In many U.S. cities thousands of young people are developing their minds as well as their bodies by learning karate. In the United States, karate is currently taught in more than fifty special schools, and in an increasing number of high schools and colleges.
Karate is a science of unarmed self-defense and counterattack. It is a sort of "weapon in an empty hand". In fact, karate means "empty hands" in Japanese. A highly skilled practitioner of karate, called a "karateka", uses his hands, fists, fingers, elbows, feet, and shrill yells as a weapon to ward off his assailant’s attack. Karate requires a great deal of coordination and long practice to perfect the blocks, strikes, and light taps that are used for self- defense.
Beginners learn to squat, sit up, pivot and stretch, jump and kick waist- high. Karate blows are so erous that trainees practice them without bodily contact with an opponent. They are able to smash boards and bricks with a clenched fist or the edge of their hands.
Not all karate training is physical. Karatekas spend a great deal of time in meditation in order to train their minds to know exactly where their opponents’ weak and strong points are, so that they can cope with them. This mental training also helps increase the karatekas’ self-confidence to defeat their assailant successfully or to avoid violence completely, in fact, karate practitioners have disciplined their bodies and minds so well that they rarely need to fight.
It is believed that a Buddhist monk in India invented karate in the sixth century A.D. and taught it to Chinese monks who brought it to the island of Okinawa and called it "kungfu". In the early seenth century, when the Japanese invaded Okinawa, they took every weapon from the people. Over the years, the Okinawans secretly developed karate to a high degree to repel their enemies. Since the 1960s karate has been a popular sport in many countries, and may even be a part of the official Olympic competitions in 2000.
The color of a karateka’s belt indicates his level of karate expertise. Beginning students wear white belts, and can advance to the level of the black belt — a very high honor that few people attain. Although most students of karate never earn a black belt, of which there are ten levels, they do become more self- disciplined individuals who can defend themselves when necessary. For Bobby Hamilton and Paula Jones, karate not only is a means of self-defense, but also it gives them new knowledge and spiritual balance to cope with our increasingly complex world.
The phrase in Paragraph 2 "ward off" means