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Arizona Summers...
At least my karategi dries quickly in the AZ sunshine!

Sensei
Aug 7, 20241 min read
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Planting a Seed and Kata in Karate
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." - Martin Luther

Sensei
Jun 16, 20242 min read
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Never a Master
"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." --Ernest Hemingway #ErnestHemingway #Craftsmanship #LifelongLearn...

Sensei
Jun 14, 20241 min read
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Sensei Says
I refer back to my teachers because I didn’t make up any of this.

Sensei
Jun 11, 20242 min read
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Steal This Technique
I have a couple students in my dojo who are notorious, unrepentant thieves. In other words, they have learned the key method used by...

Sensei
Jun 10, 20242 min read
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Blurred Boundaries
"Martial spirit is hard for outsiders to understand. If it is not for prize money, not for the glory of a trophy, not for a place in...

Sensei
Jun 9, 20241 min read
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Make It Count, All of It
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or...

Sensei
Jun 7, 20241 min read
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Three Bricklayers
Intention drives action and results. In order to get what you want out of training, pick your intention carefully.

Sensei
Jun 6, 20242 min read
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What's Your Why?
If someone asked you, could you say with confidence why you train? Are you currently fulfilling that need?

Sensei
May 29, 20242 min read
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When you know better, do better
There's a quote from Maya Angelou that I particularly like: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do...

Sensei
May 28, 20241 min read
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I Can't Pass Up a Good Dad Joke
If you ever want to get in an argument on a martial arts forum, bring up the question of whether it is proper to call a karate uniform a "gi

Sensei
May 26, 20241 min read
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Which class is this?!
When a bunch of the students from the sword class don't have time to change before the karate class, you get some funny looking dogi on...

Sensei
May 25, 20241 min read
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The Perfect Trap
In the past, I've said to students that we must train to be perfect, even though we know we never will be. I hear a lot of people say...

Sensei
Apr 5, 20242 min read
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Who Are We to Judge?
When most people wade into the debate about competition in martial arts, they are usually concerned with sparring. I'm going to pass that...

Sensei
Mar 31, 20242 min read
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Whatever You Like Least
Students sometimes ask me what they need to work on the most, and I always give the same answer: “whatever you like least.” This is my...

Sensei
Mar 23, 20242 min read
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The OODA Loop
Today's post is another one about minimizing the odds stacked up against the “good guy” when dealing with a predatory attacker. Let's...

Sensei
Mar 20, 20243 min read
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The Weak Spot in Our Armor
If you're half the person your dog thinks you are, you have a self-defense problem: you're not a terrible person, and that puts you at a...

Sensei
Mar 18, 20242 min read
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Reiho in the Modern Dojo
In the modern dojo, I tell my students that reiho is like a not-so-secret handshake that signals good intentions within a communal space.

Sensei
Mar 17, 20242 min read
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Rules and Freedom in Traditional Martial Arts
When I first read Shunryu Suzuki's work 20+ years ago, it stuck with me. His book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind felt important, even though...

Sensei
Mar 14, 20242 min read
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