Step into a traditional karate dojo and one of the first things you will usually do is take off your shoes. Hopefully. Karate, like many Japanese budo, is traditionally practiced hadashi, barefoot. There are cultural reasons for this, practical reasons, and reasons connected directly to how we move, balance, and feel the ground beneath us. In […]
Barefoot in the Dojo, Shoes in the Real World Read More »
There are several kata where movements are performed as jumping, leaping, or dramatic athletic actions. Suparinpei is one example, with the jumping front kick, or mae tobi geri. I understand why these movements look impressive. A well-performed jumping kick shows timing, coordination, strength, flexibility, and confidence. It can have value as a physical challenge, and it can look
Many people assume that experience makes your views more settled. My experience has been the opposite. The longer I have trained, the more willing I have become to revisit things I once accepted without question. When I first started in the martial arts, I was like most beginners. I accepted what I was taught because
Before I knew the word sabaki, I already understood one thing: If someone is trying to hit you, being somewhere else is usually a good place to start. That idea wasn’t unique to karate. Coming from boxing in my youth, moving off the line of attack simply made sense. You learned quickly that standing directly in
Before I Knew the Word “Sabaki” Read More »
A limiting belief is not simply a wrong idea. It’s a belief that set like concrete over the years. You experienced something once, maybe twice, and without quite realizing it, you filed it away as a permanent truth about your practice. The mind loves efficiency. It doesn’t want to re-examine every experience from scratch, so it
The Danger of Certainty Read More »
Following my recent article on kata applications, a familiar response appeared. The essence of it was simple enough: “My instructor taught me the bunkai.” Fair enough. Before going any further, it’s worth acknowledging that while bunkai technically refers to the process of breaking down and analyzing a movement, most karate practitioners use the term when discussing applications.
Does Being Taught Bunkai Make It “The” Bunkai? Read More »
One of the most common debates in karate revolves around kata applications. Someone demonstrates a movement from a kata and then explains what they believe it represents. Another person offers a different interpretation. Before long, the discussion turns into an argument over which application is the “correct” one. Underlying this debate is an assumption that
The Problem With Looking for “The Application” Read More »
Imagine stepping into an Okinawan karate dojo over a hundred years ago. It probably wasn’t a dojo in the way most people think of one today. Training often took place in a garden, courtyard, or private home. Instruction was given to a small number of students, and much of what was taught was passed on
Looking Beyond the Label Read More »
A student once watched me demonstrate a movement and remarked, “We have a long way to go”. He was referring to how relaxed the movement appeared compared to how stiff and tense he felt when performing the same technique. I smiled because, in a sense, he was right. There is a long way to go.
Learning the Why Behind the Technique Read More »
One of the biggest problems in martial arts is that many people discuss violence without ever having experienced what genuine violence actually feels like. I don’t mean sparring in the dojo under pressure, demonstrations, or competitive exchanges. I mean the kind of violence that is sudden, emotionally charged, physically overwhelming, and nothing like theory. There
Violence Is Not a Puzzle Waiting for a Secret Answer Read More »
The martial arts are full of variety. Different systems, different traditions, different ways of doing things, all shaped by history and the people who carried them forward. Most practitioners are looking for the same thing in the end: a sense of progress in their own training. But it is not unusual to find strong resistance
Tradition and Progress in Martial Arts Read More »
People often associate practical karate with fighting, self-defense, and physical confrontation. That is understandable. Much of my own writing over the years has focused on practical application, violence, realism, and the realities surrounding self-protection. Those things matter. But after more than fifty years of training, I have come to realize that karate eventually becomes something
What Karate Becomes Over Time Read More »
