I’ve written extensively about awareness in my recent articles, and some of the comments have been quite illuminating. I keep returning to this subject, which should tell you something: the misunderstandings around it are persistent. One in particular stood out. . People often talk about “learning awareness” as if it’s a checklist or a memory…
Category: Self-Protection
Most Real Self‑Protection is Invisible. It’s The Decision You Make Early Enough That Nothing Happens.
If you are like most people, you probably hope you will never have to face real violence. . Recently I wrote about awareness, because the best self-defense decisions often happen long before anything physical begins. The earlier you notice a problem, the more options you have. Sometimes the best outcome is simply stepping off the…
What Remains When Distraction Is Removed – Awareness Is Not a Drill.
In my recent article I talked about awareness – something everyone should be thinking about in relation to self-defense. Even if your goals are elsewhere, such as competition, awareness still matters. . But the question that always follows is this: how do you train it? . Awareness isn’t trained by adding content. It’s trained by…
Self-Defense Starts Long Before the First Strike.
Self-defense. It’s mostly about the fight, right? After all, that’s what the vast majority of training in the dojo is geared toward. . But when I speak of self-defense, I’m not talking about kumite drills or sparring. I’m talking about what happens in the real world, where the possibility of actual physical harm exists. ….
Karate-Do Is Not the Opposite of Practical Karate.
Someone said to me the other day, ‘Why don’t you give up practical karate, as you call it, and just do karate-do?’ . It’s an interesting comment, but one built on a misunderstanding. . What sat beneath the comment was the assumption that karate itself cannot be pragmatic. That once effectiveness and real-world purpose are…
When Purpose Isn’t Clear – Context Is Everything.
Self-defense and karate – two words that can be the difference between chalk and cheese, or, if trained within the correct context, can comfortably coexist. . Some people believe combative skill, that is, self-defense, will somehow emerge despite never training to develop it, even while calling what they do “self-defense”. . That assumption sits at…
Sabaki – Movement and Control Without Collision.
If you’ve followed my writing for any length of time, you’ll know that I’ve never been comfortable with step-kumite. I don’t want to reopen that debate here. Some people value it as tradition; others, myself included, take a more pragmatic view and question its usefulness. This article isn’t about winning that argument. . What is…
Predictable Responses Are Not Guaranteed Outcomes.
Following my recent article on bunkai and choreography, I found myself returning to the idea of “predictable responses”. It’s a familiar concept, and on the surface it makes sense. Certain actions often provoke certain reactions. . But often isn’t always. Nothing is guaranteed. . Yes, bodies respond to input. Strike, pull, disrupt balance – something…
Bunkai Without Reaction Is Still Choreography.
Bunkai – in some circles it is getting better. Practitioners and instructors are beginning to understand the reality of violence rather than relying on the familiar, stylized karate-type attacks. Intent, distance, and targets are improving. In others, however, there is still a long way to go. . But something fundamental is still missing in many…
“Take Them to the Ground” That Is The Failure
Some of the messages I receive are incredibly short-sighted. “You would fail if you were taken to the ground.” . Firstly – fail at what? . I don’t compete anymore. The karate I teach, and have taught for several decades, is practical and pragmatic in approach. Yes, we occasionally have fun and do competition-style sparring,…
Real Violence Isn’t a Fight – And That Changes Everything.
In response to my recent article about a video of a practitioner demonstrating self-defense techniques, coming from a respected karate legacy, a comment stated that it is virtually impossible to train for real-world encounters, and that even MMA fighters lose in street situations. . Statements like this often sound insightful, but they hide a deeper…
Choreography and the Dangers of Untested Confidence.
I was watching a video of a practitioner going through some self-defense techniques, presented as coming from a respected karate legacy. . To be honest, it would have been totally ineffective for that goal. . In a recent article, I explained how, as a young man in my early 20s, actively competing at a national…