The Bubishi is considered, by many, to be required reading for any karateka. It is a collection of essays, recipes, and diagrams transferred to Okinawa from China–most likely in small sections over time–and it is believed to be related to, or part of, a Chinese war manual called the Wu Bei Zhi, which was written in the 16th and 17th […]
Author’s Note: This article was originally written for a disaster preparedness newsletter from the Arizona chapter of Zombie Squad–a non-profit focused on educating people about disaster preparedness–and I recently re-discovered it in my archives. Upon realizing that I had never publicly shared it, I decided to share it, here. Unlike most of my articles, which are geared toward martial artists, […]
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 […]
The practice and purpose of kata is something that is often debated, and can be a serious point of contention between martial artists. Many people believe that kata are outdated and useless, and should no longer be practiced. Others believe that kata are exercises for fitness, balance, and coordination, but nothing more. There are also those who believe that kata […]
Proper karate training requires physical contact, and as a martial art, that means there are going to be periods of discomfort, moments of pain, and instances of injury. It is important to recognize the differences between discomfort, pain, and injury if you want to train both effectively and safely, specially since you can get compensation with the Babcock Partners LLC […]
Every time I wash my obi (belts), I get mental images of countless karate instructors and practitioners screaming “never wash your belt!” When I first started training, I followed that tradition, and everything was fine. Of course, I also went up through the belt ranks pretty quickly, so I didn’t wear the first few for very long. On top of […]
