Katas: Closing the Skill Gap
Although they are often derided by the uninitiated for their perceived lack of practicality, the katas are the key to ensuring karate remains a...
Chuck Merriman on Kata and the Meaning of Bunkai
"The kata are the essence of karate; without them karate would be the mere learning of various fighting and self-defense techniques, expressing nothing and...
Returning To Classical Kata With Willie Lim
A true understanding of karate is to found by returning to classical kata. Unlike modern karate, it is forms which hold the key to ancient...
The Basics of Bunkai – Part 4
Welcome to the fourth part of the basics of bunkai series. "Bunkai" refers to the analysis and the practical application of the techniques of...
Kata and Old School Karate
Many of the past masters knew and perfected one, two or a handful of kata. Now many practitioners know (or half know) many kata....
The Wall of Silence: Vital Points in Kata
Prior to WW II there were several publications which discussed vital points and how they could be used to knock out or kill a...
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...
Willie Lim: The Rebel Master of Kata Bunkai
Totally Tae Kwon Do magazine recently spoke to Master Willie Lim, a pioneer of the art in New Zealand and a revolutionary in the...
Willie Lim Unlocks Martial Arts Truths
Willie Lim likes nothing better than to unlock martial arts truths. He is demystifying martial arts, shattering illusions that many would like to keep...
The Pinan / Heian Kata Series as a Fighting System: Part 3
Welcome to part three of this series of articles. In the first part of this series we looked at the background of the Pinan...
Creativity, Culture, Power Plays and the Dao Of Movement
There are many fields of creativity in the realm of physical movement, but how serious are people in even attempting to reach the very...
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...
Quest For The Truth – The Origin of Tang Soo Do’s Kata
This article is in response to John Hancock's article, Quest For The Truth : The Origin Of Tang Soo Do's Forms
By Brad Dennison ~...
Master Willie Lim Analyzing and Interpreting Kata
Master Willie Lim is known for his expertise at analyzing and interpreting kata and he has traveled around the world making a difference in our understanding...
Are Kata Bi-Lateral?
Lately I have been involved in some discussion on why kata (forms) do not appear to be bi-lateral. If you stop and think for...
Willie Lim Kata Training is Outside the System
When I was training in TKD I was young and eager, an like so many others, interested only in the free sparring. In my...
