35 Karate Quotes For All The Martial Arts Fans

Georgia Stone
Dec 12, 2023 By Georgia Stone
Originally Published on Feb 01, 2021
Edited by Luca Demetriou
The karate girl with black belt.
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Age: 0-99
Read time: 6.1 Min

Karate is a form of Martial arts using kicking, punching, and other kinds of defense styles.

Many people learn the art of self-defense. It even builds their confidence in overcoming their fear.

If ever a time may come to get yourself out of danger, even if you're new at learning it, you can get yourself out of it. Karate is also a sport and is included as an Olympic sport in 2021. Here are a few wise Karate quotes to motivate you to take it up.

If you like what you read, check out [Yogi quotes] and keep calm quotes.

Karate Sensei Quotes

Here we have the best Karate quotes from Karate masters like Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushin Karate, Hironori Otsuka, founder of Wadō-ryū style of karate or Gichin Funakoshi quotes, the founder of Shotokan karate-do.

1. "If you don’t overcome your tendency to give up easily, your life will lead to nothing."

- Mas Oyama.

2. "It is important to alter the form of the trained kata without hesitation to produce countless other forms of training."

- Hironori Otsuka.

3. "Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end."

- Gichin Funakoshi.

4. "Karate ultimately produces in the individual a vital concentration of energy that expands to heroic proportions in times of crisis."

- Shoshin Nagamine.

5. "The heart of our karate is real fighting. There can be no proof without real fighting. Without proof there is no trust. Without trust there is no respect. This is a definition in the world of martial arts."

- Mas Oyama.

6. "Train with both heart and soul without worrying about theory."

- Gichin Funakoshi.

7. "If you observed 100 matches, you would see that probably nine out of 10 are won by the person in better shape."

- Joe Lewis.

8. "The Way to find courage is to seek it on the field of conflict. And the sure way to victory is willingness to risk one’s own life."

- Mas Oyama.

9. "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."

- Gichin Funakoshi.

10. "You don't have to be flashy. You have to be fundamental."

- Joe Lewis.

Inspirational Karate Quotes

Karate man in kimono fighting.

These are some inspirational one-liner and quotes that are some quotations about defeat and quotations about training.

11. "Kata are not some kind of beautiful competitive dance, but a grand martial art of self-defense - which determines life and death."

- Kenwa Mabuni.

12. "Karate is not about techniques and their execution, but about boldness, integrity and fight for justice and common good."

- Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

13. "The purpose of Karate is to guide you out of trouble by any means necessary, both in actual combat and in life."

- Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

14. "Once a kata has been learned, it must be practiced repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a form in Karate is useless."

- Gichin Funakoshi.

15. "Karate is not about winning over others. It is about winning over one's self."

- David Walker.

16. "The more understanding you have about Karate, the less you need to change or modify it."

- Tsuguo Sakumoto.

17. "To all those whose progress remains hampered by ego-related distractions, let humility – the spiritual cornerstone upon which Karate rests – serve to remind one to place virtue before vice, values before vanity and principles before personalities."

- Sokon ‘Bushi’ Matsumura.

18. "Karate-do may be referred to as the conflict within yourself, or a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training, and your own creative efforts."

- Shoshin Nagamine.

19. "Karate-do is definitely a martial way, and its identity lies in do or principles. Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns into beastly behavior."

- Shoshin Nagamine.

20. "Karate has no philosophy. Some people think that … Karate has a connection with the absolute, space and universe. My philosophy is to knock my opponent out, due to the use of only one technique. One finishing blow!"

- Mikio Yahara.

21. "True Martial Arts is universal, simple and practical. Anything else is too complex to be used in combat."

- Soke Behzad Ahmadi.

22. "Karate aims to build character, improve human behavior, and cultivate modesty; it does not, however, guarantee it."

- Yasuhiro Konishi

23. "You are what your teacher is, and if he knows a lot, you should be able to demonstrate this knowledge."

- Yuchoku Higa.

24. "Karate is like boiling water, if you do not heat it constantly, it will cool."

- Gichin Funakoshi.

25. "Never depart from the way of martial arts."

- Miyamoto Musashi.

Quotes From Movies About Karate

Many iconic movie stars have promoted Karate in their movies, like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and more. Here's a few funny Karate quotes from movies, covering topics about defeat and funny Karate quotes.

26. "I haven’t always made an honest living, I admit that. But take a good, hard look at yourselves. You are not so different. You lie, you cheat, you exploit. Are you willing to admit that? I didn’t think so."

- Tso Ngan Kwan, 'Cheung Tin-Chi', 2018.

27. "Self-confidence is the most important thing, no matter where you are."

- Ip Man, 'Ip Man 4', 2019.

28. "The world isn't fair but moral standards apply to us all [...] The world doesn't belong to the rich, or even the powerful, but to those of pure heart."

- Ip Man, 'Ip Man 3', 2015.

29. "Ip Man: Wing Chun is a close combat style from the South...

Wong Shun Leung: No need to tell me all this. Let's just fight. I'll pay you the school fees if I lose.

Ip Man: Ok. I am Ip Man of Wing Chun."

- 'Ip Man 2', 2010.

30. "Miura: [after witnessing Ip Man single-handedly defeat ten Japanese fighters at once] What's your name?

Ip Man: I'm just a Chinese man."

- 'Ip Man', 2008.

31. "I thought I could put martial arts behind me. But deep down, I know I never could. Those of us who fight never understood the true meaning of martial arts."

- Cheung Tin-chi, 'Cheung Tin-Chi', 2018.

32. "In the face of injustice, I must stand up and fight. That was why we took up martial arts. This is something I very much want to do. Just as you want to cheer leading."

- Ip Man, 'Ip Man 4', 2019.

33. "Why'd God make women pretty but dumb? They're pretty, so men will like them. They're dumb, so they will like men."

- Cheung Wing-sing, 'Ip Man 3', 2015.

34. "Wong Leung: Master, do you think you can fight off 10 men?

Ip man: The best thing is not to fight at all."

- 'Ip Man 2', 2010.

35. "Captain Lei Chiu: Why am I a traitor? Their deaths have got nothing to do with me. I'm just an interpreter. I need to scrape a living too!

Ip Man: Scrape a living? You watch your countrymen get beaten to death. Where's your dignity?"

- 'Ip Man', 2008.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Karate quotes then why not take a look at 'Karate Kid' quotes, or You Got This! quotes.

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Written by Georgia Stone

Bachelor of Arts specializing in French with Film Studies, Bachelor of Arts (Year Abroad) specializing in Literature, History, Language, Media, and Art

Georgia Stone picture

Georgia StoneBachelor of Arts specializing in French with Film Studies, Bachelor of Arts (Year Abroad) specializing in Literature, History, Language, Media, and Art

Georgia is an experienced Content Manager with a degree in French and Film Studies from King's College London and Bachelors degree from Université Paris-Sorbonne. Her passion for exploring the world and experiencing different cultures was sparked during her childhood in Switzerland and her year abroad in Paris. In her spare time, Georgia enjoys using London's excellent travel connections to explore further afield.

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