ABOUT

Courage Martial Arts was founded in 2019 by a group of instructors and students looking to build a positive community focused on personal growth through martial arts training.  Through the pillars of family, leadership and confidence the instructors focus on growth of all aspects of student development.

About

Why study martial arts?

  • Learn about the importance of discipline in achieving your goals
  • Gain self-confidence as you master karate skills
  • Follow karate traditions showing respect to the instructor and classmates
  • Learn self-defense both for the dojo and personal safety

Dictionary:

Karate: Means empty hand.

Dojo: Means place of the way. It is a place for training.

Kata: A Japanese word that means “form”.  In martial arts it is used to describe a series of movements that are memorized and practiced in unison while training.  This repetition enables the focused improvement of these movements over time.

Oss: yes/understood – has various meanings including as an acknowledgement and sign of respect.

Sempai: senior (a title used at Courage Martial Arts once a student becomes a black belt).

Sensei: teacher (a title awarded at Courage Martial Arts to individuals that provide instruction).

Dojo Etiquette

We bow when we enter the dojo as a sign of respect and humility.

When working with a partner we bow to each other before starting the activity to show respect to each other.

 

Start of class:

Line up with our classmates to show respect.  White/lower belts line up to the left with highest belts to the right.  This is how we show respect to the efforts of others at the dojo.

1st bow: shows respect to the history and lineage of karate (students acknowledge by saying: oss)

2nd bow: shows respect to the instructor leading the class (students acknowledge by saying: oss)

3rd bow: shows respect to classmates (students acknowledge by saying: oss)

At the end of class we say thank you Sensei.