Yesterday, a seventy-eight-year-old man was gunned down in his own home near where I live. What does this have to do with martial arts? . Nothing. . And yet, it has everything to do with awareness. . Would awareness have saved this man? Probably not. And that matters. Not every act of violence is preventable,…
Tag: Okinawa
Purpose Shapes Practice – Karate, Context, and Age.
Driving past a martial arts school yesterday, I noticed some of the students leaving – children barely three or four years old. . Personally, I have never taught children this young. In my opinion, karate for this age group is little more than structured play and games. If this is your income source and it…
A Word That Wandered: How ‘Osu’ Drifted Through Karate.
After I posted my thoughts about the word “osu”, I expected a few people to disagree. But what surprised me was how many long‑time practitioners, including instructors, admitted they weren’t actually sure where the word should be used, or even why they say it at all. . Some people told me they’d been using it…
Respect, Habit, the Word ‘Osu’ – and Where It Doesn’t Belong.
Respect for your teacher is paramount and following instructions is instilled from day one. But sometimes this culture of respect leads to habits that are repeated without thought – phrases, behaviors, and rituals that people copy simply because they’ve seen others do them. . I often receive comments on my articles and messages that consist…
The Syllabus Is a Guide, Not a Cage – Learning Beyond the Wall Chart.
I remember some time ago visiting a dojo to teach. Hanging on the wall was the syllabus the students had to follow. One of the kata I had chosen to teach that day wasn’t listed, and they remarked that they didn’t need to learn it because it wasn’t on the syllabus. . We all want…
Understanding Without Permission, Discomfort With Independent Thought.
Why do some discussions shift from reality to rank the moment clarity or experience is questioned? . This question came up recently in response to one of my articles: “Are the views stated your own views, or are they transmitted from your teachers?” . On the surface, it sounds reasonable. But it reveals something deeper…
Waiting for the Lightbulb Moment – When Patience Becomes an Excuse.
A comment on one of my articles suggested that Western students want answers immediately, whereas the Japanese are prepared to wait patiently for a ‘lightbulb moment’. . In other words, understanding should come to us in its own time, and until then we simply repeat. . There is some truth in this, but it is…
Repetition Without Understanding Is Just Practice in Error.
Repetition. You must perform a movement hundreds of times for it to become automatic, instinctive. . Students need repeated exposure over time for skills and understanding to settle into long-term memory. . But there’s an obvious problem that rarely gets addressed. . What happens if you’re repeating something the wrong way hundreds of times? ….
Kata Must Survive Failure, Not Choreography.
In my last couple of articles I wrote about sequences in kata. Yes, of course they exist, but relying on them like a script is simply not feasible. No one knows what an attacker is likely to do. However, we do have clues. . Any form of martial art requires an instructor to demonstrate principles,…
Karate, Context, and the Problem With Certainty.
Following my last article, one of the comments said that karate’s Chinese influences were based on systems that used clearly defined sequences, and therefore Okinawan kata must have been designed the same way. . In that article I also mentioned that many people assume kata itself is made up of clearly defined sections – that…
Where Does a Kata Sequence Really End?
(Approx 2 minute 45 second read) I had a couple of questions in the comments on an article I wrote about understanding kata beyond individual techniques. . The first was, “When or how does one know when a particular sequence in a kata has actually finished and when the next sequence starts?” . The second…
From Power to Position: Training Smarter With Age.
(Approx 2 minute 45 second read) In my last article, I spoke about the uncomfortable reality of aging. The biological fact that a 66-year-old cannot reliably out-athlete a bigger, stronger, violent 20-year-old. . The response was telling. Some found it liberating, while others found it insulting. But once we accept that our hardware has slowed…