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Happy Birthday Kanzaki Sensei!
Tomorrow, April 22, 2024 would have marked Kanzaki sensei’s 96th birthday. Naturally when his birthday roles around I think about him, and a flood of good memories come to mind. Initially, I was going to keep this post private, but on reflection I thought it would be better to share a few of my thoughts of… Continue reading
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Fashion – Okinawa Style
My friend Joe Swift has talked in-depth about the principles for analyzing the techniques found in classical Karate-do kata. He stresses the importance of understanding the historical context in which kata were developed, including the clothing that people wore. I would like expand on that idea, specifically in the role of clothing and it may… 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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Old School Karate: Kebanashi
If you look at some versions of Karate kata you can see remnants of the older techniques used before the emergence of Karate into the public school system in the early 20th century. Bo-geri (棒蹴り) is one such technique that has been mentioned by Motobu Naoki in his blog, but another example of an older… 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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Higa Minoru
Higa Minoru is the well-known head of the Kyudokan dojo founded by his uncle Higa Yuchoku. What readers may not know is that besides being an outstanding Karateka and instructor, he also boxed, practiced Judo and was heavily involved in the Okinawa powerlifting and body building scene (his physique even today is impressive at the… Continue reading
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Remembering My Teachers
January 12th and January 13th marked the anniversaries of the passing of Minowa Katsuhiko and Kanzaki Shigekazu. Although their passings were years apart, it is a bit ironic that they passed within a day of each other. Their deaths left me in a bad place, and I was filled with sadness and so much regret.… Continue reading
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Happy New Year!
新年あけましておめでとうございます。 2024年こそは稽古などを通じて、皆さんの笑顔あふれる一年になりますよう願っています。 今年もどうぞよろしくお願い致します。 2024年1月元旦 マリオ Happy New Year! I hope that 2024 will be a year full of smiles for everyone through training and other activities. Thank you for your continued support this year. New Year’s Day, January 2024 Mario Continue reading
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Kyoda Juhatsu’s Grand Daughter
I don’t usually make my posts about Tou’on-ryu public, but I thought it was important to share the touching words of Kyoda Juhatsu grand daughter Akiko. I hope you will find it as moving as I did. Nice to meet you. My name is Akiko, my grandson, and I live in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture.… Continue reading
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