Karate as a martial art consists of various components that make it attractive to all age groups and all ability levels: it is a group activity—providing socialization skills, it teaches self-defense skills as well as self-awareness skills, it provides an exciting outlet to competitive individuals as a way to measure themselves against other practitioners, and it has a spiritual and philosophical body of knowledge such as meditation, Confucian ideology, as well as a distinct Asian inclination towards Buddhism's ascetic sensibilities.
However, Karate as a discipline and body of knowledge requires practice and mastery of 3 primary areas of concentration: sparring or fighting, Kata or forms, and self-defense techniques. All three of these areas of concentration require physical activity and some, chiefly sparring, require a high degree of physical skill and development as well as cardiovascular fitness. Additionally, most forms of traditional karate such as Shotokan karate also include several weapons disciplines or kobudo. In his concise text on Karate, Funakoshi also gives voice to a philosophy of Karate as an additional area of concentration. Reliance of karate on the traditional Easter philosophies is indicative of the strong classical Chinese philosophy incorporated into almost all of the Asian martial arts, including the Japanese arts and Shotokan Karate specifically.
[...] W., Hodgetts, R. M., & Luthans, B. C. “Positive approach to leadership (pal) implications for today's organizations.” Journal of Leadership Studies, 8/2(2003): 3. Sims, R. R. Managing organizational behavior. Westport, CT: Quorum Books; 2002. Sims, R. R. Managing organizational behavior. [...]
[...] Warrior Dreams: The Martial Arts and the American Imagination. Bergin & Garvey, New York; 1994: 48-53. Myers, Deborah J. “Martial Arts-Not Just for Fighting.” Massage Magazine Mar./Apr. (2005): 92-93. Myers, Deborah J. “Martial-Arts—Not Just for Fighting.” MASSAGE Magazine Mar./Apr. (2005): 92. Funakoshi, Gichin. Karate Jutsu: The Original Teachings of Master Funakoshi, Translation by John Teramoto. Okinawa: Kodansha International Ltd; 2001. [...]
[...] C. “Building collaborative new product processes: Why instituting teams is not enough.” SAM Advanced Management Journal, 68/1(2003): 27+. Kerber, K. W., & Buono, A. F. “Leadership challenges in global virtual teams: Lessons from the field.” SAM Advanced Management Journal, 69/4(2004): 4+. Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., Hodgetts, R. M., & Luthans, B. C. “Positive approach to leadership (pal) implications for today's organizations.” Journal of Leadership Studies, 8/2(2003): 3+. [...]
[...] On the one hand, if the leader behaves autocratically, trying to a preconceived decision, the advantages of using a group are obliterated . In the final analysis, an amalgamation of these group decision making techniques seems to be the most appropriate since the business environment is never so clearly defined as to exactly fit the demands of one scenario over the other. Furthermore, as with the group orientation of the Karate class and Karate training, the rise of teams and the use of team decision making practices, as well as project management teams, in the corporate world, new strategic methods of making these groups effective have been one of the missions of organizations over the recent past. [...]
[...] Followers will take leadership positions as needed; leaders will become followers, as needed. In essence, to be participative is to be fully democratic and this principle is certainly in-line with Karate and its Eastern philosophical bent. The primary difference between these two leadership styles and it is a foundational one, is that the charismatic leadership style is personality based and exhibits little continuity since it is difficult to maintain from leader to leader with any degree of consistency. Conversely, participative management endows the organization with consistency because the character of its leadership structure is not personality based but process based.[16] In this sense, Karate also develops such sensibilities because while a long- time practitioner of the art is expected to teach and lead classes of students, he or she is also expected to practice humility and genuine respect for the other members of the class.[17] In so doing, the Karate practitioner never strays far from the act of Karate practice and is constantly being reminded that training itself is the only method to mastery. [...]
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