“Karate” is a broad term, which covers many different martial methodologies and styles originating on Okinawa and, later, Japan. There are a number of misconceptions about what karate is, although there has been a movement–a sort of “karate Renaissance”–in the past decade, or so, which has been making more information about karate available, and promotes a practical approach to the […]
Most traditional martial artists who practice styles from Japan or Okinawa will be familiar with the word “kamae,” which literally translates to “posture” or “pose,” in the context of martial arts. It is typically used to refer to either specific arrangements of the arms, or of the entire body, as a whole–not to be confused with “tachi,” or “stance,” which […]
Martial arts come in a wide array of styles and methodologies, but they are all connected by the human body and laws of nature, so even among wildly different systems, founded centuries and countries apart, there can be found many similar, related, or complimentary methods. While many martial artists prefer to segregate styles and promote the isolationist idea that each […]
Lately, my friends over at Karate Culture have been posting videos, like the one above, that connect kata to techniques found in mixed martial arts, and various grappling arts–something I have also done, although on a smaller scale. This has brought with it some argument as to the nature of karate. As with most such arguments, this one is not […]
“One cannot use continuous attacks against true karate. That is because the blocks of true karate make it impossible for the opponent to launch a second attack” The above quote comes from Motobu Choki, as translated by Joe Swift, and is one of many somewhat enigmatic statements from the famed Okinawan fighter about the nature of karate. Some of his […]
Karate is often described as being a linear art, especially when looking at modern karate, but it is actually more circular than it gets credit for. Both linear movements, and circular movements, work together in karate to function as compound movements. These compound movements allow us to do more than we might otherwise, because they exert force in unusual ways […]
The makiwara (“wrapped straw”)–or machiwara, as it is called in Uchinaguchi (the native language of Okinawa)–is a traditional hojo undo kigu (supplementary training tool) that is used in Okinawan karate. A makiwara is a wooden post used for striking, and its name comes from the padding that was traditionally used for the striking areas, which was made of bundles of […]
Hand trapping is an aspect of Okinawan karate that has been lost in many dojo. So many, in fact, that it is not uncommon for karateka to comment on videos of Okinawan trapping techniques with things like “looks like Wing Chun”–they simply can’t believe that it is a native aspect of karate! Of course, if you search “hand trapping” on […]
Motobu Choki (left) and Kano Jigoro (right) Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo, once met with Motobu Choki to discuss martial arts. We don’t know a great deal about that conversation, except what Motobu told to his students. According to Motobu, they talked about many things, but “…about karate, he [Kano] asked me what I would do if my punch […]
Motobu Choki (right) teaching women’s self defense I recently wrote about the importance (or lack thereof) of hand formations in kata and, in that article, I specifically mentioned the use of haishu (backhand) versus haito (ridgehand) in Naihanchi Shodan. Now, for the sake of clarity, I wanted to illustrate the points I made in that article a little bit more […]
The image, above, comes from Page 204 of Konishi Yasuhiro’s book, Karate Nyumon. I was inspired to go back and look at this publication by Victor Smith Sensei, who wrote an article on another section of the book. This book, in its original Japanese, along with many others, have been made available for free by Charles Goodin Sensei and the […]
