When the First Answer Feels Complete
When repetition, rank, and tradition make an explanation feel complete before it has ever been tested. In karate, some explanations
Practical Karate
The Shape Is Not the Lesson
A stance should serve the body and the movement, not an arbitrary measurement. Everyone starts the same way in karate.
Waiting for the Attack
Why practical karate should not train us to stand still while trouble starts on us. Someone once told me that
The Family Art Without a Name
Not all karate was preserved in the names history remembers. When we look back at Okinawan karate, we tend to
The Direction of Kata
Direction in kata is not always the direction of the attack. Sometimes it is the lesson of position. I was
When the Drill Becomes the Problem
When training stays too clean for too long, the drill can start teaching the wrong lesson. Karate, Practical Karate, Self-Defense,
Barefoot in the Dojo, Shoes in the Real World
Why tradition still matters, but context decides how karate is understood and applied. Step into a traditional karate dojo and
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
