Noah Legel has been training in martial arts since 2006, and holds rank in Shorin-Ryu (Nikyu), Shuri-ryu (Sankyu), and Judo (Gokyu). He currently runs his own blog, Budo no Kaizen, and is a frequent contributor to the Okinawan Karate-do Institute and offers great insight from the Non-Black Belt perspective.
Karate is an unarmed form of self defense that is intended to be used to protect yourself against an untrained person trying to cause you harm. Okinawan masters such as Motobu Choki, Mabuni Kenwa, and Gichin Funakoshi all agreed that…
A practice that is common in Eastern cultures, yet largely scoffed at by many in the Western word, is meditation. There are some misconceptions about its practice and what it does that likely lead to the percepion that it is…
Sequence Coming Soon
Sequence Rei Right hand covers left, flip hands over and point toes out in musubi-dachi, yoi Step right foot out to kiba-dachi, morote gedan uke Right Naha-step to 45* kiba-dachi with crossed-hands cover (right on top) Morote gedan seiryuto-uchi over…
Sequence Rei Yoi (cover, open) Step out to hachiji-dachi, left kazure-te-gatana (left vertical fist, right hand wrapping it) Left foot to right into haisoku-dachi, right te-gatana (right oniken) Step out to left in-line zenkutsu-dachi, right oniken-zuki with nagashi-uke cover Shift…
Introduction to Conditioning In karate, the word “conditioning” tends to be used in two ways–as it relates to fitness and as it relates to toughness. Each aspect is more or less important depending on why you train, but both have…
The Development of Partner Drills Many (although not all) martial arts styles include partner drills in their curriculum, but in some styles of karate the partner drills do not reflect effective karate at all, and this can be detrimental to…
Chinese Origins Anaku (also known as Ananku) is a kata that has its origins in Xing-Yi (also written Hsing-Yi or Tsing-Yi), a Chinese martial art based on linear movement, and the current versions were influenced by Shuri-te, the name given…
Related but Different Kumite (sparring/fighting) and goshin (self protection) are not the same, but despite this seemingly obvious truth, many people constantly equate effectiveness in one with effectiveness in the other. In some ways, the two are certainly related to…
Introduction to Koshi The word koshi is simply the Japanese word for the area from your navel to your hip sockets, but when discussing martial arts it specifically refers to how to generate power with your hips, and it is…
From Dance to Practical Application In kata we practice sequences of techniques and choreographed steps and various stances. In the beginning we do these things because we are supposed to and we trust that they will make us better without…
The Analogy Karate training can be very much like a pine tree in many ways–it starts as a seed and develops roots that form a solid foundation for it to grow from, and as it grows it branches out, far…
Yesterday Hanshi Doug Perry came to the church campus that my dojo is located at to hold a karate seminar. He is a Kudan (9th Degree Black Belt) under Shuguro Nakazato, which makes him the highest ranking non-Okinawan in Shorin-Ryu karate, and…
Last night in class we worked a lot of multiple attacker drills and a bodyguard drill, and I thought they were all very fun and useful. Before we started those drills, though, we wore ourselves out with jogging, calisthenics, bagwork…
Sequence Rei Yoi Right foot back to shiko-dachi, right kazure te-uke (backs of fists touching) Left soto shuto-uke (right shote supporting left wrist) Trap, flip hands, left tetsui-uchi right hikite Right foot sweeps to the front, spin 180◦ to shiko-dachi…
Sequence Rei Yoi (left hand holds right fist in front of solar plexus, push out and down to cover groin) Step forward with left foot to inverted neko-ashi-dachi Jump forward to kosa-dachi, right sasae-chudan-uke Pivot to musubi-dachi to the rear…
For quite some time I have been considering signing up for an amateur MMA fight in the Phoenix area–there are a couple different organizations that hold amateur MMA fights and I have had them bookmarked in my browser for over…
Karate contains sweeps, throws and other types of takedown techniques within the movements of kata. Many of these are obvious to those who practice grappling arts, but some techniques are disguised within kata due to changes in how they have been performed by various instructors through the generations since the kata was developed.
For a while, now, I have been wanting to spar more--even though I do not particularly like sparring--because I find it to be incredibly valuable. In the spirit of that and of trying to build our dojo's name recognition I proposed the idea of an open sparring meetup to my instructor.
