How many times, as a karate-ka, are we told, “Take it to the ground”? “You have to fight on the ground”? Quite a lot, if the comments I receive are anything to go by. Have you ever fallen on concrete – the sidewalk, the pavement? It hurts, right? A senior instructor from my dojo fell…
Tag: Martial Arts
No Style Is the Best – Context Is
Whenever I write about real-world self-defense, the comments seem to explode into “my style is the best”. I’m not convinced a lot of these people actually train themselves – maybe keyboard warriors, maybe just inexperienced – these comments often seem to revolve around one style in particular: Kyokushin. Now, before anyone accuses me of bashing…
A comment on one of my recent articles caught my attention. Comments often do – they tend to reveal more than the article itself. This one read: “**** self-defense. I teach people to fight.” It made me pause. Is he right? After all, we are practicing a combat art – not playing a game. Much…
One of the strangest claims still repeated in karate is that throws do not belong in the art. And yet the historical record says otherwise. Gichin Funakoshi himself documented throwing methods, and senior figures have long acknowledged their place. The issue is not whether throws existed in karate. The issue is why so many modern…
Loyalty Is Not a One-Way Street
Not every patch is a symbol of trust. Over the years, I’ve seen many martial arts groups rise and fall. Names change, alliances shift, and new banners are flown – but the questions stay the same. What does it mean to be loyal? What should an association stand for? And when that loyalty isn’t returned,…
Was Itosu Preserving Karate – Or Changing It?
I’ve been looking at Anko Itosu’s 1908 letter again. It’s one of those documents people often cite. But if you look past the standard translations, I’m not sure the letter says what people think it says. Itosu was in a difficult position. He wanted karate in the school system, which meant he had to make…
The Real Opponent
At some point in training, you begin to look back a little more. Not in a nostalgic way, but simply to make sense of things. You start to notice patterns, not just in what you do, but in how you think and how you react. People often say your body can stand almost anything, it’s…
Movement, Not Technique
Many karate practitioners are taught to think in terms of techniques. Movements are labeled, categorized, and assigned a specific purpose. One technique blocks. Another strikes. Another performs a different function entirely. Over time this can create the impression that karate is a large collection of separate techniques, each designed to solve a specific problem. When…
Winning Is Not the Goal in Self-Defense
Self-defense and fighting are often spoken about as if they are the same thing. They are not. There is overlap between the two, but they are fundamentally different in both purpose and outcome. This distinction is often misunderstood, particularly because many people are taught physical or fighting skills first when they attend a “self-defense” class….
Why Karate “Blocks” Don’t Work the Way We Think
One of the first things you learn as a beginner is a ‘block’, right? Typically, it’s one of these: upper, middle inner, middle outer, or a down block. You spend a significant amount of time practicing these blocks, focusing on the small details, making sure your pulling hand (hikite) is positioned perfectly, all performed with…
What ‘Style’ Originally Meant in Early Karate
Choki Motobu once remarked that a single kata represented the style of the time. In my opinion, he wasn’t talking about stances and techniques, but something deeper. Motobu was known for his very practical view of fighting. He famously emphasized the importance of Naihanchi, once stating that “Naihanchi is the foundation of karate.” His focus…
The Problem with “Osu” in Karate
Communication can sometimes be surprisingly ambiguous, especially online. A single word, used casually in one place, can carry very different meanings somewhere else. The term “Osu” is a familiar sound in karate circles. In many instances it’s meant to convey perseverance, respect, or commitment to training. In some Japanese karate styles it holds a strong…