Karate has changed – we all know that. The karate created by the pioneers on Okinawa looks very different from much of what we see today. And of course, those later pioneers were part of that shift themselves. Change didn’t happen by accident. When I watch students from other dojo trying to work out bunkai…
Tag: Kata
Lineage Is Not a Substitute for Reality.
I’ve seen a series of so-called self-defense demonstrations doing the rounds on social media recently. They’re being promoted under the banner of a well-known karate lineage. So what? You might say. Well, it matters. Because when a respected name is attached to something, people assume credibility. They assume it must be solid. But that is…
Leaving Yourself Options.
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…
When the Drill Breaks.
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…
Cooperation Is Not Pressure.
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…
Before There Were Kata.
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…
Context Before Criticism. Without it – It’s Just Opinion.
Recently there was a video clip doing the usual rounds on social media of a highly skilled and knowledgeable karate instructor being ridiculed for his defense against an ‘oi zuki’ attack. Now I am usually the first to criticize any kind of step-kumite drill as practically useless for anything but the drill itself. However, in…
What Remains When Distraction Is Removed – Awareness Is Not a Drill.
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…
Karate-Do Is Not the Opposite of Practical Karate.
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…
When Purpose Isn’t Clear – Context Is Everything.
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…
Sabaki – Movement and Control Without Collision.
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…