Tournament Judging Acting as judge or referee at tournaments is a function some consider a chore while others welcome the opportunity to be involved in competition while not as a competitor. Personally, I would rather be competing than judging. But for a variety of reasons, I have not competed for over 10 years and have […]
What’s Wrong with Kata? According to most traditional karate practitioners, kata is a major conerstone of karate training. Along with kihon (basics) and kumite (sparring), many instructors make a point of including kata practice in almost every training session they lead. Kata can be a good workout, expand on our basics and offer some […]
Think Outside the Box (This article originally appeared in the October 2006 issue of Shoto-Mag.) Over the past several years, many Shotokan enthusiasts have discovered the joy of analyzing kata application possibilities. For me, this journey began in 1984, as I experimented with non-standard applications by myself between classes at the dojo. At the time, […]
Training Self-Tests (This article originally appeared in the August 2006 issue of Shoto-Mag.) Some of us, particularly those who are teaching others, often do not have enough time to train with other people, as much of our time is dedicated to helping others improve. And even when we do get a chance to work […]
The “Standard” 45 Degrees I am generally very supportive of the idea of setting and maintaining standards. I am also known for my ideas on experimenting with variations. This article is meant not as an exploration into variations. But rather offers an opinion as to when to consider a “standard” something that should not always […]
Gedan-barai Habits (This article originally appeared in the April 2006 issue of ShotoMag.) One of the first techniques we learned, gedan-barai (literally “lower-level sweep” but commonly known as “down-block”) is something we have all done many times. It is a very useful technique and its prevalence in Shotokan kata suggest that the masters of […]
Ageuke One of the first techniques taught to beginners and one of the most common techniques practiced in kihon (basic repetition training) and kihon kumite (basic sparring) in most Shotokan dojo, ageuke is obviously considered important to a lot of people. But is this “rising block” really worth all the effort? Is there more to […]
Big Muscles Do you work out a lot? Do you look like our (prior) California governor* in his prime, with gigantic pectorals and biceps? Unless your body is abnormally proportioned, no matter how much you are working out, the muscles of the arms and chest are probably not all that big, relatively speaking. The […]
ESP We have probably all seen it before. Some of us have experienced it first-hand. The old instructor spars with the much more athletic young tournament champion. The old instructor seems to be able to read the mind of the young athlete. The younger guy seems to be able to get in a few […]
Good Enough “Good,” I told my students, after calling a pause in their repetitions. “That’s good enough,” I tell them. “But is ‘good enough’ really all that good?” When you have the cable guy come out to hook up your TV and he shows up 2 hours late and takes another hour for what […]
