Many people claim to teach “traditional karate,” and even advertise it as such, but what does that mean, exactly? If we define the word “tradition,” as the dictionary does, it means “a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another,” or “an artistic or literary method or style established by an artist, writer, or […]
Chris Denwood is a karateka, fitness expert, researcher, and the author of “Respecting the Old, Creating the New,” and “Naihanchi (Tekki): The Seed of Shuri Karate Vol. 1.” The latter is easily the most comprehensive book on Naihanchi Shodan fundamentals that I have ever read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who practices Naihanchi kata that can be traced back […]
As someone who primarily writes about the practical, physical aspects of karate, as well as generally being a cynic and a skeptic, it often surprises people to learn that I am a proponent of meditation and visualization. I have mentioned these topics, before–click here to read about that–but never really delved into them in much detail. Even my Sensei, whom […]
I write a lot of articles about karate techniques and concepts, but not a lot about the people who train in karate. Today, I decided I would do that a little bit! When you start training in martial arts, you will notice that there are certain personality traits that keep popping up in certain people. These seem to exist in […]
In reading through a forum on disaster preparedness, I saw a LEO (law enforcement officer) mention “perishable skills,” and it got me thinking. Some skills in life are, more or less, “non-perishable.” You can go years without using them, and then when you need them again, they still work well enough. Things like swimming, or riding a bike, would fall […]
The word “udundi” means “palace hand,” and is used to refer to the martial arts of Okinawan nobility. Today, these arts are really only seen in Seikichi Uehara Sensei’s Motobu-Ryu Udundi, which you can see demonstrated in the video, above. As you can see, the techniques are very light and dance-like, relying heavily on Aikido-esque redirection and joint locks. Indeed, […]
Hello everyone, This is my second go at a martial arts blog–my first foray into blogging was while I was between karate dojo and training in judo, and I just fell out of the habit of posting. This, I am hoping, will be more insightful and more regular now that I am back in a karate dojo. I started training […]
