As karateka, we often look at being on the receiving end of attacks, but sometimes we can overlook dealing with the defense of our attackers. From a philosophical view, it is easy to understand why this could happen. Most serious karateka are familiar with the concept of “karate ni sente nashi,” or “there is no initiating hand in karate.” […]
At UFC Saskatoon, undefeated Ukrainian prospect, Maryna Moroz, faced off against Canadian veteran, Valerie Letourneau. Although Moroz is not as well known as Letourneau, she was the favorite going into the fight, due to her snappy, aggressive fighting style and her recent upset of Muay Thai phenom, Joanne Calderwood. As it turned out, Letourneau was able to take the tough […]
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 2015 Brotherhood of Veteran Warriors Gasshuku. The BOVW is an organization that was founded by US Military veterans with decades of martial arts experience, for the purpose of providing settings where martial artists from different backgrounds could come together to share and learn. They do not have any sort of curriculum, […]
While karate strikes primarily target the head and body, it also includes strikes to limbs. In my recent article about cutting lines, I mentioned that those methods involve striking the limb as you attack. That is a byproduct of cutting the opponent’s line of attack or defense, but damaging the limb isn’t usually the intent. In this article, we will […]
Over time, it is natural for a martial artist to narrow their focus of study to specific aspects of their art–I mentioned this in my recent article on the development of martial artists. There are also some martial arts which are narrow in focus, to begin with. It is rather likely that those arts and styles are specialized because […]
Recently, I wrote an article in defense of the use of wrist grabs in karate training, which are often derided as being unrealistic. In that article, I mentioned that the most common complaint people tend to have about many karate and kobudo applications and fighting drills is the use of formal karate-style attacks and incorrect maai (distancing). Unlike wrist grabs, […]
When people think of elbows in martial arts, they usually think of them being used as strikes, or being the target of joint locks. Those are certainly the two most common uses for the elbows, apart from their natural uses as a component of moving the arm. Personally, I love elbow strikes and joint locks, but I also use elbows […]
Traditional martial arts are often criticized–and rightly so, in many cases–for training against unrealistic attacks. Most often, the attack that gets the most complaints is the infamous straight lunge-punch in a long front stance that comes from 10 feet away, and wouldn’t hit the defender even if they stood still. A close second to that is the wrist grab, […]
When you are attacked, you don’t really want to deal with an attacker that is throwing a barrage of punches at you–you want to stop their attack as quickly as possible. Limb control is one way of accomplishing this, and is a very important aspect of old Okinawan karate but, like many important aspects of old Okinawan karate, it has […]
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 […]
The kanji for “kaizen” Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “good change” or “improvement.” While it does not explicitly state it, the word is often used to describe improvement that is continuous or ongoing. I feel that you should always been working to improve your own personal budo–the skills, techniques, knowledge, and mindset that make up your karate. In the […]
