The movie
“The Karate Kid” that came out in 1984 was the reason many kids like me got
interested in Karate. One of my cousins,
Erdogan had started to learn, but learning Karate as a 14 year old girl was not
so common and easy. And for that reason, my desire to learn Karate was dormant
for over 30 years.
In 2010,
this time Will Smith and a couple of other producers made the new version of
“The Karate Kid.” This time with Jackie
Chan as the unusual karate teacher and with additional touch of Chinese Kung
Fu.
I had been
so busy with work and also with NGO activities with Lions Clubs International,
with Down Syndrome Association and many more that, although I had never totally
forgotten, learning Karate was a dream which would always stay a dream I had
thought.
Well, maybe
life had other plans for me.
It was a
few months ago, after over 30 years, when the topic of Karate came up again and
I found myself talking with my cousin Erdogan, telling him that I wanted to learn Karate. He immediately had an answer for me. He told
me to find, to go to and talk to Mr.
Omer Habes in Habes Sports Centre,
in Calis, Fethiye.
I had not
known that there was indeed a World and European Champion Karate Instructor in
Fethiye. In turns out, Mr. Omer Habes,
who is 7th Dan in black belt, had won countless National
Championships in Turkey in both Kata and Kumite braches of
Karate. He had been the captain of our
Turkish National Team for many years, who is also known as one of the best
technical Turkish sportsman in Karate. And had become World and European
Champion.
One Monday
evening I found myself sitting at the corner of Mr. Omer Habes’ Karate training
place * his Dojo. The word Dojo in Japanese literally means the “place of the
way.” Watching his class for adults that
Monday, I decided to put my fears aside and do something that I wanted to do
since I was a young girl.
After my
first day of training on that Wednesday, I had become sure that I had made a
very good decision. Having wanted to learn Karate for many years, of course I
was motivated. I was scared and motivated.
And as some you might know, I have a favor for things Japanese. I am a
Reiki instructor and have to Japan many times and I have worked with Japanese
NGOs and Foundations. However, what I
found in Karate from day one is beyond what I expected.
The way of
Karate is a path. It is told to be a life-long process of self-discovery.
However, again from day one I found myself in a wave of energy that energies
the body and the soul. I was also amazed, and still am, how Shihan (Master
Instructor) Omer Habes follows his students in training. How he knows the limits and the potential of
his students. Kids and adults alike. In
a training, at an unexpected moment you may find him call your name from a
distant corner of the Dojo telling you to not give up and do your best at a
punch or a kick, just to realize that you were indeed about to give up and
wonder how he realized it before you yourself did.
Apart from
the classes for adults, I had the chance to watch some of the classes for kids
as well. Tiny kids who are four, five,
six years old in yellow, orange and green belts practice Karate in such beauty
and discipline, you may find yourself just wanting to keep watching them. I
also am very proud to see that there are many young girls of all ages learning
and practicing Karate in Mr. Habes’ Dojo.
Shihan Mr.
Omer Habes practices and teaches the “Shotokan” style of Karate, developed by
Master Gichin Funakoshi from Okinawa, Japan.
Master Funakoshi was born in 1868 and has passed away in 1957. Although Karate has very ancient roots,
Master Funakoshi was the person who brought Karate from Okinawa to main island
Japan, to Tokyo.
On the
evening that I visited Mr. Omer Habes’ Dojo in Calis, I ordered some of the
books of Gichin Funakoshi online. I
usually feel the need to connect through reading and for Karate I felt the same
need. Of course until the books arrived,
I continued to attend the three-nights-a-week classes for adults.
When the
books arrived, I started to read “The Twenty Guiding Principles of KARATE”
first. My first impression was that,
although the words were not uttered, these 20 principles were very alive and
present in our Dojo and in our classes.
One of my
other interesting discoveries was that Karate is, when taught honest to its
roots, is very “nonviolent.” It is not easy to explain how. We probably expect Karate to be about power,
using power and we expect it to be even dangerous. I probably did. The power used in Karate might be dangerous
when used with a negative intention, however, the real lesson behind it all
seems to be about discovering our inner strength and discovering our weaknesses
that we hide even from ourselves and making peace with them, as well as turning
them into strengths.
I am lucky
because I had the chance to unexpectedly find a world class instructor in
Fethiye. I felt even more lucky when a
few trainings later I found myself training in Fethiye with World Champion
Scottish Sensei Alistair Mitchell
from Great Britain. We may call Fethiye
a small town in Turkey, however Fethiye seems to be able to offer the World to
many. Well, as for Karate, it turns out
many World Champions, teachers and masters visit Shihan Mr. Omer Habes, and
students like me find the amazing chance to meet these other Karate Masters in
his Dojo in Fethiye.
My dream of
starting to learn Karate came true after 31 years.
May your
dreams and desires come alive as well.
With love
and light.
Zeynep
Contact for Master Ömer Habeş:
Mr. Faruk Habeş / Mrs. Elif Habeş
Fethiye Karate Habes Sports Centre
Habeş Spor Merkezi
Yerguzlar Caddesi No.73-1, Fethiye, Turkey
+90 (543)357 48 00
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