A karate program for college and university students

India appears to be the birthplace of the first fighting technique with karate-like movements. Bodhidharma is given credit for introducing this fighting style to China where it was ultimately converted into Shao-lin-ssu kempo. From China it was interposed into Korea and the Ryukyu Islands. An instructor from the Ryukyu Islands established the first karate program in Japan. Various styles of karate from each of these countries have been established in the United States. The popularity of karate in the United States is relatively new, with the first nationally recognized karate association organized in 1948. Since this time karate has experienced a tremendous growth as a sport, a physical art, and as a means of self defense. Part of this popularity results from the many psychological needs and principles which can be fulfilled by the practice of karate. College students are also very interested in karate as indicated by the results of the survey in which the seventy instructors interviewed listed sixty-one colleges and universities with karate programs. Forty-nine of these are college sponsored programs and twelve are college courses included in the curriculum. A karate training session is usually divided into several parts. These consist of a warm-up period, basic movements involving hand and leg techniques, formal exercise and sparring techniques such as one-step sparring, semi-free and free-style sparring. Information concerning each of these is included in the findings. Also included in the study is information pertaining to a ranking system and to the organization of a high school and college karate program. By utilizing the results of the survey and the related literature, a beginning karate program was designed for college and university students. The program consists of twenty-eight training sessions to be conducted twice a week with each lasting one hour and five minutes. In the program, major emphasis is placed on the perfection of techniques comprising the basic movements. These techniques include kicks, strikes, blocks, thrusts, punches, and stances. At intervals during the twenty eight training sessions, various techniques will be introduced. These include eight karate stances, seven blocking techniques, eleven hand techniques, eight leg techniques, two basic forms and various one-step and semi-free style sparring techniques