Funakoshi Sensei left Shotokan with twenty precepts or concepts of training. The second of these concepts is: “Karate Ni Sente Nashi” or, loosely translated, “There is no first attack in karate”1 This precept seems to be simple, and yet has hidden depths of meaning.
Read moreFuel the Fire
Preparation for an exam is something not to be taken lightly. Do your homework and take your training seriously prior to the test, and give it your all on the actual exam but don't get too discouraged if you don't pass the first time around. Learn from the experience, take the opportunity to improve upon your weak areas, and come back stronger the second time around.
Read moreExploring Kata
If Karate-do is an art, then kata is the martial artist’s portfolio. Like any good painting, kata can be enjoyed on the superficial level for the sheer beauty of its movements. But as the talent of the artist grows those same movements begin to display a hidden quality, much in the way the brush strokes of a fine painter add depth to the subject. This hidden quality is the bunkai, or application of, the kata.
Read moreThe Essence of Karate-Do
The very essence of karate-do is found in its kata, for it is here that all of the techniques, knowledge, spirit and philosophy have been combined, concentrated and cataloged...
Read moreMy Shotokan is Not "Pure"
"Because karate eventually takes on a deeply personal character, it may be said that every karate-ka has his own karate." Gichin Funakoshi
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