HIS Karate-Do

Okay, today I wanted to mention a karate style that we don’t hear too much about, Chito-ryu.  I first heard of the system around 35 years ago when I was training in the Mililani KAH dojo under Sensei Funakoshi.  A black belt karateka from the eastern part of the U.S. had flown in and wanted to train during his two weeks here, enroute to further training in Japan.  He was a very nice, well-mannered caucasian gentleman in his 30’s and very easy to talk to.  When I asked him what Shotokan school he was from, he had to repeat it a couple of times as I thought I heard Shito-ryu (a well-known style distantly related to Shotokan) and on the second repetition, I realized he’d said Chito-ryu, a system I had not heard of.  The second surprise was that he said his instructor was military veteran who had learned the art while stationed in Japan and was teaching the art to interested guys from the neighborhood in his garage.  Forgive me, but I had some qualms about the quality of his garage training in a system I’d never heard of, kind of like trying sushi from the nearest 7-11🤔.  I [...]

I hope you’re all enjoying a day off from class – and since I have a few free moments, I thought I’d share something about HISKarate’s approach to teaching the art.  As you know, we usually train together as a blended group including all ages and ranks.  While it’s an exercise regimen for everyone to get a controlled workout, the actual message that everyone receives is not quite the same.  What I mean is that while focusing on some basic move or technique that everyone does together, the lesson is normally imparted on several different levels simultaneously.  A white belt might be concentrating on the particular oi-zuki drill while I might be describing the underlying ways to increase power/speed for the color belts and describing breathing/snap/thrust coordination tips that are aimed at the advanced students.  And yes, we know that a lot of what we say and teach in any given class actually “goes above your heads”, depending upon your rank and experience in Karate-Do.  Our intent is for everyone to get some exercise and learn something new and appropriate for his/her level from each combined class. In the office, we used to say the old phrase, “Throw something at [...]

First of all, I pray that all of you had a fine and safe Christmas and are enjoying the time spent with friends and family during this holiday season.  At this time of year, I always tend to look back and reflect on all of the many good things I am thankful for.  Not least of which, is the time I’ve gotten to spend with all of you in the practice of Karate-Do.  I am very cognizant that we are so fortunate to be blessed with such a fine group of karateka of all ages, along with the many helpful senpais and senseis who help guide the classes each week.  I can’t believe that 2020 will mark nineteen years since we began what is now, the HIS Karate-Do Foundation. I often say that we should strive to learn something new from every class that we attend.  If we have achieved that modest goal, then one would be surprised to find out how many new things were learned in the space of a year, and the growth and progress resulting from decades of training. It’s often said that the practice of Karate-Do can be broadly divided into three components: Kihon, Kumite, and [...]