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 […]
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 […]
This past weekend was our Ryukyu Martial Arts Friendship Gasshuku, which was an event I put together with the intent of getting martial artists together to learn and train in a variety of martial arts from the Ryukyu islands. The idea actually came from the Ryukyu Martial Arts Facebook Groups that were set up by Ryan Parker Sensei. There are […]
Author’s Note: This essay is one that I wrote in 2012 as a poetic way of expressing my philosophy on the development of karateka over time. It has been published on other websites, before, but they have since been taken down, and I thought it might be valuable to re-publish it on my own site. Karate training can be very […]
