On February 11, 2009, I traveled to Orlando, Florida, to visit James Acampora, an old friend and student of the late Chito-Ryu shihan Art Rott. In order to teach Chito-ryu karate, James has continued the dreams of his instructor by building a dojo and staying true to the way he was taught. I have always…
In trying to create a kyu belt manual for Ryusei Karate-Do, we were faced with a difficult challenge in how to illustrate our kihon, kata and kaisetsu. We didn’t have the money to hire an illustrator, and no one in our organization had the requisite skills. So we were lucky when Kambiz Miranbigi and Rick Going joined…
I was born, in 1959, into a caring family. My father was from a modern Mennonite background and my mother from a city family. The big things in New Hamburg, Ontario, the small Canadian town where I grew up, were baseball, hockey and, to a lesser degree, lacrosse. I was not a sports-oriented kid, so…
To get power in your techniques, whether it’s punching, striking, blocking, kicking or throwing, you need certain common components. But remember, all these different facets of applying power must come together in a fraction of a second, so you have to train yourself thoroughly in how to make these things work separately and as a…
Years ago, at a drinking party in Japan, I finally worked up enough nerve to pose a question that I was afraid would sound stupid. But it was something that had bugged me for a long time. Why do we have the separate basic exercises Kihon Dosa 1 and Kihon Dosa 2? These are the…
I believe the greatest martial arts movie ever made is Groundhog Day (1993), starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. In it, full-of-himself Pittsburgh TV weatherman Phil Connors (Murray) is sent with a producer Rita (MacDowell) and cameraman Larry to Punxsutawney, Penn., to cover its Groundhog Day festivities, on February 2. Phil talks the talk, but doesn’t walk…