If you want to be skilled at karate, do what skilled karate people do: train each day! If you get into the habit of daily training, you will surprise yourself with how much progress you can make.
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I often get asked “how can I improve my karate?” The answer is really very simple…… Practice.
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One of the principles I have always stuck by is; once learned never forgotten, out of respect to my teachers and my instructors. They never had to teach me the same thing twice.
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It amazes me how people can be so bold as to say; ‘Ive forgotten what you taught me’!……. Basically this is because you do not have the discipline to practice diligently and regularly.
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Whenever I was taught anything by my instructors I would write it down, go through it in my head in the car on the way home, and repeat it again as soon as I got home. I would practice from my notes and then visualize it in my mind, and physically thereafter, out of respect to my teacher as much as myself.
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My notebook went with me everywhere, and whenever the opportunity arose I would open it up and practice. When I went back for my next lesson, my instructor expected me to have practiced and learned what we went through the last time.
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Set yourself the goal of practicing karate every day…..Yes EVERY DAY – set aside some time, perhaps as little as a few minutes, to practice karate every day.
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There are other things you can do too. Maybe you can go for a run or walk, or stretch for ten to fifteen minutes. Lift some weights, to strengthen muscles that are specifically used in karate or you can practice a kata a few times.
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Reinforce what you instructor taught you in class. Spend a few minutes reading about martial arts history or philosophy. All of those are good options that don’t take a lot of time and, applied consistently, will greatly improve your karate and your overall knowledge.
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Training a little every day also helps reinforce the concepts taught at the dojo each week, and will make you better prepared for the next class.
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Do you practice everyday?….. I do. Once learned never forgotten. 
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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle.
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