kyoshi eddie bethea


Testing for Nidan

On Wednesday, July 20th, 2016, I tested for Nidan, along with another Nidan candidate, two Shodan candidates, and several brown belt candidates. The testing panel consisted of: John Dominguez, MD, Shodan Jim Mitchell, Shodan Richard Poage, Renshi, Godan Michael Newland, Renshi, Rokudan Jeff Allred, Renshi, Rokudan Eddie Bethea, Kyoshi, Hachidan The Shodan candidates had to complete a written exam, which […]


Book Review: Matthew Apsokardu’s “Tales from the Western Generation”

Matthew Apsokardu is a dedicated martial artist, and the mind behind the excellent website, Ikigai Way. He has a long track record of creating valuable content for karateka and kobudoka, mostly through his website. For some time, now, he has been working on something a bit grander. “Tales from the Western Generation” is a rather lengthy book, weighing in at […]


My Interview with Sensei Eddie Bethea

During Sensei Bethea’s most recent visit to our dojo, I had a chance to sit down with him for a bit and ask him some questions. It’s taken me quite a while to get the interview video edited and uploaded, and I forgot to zoom the camera in before we started, but I don’t think it turned out too bad. […]


Budo no Kaizen

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 […]