In this podcast I discuss the future of karate. While some like to think that “traditional karate” is an unchanging entity; a quick look at the history shows us that is totally untrue. Karate has never stopped evolving and changing. Indeed, the past masters recognised and encouraged this. In his book, “karate-do: my way of life”, Gichin Funakoshi wrote:
“Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The karate that high school students practise today is not the same karate that was practised even are recently as ten years ago, and it is a long way indeed from the karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa”.
The second new podcast this month! While the first podcast is a workout, this one is information based. As you may remember, I recently put out a podcast which discussed the need to be able to think like criminals if we are to be able to effectively protect ourselves from them. That podcast focussed on wider self-protection issues, whereas in this podcast I want to focus on the physical side of things. In particular, I want to quickly discuss two key elements of the criminal’s approach to violence that make them more effective than most martial artists.
WARNING: 
This isn’t an Iain Abernethy podcast … but it is a podcast featuring yours truly! Just before Christmas I was on the Karate Café Podcast (check it out!) and we had an enjoyable and wide ranging discussion! The folks at Karate Café have kindly let me share it here too and I hope you enjoy it!
One of the biggest problems I see when it comes to modern self-protection is the failure to understand just what we are protecting ourselves against. If we don’t understand the question, there is no way that we can give an adequate answer.
This month’s podcast is a mix of topics! The first part examines the nature of kata, and many of the misunderstandings surrounding kata, using the following quotation from Gichin Funakoshi as a jumping off point:
In this new podcast we cover martial virtues and warrior ethics! The podcast begins by discussing character development in the martial arts and how that relates to effective combat skills. We then move on to cover martial virtues and warrior ethics as found in the writings of the past masters and others. We also look at the relationship between virtue and valour, and show how virtue is not passively adhering to a tick list of prohibited actions, but instead requires critical thought, bravery and positive action.
Welcome to one of the longest podcasts we’ve ever done! It’s been a while since I last turned the podcast over to listeners and asked for questions and topics; so in this one I put that right! I asked for questions via Facebook, Twitter and the newsletters and got way more than I could possibly answer! Thanks to all who contributed!
In this podcast we discuss basic kihon training. For practitioners of arts other than karate, “kihon” generally refers to the practice of techniques without a partner or equipment. Typically it’s done in lines where the karateka goes up and down the room.