I want to say a few words about the nature of karate training for the dedicated student. If you’ve taken my classes, you know how unlikely it is that I will say “a few words” about anything karate-related… And yet, here we are :-] . I’ll use a list format to keep it brief. Note that what I say here…
Tai Saba ki Tai sabaki – this Japanese term is used often in the martial arts. It’s usually translated as “body shifting” by English-speaking karate sensei, and that translation is good enough, considering how we use the phrase in teaching. Basically, it describes getting out of the way of an attack and/or positioning yourself advantageously for…
The kanji above reads in Japanese as “en-bu-sen,” or as it’s normally pronounced as a complete word, “embusen.” (It’s just easier to pronounce “em” in the word than “en.”) Japanese karate players recognize this word as referring to the path or pattern that your steps take when you’re performing a kata. If someone was watching you do your kata from…
This is the first in an occasional series of short posts on Gichin Funakoshi’s “twenty principles of karate,” a set of concise axioms describing the Master’s philosophy of applying one’s study of karate to one’s everyday life, and vice versa. The 20 principles were first published in 1938, when Funakoshi (“Shoto”) was 70 years old. The English translation I am…
Showing remarkable poise, Alex delivered two Heian kata and a board break in a little over a minute-and-a-half at his school’s variety show on the last day of school. Great mental concentration and kime! A ‘stellar’ performance — well done, Alex!
The week after summer camp, we will debut our “Tiny Samurai” class on Monday and Thursday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:15*. This class will be of immediate benefit to the 3-6 year old children who participate. It will also prepare them to enter our children’s classes, which begin at 7 years old. (Or in some cases a mature child could…
We currently have 3 class days per week. One of my goals is to increase that to 4 during 2019. We’re not quite at the point where that would be justified, but we will get there. Here is my “Top 10” list for regular karate class attendance, somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Not in any particular order. You will progress more quickly. When…
The Jo is a Japanese weapon, a short wooden staff with round cross-section, roughly 50 inches in length and an inch in diameter. (There are variations in the dimensions.) In Japan they have been traditionally made of white or red oak. It is one of the simplest of the weapons that are still studied as part of Japanese kobudo, or…
Lately I have been having conversations with some parents about how karate, when practiced sensibly, can benefit almost anyone physically and mentally, no matter what their starting condition. In talking about this, I mention that many of the Okinawan masters from the 19th century were reported to have been, or described themselves as having been, weak or sickly as children.…
