Your Karate

06/04/2026

What a sight.

Less than two weeks after releasing Your Karate and we're still holding in the Top 10 Best Sellers on Amazon — and still showing as a Hot New Release.

But what really stopped me was seeing whose company we're in.

Thirty-something years ago I was a kid reading Miyamoto Musashi for the first time — The Book of Five Rings, Dokkōdō — completely absorbed by the philosophy, the discipline, the depth of it. Those books shaped the way I think about this art. To see Your Karate sitting alongside them on the same chart is something I genuinely have no words for.

This is your doing. Everyone who bought a copy, shared it, or took a moment to reach out — thank you. I don't take any of this lightly.

The journey continues.

Shihan Steve

06/02/2026

To everyone who has already ordered a copy — thank you.

Nearly 50 copies in the first week, and Your Karate is still holding in the Top 10 on Amazon. I genuinely didn't see that coming, and it's entirely because of your support.

If you haven't had a chance to grab your copy yet, the link below.

And if you've already read it — I have a small favour to ask. An honest review on Amazon goes a long way in helping others find the book, and if you feel like sharing a photo of it on social media, that means more than you know. Neither has to be long or elaborate — just genuine.

Thank you again. This means a lot.

Shihan Steve

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1067734503

06/01/2026

Four parts. Twenty-six chapters. One question running through all of it — how do you make karate actually work for you?
It starts where every practitioner starts — finding a mentor, stepping into a dojo, choosing a style. Then it gets honest: injury, plateau, the grading, the black belt. Then further still into teaching, aging, family, and what it actually costs to keep a dojo alive.
The quote says it better than I can. The most important thing I could teach isn't a technique. It's the mindset that lets you keep going when the technique stops working.
Your Karate is out now on Amazon. Link in bio.

05/29/2026

Philip Ameris , thank you, it means a lot. Glad it resonated, and I hope your students get something real out of it.

05/29/2026

Find a quiet spot — you'll get more out of it.

05/28/2026

Your Karate just hit #2 on Amazon's Best Sellers list in Martial Arts — and it's also showing up as a Hot New Release. The book has been out for less than a day.

I want to thank every single person who picked up a copy, shared the post, or sent a kind word. I wrote this book hoping it would help a few people. What's happening right now is beyond anything I expected.

This is your doing. Thank you.

The journey continues — Shihan Steve

05/27/2026

It's here.
Forty years of training. One book.
Your Karate: How to Make Karate Work for You is officially available — and holding a printed copy in my hands is a feeling I don't have words for yet.
This isn't a technique manual. It's the honest truth about what it actually takes to make this art last — through injuries, plateaus, life changes, and every season in between. Lessons I learned the hard way, starting in a forest in Communist Romania and carrying forward through competition and decades of teaching in Europe and North America.
If you've ever felt like you were practicing someone else's karate, this was written for you.
Shihan Steve
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1067734503

05/27/2026

Photo from the Romanian National Championships. Early 2000s.
I wasn't thinking about the guy across from me. I was fighting myself — and that fight started long before I stepped on the floor.
The opponent in front of you is almost never the problem. It's the one inside your head. And unlike the guy across the mat, that one follows you home.
Karate teaches you to deal with both. That's the whole point.

05/26/2026

Lake Simcoe, Barrie ON 2021. The dojos were closed. The world was on pause.

So I went to the beach instead.

This is Sushipho — one of the most advanced kata in Kyokushin — performed on sand, in the wind, with nowhere else to be. The footing is unpredictable. The conditions aren't ideal. That's kind of the whole point.

Hardship doesn't have to stop your practice. It can be your practice.

Watch the full video here:

Filmed during the 2021 COVID lockdowns on the shores of Lake Simcoe...

02/22/2026

"Your rank is not just the belt tied around your waist; it is a weight of character you carry long after you take off your Dogi."

When I entered the military, I thought my Karate journey was on pause. I wasn't being awarded new grades or attending regular classes. But the "Martial Spirit" was working through me in ways I didn't yet realize.

My superiors didn't just see a soldier; they saw a leader. Because of the discipline, focus, and physical grit I had forged through years of training, I was proposed for Sergeant’s training—a role reserved for those who can lead under pressure.

In my upcoming book, "Your Karate," I share how the art gave me an advantage during my service, and how it can do the same for you in your career, your challenges, and your life.

Don’t just wear the belt. Own the journey.

- A young Steve - summer of 1990.