Contents

       Part One

       Introduction to karate

       1 WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A CLUB

       2 A SHORT HISTORY OF KARATE

       The origins, growth and enormous popularity of the sport today

       3 STYLES OF KARATE

       Shotokan, Wado-ryu, Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu and Kyokushinkai karate

       4 THE KARATE BASICS

       Kihon, kata and ji-yu kumite

       5 WHAT IS A BLACK BELT?

       Criteria for getting a black belt and what it means

       6 COMPETITION KARATE

       Shobu Ippon, the World Karate Federation and the importance of a gasshuku

       Part Two

       Karate fundamentals

       7 REI

       The etiquette of the dojo

       8 JUNBI UNDO

       Limbering up and stretches

       9 KIHON WAZA

       Basic techniques – punches, strikes, kicks, stances and blocks

       10 MAKIWARA TRAINING

       Impact training for the body, and a demonstration of the power of the technique

       11 BASIC DRILLS

       Punches and blocks, striking techniques, escaping techniques, blocking and countering

       12 OHYO GUMITE/YAKUSOKU GUMITE

       Examples of prearranged pairwork

       13 KATA TRAINING

       An explanation of kata and a demonstration of jion kata

       14 NAGE WAZA

       Throwing techniques

       15 JI YU KUMITE

       Freestyle sparring

       16 KARATE WAZA USED IN SELF-DEFENCE

       Part Three

       Competition karate

       17 KARATE-KA ATTIRE

       18 COMPETITION KUMITE

       Categories, WKF competition rules, prohibited behaviour, tournaments, jissen training and referees’ commands and signals

       19 COMPETITION KATA

       WKF rules, judges, how a match works and the criteria used for a decision

       20 KARATE TITLES

       Japanese ranking terms and belt colours

       APPENDICES

       Correct tying of the obi

       Glossary of terms

       Glossary of Japanese terminology

       WKF major kata allowed in competition Fighting flag signals

       INDEX

       CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS