(Approx 1 minute 50 second read) I recently had a persistent commenter on my Facebook page, a person who, every time I posted an article about self-defense, would jump in to say that in his 40 years of training, he has never had to use self-defense. He claimed that he trains purely for fun and…
Tag: Fighting
Lessons from the Past: Do Some Traditions Fail in Self-Defense?
(Approx 2 minute 35 second read) Social media today is flooded with people showing off their ideas of bunkai applications. Every day, my feed is full of someone performing something or other. . Sometimes, these ideas are just cringeworthy, so I move on. It’s not worth losing time over. . Now, I get that for…
Meeting it Head-On: Shouldn’t Angles Define Kata and Your Responses?
(Approx 2 minute 20 second read) I’m writing about angles again as I had so many comments and messages about this, I want to try and make my case a little clearer. . When you’re in the dojo and you begin to practice any step-kumite, drills, or sparring, you stand facing an opponent, right? ….
“Self-Praise and Over-Confidence is a Sickness That Corrupts Training.”
(Approx 1 minute 45 second read) Confidence is something every martial artist needs. Without it, even the most skilled person can freeze when it matters most. I’ve written about this recently – the impact of how a lack of confidence can ruin any skill you may have. . However, just as too little confidence is…
Thinking for Yourself: Breaking Free from the Illusion in Karate.
(Approx 2 minute 40 second read) “What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently; it is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of wanting to think for themselves, something that they do not know how to do.” – Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) . Karate, and the martial arts in general,…
The Training That Forged Us: Built by the Past. The Lessons That Shaped Us.
(Approx 1 minute 35 second read) My recent article* about the old days – when fighting was tough, and injuries were just part of training – got a lot of responses. Not surprising really many of us experienced something similar. . To be honest, most of the comments were reflective. Those of us who lived…
No Pads, No Limits – The Way We Trained.
(Approx 1 minute 40 second read) Those of us who have been around in the martial arts for a while remember a time when there was no equipment. We never wore gloves, helmets, or protective gear of any kind when we fought. We had no pads to hit – we hit each other. . We…
Getting Off the Attack Line: Enbusen and the Reality of Angles in Kata.
(Approx 2 minute 50 second read) If you were unfortunate enough to be attacked outside the dojo, doesn’t common sense tell you that getting out of the way would be a good idea? . Kata is full of principles covering a wide range of scenarios, and one of the most important lessons is – getting…
Karate Before the Labels: No Names, Just Karate. Don’t Wait – Take Control.
(Approx 2 minute 40 second read) Someone recently told me that if you don’t wait for an attack, or at least attack or defend at the same time (sen no sen), then you have effectively become the attacker. He argued that we can never truly know the exact method of attack, so we should effectively…
Karate in Context: Guided by History, Defined by Purpose.
(Approx 3 minute read) There are so many different opinions about what karate is, where it came from, and what it was actually used for. Who’s right? . We have a few snippets from history – newspaper articles, a few books written at the time – but even these have their limitations. Everything written was…
The Bigger Picture: Principles and Concepts in Motion – The True Gift of Kata.
(Approx 2 minute 20 second read) When you look into kata and their applications, breaking things down, you usually look at individual techniques, sometimes obsessing over what’s going on in a specific movement. . You probably consider the terminology of a technique too, using it to try and work out how a series of moves…
“If you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything.”
(Approx 1 minute 30 second read) “If you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything.” – Miyamoto Musashi . Someone commented on one of my articles saying that practical karate people are just looking for moves in MMA to match what they do. . Actually, no. That’s the wrong way around. You…