In any form of martial art, action is always faster than reaction. There’s a difference between anticipating something and reacting to it. If your interest is in self-protection, anticipation is what keeps you safe. One of those principles is simple – ask yourself “what if?” When I used to teach advanced driving, we taught it all […]
Leaving Yourself Options. Read More »
Sometimes a student freezes. Not because they don’t know a technique – but because the expected sequence has disappeared. That is the moment training becomes real. In my last article, I wrote that cooperation is not the same as pressure – that structure without uncertainty becomes choreography. The natural question follows. How do we introduce uncertainty
When the Drill Breaks. Read More »
In my last article, I wrote that before there were kata, there were two people working together. That order matters. But working together is not the same as working under pressure. There is a difference between training with a partner and training against uncertainty. And that difference matters. Many schools spend a great deal of time
Cooperation Is Not Pressure. Read More »
Kata Came Later In my previous article, I wrote that training existed first and kata came later. That order matters. Before forms were formalized, people trained together. They worked through problems with a partner. They tested movement under pressure. They adjusted and refined what was useful. Think about that for a moment. It had to be
Before There Were Kata. Read More »
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
You Can’t Learn Awareness With Your Eyes Closed – or in a Workshop. Read More »
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
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
What Remains When Distraction Is Removed – Awareness Is Not a Drill. Read More »
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. .
Self-Defense Starts Long Before the First Strike. Read More »
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
Karate-Do Is Not the Opposite of Practical Karate. Read More »
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
When Purpose Isn’t Clear – Context Is Everything. Read More »
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
Sabaki – Movement and Control Without Collision. Read More »
