Karate Body?

The proverbial "Karate Bodies."

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I am a bit confused, someone mentioned that a certain karate-ka pictured on their web site had a, “Karate Body.” I have presented two pictures used to display or show what was termed, “Karate Body.” It seems almost a daily event that some new term or phrase is used to describe some aspect of karate practice.

The given term was used along with the exercise or set of movements as the reason for such results, i.e., it was said that this body development was caused, direct result of I would interpret the meaning, by the performance or practice of a particular Okinawan karate kata. Then the question was asked, “Do you train to develop a karate body?”

Really, a karate body you say, now come on, I am willing to say that overall a contributing factor to a body builder type physique could be karate practice. I looked at both and did some research and immediately noticed that both examples participate in a form of exercise called, “Hojo Undo.” Hojo Undo involves a type of body building with the use of specialized body building equipment that is particular to Okinawan traditional forms of hard karate practice. 

I suspect that although the author’s intent was to give credit to a particular style and its kata that in reality the overall system program of fitness and strength building involved the entire system that included the kata. In addition, to make such an assumption that a particular kata creates what they perceive as a karate body is kind of a misnomer. 

It is like saying that football players who use a particular action or exercise in their training regimen for the game of football are enjoying an end product of a “Football Body.” 

Here it is, certain physical actions that are derived from a particular discipline or form tend to build the body in certain ways that sometimes can be distinguished from other discipline influence such as football vs. basketball vs. soccer or wrestling vs. MMA vs. boxing and so on. This applies to the type of weight lifting one would do where end results would be indicative of that form and type of exercise routine or model.  A slight body from light weights used in a circuit form of exercise vs. the heavy free weight lifting that body builders use. 

As in one of the photos, the practitioner developed a part of the body that seems larger than normal giving an impression of strength and size, etc. that could not have been from simply performing a form or kata even with the use of dynamic tension or prolonged dynamic tensioning of the body. There are only two ways to increase muscle mass. One is genetic, i.e., a weight lifting body builder who happens to have good genetics resulting in larger bulked up muscle mass and one is through the use of very heavy weights to create or build up that same muscle bulk or mass. You can lift light weights till the cows come home and unless you have genetic predisposition to achieve such muscle mass you ain’t gonna get it that way alone, there will be a need for heavier mass building weight training. 

In closing, from my quick analysis and a long history of fitness and body building (early years for body building) as well as about thirty-nine or so years practicing martial arts, particularly Okinawan karate, there is NO SUCH THING as a KARATE BODY. Just because someone has built up their body mass, muscle mass along with strength, etc. and happens to be doing so as a part of their karate practice, training and applications does not make it a karate body thing. 

We can wish it so, want it badly and insist that it is true but when reality hits the road it is simply a strengthening muscle building thing where our bodies show the bulk, muscle size and strength and density, of weight bearing training, NOT KATA performance and practice. As to prolonged dynamic tensioning that is actually isometric type exercises does not result in such bulk muscle size development where genetics without the extra heavier weight applications will not result. 

Karate Body, NOT!

Bibliography (Click the link)

Hojo Undo Equipment