The practice of Karate-Do is pretty much limited to one appropriate time and place – at the Dojo. I’ve always joked that if you ever performed kihon on a busy street, people would probably stare and then make a big detour around you, haha. Personally, I rarely ever show my techniques, though I’m known to unconsciously move my free hand in and out of a tate-shuto-uke while on the phone or my hips may sometimes start rotating or tilting while I’m standing and waiting somewhere. This is a bad habit, like your uncle or grandpa, practicing with an imaginary putter and golf ball while in the living room. I do try to control this, as we all know that the practice of the art has its appropriate time and place. Over the years, however, I can recall four times where I witnessed someone performing karate movements (Shotokan, no less) in the most unexpected places. The first time was shortly after I joined the KAH some 45 years ago. Early one morning, I was taking the long walk to class from the UH Quarry parking lot. Suddenly, The corner of my eye detected some vague distant movement, which caught my attention. [...]

Recently, at my son’s home, our evening repast (yes, I could have written evening meal, but repast goes better with reflections 🙂 consisted of some delicious old-style fare (beef stew and laulau) from the venerable Highway Inn in nearby Waipahu.  you all know the place, been there for nearly 70 years, serving up local food. As it often does, my thoughts drifted to….karate.  What!?!  Eating great local style food should start one reminiscing about the good old food from the good old days or something like that, right?  Well, in my usual roundabout way, I’ll explain how I ended up thinking about karate-do. I believe that I’ve mentioned that Sensei Wayne, Sensei Peter and myself were all members of the KAH Special Training group.  In addition, we were also members of the University of Hawaii Karate Kai.  The training was rather severe there, and the large group of young college students that would join at the beginning of each semester would rapidly dwindle to a few, willing to endure the rigorous classes.  Fast forward 45 years, and the club and the little building where we met and trained together, are both long gone. Sensei Wayne, Sensei Peter and myself are [...]

Hi Everyone, Most every Sunday, my wife and I visit her parents and usually play that old word game, Boggle. We all have a lot of fun playing and at the same time, feel like we’re doing our brains a favor. None of us is getting any younger, and we all agree that the mental effort required to find words on each random shake (three minute time limit) helps preserve and keep our minds sharp. With Dementia and Alzheimer’s having become common terms in recent years, exercising the mind as we get older, seems like a good idea. I know I’ve even seen commercials on TV for different products and programs designed to help stimulate one’s mind. I guess that just watching hours of our favorite sitcoms or sports doesn’t require the mind to work very much. We sometimes talk about karate being a way to strengthen one’s mind, especially when dealing with conflict or when under attack. Much of the value from the harsh training sessions back in the “old days” involve learning to deal with pain and fatigue. The benefit of perseverance lies in the ability to overcome obstacles and continue in one’s journey of the study of [...]