I am a student at Peterhead Academy, currently working towards my fourth year exams. I started karate 8 years ago when I was 7 in the Shigakukan Peterhead dojo. I first joined for a combination of two reasons, one being that my parents were firm believers that every child should be involved in an activity outside of school, and two being that I was being severely bullied at the time.
For 2 years nothing changed, I only continued training to get new belts and get to play games in the children's class. However since about 6 years ago I started to become more intrested in karate-do and began noticing the benefits of regular training. Karate began to cause me to rethink what was important to me, and I soon realised that I no longer cared about those who were bullying me. Soon after that it came to a near halt and I was finally able to continue with my life and what did matter to me, such as my education, my family and, of course, karate-do.
Although in the Shigakukan dojos, the sessions are often very repetitive and difficult, I thoroughly enjoy them and know that I get more benefit from them when taught that way, not to mention the sense of achievement you get from getting through a difficult class.
For me, Karate has become more part of my life than a hobby. I have found that Karate has many mental and physical advantages such as increased fitness, willpower, confidence and is also good for teaching you discipline and self-control, among many others. The fact that karate is so difficult at times, I find makes it more enjoyable as it is challenging.
These three factors contribute to my love for karate and conjointly inspire me to continue to train.