CAPTAIN Hassan has been coaching karate in the Kingdom for the past 20 years, and interestingly, he says he is “happy with the importance given to martial arts in the Kingdom”. “Parents here understand the importance of the physical fitness of their children, who otherwise tend to spend all their time in front of the computer or the TV,” said the qualified karate coach from Egypt. Hassan started coaching karate in Egypt in 1975 while he also represented his country at the national level. Asked why he chose karate over other forms of martial arts, he said that unlike the other art forms, karate is “not only related to the body but also to the state of mind”. The complete term for karate is karate-do which means cooperation between the mind and body. Hassan was enthralled with karate right from his childhood and was coached from the age of 12 under five different Japanese coaches. Experienced in coaching young children, Hassan says the right age to start learning karate is at the age of four or five. Arguing against the common belief that children trained in karate or other martial arts grow up to be more violent and abusive than others, he says that children trained in karate, in fact, end up being more patient and resistant than others because they are “fully aware and secure about their strength”. “The philosophy of fighting people is to prove to others and themselves that they are strong. But with practicing karate, they know they are strong. When being trained in karate, they are also taught not to abuse their powers and asked to take a pledge to uphold the true spirit of karate-do and never to use their skills against any person, except for self-defense and in an instance of extreme danger or an unprovoked attack, or in support of law and order,” said Hassan. The various karate levels include: White, Yellow, Orange, Blue (3 stages), Brown (3 stages) and Black (10 stages). Hassan holds a seventh stage of Black belt in karate, a feat which only a few have achieved in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom stands third in karate among the other Arab countries. Hassan, who has three children – a son and two daughters - said his son, Mohammed Hassan, shows the same interest in karate as he does. At 13, he already holds a black belt in karate. His daughters, on the other hand, had to be forced into karate, “but now that they are older they understand the importance of being trained to defend themselves,” said Hassan. Underscoring the importance of training women in karate, he said: “In every community, there are bad elements which are a threat to women, and being trained in karate or other self-defense martial arts will be beneficial for them. The Saudi government should seriously consider this issue and I believe that Saudi women would be as good in karate as foreign women.” He believes that a woman should be able to defend herself in times of crisis and that she should be encouraged and motivated to do so. For now, Hassan mostly coaches in schools and compounds, and hopes that someday, the Saudi government will realize the importance of opening karate institutes for women.
