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,…
Tag: Bunkai
Certificates, Curiosity, and the Disappearance of Depth in Karate.
There is a modern belief that achievement is something you can hold in your hand – a certificate, a diploma, a grade, a title, a rank. Something printed, stamped, and signed that proves you have arrived. It’s a comforting illusion, and it has taken root in karate. . The logic is simple. If the box…
When Function Comes First – Kata as Record, Not Puzzle.
History is a strange thing. We have snippets here and there, sometimes probabilities creep in, but very little that is truly concrete. We study, we interpret, and some attempt to reverse engineer, but at the end of the day we can only work with what we have now. . There is an ongoing discussion around…
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…
What Seniority Was Meant to Represent – When Titles Outpace Training.
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…
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…
The Syllabus Is a Guide, Not a Cage – Learning Beyond the Wall Chart.
I remember some time ago visiting a dojo to teach. Hanging on the wall was the syllabus the students had to follow. One of the kata I had chosen to teach that day wasn’t listed, and they remarked that they didn’t need to learn it because it wasn’t on the syllabus. . We all want…
Understanding Without Permission, Discomfort With Independent Thought.
Why do some discussions shift from reality to rank the moment clarity or experience is questioned? . This question came up recently in response to one of my articles: “Are the views stated your own views, or are they transmitted from your teachers?” . On the surface, it sounds reasonable. But it reveals something deeper…
Waiting for the Lightbulb Moment – When Patience Becomes an Excuse.
A comment on one of my articles suggested that Western students want answers immediately, whereas the Japanese are prepared to wait patiently for a ‘lightbulb moment’. . In other words, understanding should come to us in its own time, and until then we simply repeat. . There is some truth in this, but it is…
Repetition Without Understanding Is Just Practice in Error.
Repetition. You must perform a movement hundreds of times for it to become automatic, instinctive. . Students need repeated exposure over time for skills and understanding to settle into long-term memory. . But there’s an obvious problem that rarely gets addressed. . What happens if you’re repeating something the wrong way hundreds of times? ….