The Shinken Dojo 真 剣 道 場

I started my training as a youngster in the rough and tumble art of Judo under the tutelage of my father. I also had my grandfather and uncles teaching me the family tradition of fist fighting, or shall I say the not so fun joys of the good old days. Then over the years and decades my direction in the Martial Arts naturally changed and evolved. I took up Japanese Karate in my early teens whilst going on to study the more authentic Okinawan ways of practising Karate. The details and the training that I have done and presently do though is of little importance to others really. The point I am making is this… Even though my training over the years has been very demanding physically and most certainly differing from art to art, I am of the firm belief that the biggest tests and challenge that a Karate Ka or Martial Artist will ever face is not a physical one, but a mental one. I have never in all my years of training come across anyone who is […]

There seems to be a lack of respect or appreciation these days for past Teachers or Sensei that have taught or guided people along the way. If someone has been your Sensei or Mentor for a period of time then one should be grateful! Even though my training in the Martial Arts has inevitably changed over the years, I am as deeply appreciative and respectful as ever for the teachings that I have received from each and every one of my Sensei. The many lessons in both Budo and life that I have learned from each of them and the precious time and teachings that they have so selflessly shared with me has been invaluable, and I will always be thankful and in debt to them. I don’t throw the term Sensei around lightly either like some do, no I don’t. I would say that unless you’ve been a close inner student of a Teacher for anything less than say five years, then they are not really your Sensei. Also, to call a Martial Artist or Karate Ka a Sensei […]

Now that the New Year is upon us just like so many of you I will take the time to quietly reflect on the past year. We all remember the great years and I hope that 2017 has been kind to you, but some years can be very unkind and negative towards us too, especially in years that we lose friends and loved ones. A sign to us really that we should always be grateful and appreciative of life and all that we have, including our health, loved ones, close family and friends. This is though a time to take a step back and re-evaluate our past and future directions as we try to guide our future for the better as we freshly plan for the New Year. The people of Okinawa have varying ways and traditions that they follow as they celebrate the New Year. They don’t of course just celebrate the traditional New Year as we know it, they celebrate the Lunar Chinese New Year too. But just as our life changes and fluctuates each year, so does […]

I have received more than my fair share of e mails regarding my last blog post titled “Is Your Karate up for Fighting”. Most are expressing sentiments that studying Karate has got nothing to do with fighting. One person even wrote this, Thugs look for fights so if that is the reason that you practise karate are you any different? Look let’s get to the point here! I don’t practise Karate with thoughts of confrontation or intentions of fighting anyone, of course I don’t, fighting is for fools. I am just like so many other decent people out there who have got far better things to do and be concentrating on than brawls, as in being happy and living life to the full, I see Karate as an art to enhance ones life. Like I said in my previous blog posting Karate as an art has so much more to offer. The island of Okinawa and its people are some of the most peaceful welcoming and vibrant people in the world, which all kind of exemplifies what practising true Karate […]

Over the years I have slowly seen peoples faith in Karate as an effective form of self-protection or as a fighting art someone diminish, and if truth beknown I generally tend to agree. Or on the contrary some are more than a little deluded when it comes to in fight reality. The thing is a lot of the Karate that is taught these days (not all by any means) has had its fundamental basis changed, or more simply it has been watered down and lost its craft. If the emphasis of a Karate and its Kata is on form not function, you make it in to a sport touch tag match, take out all of the heavy contact and hard challenges, plus lose crucial hands on training dills as you give out black belts to 6-year-old kids. Then of course you can’t expect your Karate to be an effective fighting art can you… I agree in that Karate as an art has so much more to offer its participants than just the ability to be able to fight, of course […]

“If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War One of things that I was taught and learned early on in my study of the Fighting Arts was that planning and percentages was of major importance and always worth considering and keeping one eye focused on. Even more so when it came to understand how to use ones skills in confrontation. The above quote by the famous Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu is well known and outlines the importance of such, but many Martial Artists often read his works and even quote them, but they then fail to use the lessons within so all becomes useless. Like it or not life is full of odds and percentages, the same with preplanning, some people do this well as they set things out for […]

The Blog is Back! After quite a lengthy lay off from writing on here I have decided to resume posting again. It’s strange really because around the time that I decided to stop posting I had many reasons for winding things up. I had recently relocated so I had little spare time on my hands, there were a few others out there writing for the good of the cause anyway, especially on Karate, plus I felt that many areas of the Martial Arts were now being controlled by those with the biggest voice, not the most experienced or skilled. So, all of this being the case I’d become more than a little disillusioned by the Martial Arts world and took a step back to train alone or with long standing friends or training partners. In truth there was that much rubbish being said and going on it was all seeming a case of if you can’t beat them join them, which just wasn’t me. Yes, things had become more popular but I often wondered what was happening!? Where was the […]

Keri (Geri) / Foot or Leg Strike 蹴 Keru the Japanese Verb to Kick  Over the years I have probably been witness to every conceivable way of executing strikes with the foot, as in kicks. Some methods of kicking are very good, but some other methods are not so. Upon reflection there is certainly much variety of thought and differing views on how to practise kicks, which is all fine of course. As I say some methods are and would be very effective and destructive in times of need, whilst others would be nothing less than useless. Well I’m not convinced anyway! For a Karate Ka to achieve a deeper understanding of their Art and this area of talk as in kicks, they will have to do this by going through their very own experiences and discoveries, including guidance, visualisation and much regular practise, together with frustration and at times failure. Then hopefully firm belief in their techniques too through an open minded approach to realistic effective training that has an in Dojo feel for things real. Some areas of […]

  The expression that one is a Karate Sensei is well known by all who practice Karate, unfortunately though this is where the understanding can end, as both the word Sensei, its true meaning and standing is seldom fully understood. Sadly these days the title Sensei is often thrown around cheaply to the point of being abused, I accept that at times this is due to cultural misunderstandings, as this obviously happens more so outside of Japan and Okinawa. At others times I’m afraid this is down to watered down karate transmission, ignorance, or may be even inflated egos. If one is to absorb themselves deeply in to the art of Karate then surely they need to attain a true understanding of the Sensei and Student relationship. In fact it is a necessity! A connection that is firstly born through the embryonic process of Dojo initiation as the Sensei will go on to form a close bond with his students that makes the term Sensei of major importance to all serious Karate Ka, so significant in fact that this union […]

During the early hours of today in England we moved our clocks forward an hour in time. This act may seem a little strange to others, but to us English it was done for good reason during times of war but more to do with longer day light time, now though it actually feels quite good as we now instantly gain an extra hour of light on an evening during the summer months, whilst being a firm sign that the warmer weather is now upon us. On the down side of things there are of course some who complain about losing a mere hour in bed. The good thing here though is that we will gain this hour back in the autumn, which is all quite confusing I know. Time can in fact be a strange old thing and in many ways it can have a significant impact upon our lives, to the point that if we allow it to our lives can in fact be ruled and maybe even spoiled by thoughts of time. Many words just like the […]