Incorporating Yoga to Karate....

[Patrick]

Thanks for sharing that, scohen0300!

[sensei8]

I do believe that Yoga can help practitioners center themselves with all that's involved with learning the MA. Plus, the many other benefits that Yoga can provide, i.e., stress relief, reducing inflammation, relieve anxiety, and improve health for one's heart. If you have a bad lower back, Yoga can help with pain.

The MA needs other things to improve the engine that drives the MA. Recharge with Yoga, if that's what's needed. A lot of us in the MA will perform Zazen/Mokuso, seated meditation, before and after class, so why not Yoga as well; Yoga can be the standing meditation; both beneficial.

[Himokiri Karate]

Thanks for posting this!!

I’m actually a yoga teacher so I’m very excited to see a post about my two passions: karate and yoga.

I bounce back and forth between the two constantly. Some weeks or months I’m training karate hard and just doing some yoga here and there, other times I’m doing karate and there but putting in 2-4 hours of yoga in every day. There’s SO much to work on.

With kata being such a fun part of martial arts for me, I love using “set sequences” in yoga as well. These could range from a few poses strung together, to Sun Salutations and even a whole program like Ashtanga.

Now, Ashtanga yoga… that’s extremely challenging, fun, and pretty darn effective all at the same time. The Ashtanga primary series is a set sequence, so you’re doing the same thing every day (though there are harder progressions that you can work up to). A full class can take up to an hour and a half, but there’s short versions you can do for an hour, 45 minutes, 30, 15, etc etc… Regardless, if you want to improve all aspects of your potential yoga skills, Ashtanga is a tried and true method.

I myself teach vinyasa yoga, but I’m very inspired by Ashtanga with my classes. Not so much the format of the class, but I love using bits of the sequence in my classes.

My own practice has been focused on flexibility and mobility (more of a vinyasa style practice) because I’m trying to work on my kicking techniques so I can kick like Bruce Lee some day. I’ll try to sum it up:

- Gentle Stretches to prep for movement.

- Sun Salutations (all set sequences). I usually do 12 rounds, varying the kind of Sun Sals between what I’ve picked up from styles, teachers, and what I’ve put together myself.

- standing poses. Triangle, side angle, wide legged fold variations.

- various mobility exercises focused on internal hip rotation. Kicking focused.

- kick-specific exercises

- splits, if I can remember.

- wheel poses, then I chill out in some relaxing poses.

Some days I’m working on handstands and arm balances, but that’s not my current goal.

The thing with yoga, is that there are endless ways to practice it. If you have a strenuous job or activity, you can use yoga to just stretch, loosen and relax your body. If you don’t have an active lifestyle, yoga can be ***extremely*** challenging if you explore the realms of Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga. And everything in between! Check out Patrick Beach on YouTube for great, high quality, and very challenging vinyasa classes.

So glad you found yoga. I took a yoga teacher training back in 2017/2018 and it’s one of the greatest things I ever did for myself.

Good luck!

The bold part is pretty much me man. I use yoga as a restorative. The tree pose, warrior 3 to warrior 2 really helps with my side stance since my style is more Korean Karate or TKD/Tang Soo Do and yoga helps relieve the tension and rejuvenate for more hard karate while avoiding injuries.

I also find that it helps me maintain my diet, it calms my mind which means my mind thinks less of food and satisfying my taste buds. Hard to explain.

I do believe that Yoga can help practitioners center themselves with all that's involved with learning the MA. Plus, the many other benefits that Yoga can provide, i.e., stress relief, reducing inflammation, relieve anxiety, and improve health for one's heart. If you have a bad lower back, Yoga can help with pain.

The MA needs other things to improve the engine that drives the MA. Recharge with Yoga, if that's what's needed. A lot of us in the MA will perform Zazen/Mokuso, seated meditation, before and after class, so why not Yoga as well; Yoga can be the standing meditation; both beneficial.

A decade ago, I heard about how yoga grants supernatural abilities of many kinds. I thought it was nonsense but the more I get in to it, the more I believe there is something truly magical about it. I mean its not so much woo woo fantasy but its actually pretty comprehensive in terms of using mantras to maintain concentration, how sounds and tone can effect health and the chakra aspect is hard to describe.

I am not saying I am a believer all of a sudden and at the end of the day, I enjoy the feeling of yoga/meditation but credit where credit is due, the ancient yogi text that talk about attaining special ability is pretty detailed about its science. Its not the typical " just believe really hard" new age stuff. I made this thread a while back and with passing of time, I am really beginning to slowly understand the connection of yoga and karate in which kung fu being the middleman in all it.

[sensei8]

Yoga, like many other things, is no more than a tool. The tool can make you, or it can break you; it depends on how it's used, and by whom, under difficult situations.

I'd rather have a tool in my toolbox for those untold days, than to not have said tool at my disposal. Never know when the tool might be needed. A tool is only as effective as its user; a practitioner is only as good as his/her tool.

[Himokiri Karate]

Yoga, like many other things, is no more than a tool. The tool can make you, or it can break you; it depends on how it's used, and by whom, under difficult situations.

I'd rather have a tool in my toolbox for those untold days, than to not have said tool at my disposal. Never know when the tool might be needed. A tool is only as effective as its user; a practitioner is only as good as his/her tool.

That's a great attitude to have. I look at money the same which is rather have it and not need it, then not have it and need it. Problem is, its hard to make it and keep it.

Yoga has gotten a bad rep due to various yogi scandal's. Main one Bikram but in the yoga circle, others have done pretty bad things. Regardless, the yoga skill is just that, its a skill, a tool that bestows benefits.

For me, I am just beginning to slightly get a taste of what I feel is tip of the iceberg. That being said, yoga doesn't care about you in a sense of what you like or dislike. For me, the best yoga benefits is to be mainly eating raw foods and cooked vegetarianism and not just any type of vegetarianism but the right kind. Also not engaging in different thoughts can be challenging. Yoga is not something you do, but rather its something that becomes a part of you,

One potential bad benefit ( or good depending on circumstance ) is being in a mood for grown up activities. This might be fine if one has a partner. But it is difficult because you are fighting the compulsion of having raging teen hormones all over again. Vegetarianism I find helps suppress it as oppose to extinguish.

Anyways I am getting off topic. My point that I am getting at is, I believe the elusive mysteries of yoga and what it potentially bestows upon an individual can be extremely powerful. Those benefits can be very to a person of any passion or interest and that includes a karateka.