空手は生涯の研究です- Karate wa shōgai no kenkyūdesu (Karate is a lifelong study) – Mabuni Kenwa (1889-1952) . . Relatively speaking, there is still relatively few who choose to dedicate their lives to studying martial arts. In terms of sports, many choose more mainstream pastimes such as football, basketball, baseball, or soccer, as apposed to the martial…
Tag: Masters
Throughout history certain people have become Masters of their art.
Throughout history certain people have become Masters of their art. . You know what they all had in common? They chose to dedicate their time to their art. They showed up when it was fun and easy….. and they showed up when the training was tedious, hard, frustrating and tough. . You too can be…
Understand that your karate has some practices that are dysfunctional.
Mark Bishop(2) martial arts author and researcher, recounts that Shinpan Shiroma, a student of Anko Itosu, often admitted to not knowing the technical functions of some movements of kata, merely explaining that they were for show. . Itosu was in his 70’s when he finalized the Pinan kata and began teaching them within his school…
Instructors should always teach the effective meaning of a technique, not just block and punch.
In many dojo throughout the world you will see instructors and students moving up and down the dojo (social media too), moving backwards and forwards practicing block, punch, block, punch, in some sort of ‘renzoku’, ‘ippon’ or ‘sanbon’ kumite etc. . Everyone must learn the basics to become proficient in any of the martial arts….
Bad guys don’t play by a rulebook.
Training in martial arts or self-defense only improves your chances in a real life scenario. A little training improves your chances a little. A lot of training improves your chances a lot. No amount of training will guarantee anything except to know that avoiding a fight is the best option, and you should have learned…
An often overlooked aspect of the martial arts is the value of strength-building exercises.
Regular physical activity promotes general good health, reduces the risk of developing many diseases, and helps you live a longer and healthier life. For many, “exercise” means walking, jogging, cycling, or other activities that get the heart pumping. An often overlooked aspect of the martial arts is the value of strength-building exercises. In the past…
Only a rank novice would open with a double kick.
Kicks in kata are usually single in usage. However, there are a few kata that contain multiple kicks. So what use are these multiple kicks contained within the kata? . A kata that comes to mind is ‘Kusanku’ (there are others). The kick in question, often labeled as “Nidan geri” (二段). When I translate this,…
“It is not how much you have learned, but how much you have absorbed in what you have learned.”
It’s my belief that it is good to be curious to try and acquire knowledge about everything around us. . Eagerness and passion develops curiosity which is hugely important in the martial arts. It’s how we analyze and understand our karate at a deeper level. If you are the type of practitioner who believes in…
When and why did people start using these Japanese phrases for techniques?
The Japanese technical terms that we use for our techniques came about a long time after the actual creation of the techniques themselves. . Karate, as we know (or should do), originally came from Okinawa, but in the early days the karate environment was very different compared to the modern day karate environment. The Dojo,…
Find your own art, don’t be afraid to do your own personal study
When you finally find what’s absolutely right for you in your martial arts training and you internalize it, you don’t need to rationalize why you do it. . I practice every day religiously, I train for me. Not to fight anymore, not for how it looks and not for what others might think of me,…
“Studying karate nowadays is like walking in the dark without a lantern.”
Why people fail to question what they believe, very often to their own detriment, surprises me again and again (it shouldn’t). . Growth is part and parcel of being a martial artist. Learning is a life-long process and the knowledge that you have is never enough. There is always more to know. The desire to…
Don’t rely on the “label” of a technique. It probably isn’t the right one.
Many practitioners of karate have forgotten that its original purpose was self-defense. To quote Anko Itosu; “…. a way of avoiding injury by using the hands and feet should one by any chance be confronted by a villain or ruffian.” . Today the need for martial arts to be purely self-defense has diminished, and the…