Karate and Nuclear War
In the historical perspective, a key factor of a nation being able to enjoy a healthy growth has been to maintain culture in one hand and martial arts in the other hand. That is, maintaining both of the above was critical in governing a nation. – Shoshin Nagamine
Bunkai: First Kata, 4-5
There is another possibility which is more likely: The opponent drops and attempts a take-down. That is a standard mode of attack for many grapplers. We need to train to prevent that.
Groundbreaking New Book
“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling… A splendid achievement.”
— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series
Is “Nothing” Sacred?
Miyamoto Musashi lived in turbulent times. He sharpened his sword-fighting skills at the great battle of Sekigahara, in sixty duels and ceaseless training for single combat. Later, living alone in a cave, he wrote the Book of Five Rings. His story is legendary. His example of the traditional virtues of courage, skill and integrity retold in novels […]
Do Not Fall
Shoshin Nagamine founder of the predecessor style of Yamabayshi Ryu, was a long-time public official and one time Chief of Police. He was a San dan, third-degree black belt, in judo. Judo by his time had replaced jiu jitsu as the subject control and arrest technique system taught throughout Japan to all police cadets and […]
Two Ways To Win
Movie fights and drunken brawls seem to go on and on. For self-defense your preferred tactic will be ikken hissatsu. It’s simple. A devastating full-commitment strike that ends the threat. It echoes the famous advice of Carl von Clausewitz, the 19thcentury Prussian general, now studied in military academies throughout the world, who advised using massed force […]
The Okinawan Secret
Okinawans live longer than any other people in the world. Why? A team of medical researchers collected data for twenty-five years on the island to find out. Karate comes from the island of Okinawa Karate is Okinawa’s most famous export. But the Okinawan secrets of longevity might be even more popular, if more people knew about them. […]
Matsumora’s Grasp
空手に先手なし ‘There is no first attack in karate’ means that we respond when the cause is just and the need is present. People think that Gichin Funakoshi used the “no first attack” idea to communicate to non-Okinawans that his karate was a cultivated art, for cultivated people. The presumption was that karate and other arts […]
There is no Last Defense in Karate
They say there is no first attack in karate. There is no last defense in karate, either. It’s not over. Lets say you’re sleeping. It’s the middle of the night. You hear something downstairs. It’s probably nothing. You hear it again. It might be something. You get up. Quietly, so you don’t wake your […]
First Kata
In our first kata we learn to project power in eight directions. This kata, Shoshin Nagamine’s “Fukyugata Ichi”, has some very advanced elements. “Blocking” in Two Dimensions If you look at the s-curve at the center of the yin yang symbol you will see a map of our blocking system. Follow the progression of […]