About Us

The Karate Practitioners Club - Karacter School, alias known as ESCOLA DE KARACTER or EdK, is a non-profit club of practitioners founded on February 4, 2023 in Portugal.

The name was thus defined to allude to the pedagogical and training aspect of its practitioners, with a special focus on building their character, one of the fundamental principles of the Karate-ka code of conduct, the “Dojo Kun”.

Mission

ESCOLA DE KARACTER's mission is to promote the teaching of Shotokan style Karate-Do in its most traditional aspect, based on the moral and ethical values of the "Dojo Kun" and following the philosophical and technical principles of the Founder of Modern Karate, Gichin Funakoshi Sensei. Its main objectives are the promotion and organization of physical and sporting activities within the scope of Karate practice, with training, sporting, recreational and/or social purposes.

Vision

ESCOLA DE KARACTER arises from the desire of its founding members to promote quality Karate teaching oriented to the international line of the Karatenomichi World Federation (KWF) under the guidance of Sid Tadrist Sensei, disciple of Mikio Yahara Sensei. Non-profit, ESCOLA DE KARACTER aims to promote Karate in its most traditional and martial aspect, under the moral principles and character building of the practitioner.

Founded in February 2023, it is nationally affiliated with the Porto Karate Association (AKP) and the National Karate Federation of Portugal (FNK-P).

Through the international affiliation of its instructors and technical managers, ESCOLA DE KARACTER integrates and promotes the practice of Shotokan Karate under the training methods of the Karatenomichi World Federation (KWF), founded by Mikio Yahara Sensei, which currently represents one of the best schools of Budo Karate in the world, and whose teachings are oriented to the “Ichigeki-Hissatsu” principle.

ESCOLA DE KARACTER therefore plays an important role in the dissemination and promotion of Karate and the legacy of such noble masters.

Values

ESCOLA DE KARACTER believes, defends, practices and teaches its values, based on the values of the “Dojo Kun” Code of Conduct, all of which have the same degree of importance, namely:

• CHARACTER

Hitotsu, jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto

First, seek perfection of character;

• SINCERITY

Hitotsu, makoto no michi o mamoru koto

First, be sincere;

• EFFORT

Hitotsu, doryoku no seishin o yashinau koto

First, put maximum effort into everything you do;

• RESPECT

Hitotsu, reigi o omonzuru koto

First, respect others;

• SELF-CONTROL

Hitotsu, kekki no yuu o imashimuro koto

First, develop self-control and refrain from violent behavior.

As it is considered a complete sport, we are fully convinced that Karate promotes many benefits in terms of the behavior of its practitioners, especially children and young people in training. Practicing Karate makes children more sociable, since throughout their learning and growth process, or graduation, the notions of respect and companionship are always present.

Practicing this modality helps the treatment of hyperactive, restless and aggressive children, as it promotes changes in their behavior. It improves children's concentration and nervous balance, develops their flexibility and helps them maintain an adequate body posture, simultaneously developing self-confidence and motor, cognitive and affective aspects. Even with regard to motor coordination, laterality, balance and space-time orientation.

Karate promotes discipline and gives children a sense of limits and understanding, as well as respect for others. It also promotes the development of feelings such as friendship, companionship and patience. It improves their physical condition, making the child healthier, and above all, much happier and integrated into society.

Logo

The tiger as a representative symbol of the Shotokan style was originally painted by Japanese artist Hoan Kosugi on the cover of the book “Karate-Do Kyohan”. This visual artist was a personal friend and disciple of its founder, Gichin Funakoshi Sensei. Kosugi, encouraged him for years to write a book to promote Karate and the drawing represents the combative spirit of Karate-ka, but it also comes from the idea that in Japanese, when a book is assumed as a masterpiece that concentrates all the wisdom of a master in a certain art, is called “Tora no Maki” which literally translates to “Tiger Roll”. Kosugi's signature is represented next to the tiger's tail in the original drawing, resembling two crosses or stars. The entire icon represents the apparently calm and serene spirit of a feline, but when threatened, it is combative and lethal, capable of concentrating all its energy quickly, agilely and effectively in a single deadly blow, the “Ichigeki-Hissatsu” spirit. The border line that surrounds the tiger in the original painting represents common sense or the human capacity to keep all this combativeness contained until something very strong and inevitable breaks it.

In the adaptation for ESCOLA DE KARACTER, the border is represented with the three colors of the Portuguese flag, in the same number as the instructors who founded it. The order of colors also reflects the order of colors in the national flag, but with added intention: the outer border in green represents the zone of balance with the surrounding environment, the intermediate border in yellow represents the zone of disturbance and the inner red border represents the maximum focus zone. Additional reference to the 4 black lines that coincide with the same number of black bars in the KWF logo, separating the colors, as if they were barriers to overcome, in the transition between alert levels.