Saudi Gazette The all time favorite sport in Saudi Arabia is soccer. Boys play soccer in school, on the streets, even at home (much to their mothers' dismay), and just about anywhere. Karate is another sport which is gaining popularity among Saudi youth. Karate is a sport that boosts energy levels and exercises the mind and the body, it helps improve concentration, focus and fitness. Over time, it promotes more self-control, anger management, discipline, humility, and respect. Students bow to one another (even to their opponents) and to their instructor, out of respect and reverence. Through Karate practice, young children gain a good deal of self-confidence and a sense of safety. During training in Karate, children acquire lots of other positive skills along with having fun at the same time. A group of kids are learning Karate at one of the oldest clubs in Makkah and they seem to be enjoying it and mastering the skills at an impressive pace. Karate student, Hussein Al-Shayaani wearing the yellow belt, told Al-Watan daily, “My favorite hobbies are playing Karate and PlayStation. I practice Karate because I believe in the quote: A healthy mind in a healthy body. My goal is to reach the black belt and in the summer vacation I plan to come to the Karate club even more often.” Hussein's older brother, Hussam spends long hours at home practicing his Karate moves and he has even started teaching some moves to his friends at school. He hopes to be a Karate trainer when he grows up. Another yellow belt holder, Omar Al-Noor, said, “I have two dreams that I hope Allah will help me make them come true; to memorize the Holy Qur'an and to obtain the black belt in Karate.” Some people have a misconception that the martial arts, such as Karate, encourages violence, but all those who learn Karate hold a different opinion. The students insist that their trainers repeatedly reinforce the concept that Karate is an art, a skill, and a form of self-defense, not to be used lightly. Some students even noticed an improvement in their academic performance ever since they started training in Karate because it has enhanced their mental concentration in the classroom as well. Karate instructor who don the black belt, Abdul Aal Badawi, said, “Karate is taught in three stages; the first stage is the mastering of individual Karate moves and exercises. These exercises require a high level of fitness and they strengthen a variety of the body's muscles. When the student graduates to the second stage, he is taught to visualize assailants attacking him from four different directions, and he must respond, retaliate, and defend himself accordingly. Finally, a real, supervised match ensues between two Karate students or the student and instructor.” The instructor, Badawi, explained the underlying reason for the white color of the Karate uniform. According to Badawi, the color white represents the good and pure intention of learning and mastering the art of Karate and that is to effectively defend oneself. The color white and the art of Karate are both opposed to darkness, evil thoughts, violence, and aggression. As for the meaning of Karate, Badawi, said that the name of this sport is actually the combination of two separate words, “kara” and “te” in the Japanese language, as karate first originated in the island Ryuku, now Okinawa, Japan. “Kara” means empty and “te” means hand, so Karate means empty hand. When the residents of this island were banned from carrying any weapons, they invented this form of martial arts using only their bare hands and strong legs to defend themselves; thus the name Karate was born. Students progress upwards through the levels of difficulty after taking an exam on each level and are then awarded a different-colored belt. The belts in ascending order are - white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and finally black belt. The black belt has an additional 10 rankings and it is very rare to find someone who has reached the higher levels within the black belt. __
