Whose Balance Are We Thinking About?
Understanding kuzushi as a principle, rather than a particular technique. We spend a great deal of time in karate learning
Karate Principles
Have We Been Looking at the Stepping Punch the Wrong Way?
A familiar movement, an old training memory, and a different way of looking at things. Something occurred to me recently
Hikite: More Than a Movement
Looking beyond the movement we practice. One of the most familiar movements in karate is the withdrawing hand. We see
How Do We Use Kata Effectively?
If the original meaning is uncertain, what makes an application useful? When I talk about using kata effectively, I don’t
Three Years on a Kata?
What if learning another kata was meant to mean learning another way of dealing with the problem When we began
Why Jump?
Questioning whether the jump in kata is the lesson, or simply the shape we inherited. There are several kata where
Changing My Mind
Why experience should make us more willing to look again, not less. Many people assume that experience makes your views
Before I Knew the Word “Sabaki”
How early lessons in movement shaped my karate long before I had the vocabulary to describe them. Before I knew
The Problem With Looking for “The Application”
Why kata may preserve principles rather than fixed techniques One of the most common debates in karate revolves around kata
Looking Beyond the Label
When labels start replacing understanding in karate practice
