My daughter has been taking karate lessons for nearly half a year, and recently graduated to a yellow belt. She’s on the track to red, but don’t ask me to how many belts there are or what colors come in between. The discipline she’s being taught physically as well as mentally are valuable beyond the Dojo for shaping her development as a person — and also help to rein in her formidable attitude at home.

It’s enjoyable to watch her classes as a bystander, and has sparked curiosity for the actual sport. I did some Googling and found information on karate to be surprisingly contradictory. There are a different stories about how karate started and evolved. Even belt colors can be variable between disciplines. Here’s an infographic I created for fun to call out a few of the main elements of karate — through the lens of my daughter’s Dojo!