Monday, 7 November 2022

半月立 (Hangetsu-dachi): The original version

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Every so often I'm asked “What is the correct way to do Hangetsu-dachi?”  So, today I will address that Question; furthermore, I’ll shar...
Wednesday, 2 November 2022

YouTube Seminar Video: BAVARIA 2022 (Part 4)

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 At the bottom of this post here's some extra footage from the Bavaria, Germany Seminar (earlier this year). You can click on the YouTu...
Tuesday, 1 November 2022

The Okinawan Budo Karate inherited by traditional Shotokan-Ryu

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The Karate of Okinawa can be categorized in four distinct ‘ways of practice’: (1)  武道空手 (Budo Karate)—the traditional classical ‘way’; (2) ...
Sunday, 30 October 2022

Andre Bertel Karate-Do: TWO MILLION VISITORS!!!

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It was just confirmed to me that recently this site exceeded 2 MILLION VISITORS. I'm really surprised by this as the site has  only ever...
Friday, 28 October 2022

'Ball and chain impact, then skewer'

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In the last few days, I've been spending the majority of my time on Kihon. Generally speaking, the IKS Shodan Examination Kihon. Of part...
Tuesday, 25 October 2022

Brief history of Okinawan Karate and the rise of Shotokan:

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Introduction: To begin I need to emphasize that I’m by no means a karate historian, nor wish to be known as one (or become one), but I was ...
Sunday, 23 October 2022

Additional Home Training (Supplementary Practice)

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In addition to daily dojo training/practice I always review key parts of each session at home. Often these sessions are short but, sometimes...
Tuesday, 18 October 2022

The Autumn/Fall weather has finally reached Oita

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 Finally, the Autumn/Fall weather has reached Oita City. While warm-ups may take a little longer, trainings will certainly be a bit more ple...
Thursday, 13 October 2022

Karate Kata: Funakoshi Sensei's Direct Teachings

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  I recently found a text by senior students of Funakoshi Gichin Sensei, in Japanese (from ‘Karatedo Essentials’), which I thought was well ...
Tuesday, 11 October 2022

Karate for Self-Defense: Funakoshi Gichin Sensei's Karate 'Way'

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One of the things that Funakoshi Gichin Sensei recognized was that ideally, karate—in the case of self-defense for the average Japanese citi...