How Often Should You Train Karate to Progress Faster?

How Often Should You Train Karate to Progress Faster?

by | Last updated Jul 7, 2023 | KIHON

How often should you train karate to accelerate your progress? In my opinion, the answer is pretty simple, if you want to progress fast in karate, you should train daily. However, this does not mean you must turn up at your dojo and train seven days a week. Instead, a...
What Is Mushin and How to Achieve It?

What Is Mushin and How to Achieve It?

by | Last updated Jul 4, 2023 | GENERAL, Philosophy

Mushin is an important concept in martial arts that originated from Zen Buddhism. This in-depth post covers the meaning of mushin, how the mind of a martial artist progresses through their training to achieve mushin, and what one can do to get there. What Is Mushin?...
Practical Tips for Effective Self Defense on the Streets

Practical Tips for Effective Self Defense on the Streets

by | Last updated Jun 26, 2023 | KUMITE

In 2018, 29-year-old Brazilian BJJ black belt, Guma Epfane Vasconcelos, was tragically killed in a road rage incident in São Domingos do Maranhão while trying to subdue a man with a gun. We don’t know what happened in the lead up to the encounter but video...
How to Find More Time for Your Karate Training

How to Find More Time for Your Karate Training

by | Last updated Jun 14, 2023 | KIHON

Finding time for karate training can be a challenge for many people in today’s fast-paced world, but with some thoughts, planning, and prioritization, it is possible to carve out dedicated time for your practice. This post covers some strategies to help you find...
How Competing Can Make Your Karate Better

How Competing Can Make Your Karate Better

by | Last updated Jun 14, 2023 | KIHON

Competing in karate tournaments offers numerous benefits that can make your karate better. Your technical ability, your kata, your fighting skills, and your instructing capability can all improve thanks to the time you put in to prepare for the competition and the...
Best Fighting Stance: Going Beyond Physical Form

Best Fighting Stance: Going Beyond Physical Form

by | Last updated May 31, 2023 | KUMITE

“What is the best fighting stance?” is a common question that karate practitioners and other martial artists have. In this article, we cover the characteristics of a good fighting stance, what fighting stance you should adopt in street fights vs...
How to Build a Strong Fighter Body

How to Build a Strong Fighter Body

by | Last updated May 31, 2023 | GENERAL, Martial Fitness

Building a strong body should be an essential part of a karateka’s training program. No matter how good your techniques are, at the end of the day, size and strength do matter a lot in a fight. This post covers six types of training that can help you build a...
What Is Kiai and How Should You Do It?

What Is Kiai and How Should You Do It?

by | Last updated May 31, 2023 | KIHON

This post covers what kiai is, its purposes, whether it can improve the power of your techniques, and how you should do it in your kihon, karate, and kumite practice. What is kiai? Kiai (気合) is a shout, scream or battle cry that martial artists make when they perform...
Why Is Kihon So Important in Karate?

Why Is Kihon So Important in Karate?

by | Last updated Sep 10, 2023 | KIHON

To many people (especially beginners), kihon training in karate is boring and they would rather work on kata which is way more interesting or kumite which is practical and a lot more fun and they can see some value in it. In this post, I will argue that kihon is the...
Motobu Choki’s Notable Students

Motobu Choki’s Notable Students

by | Last updated May 31, 2023 | MASTERS

Motobu Choki trained many students who went on to become influential karate masters in their own right and played significant roles in shaping the development of karate. Amongst them are Hironori Ōtsuka (the founder of Wadō-ryū), Nakamura Shigeru (the founder of...