05/07/2026
My social media feed is a strange mirror of the martial arts world. On one hand, I see incredibly supportive men calling out the casual misogyny and chauvinistic gatekeeping that still runs deep in our community. On the other, the critics are relentless. Whenever I post technical breakdowns, a predictable group arrives to tell me Iām too weak, need more weight, or demand to see my "official" credentials.
I know exactly who I am. I don't have the heavy, crushing mass of a Japanese male master. But most practitioners worldwide aren't Japanese male masters either. They need to see someone like them, someone younger, lighter, or female, making karate techniques work for their reality.
What works for a strong man doesn't work for a girl. A heavy man can bully through poor alignment with brute strength. I canāt. If I make a structural mistake, the technique fails completely. Because I don't have mass, I have to be absolutely obsessed with exact physics and precise timing.
Itās ironic. In Karate-Do: My Way of Life, Gichin Funakoshi explicitly wrote that because karate requires no great brute physical strength, it is an ideal martial art for women, the young, and the physically weak. This art is engineered to make structure and acceleration the ultimate equalizers. My purpose is to show that you don't need a massive frame to find genuine, functional karate.
All the noise fades when I read the messages that actually matter. A father recently wrote about his 11-year-old daughter, a purple belt who dreams of karate and trains relentlessly. Then, a woman from Australia messaged saying she loops my Heian Nidan videos to prepare for her grading, having started her journey at 49, adding a defiant "whatever" to her age.
While critics try to build walls around the dojo, a young girl is finding her strength, and a woman across the world is perfecting her form. I don't train for the critics; I share this for the sincere explorers. And for myself. Karate doesn't belong to a specific look or the loudest voices. It belongs to anyone with the discipline and humility.