The equipment that Jason built for us has been working out very well, and I've decided to call it the EMB Station. While I was at the dojo today, I decided to take some nicer pictures of it to upload. This is probably the most pictures I've ever put into one post, so hopefully people with slow connections don't have too much trouble!
One of the students at our dojo, Jason, is a metalworker by trade and a brilliant engineer, and he built us a custom piece of dojo equipment.
Last night my Sensei’s instructor, Kyoshi Eddie Bethea, gave a “combat karate” seminar at our dojo that goes over applications for techniques pulled from kata. I attended his seminar last year and both times, now, it has been educational and…
An introduction to joint locks in Karate. Despite many people referring to Karate as a striking art without any grappling, this is only evidence of the watering down of Karate since it became a popular sport among kids. Karate contains many grappling techniques including joint locks.
Last Wednesday during our Self Defense class for the kids, Sensei went into the other room while I warmed up the class and he set up a maze using big folding room dividers. Around blind corners he set Wavemasters (free-standing…
Traditional martial arts--karate included--often receive criticism for concepts being taught that are seen as unrealistic and poor form by those who do not understand what they are seeing. Chief among these seem to be "chambered" hands (hikite), low stances and the difference between karate sparring and kata.
Sequence Rei Yoi (left hand holds right fist in front of solar plexus, push out and down to cover groin) Turn left foot to musubi-dachi Jump forward to kosa-dachi, right sasae-chudan-uke Pivot to left neko-ashi-dachi to the rear, left chudan-uke…
Shuto (Sword Hand or Knife Hand) is a staple of karate technique and form. This technique can be applied in a number of scenarios and in a number of ways–you will not see it often in sparring beyond its use…
Juju Undo: The Karateka’s Shadowboxing Shadowboxing is a fantastic tool that boxers use to work technique, timing, speed, movement and cardiovascular fitness. Karateka have the a similar tool called juju undo, which is literally translated as “give-and-receive exercise” or, more…
Less Common Strikes While striking with fists and open hands is the most commonly seen aspect of empty handed striking it is also important to train the less commonly seen strikes with the arms. The back of the wrist, the…
In my “Empty Hands – Part 1″ post we discussed striking methods using a closed fist. In this post, however, I would like to discuss striking methods using an open hand. There are a great many of these methods and…
Karate is literally translated as “empty hand” (unless you go by the original wording which translates to “China hand”) and striking with the hands is a large part of it, but have you stopped to think about the diversity of…
The makiwara (literally “wrapped straw”) post is an iconic piece of karate training equipment that has a little bit of mystery behind it. Most often you will hear people talking about using it to toughen their knuckles, but that is…
Ranks and promotions in martial arts are a bit of a touchy subject–many people find that they dilute the arts or do nothing but generate money, while others find that the more ranks you have in your art the better…
“Your fingers and the tips of your toes must be like arrows, your arms must be like iron.” – Chosin Chibana Most karateka these days, though not all, certainly, will not be training their fingers and toes to be like…
Sometimes people are just out to prove a point. These people tend to be arrogant and confident, and due to the nature of martial arts they can be very, very dangerous. I would like to share a story with you…
In serious martial arts schools we train hard. We punch, kick and block with intensity and purpose. We sweat and we pant by the end of class and often leave with bruises and sore muscles. Every now and then there…
Tokui-waza is a concept that I was first introduced to in Judo, and it simply means “the technique that is your specialty”. My Judo instructor here in Arizona called the throw uchi-mata his “tokui-waza” and that started me looking into…
In “Fighting from the Ground – Part 1″ I discussed some methods you can use to prevent a fight from going to the ground. Those methods have been tested and proven to work, but even if you train those methods…
Martial artists often like to discuss (and sometimes argue) about whether it is more important to develop control or power. This argument usually stems from discussing the merits of full-contact sparring versus point sparring, where people will usually claim that…
This is my follow-up article to Sensei Kruczek’s “School Loyalty” article, and it comes only from the point-of-view of a mudansha (under black belt) student. Loyalty is a common concept within the martial arts and is generally expected, but how…
This is a topic that I feel very strongly about and I have found that it is a topic that non-martial artists tend to focus on more often than most martial artists. Before we delve into this article on ground-fighting,…
Sparring is, in my opinion, a vital part of martial arts training. Kata gives you a foundation in your art and develops muscle memory and conditioning, but there are some things that you really need to work against a live…
This article introduces my co-writer Noah. It talks about: 1) Started 2006 2) Shito-ryu 3) Judo 4) Shorinkan 5) Mudansha
