The UNSW Karate Club caters for beginners and there is no set time to join. Please see our training schedule for more information.
Not necessarily. This would depend on your skill level, how long you have trained for, how long ago you last trained and what you want out of your Karate practice. We encourage you to come to one of the classes and our Sensei will assess your skill level.
Some students want to train from the beginning and this is welcomed as well.
There are indeed many forms of Martial Arts, including many styles of Karate alone. Our style is called Budokan and is based on Shotokan. We are a disciplined patient style with co-ordinated and deliberate attacking and defensive movements. We do not promote sheer strength, and we do not support bragging or showing off of senior ranks over junior ranks and beginners. As a white belt you will never be put in a situation where you face an opponent of much greater skill and experience, except when with an instructor. There is no sparring until you pass your first grading, to ensure you are confident and skilled enough to handle basic fighting.
The belts (more formally known as Kyus and Dans) indicate a student's expertise and experience. They are as follows:
As you can see, there are several Brown and Black Belt levels (in fact there are about eight black belt levels). This is to emphasise that one is not an expert once he or she has reached Brown or Black belt, but is rather a student that wishes to further study and master the art. Although the colours differ between Karate styles and organisations, the Kyu and Dan equivalents are standard across all styles.
The most serious injury you will encounter is the occasional bruise. More serious injuries are extremely rare. Our style is very controlled and deliberate, hence few mistakes or wild techniques are ever carried out. Further, you are never required to be in a situation that you are uncomfortable with, such as fighting with an opponent who you feel is too aggressive. You can always back off and ask to take a break. Further, there is a minimum of 3 months training before you can spar for the first time, so you will learn how to be confident and controlled before you ever face another fighter.
We stress the importance of really earning your black belt. This means years of dedication, patience, and both physical and mental fitness. If you train hard, you can make it to black belt in about 4-5 years. We pride ourselves in being a non-profit club, and do not endorse tortuous physical training, or paying large sums of money to fast-track you to black belt as has sometimes occurred in other clubs.