Our Karate curriculum is primarily self-defense based. Shotokan Karate is an excellent martial art for self-protection, as noted in the Black Belt Magazine article "For Street Self-Defense, There Is No Better Martial Art Than Shotokan Karate." A new student (White Belt) at our school, for example, will learn verbal self-defense for anti-bullying, how to escape an attempted abduction, and how to fall and roll safely if they are knocked over. When the student starts sparring (typically at Blue Belt), they will learn self-protection skills such as "stacking" multiple attackers.  When our students reach Black Belt Club level (Blue Belt for 5-8 year-olds and Orange Belt for 9-12 year-olds), they can participate in tournaments, where they compete in forms and sparring competition, which we highly recommend. Since joining the Colorado Karate Association (CKA) in 2016, we have discovered that our students who compete see vast improvement in confidence, concentration, character and skill level.  So, while traditional Karate's main focus is always on self-defense, the competition aspect is also important on the student's journey to earn a Black Belt.