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What fitness program do I choose? Should I go in for the muscular look or the lean look? Is it necessary to diet while pursuing a fitness program? What fitness program will leave me feeling refreshed and revitalized? CONFUSED? Well I should think so. With the world becoming more and more fitness conscious, everyone wants to jump into the fitness bandwagon. But this may not always be the right approach because everyone's fitness requirements and capabilities are different.

Why does one need a fitness program? People generally choose fitness programs to improve physical and mental health. Those of us who are overworked look towards fitness as a means to relax and release anxiety. There are others who take to fitness regimes because they want to control their mood swings. One way or the other we all seek something extra. The question is how do we find that 'Something Extra'?

The most popular wellness programs presently are yoga, regular aerobic/weight programs and motivational workshops. People have a general tendency to stack these practices together under the category of wellness or fitness programs. With due respect to the latter disciplines, this categorization is not fair. All three practices are unique and distinct from the other.

The readers will agree that perfect kime is what we dream of when we do the oi zuki or gyaku zuki.  Bang boom! Look at Enoeda sensei’s tsuki; Yes, this is Shotokan.

Indeed, the powerful punches and kicks are trademarks of Shotokan karate.   When you look at Shitoryu kata, their performances look smooth and fluid but their techniques look “weak.”  The Gojuryu kata have a lot of neko ashi dachi and sanchin dachi, and although their arm movements are circular, these movements, just like their stances, look short and do not have enough kime. (Note: I want to emphasize that I am in no way trying to bash any styles at all.  I am simply comparing the general impressions of shotokan and other styles.)  If the impressions above coincide with yours, then you want to ask, “OK, so what?”  Hold your breath, here is a shocking statement:  Kime (more precisely, encouraging it) is probably the most harmful action for most Shotokan practitioners while training, particularly for beginners.

I am aware of the graveness and controversial nature of my statement.  However, I am convinced that all instructors and serious practitioners must be aware of and understand well this prevalent problem in Shotokan training.  Despite the risk of being misunderstood, I dare to write this article as I believe this knowledge must be expressed publicly.  So, please read on to catch the true essence of my statement.

I want to emphatically state that I am NOT identifying kime itself or having a correct kime in your techniques as a problem.  If you are capable of producing a good and correct kime and you feel your overall movements are fluid, then this may not be an issue.  What I wish to convey is that the overly tensed body that kime creates is the problem.

If you are interested in the effective and realistic use of the combative methods recorded within kata, it is important that you have some understanding of their history. Without an understanding of this history, you will be unable to appreciate kata in the correct context. You will therefore have little chance of unlocking the methods they contain. Kata has always been an integral part of karate practice. To understand the history and development of kata, it is vital to look at the history and development of karate as a whole.

The recording of information through physical movement is an ancient practise. Even today, many cultures use ‘dances’ and sequences of physical movements to tell stories and to pass on their cultural heritage to the next generation. There can be little doubt that groups would also wish to pass on the fighting and hunting techniques they had refined and found to be most successful. When an individual learned the fighting and hunting skills of the group, they would be asked to copy the movements of those who were more experienced. The elders would demonstrate the various movements, and the younger members of the group would try to emulate these movements. These skills would eventually be further refined and then passed onto subsequent generations. It is in this way that the first “kata” will have been created.

It was upon the island of Okinawa that the system of fighting that came to be known as karate was developed. Okinawa is one of a chain of islands that are collectively known as the Ryukyu Islands. Okinawa lies five hundred and fifty miles east of mainland China, approximately halfway between China and Japan.