Philosophy
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Mystery Bechurin
Back in 2011 I visited Kita Kyushu to see Yoshino sensei. The last time I had saw him, he had dropped a bombshell of a statement during lunch that he knew an alternate form of the Tou’on ryu Bechurin. My interest peaked and he said he would teach it to me the next time I… Continue reading
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Karate Man: A Short Documentary
Here’s a nice documentary about Ota Eihachi sensei produced by Habunami Studios. I remember many years ago reading about him in Black belt magazine where they featured his use of the Kama. I was impressed with what he had to say, his energy and his enthusiasm. Enjoy. Continue reading
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Walking a Path
Canadian culture, and by extension US culture, suffers from a staggering lack of patience. I would go so far as to say that it borders on narcissistic. A few months ago I was standing in line to pay for my groceries when a women behind me asked if she could cut ahead of me because… Continue reading
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Let’s Talk About Karate Styles
Japan has culturally and historically been an ordered and hierarchical society. Therefore it comes as no surprise that its martial traditions (武道-budo) mirror this same structure. Until the conclusion of WWII, Japanese martial traditions were designated as different styles (流-ryu) or off-shoots (派-ha) and were centrally administered by the Great Japan Martial Virtues Association (大日本武徳会-Dai… Continue reading
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Do You Practice How to Fight? I Don’t.
During class a few years ago a new student became annoyed with himself because he wasn’t able to perform a technique we were working on. His stance was wrong, hands in the wrong place, his timing was off; typical run-of-the-mill beginner mistakes. They were nothing to get worked-up over I thought, and yet here was… Continue reading
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Dialogue in the Dojo
I enjoy practicing Kobudo and Karate in the morning by myself so I can polish and work through techniques. If I’m honest with myself, it’s probably not enough time, but I concentrate just on a few things, so I feel I can make a little progress or at the least not get any worse. The… Continue reading
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Itosu’s Ten Precepts
Below you can find an English translation of Itosu Anko’s “Ten Precepts of Karate” (唐手心得十ヶ條) from the original, along with a translation from modern Japanese, and an interpretation for each point in the document. The original article in Japanese can be found here. I hope you enjoy. Preface / Introduction: Point 1: Point 2: Point… Continue reading
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Sport or Budo?
Thank you for your continued support of this blog. Your interest is genuinely appreciated. Two months into the start of the new year many of us have recommitted to our training, reevaluated our goals and have focused on new ones. For me this meant going back in the gym to train my skinny muscles with… Continue reading
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Keiko or Kanko?
If you thought the title of this short post refers to the names of two Japanese women, well you’re mistaken. No, its about Karateka and Kobudoka who travel to Japan or Okinawa and think they’re training (keiko – 稽古) , but are actually Karate tourists (kankokyaku – 観光客). If you’re using a company or service to… Continue reading
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Traditional Karate: What is it anyway?
Let’s consider weaponless combat techniques on Okinawa 150 years ago – we’ll call it Karate. Think about what methods, equipment, training routines, philosophy, etc. were used. Now imagine that throughout the years parts of this tradition are discarded, and other methods, etc., are embraced, but we still call this weaponless tradition Karate. Now, suppose (for… Continue reading
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