Articles
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Experience Should Change Us
What years of practice can teach us about questioning what we think we know.
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Knowing When to Kick
Kicks have value in self-protection, but their usefulness depends on context, timing, and the person using them. Kicks can be among the most powerful tools…
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The Weight of Experience
How experience can deepen our understanding while quietly limiting what we are willing to reconsider There is an often-repeated saying: “I hear and I forget.…
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The Best Teaching Makes the Difficult Feel Familiar
Good instruction begins by connecting unfamiliar movements to actions the student already understands. When people begin learning karate, almost everything feels unfamiliar. The language and…
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Teaching the Fight First
Many self-defense classes begin at the point where self-protection has already failed. Self-defense. Everyone teaches it, right? It’s written on the flyers, displayed on the…
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What Is the Art in Martial Art?
Why the word “art” does not mean beauty, performance, or freedom from function. Someone recently told me that karate could not be viewed only through…
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The Danger of False Confidence
When children are taught weak self-defense methods, the danger is not just failure. It is the false confidence that comes with it. I was shown…
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When the Instructor’s Limits Become the Method
When self-defense is shaped by the instructor’s limits, the student may inherit the boundary of someone else’s knowledge. Every instructor teaches from what they know.…
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If It Doesn’t Serve the Purpose
When karate is taught as self-protection, every part of the training should serve that purpose. Kata, kihon, and two-person drills are all part of the…
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When “It Worked” Still Isn’t Good Enough
A broken arm may be better than a fractured skull, but that does not make it a sound method to teach. There is a difference…