Self-defense. Everyone teaches it, right? It’s written on the flyers, displayed on the dojo door, printed on the business cards, and included in the advertising. It is one of the main reasons many people walk into a martial arts school in the first place. But what if I told you that you might not be […]
Teaching the Fight First Read More »
Every instructor teaches from what they know. That is unavoidable. The problem begins when what they know becomes the boundary of what they believe self-defense is. Not always deliberately. Not always dishonestly. But limited all the same. My own direction has always been toward karate as a method of self-protection. I understand that karate can
When the Instructor’s Limits Become the Method Read More »
Kata, kihon, and two-person drills are all part of the language of karate. Each has value. Each has a place. But none of them should exist in isolation, and none of them should be kept simply because they have always been there. Karate has changed over time. It has been taught for physical education, discipline,
If It Doesn’t Serve the Purpose Read More »
There is a difference between surviving something and having a good method. A while ago, I wrote about the use of jodan age-uke against a downward strike from a bo. The same idea is often shown against a baseball bat. The arm rises, the weapon comes down, and the defender is shown stopping the attack
When “It Worked” Still Isn’t Good Enough Read More »
Karate is translated as “empty hand”. Karate-do, the way of the empty hand. Most karateka know, at least in general terms, that the older characters for karate referred to “China hand”, and that the later change to “empty hand” helped reshape the art for a different time, a different audience, and a different cultural setting.
Empty Hands, Armed Assumptions Read More »
Someone once told me that if you do not wait for an attack, or at least attack and defend at the same time, then you have effectively become the attacker. His argument was that we can never truly know the exact method of attack, so we should wait. The exact method? Perhaps not. We may
Waiting for the Attack Read More »
Step into a traditional karate dojo and one of the first things you will usually do is take off your shoes. Hopefully. Karate, like many Japanese budo, is traditionally practiced hadashi, barefoot. There are cultural reasons for this, practical reasons, and reasons connected directly to how we move, balance, and feel the ground beneath us. In
Barefoot in the Dojo, Shoes in the Real World Read More »
There are several kata where movements are performed as jumping, leaping, or dramatic athletic actions. Suparinpei is one example, with the jumping front kick, or mae tobi geri. I understand why these movements look impressive. A well-performed jumping kick shows timing, coordination, strength, flexibility, and confidence. It can have value as a physical challenge, and it can look
Before I knew the word sabaki, I already understood one thing: If someone is trying to hit you, being somewhere else is usually a good place to start. That idea wasn’t unique to karate. Coming from boxing in my youth, moving off the line of attack simply made sense. You learned quickly that standing directly in
Before I Knew the Word “Sabaki” Read More »
One of the biggest problems in martial arts is that many people discuss violence without ever having experienced what genuine violence actually feels like. I don’t mean sparring in the dojo under pressure, demonstrations, or competitive exchanges. I mean the kind of violence that is sudden, emotionally charged, physically overwhelming, and nothing like theory. There
Violence Is Not a Puzzle Waiting for a Secret Answer Read More »
People often associate practical karate with fighting, self-defense, and physical confrontation. That is understandable. Much of my own writing over the years has focused on practical application, violence, realism, and the realities surrounding self-protection. Those things matter. But after more than fifty years of training, I have come to realize that karate eventually becomes something
What Karate Becomes Over Time Read More »
Kata is often misunderstood because many people view it through a modern lens. Today we live in a world of instant access to information. There are videos, books, seminars, online courses, slow-motion breakdowns, and endless commentary available at the touch of a screen. When kata was developed, none of that existed. There was no social
