JKA Shotokan’s Close “Relative”

You all know that you practice Shotokan Karate-Do, but how many of you have ever heard of its close cousin, Shotokai Karate-Do? A Bit of History Master Gichin Funakoshi introduced what would become the Shotokan Karate-Do system into Japan in 1922. As with most things in the world, the passage of a century inevitably brought changes, and Karate-Do was no exception. In 1934, one of his main disciples, Hironori Otsuka (who was also an expert in jujitsu) left to establish his own style, known today as Wado-Ryu. In the 1940s, Mas Oyama would study Shotokan as well as Goju-Ryu and go on to create his own system in the 1950s, known today as Kyokushin. Both styles are popular and practiced around the world. For a long time, the Japanese Karate Association (JKA), established in 1949, was the premier organization representing the Shotokan-Ryu. Although other large Shotokan organizations have splintered off and grown in recent decades, the style remains so consistent that you could probably enter and train in a dojo from any of these groups without having to make too many adjustments. Shotokan continues to be identified with long and low stances, explosive speed and power, and emphasis on long-distance [...]

Works in Progress

We’re completing our semi-annual exam cycle, something that most folks greet with mixed feelings.  On the one hand,  many members experience varying degrees of stress about the exam itself, performing in front of the class and having instructors judge them on their progress.   (Note: a bit of stress can actually be good for you.)  On the other hand, there is a sense of relief after it’s over, followed by several anxious weeks awaiting the results and hoping for promotion to the next level. Our members may train together as a cohort, but each travels his/her individual and unique journey in their study of Karate-Do. Here are three examples of differing attitudes and approaches towards exams/rank and how that impacts the path of progress in the art of Karate-Do When I enrolled my son for his first karate lesson (over 40 years ago!), I was pleasantly surprised to run into an IBM co-worker who was already training as a green belt in class.  Like most dojos, classes were held three times a week with exams every quarter.  Many students dreaded taking the exam, they all looked forward to being promoted to a higher rank.  Over time, I realized that my [...]

Your Sensei’s Know Squat

The other day, one of my friends sent me a link entitled, “The #1 Exercise To Do As You Get Older.” Found at the AARP website, I suppose that it’s very appropriate for your sensei’s we are in our seventies, haha. Well, since I know that leg exercises are especially important for us “karate kupuna”, I was guessing that it might be about Tai Chi. However, it wasn’t about an entire regimen – instead, it was specific to just one exercise…squatting. Now I’d have to say that I could never take up doing this. Even knowing about the great health benefits derived from squatting exercises, I’m sure that I’d get bored after a few reps. With that in mind, I now realize that over the past 53+ years, Sensei Peter, Wayne and I have all been “tricked” into doing hundreds of thousands of these beneficial “squatting exercises”, as every Shotokan zenkutsu/kokutsu/kiba-dachi and keri-waza involves forms of dynamic squatting movements! In other words, when we practice, besides appreciating the beauty and power of kata, learning interesting combinations, bunkai applications, and enjoying working up a sweat with our fellow karateka – we’re all doing the #1 exercise to do as we get [...]