Someone made a comment recently that stuck with me. Not because it was unusual – but because it was honest. The person had been training in Shotokan for nearly 30 years and said he was completely indifferent to self-defense. For him, karate was a kind of moving meditation. Something personal. Something calm. Something far removed […]
Karate Without Context Read More »
Whenever people ask me about karate or inquire about joining our dojo, a question that occasionally comes up is, “What style of karate do you practice?” But what does that really tell anyone? Does a style actually give insight into a practitioner’s skill or an instructor’s understanding of karate? There are those who place a
What Does ‘Style’ Really Tell You? Read More »
Drills, whether practical or not, are often shown through demonstration. If you want to explain a movement or an idea, you need a partner, and at some level that partner has to cooperate for the demonstration to take place. There’s nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem starts when that cooperation isn’t recognized for
When Self-Defense Becomes the Problem Read More »
Karate doesn’t fail people – unclear goals do. My page is predominantly about practical, pragmatic karate. It says so right at the top. So naturally, everything I write comes from that context. And from that perspective, something all of us have had to practice and learn at one time in our karate journey – step-kumite
Step-Kumite Isn’t the Problem – Misunderstanding It Is Read More »
One of the biggest challenges for any instructor is keeping students focused on the basics. Why is this important? Because without a good solid foundation, everything built on top of it eventually starts to give way. It might not be obvious at first. In fact, it often looks quite the opposite. People get faster, sharper,
Basics: More Than Just Technique Read More »
In the modern dojo, it’s common to see almost every combination include a kick somewhere within it. That isn’t accidental. It reflects the influence of competitive environments, where kicking plays a significant role. At a high level, competitors are exceptional athletes. They have the timing, flexibility, balance, and conditioning to apply kicks in ways that
Kicking in Karate: A Question of Context Read More »
I was practicing the kata Tensho recently – actually one of my favorite kata – and it got me thinking about its many variations. Not because it looks impressive, or because there’s a lot going on. In fact, it’s the opposite. There’s very little there on the surface. The movements are small, controlled, and repetitive.
Tensho: Why So Many Versions? Read More »
Here we go again. Every time I write about the benefits of kata – really trying to help people understand what it is and how it works – someone shows up in the comments to tell me to go and do ‘real training’. This time it was someone proudly talking about his ‘street-real’ jiu-jitsu and
Kata Isn’t the Problem – Misunderstanding It Is Read More »
Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. It sounds right. It feels right, and most people accept it without question. But taken as it stands, it isn’t quite true. There’s no doubt that teachers can change the direction of someone’s training. Most of us can think of
One Day With a Great Teacher? Read More »
Before I get into this article, here’s a question. As a child, who taught you to walk? Many of us want to understand the movements in kata, and there is an assumption that someone will show us what they mean. The reality is that being shown is not necessarily a requirement, and in many cases,
Applications – You Have to Find Them Read More »
I watched a 95-year-old Okinawan Uechi-ryu master recently performing Sanseiryu, Shintoku Takara, and it stayed with me longer than I expected. Not because of anything dramatic, but because of how little seemed to be happening on the surface. There was no urgency, no obvious effort, and none of the exaggerated movement that people often associate with
What Survives at 95? Read More »
In a previous article I wrote about the exaggerated movement you see in kata, the overuse of the shoulders and torso – that’s noise. If that’s the noise, then this is the signal. To understand the difference, you have to look at how weight is being used. Most people focus on what they can see
The Signal and the Noise: Finding Quiet Power Read More »
