Karate and yoga, the same essence

Karate teacher Roberto Carlos Valle Cordero was born in Cáceres on March 18, 1977. Doctor in Criminology and Forensic Sciences, he is an educational advisor and teacher of karate and hatha yoga. Last year he came to Almería to work and stayed in Gádor to develop his work as Educational Counselor. He has been dedicated to martial arts for more than 20 years, having practiced taekwondo, judo, karate shotokan, jujutsu and finally karate Goju Ryu (skill he has focused on). I have no doubt that Roberto Carlos (karate second dan) trained with good karate masters to improve his technique. And how many karate fighters and martial artists can say that they met and trained with Master Yosuke Yamashita? In his karate teaching classes he is trying to introduce yoga, because, as a counselor, he feels responsible for transmitting all those tools that have made his learning and transformation possible, knowing that this combination of disciplines (karate and yoga) is a path educational improvement and an opportunity to transmit human values. Roberto Carlos has had the initiative to create a Municipal School of Karate, through the company Cooperation 2005, SL of Huércal de Almería, in collaboration with the municipalities of Gádor and Benahadux, in which he intends to teach these values ​​to children of all ages. ages and even adults.

R. G. F.: Roberto Carlos, tell me where karate comes from.

Robert Charles: By way of synthesis, the art of the empty hand (karate) was born from the fusion of styles typical of the island of Okinawa such as To-de, to which Chinese martial arts and the influence of Taoism were added, which is where it comes from. the concept of Goju Ryu (school of hard and soft); among them styles such as the white crane and the five ancestors, or the Chinese wrestling compendium called Bubishi. Its creators were Kanryo Higaonna and Chojun Miyagui. In the development of the Goju Ryu tradition there was a methodological split: the resulting karate from Okinawa (Japan) remained as a martial and practical application as it is, preserving its roots, and the Japanese tradition through the influence of the sensei Gogen Yamaguchi “El Gato” became more eclectic, incorporating the concept of Do (spiritual path) to this martial art, thus including yoga techniques, Zen meditation, and respect and worship of nature (it should be noted that Yamaguchi He was a Shinto priest.

R. G. F.: Could you explain to me why you started practicing karate?

Robert Charles: I started practicing karate after having tried other martial arts, with the purpose of specializing in one and improving my lack of attention and fears, since I was a shy and withdrawn child who went through a difficult adolescence. When I was a teenager I was diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and karate helped me a lot to gain self-confidence.

R. G. F.: How has karate helped you with your ADHD problem?

Robert Charles: I was diagnosed with ADHD of the inattentive subtype which is characterized by restlessness and attention deficits. Karate gave me tools to improve my attention and remain balanced: the internal combat of Karate-Do helped me overcome and transcend my limitations of scattered attention, stimulating me to remain alert during its practice. There is scientific evidence for this personal statement.

R. G. F.: What values ​​does this martial art transmit?

Robert Charles: Through constant practice I have come to the conclusion that the values ​​of karate, far from being a martial art for combat, are values ​​that provide discipline, physical and mental stability, focused attention and self-confidence, which open a path of health to be strong in the face of any adversity.

R. G. F.: What style of karate do you practice? And what characterizes this modality?

Robert Charles: I practice the Goju Ryu style of karate based on the codes of ethics of the Japanese tradition; which is characterized by soft and hard movements, putting emphasis and awareness in the establishment of body positions to execute attack and defense techniques. The school where I come from places a lot of importance on the work of deep breathing or ibuki. We work on katas (forms of harmonic movement), kumite (combat modalities) and qigong (repetitions of techniques to refine the forms of attack and defense). Our school does not belong to sports karate, and although we have combat modalities in the dojo (the usual training place) with one, two and three opponents in Jiu Kumite (a form of free combat applying learned techniques), this does not is in favor of awarding a winner, because the award is to practice in synergy with the group over the years to obtain health, wisdom, self-control and spiritual development as a human being.

R. GF: When we were talking you told me that you combine traditional karate with classic hatha yoga… Help me understand what this yoga discipline is.

Robert Charles: Indeed, they are my two great passions that have occupied me for many years, since they are perfectly compatible. Hatha yoga could be summarized as a very ancient Indian discipline in which the body is worked through the mind and vice versa, and whose practice helps to balance the energies of one’s body in order to reach deeper states of meditation.

R. G. F.: What is your current training routine and diet?

Robert Charles: I train whenever I can and I have time. My diet is balanced and I eat everything, although I was a vegetarian in the past, that is why I always recommend that any dietary modification be accompanied by a change of consciousness and notions of how to combine foods for a correct diet. I usually do at least one or two fasts a year.

R. G. F.: As a karate teacher, what is your teaching based on?

Robert Charles: As I have already commented before, my school comes from a Japanese tradition inherited by the sensei Gogen Yamaguchi, and whose teaching was transmitted to me through two teachers I had (both now deceased): sensei Yosuke Yamashita (tenth dan of karate), who as a karateka was and is well known worldwide; and sensei José María Caballero, who was a direct student of Yamaguchi in Japan. In my classes I transmit those objectives and knowledge that I have learned from them: the value of the community; of the importance of the practice of this martial art not only as combat, but as a way of becoming “human beings” aware that we bring value, physical and attitudinal skills to citizenship. The karate I teach encompasses not only dangerous techniques that can seriously injure an opponent, but is also about practicing courtesy, mindfulness and concentration, companionship, and mind control in stressful situations, as well as, Of course, with meditation.

R. G. F.: Are many people interested in karate? Do they do it for pleasure or for self defense?

Robert Charles: They do it above all to improve their physical and psychological condition, that is, to feel safe against any aggression. In my classes with children and adults my methodology is intense and active, fun and stimulating.

RGF: A question about the legend of Bruce Lee, for whom I have great admiration. In fact, I have a phrase of his tattooed on my right side. We know that this martial arts expert left countless reflections that inspire modern life today. What wisdom, what lessons have you learned from his philosophical legacy?

Robert Charles: That a trained and attentive mind transcends any barrier. In martial arts it is more difficult to achieve smoothness and fluidity than hardness and robustness, that is why everything must flow in the same way that water flows through a stream, so that the energy or flow in your body and It brings you health and vitality. Be water, my friend (“Be like water, my friend”).