The answer is really simple and may come as a surprise, but anyone can become a karateka. Anyone can become a really good karateka. No one has ever come to their first training session knowing everything there is to know about the sport. Becoming a karateka is a long journey that one masters, learns, and perfects in the dojo (i.e., the training hall), sometimes over the course of a lifetime. Although anyone can become a karateka, not everyone actually does.
First and foremost, perseverance and strength are needed to prevent karatekas from dropping out during their first training sessions. No one should be afraid of this, as it requires no more than any other sport. However, humility and respect, or at least a tendency towards them, will be necessary, because neither the coaches nor the fellow trainees will be partners in the karateka's development. Nevertheless, many people drop out due to a lack of appropriate behavior, but in almost 100% of cases, karate practitioners learn discipline and change their mindset and values.
Most people start kyokushin karate before the age of 10, and some parents even take their children to training when they are still in kindergarten. Many parents make the mistake of accepting their child's excuses and leaving them alone. The most common excuses are "I'm tired," "I don't feel like it," and "I have to study." But let's face it, the first two are just laziness, and the second... elementary school children don't usually study all day. Becoming a truly persistent karateka depends mainly on the parents. If parents can get their children to attend training, they will become truly persistent people.
We encourage adults to come and see what happens during a training session, to watch karate practitioners of the same age who, after finishing work, decide to learn this martial art together with their children. Parents prepare for training together with their kids, encouraging each other to persevere.
What's more, children can quickly lose focus, so if they see how persistent their mother or father is, they will participate in our training sessions with greater enthusiasm. To this day, we have many families who practice Budo together.
In almost all cases, the child's parents are amazed at how much better their child behaves, how much friendlier they are to their peers, and even how their academic performance changes. Not to mention that their stamina, coordination, and endurance will also improve greatly. The masters of the future and those who became masters in 2024 all started training in childhood or at least in their youth, and Uncle Vili made sure to give them the initial push. With decades of experience, he has helped countless kids become green, brown, or even black belt masters over time. Parents who go through fire and water to get their children to training often become karatekas themselves.
