive to start the fight.
They are exactly 8 belts, which distinguish their members by their progress. Beginners or novices begin with a white belt as they progress acquire the yellow color. When they get an intermediate level, the belt changes to orange and then purple. Once they have a level with more skill, their color changes to blue and then to green. In developing and improving their techniques, kenpo members advance to the level of the brown belt, which consists of brown 3, brown 2 and brown 1, which is the highest level. Finally, when you get wisdom, intelligence and spiritual wisdom, you give the student the black belt first and it is called sensei. This process does not end until the members get the tenth dan, where they are called grandmasters, it should be noted that few are those who acquire this rank.
Here I share a sample of the belts that I used while studying this beautiful martial art, the belts that are missing I gave them away or I lost them.
This was my last belt and, as I mentioned before, a black belt was called sensei.
My uniform that I still keep and keep intact, in case some day I have the opportunity to return.
As a result of my effort and dedication, I got several trophies in the tournaments, in the combats, the katas and the katas with weapons that in my case I specialized with the "bō".
A photo more closely.
And this was my last picture of when I was in a tournament, so I apologize for the quality. They will ask why I did not continue practicing, because in one of the fights I had a nose injury that was not serious, but it was difficult to breathe from time to time, so I had to be operated. Afterwards, I left little by little because I was already acquiring more responsibilities and between studying and working, my free time was scarce. I still do not rule out the idea of returning, because I love doing this, and who knows if I will form a kenpo karate school in the future.
Personally, the kenpo has taught me the discipline, perseverance and sacrifice that a warrior must have when fighting in each battle, both in sporting aspects and in the adversities that occur daily. I hope you like my story 😉.