Training & Recovery

Whenever I post something online about the importance of rest and recovery, I always get at least one comment claiming that rest makes us weak as martial artists. I used to have this mentality. When I started karate, I had a reasonable training schedule. I’d train 3 nights per [...]

Almost every teacher and coach I’ve ever had has been more concerned with having power over their students and being admired for their expertise than with building rapport and trust with their students. The small minority of teachers who weren’t like this were by far the best teachers I’ve ever had. Why? Because [...]

BLACK BELT MARTIAL ARTS FEMALES! Here are 10 facts about those deadly ladies: #1 - They’re all hot. #2 - They all practise martial arts in heels. And lots of makeup. #3 - When they do train barefoot, their feet are always in [...]

The bo and eku are my favourite traditional Okinawan weapons. In this article I'll explain how to size and hold these long weapons. You can watch this video for a demonstration of these, as well as of various basic techniques: There are different types of bo that you can [...]

I get this thrill of excitement every time I pick up my karate weapons. Bo. Nunchaku. Sai. Tonfa. Eku. I love them all. They are incredibly challenging to learn, but once you get proficient with them, you can learn some pretty cool kata and techniques. Learning a new weapons kata is awesome [...]

I never knew how much of a pounding I could actually take until I started karate. I mean, I was 41. I wasn’t totally inexperienced. But I’d never been through anything like THAT before. Me, the only white belt, surrounded by black belts. They all knew what they were [...]

This training exercise is called “dirty rice,” "rice grips," or “rice digs,” and is a very effective—and fun!—way to increase grip strength for karate and other martial arts. Building up strength in your fingers, hands, wrists, and forearms is great for power, but is also a smart idea for combat fighters. [...]

Legend has it that ranking in karate arose from an ancient tradition of martial artists never washing their belts. White belts turned black from years of dirt, sweat, blood, and dedication. The more knowledgeable the martial artist, the darker and filthier the belt. As the modern enlightened, we know a thing or two [...]

Don’t know how to put on your sparring gear for karate? I can help. [Video demo below] I have 2 sets of gear for sparring in tournaments—red and blue—but for in-class sparring you should be fine with just one colour. Now, the reason I’m making this blog post is that even [...]

To maximize your performance in karate, should you build your strengths, or improve your weaknesses? The answer, of course, is both. But which one should you prioritize? Let’s do the math. I’ll use sparring as an example. Let’s say your strength in sparring is your quickness. You’re super fast, [...]