HIS Karate-Do

We’ve all been blessed with a blog for our karate ministry since January 2006. The site is all the work of kohai Donna, who in real-life, is a very talented webmaster. Donna and her husband, sempai Wes, have training with us for several years and it was she who approached me with her idea of creating a blog as a unique way of helping the ministry. Since she created it over a year ago, she has used it to collect and archive the various email notes I send out (both the good and bad, haha), capture moments in the ministry via photos and videos, not to mention being a great place for our members and friends to visit and keep in touch when they can’t come to training. Most recently, she (with much help from her better half, sempai Wes) expanded the site to include a Resources Section, something our members have always wished for; easy to access videos of Shotokan Karate katas, along with recommended books for reading. When you access the Resources Section, simply click on the desired kata and Presto!, the video appears, ready to play. Recently, Sempai James generously donated to the ministry, part of his [...]

Information on Karate can be found all over the Internet and sometimes it’s hard to find what you need to supplement your training. We’ve compiled a Resources page with links to kata and bunkai videos to help you as you prepare for your next exam! We have also put together a list of recommended books, if you’re interested in adding to your library. We hope that this will be a helpful training tool for you!

When I was in elementary school, meetings with the teacher at conference time weren’t the greatest time for my mom. For some reason, I struggled in academics, right on through the fifth grade. I was the classic underachiever…you know, high test scores combined with terrible work in the classroom. I don’t know why that was, I didn’t mean to do poorly in class, and always looked forward to going to school. I enjoyed the teacher, my classmates, even the school lunch. Yes, for 25 cents, I could indulge in culinary delights like Spanish rice, hot dog with beans, brown bread, green beans, peach halves, milk in a carton (with the serrated circle for the straw), and too many other courses to mention. But in the classroom, I don’t know why I hardly ever did my homework and usually drew pictures to entertain the kids around me. Fortunately, we live in a society that makes school mandatory up through the twelfth grade, and my parents never gave up on me. In the sixth grade, my mind suddenly locked into school and learning, and I did well through high school, breezed through college, and finished graduate school, even while putting in 60-hour [...]