Saluki Shotokan Ryu Karate

06/07/2026

Luca’s story is inspiring. It shows the sort of practice that addresses the individual as a whole. This is martial arts training that shapes the body, the mind and the spirit.

Think of the young men that put their life at peril and end up harming someone else or getting harmed themselves because they cannot deal with conflict or cannot keep a cool head when under pressure or duress. What is a the point of being a black belt in the dojo and a white belt in life?

These lessons are not just about fighting, they are meant to be taken and applied to how we interact others, how we approach challenges and how we deal with conflict.

To Lucas we say Otagani Rei

Senpai

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06/07/2026

Pinan Yondan

06/07/2026

Improve your dynamic and static flexibility for better and faster kicks

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06/06/2026

Seen in the opening of Kushanku Dai/Kanku Dai

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06/06/2026

Setting boundaries

Personal space is something to be respected. It can be different depending on the level of familiarity, across cultures and individuals. When someone breaches that range interactions are strained which is where a verbal warning comes in. When they invade the space violently it is worst.

As we see in the following video there is a tall blonde man trying to provoke a fight with a shorter fellow with a beard. Even after laying hands on him he is seen trying to avoid the fight until the repeated shoves towards the face become one too many. He strikes back, the first shot does not land but breaks the structure of the assailant facilitating a second clean shot that ends up on a knock out.

Let’s observe what was done right and what was not. At least in the U.S. invading someone’s space with perceivable intent to do harm is already assault even if they don’t hit you. Say that they take a swing at you and you manage to evade the strike, it is already assault. When they actually hit you it’s already battery. In both cases a victim is protected by the law to defend themselves. The defender should not have allowed the other person to lay hands on him. When someone approaches like that move at the way or post a hand and take a slightly bladed stance, like a boxer. This will allow you to use the extension of your arm and shoulder to create some distance. The posted hand tells you even before you see movement if your assailant is going to try to hit you in which case you can literally beat him to the punch.

I did think that the defender did good in drawing attention to the exchange but did not do good in taking his eyes off the assailant. Drawing attention, keeping your hands up is important. There is often someone with a cellphone taking video and often videos don’t show what lead up to the exchange. Showing that you do not want to fight, drawing attention and showing that you tried to deescalate the conflict will go a long way in a court of law to prove you had no intent in doing harm.

When the defender finally engages we see two punches. The first does not land but gets the assailant to step back creating the space to be clipped by the second one that lands on that ridge between the middle and the end of the jaw known in boxing as “the button”. It is a pressure point that often gets targeted in boxing matches as a strong strike in this area can knock an opponent out. When someone steps back from an attack instead of stepping to the side or in an angle it can be bad for them. One step back to create space if caught off guard is fine even if not the best choice but as the other guy keeps firing in each exchange the distance becomes closer till eventually something lands. This worked out good for the defender.

What we saw is “kuzushi” or breaking the structure of the opponent. Kuzushi can happen physically by getting the opponent in a compromised position by shoving, pulling or striking them but it can happen even when an attack does not land when you get the opponent’s head pass the boundary of his hips or simply break their focus. Think of how former UFC champion and Shotokan sensei Lyoto Machida would at times do an advancing front kick followed by a punch. Showing the kick would get the opponent on the defense but in reality the kick is not meant to land. It is just being used to get close enough to land the punch. As George St. Pierre, a Kyokushin karateka and former UFC champion would say, “I am constantly feeding my opponent useless information so it is hard for him to read when I am going to attack”.

In spite of the observations and things to improve this seems to be a successful case of self defense. It does not seem like the assailant was permanently injured and there is ample proof that he sought to do harm. A day you go home safe is a good day.

In closing self defense starts with preparation but when you are going about your daily life it is about avoiding the situation. If something is off and there is potential for conflict just leave. Avoid places that are dangerous and if something comes up try to talk your way out of it. When all else fails engage.

Senpai

06/06/2026

An early encounter encounter between Muay Thai and Karate.

06/05/2026

According to the Oxford Dictionary, perhaps the most important dictionary in our language “martial” is defined as “Of or relating to battle or war; military”.

The word “art” comes from “ars” which is Latin for a skill, discipline of field of study. As such another term for martial arts would be military sciences.

The earliest known use of the noun martial art is in the 1920s. Oxford Dictionary’s earliest evidence for the use of the term martial art is from 1920, in Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary.

Why is this relevant? Because martial arts are in their inception military disciplines. Some represent systems of hand to hand combat, others of weapons. They might be from other parts of the world and some from other time periods nonetheless military in nature. The idea of combative sports has been around for a long time but it did not always intersect with military disciplines, at least not in every country. That being said Japanese martial arts are mostly derived from military practices or have a connection to them.

The following video while not looking as cool as a John Wick film is a real example of real martial arts applied in context. A Marine is surrounded by some young men who are attempting to rob him and one of them draws a gun on him. He kept his back towards his truck perhaps making sure no one would come behind him. He kept his composure and simply talked. When the young man was in range and confident things would go his way he seizes the gun while he got the barrio facing away from himself. Soon after a second party came in and helped him out.

Anytime guns and knives coming into play it is very hard to make it out alive and even harder to avoid bodily harm nonetheless this Marine showed that the hype is real. Their training regime is not just about conditioning the body, it fosters a mindset. The pressure they endure prepares to find stillness when under duress.

As such real martial arts address physical conditioning, mental conditioning, mood the character into one of self control, discipline and respect and as such foster the conditions for the technical combative knowledge to be wielded.
There are martial arts studios that fully focus on the sports side, others on personal development all which is fine however martial arts starts within the martial realm addressing the mind, the body and the spirit. When we lack some of these elements in training often the discipline itself or the version of it we are pursuing is incomplete.

Senpai

06/05/2026

An Omoplata Sweep when your opponent stands up in closed guard, as instructed by at the Origin Immersion Camp in Maine. Looking forward to seeing everyone again there this summer!

06/05/2026