Blog
The Role of Fascia in Power Generation
Fascia plays a crucial role in power generation by contributing to muscle efficiency, coordination, and force transmission during movement.
Knife Mitigation workshops.
Knife crime and assault with edged weapons are on the rise. It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that there is little that you can do. Indeed, defence against a knife is risky as you don't have to be skilled to do severe damage, maim or kill. However, training in a few simple skills can significantly improve our chances of survival.
Self-defence is not fighting…
Self-defence is not fighting. It is not two people stepping towards each other to exchange blows; it is a person or persons moving into your personal space. Up until that time, there is no physical need to defend yourself. Removing yourself, if possible, and verbal de-escalation are the best options at this point.
Don’t Quit!
When Les asked me if I wanted to contribute to this worthy project, I was honoured; I also thought “What a great idea, should be simple enough”... but as we all know, just because something is simple doesn’t mean that it is going to be easy!
Martial Arts Training - should it be fun?
There is a lot of pressure on teachers to make training fun. While I understand this from the position of teaching beginners, the reality is that quality martial arts training in and of itself is not fun. If we make fun the aim, as soon as it isn’t fun anymore, we quit!
Karate Hyperbole!
“Traditional” Karate is the very definition of Hyperbole! Every move is exaggerated for effect, stretched out almost to the point of collapse to make it appear bigger, stronger, better - it is a show! But bigger isn’t always better; it is actually within the frame, within the pathway, that we find the true technique!
Karate - the self-defence conundrum!
Look at almost any promotional material on social media for martial arts (irrespective of style) and you will see claims alluding to its effectiveness as a system for self-defence/personal protection.
Taking Your… Time!
These days it appears that people only want to do something if they can get fast results! When training they want to shake things up, cross train, keep it fresh! Social media bombards us with “how to train”, and tells us what the next '“big thing” in exercise is going to be…
Karate as self-defence is less a game of chess and more a game of noughts and crosses…
Karate as self-defence is less a game of chess and more a game of noughts and crosses…
The IKEA principle - “Flat Packed Karate”!
The IKEA principle - or “Flat Packed Karate”!
The first thing we do when we buy our piece of flat packed furniture is make sure that all the bits are there…
Translating the ancient text, aka “It’s all Latin to me!”
As martial artists we take on the role of the translator but instead of language we are translating the meaning of movement - and like language, the meaning can sometimes be ambiguous…
Seminar at Dojo Van Rel!
I sit here excitedly contemplating the prospect of visiting my good friend Gabriel Van Rel’s Londan dojo on Saturday 22/01/2022.
Empty your Cup!
We have all heard the phrase “empty your cup”. While it implies maintaining an open minded approach to training, not limiting ourselves to one way, often we take it to mean that we have to throw away or discard something…
Blocks in Karate - are they there or not?
Blocks in Karate - are they there or not?
We often read or hear statements like “there are no blocks in karate” - I’ve even said it myself! But the definition of to block something is to stop it, or impede it’s progress in some way…
Listening hands…
I was looking through some old note books and I found this poem. I wrote it back in November 2019 - I must have been feeling introspective after some push hands practice…
It’s less about intensity than intent…
When we practice karate, we can all too easily fixate on the intensity; how hard we are training; the importance of getting a “good workout”!
Kata and Kihon as training vehicles…
Kata and Kihon as training vehicles: Martial Musings
From day one of our introduction to karate, we are taught a variety of moves – blocks, punches and kicks of varying complexity that build over time into sequences and combinations of the basic techniques that are the physical expression of our art…
Kata is a mime…
Watching a typical kata performance, when it is done well, is very much like watching a really good mime artist at work. ”What on earth are you talking about, kata is nothing like a mime, absolute nonsense!” I hear you cry…
Karate Reimagined
Teaching Karate is challenging and it goes beyond the dojo; a good Sensei is teacher, mentor and role model to their students…
DON CAME awarded title of KYOSHI…
It was an honour to receive the title of Kyoshi from ISOK’s Senior Technical Committee in September 2016. A certificate signed by Vince Morris Hanshi and Chuck Merriman Hanshi…