Karate-Do is such an interesting art, which needlessly to say, surpasses trends such as the current MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fad, likewise the previous Jujitsu fad, Muay Thai fad, 80's Ninjitsu fad and 70's Kung Fu fad. It has depth and is not merely a current trend.Such `arts' are usually just "fad's" with no depth. Nevertheless, what is known as `traditional/martial arts karate' is now so hard to find, especially under a superb sensei with high knowledge, skills and coaching capacity... Nowadays, even the groups which are affiliated to Japan typically don't do traditional karate (as many groups in Japan are now competition focused in their respective hombu dojo's).
I was recently shown a blog called Rhinoceros in the Dojo, where there are many video's of its creator, however the guy has karate which are brown belt level standards (at best), and 
clearly lacks application, which is immediately detectable by anyone who does real karate. He talks and talks, and talks... But destructive karate is not there. It is now easy to see why karate is often looked down on by other martial arts/fads.
clearly lacks application, which is immediately detectable by anyone who does real karate. He talks and talks, and talks... But destructive karate is not there. It is now easy to see why karate is often looked down on by other martial arts/fads.When Asai Sensei asked me to interview him in December 2005 (his last major public interview in English, which was featured in Shotokan Karate Magazine) he said I was one of the very few Shotokan karateka in the w
orld who did karate as "martial arts" - something he said "is extremely rare now". Probably another reason why he taught me more kata than anyone else in the world, why he graded me the youngest 6th Dan in the world, awarded me "A Class" Examiner prior to my 7th Dan, and asked me to conduct his final interview (in English) in Shotokan Karate Magazine... Hmmm...
orld who did karate as "martial arts" - something he said "is extremely rare now". Probably another reason why he taught me more kata than anyone else in the world, why he graded me the youngest 6th Dan in the world, awarded me "A Class" Examiner prior to my 7th Dan, and asked me to conduct his final interview (in English) in Shotokan Karate Magazine... Hmmm...Whilst the fad's exist, sometimes they at least help to expose all of the crap out there, especially groups and individuals claiming to be traditional karate when they are not. Traditional karate is a MARTIAL ART, not a tag sport, dance routine, affiliation to Japan, or style name i.e - Shotokan or Goju-Ryu. Traditional karate is the art I continue to teach, as assigned by Tetsuhiko Asai Sensei to spread IJKA (Asai-ha Shotokan-ryu), not as a rhinoceros mouth in the dojo who is all sound, all theory, and is physically weak.
© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand (2011).
