Karate has always been a long road. It was never meant to be a collection of certificates to gather, but a lifetime of practice that slowly shapes the person who walks it. . The early grades mark progress, but they are only the beginning. Shodan literally means “first step”, the point at which you finally…
Category: Self-Protection
Training for What You Can’t Predict – When Practice Meets Reality.
In a previous article, I wrote about how suddenly violence can appear, and how little control any of us may have over its arrival. . I also wrote about an incident from my early twenties, when I was attacked while out running. That experience stayed with me not because of technique, but because of what…
The Part of Violence Few Train For: Prepared for Practice, Not for Shock.
Yesterday, a seventy-eight-year-old man was gunned down in his own home near where I live. What does this have to do with martial arts? . Nothing. . And yet, it has everything to do with awareness. . Would awareness have saved this man? Probably not. And that matters. Not every act of violence is preventable,…
Purpose Shapes Practice – Karate, Context, and Age.
Driving past a martial arts school yesterday, I noticed some of the students leaving – children barely three or four years old. . Personally, I have never taught children this young. In my opinion, karate for this age group is little more than structured play and games. If this is your income source and it…
Kata Must Survive Failure, Not Choreography.
In my last couple of articles I wrote about sequences in kata. Yes, of course they exist, but relying on them like a script is simply not feasible. No one knows what an attacker is likely to do. However, we do have clues. . Any form of martial art requires an instructor to demonstrate principles,…
Karate, Context, and the Problem With Certainty.
Following my last article, one of the comments said that karate’s Chinese influences were based on systems that used clearly defined sequences, and therefore Okinawan kata must have been designed the same way. . In that article I also mentioned that many people assume kata itself is made up of clearly defined sections – that…
Where Does a Kata Sequence Really End?
(Approx 2 minute 45 second read) I had a couple of questions in the comments on an article I wrote about understanding kata beyond individual techniques. . The first was, “When or how does one know when a particular sequence in a kata has actually finished and when the next sequence starts?” . The second…
From Power to Position: Training Smarter With Age.
(Approx 2 minute 45 second read) In my last article, I spoke about the uncomfortable reality of aging. The biological fact that a 66-year-old cannot reliably out-athlete a bigger, stronger, violent 20-year-old. . The response was telling. Some found it liberating, while others found it insulting. But once we accept that our hardware has slowed…
Experience Has Limits: You Cannot Underestimate the Untrained.
(Approx 1 minute 45 second read) Have you ever been attacked outside of the dojo? Have you ever had to deal with someone who was genuinely determined to cause you or your loved ones harm? Have you been knocked to the ground, injured, and then had to get up and run for your life? ….
Failing Your Kata: When Exhaustion Replaces Education.
(Approx 2 minute 40 second read) It is one thing to argue that kata is misunderstood as a concept, but it is another entirely to witness how that misunderstanding manifests in the daily reality of the modern dojo. . Following my previous article, a reader shared a reflection that perfectly captures the frustration felt by…
Understanding Kata Beyond Individual Techniques – Movement Over Moments.
(Approx 2 minute read) One of the most common mistakes people make when analyzing kata is treating each posture as a separate technique. . They stop the movement, freeze it, and ask, “What is this?” Then they move on to the next position and do the same thing. The result is a sequence that becomes…
Kata Only Fails When We Forget Why It Exists.
(Approx 2 minute 30 second read) As martial artists, we all have a style in which we feel comfortable. Karate, however, has been unbelievably dumbed down over the years. . Sadly, a number of individuals overlook karate’s true significance. They are not interested in its history, its influences, or where and why it was conceived….