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The Academy of Classical Karate
Since 1988, Academy of Classical Karate has been providing instruction in Wado Karate in the Plano, TX area.
We hope you enjoy our website and will stop by and visit us if you are in the area. This site is designed to give you information about our facility, our style of martial arts, our staff and provide you with information on how to contact us as well.
What is Karate?
"True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice."
-- Gichin Funakoshi
"The aim of Wado karate it to have a mind that is tranquil yet alive, able to act intuitively without hesitation to any situation."
-- Hironori Otsuka 
Karate translated either means "Chinese hand" or "Empty hand" depending on which Japanese or Chinese characters you use to write it. Karate-do means "The way of the Chinese hand" or "The Way of the empty hand" depending on which characters that are used.
Karate emphasizes kicks and punches, blocks, strikes, evasions, throws, joint manipulations and a strong offense as a good defense. Karate techniques consist basically of hand and foot techniques. Important elements of Karate include stances, posture, body shifting (Tai Sebaki), hip rotation, and breathing.
Training differs widely but most of the Karate styles emphasize a fairly equal measure of basic technique training (kihon), sparring (kumite), and forms (kata). Forms are stylized patterns of attacks and defenses done in sequence for training purposes.
An art of self-defense as well as a sport, Karate has in recent decades proliferated worldwide. It is one of the most widely practiced of the Asian martial arts, with a large following in the U.S., Japan and Europe.
