The Pinan / Heian Kata Series as a Fighting System: Part 4
Welcome to part four of this Pinan / Heian Series of articles on the Pinan and Heian katas as a fighting system. In the...
The Torso Method Exercises Transform One’s Taiji
The last of a series of exercises developed by Jou Tsung Hwa at the Taiji Farm, the aim of these subtle, precise, and intensive...
Taisabaki No Kata – The Body Movements of Form
By Dr. William Durbin ~ It has been acknowledged by most authorities, at least those who actually train in traditional martial arts, that Kata is...
Formlessness And The Dao Of Movement
The Dao of movement may imply different things to different people, ease of movement, many different stances, continuity, the art of improvised movement, etc.
All...
Kata Training: Practice Kata Correctly
This translation originally appeared in Vol. 29, No. 1 of the Hiroshima University of Economics Journal of Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences.
Translator's Introduction
Over the...
The Basics of Bunkai – Part 2
In this second article, we'll be looking at the basic application (bunkai) for the knife-hand block or "shuto-uke". As we established in The Basics...
Old Karate is About Interpreting Kata
I prefer "old karate." I mean this in three different ways.
When I first used the phrase, I had been training for about ten years....
The Role Of Kata For Contemporary Fighting Martial Artists
When many people see the name of the system I study, Progressive Protection Systems, they instantly think of a modernist system, which abhors the...
Naihanchi’s Mook Jong Drills – Karate’s Hidden Wooden Dummy Techniques
Naihanchi or Tekki kata is one of several traditional Chinese-Okinawan karate katas whose origins have been lost over the centuries. While the Naihanchi kata...
The Basics of Bunkai – Part 8
Welcome to the final part of The Basic of Bunkai - Part 8. In this series of articles we've been exploring the basics of...
Tegumi – Karate’s Forgotten Range
It is believed that the native wrestling art of Tegumi, along with the Kempo systems brought to Okinawa by the Chinese, were forerunners of...
Mike Hancock on Kata Bunkai
For centuries the martial arts have been cloaked in mystery and folk lore. The deadly techniques used by master practitioners of karate were frequently...
The Basics of Bunkai – Part 3
In this series of articles we are exploring the basics of bunkai or kata application. The aim of these articles is to open up...
Tegumi – Old Style Karate’s Two Person Exercise
Tegumi or Okinawan grappling and wrestling
Just as a great dish needs a recipe or an extensive trip needs a map, so too does the...
The Pinan / Heian Series as a Fighting System: Part 1
The Pinan / Heian series are often the first katas taught in the majority of modern dojos. This can lead to the Pinan /...
Kata Naihanchi – Karate’s Most Deadly Kata?
The kata Naihanchi (Tekki) is practiced within the majority of karate styles. The word 'Naihanchi' is said to mean 'sideways fighting' due to the kata's...
