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Shotokan Karate Online Course

Shotokan Karate Online Course I get contacted from people all over the world who are desperate to learn karate, but have no way to attend a karate dojo. Does this mean these people cannot learn karate? Karate is a wonderful art and it should be accessible to anyone wanting to train. Before I ramble on, more »Continue Reading

Self Defense – Fighting and Karatedo

Originally, karate was ALL about fighting and self-defense. 200 years ago the world was a very different place, peoples lives would be in danger on a regular basis. Learning to defend oneself and family was a priority and in some parts of the world, unfortunately, this is still the case. But in many parts of more »Continue Reading

Karate Classes Spirit & Technique

Many karate dojo, focus their karate classes on technique, now karate technique is very important, but if a karateka (someone who practices karate) has no spirit, it does not matter how good their technique is, their karate will be hollow and only resemble karate, it will have no meaning. For me spirit always comes first! more »Continue Reading

Mikio Yahara Sensei

I have recently been watching videos of the shotokan karate kata Unsu, i watched many unsu videos, but i would always get drawn back to Master Mikio Yahara and his unsu videos. Why? Well, it’s simple really, it’s REAL! No fake poses for the judges, no fancy walk ons, no hollywood glaring, just raw karatedo! more »Continue Reading

Ikken Hissatsu And Karatedo

The Japanese phrase Ikken Hissatsu is made up of three kanji, (ichi) meaning “one” , (ken) meaning “fist” and hissatsu meaning “certain kill or death”. To kill with one blow (ikken hissatsu) is a martial arts concept that, in todays modern world, very few karateka adhere to. No one knows for sure when ikken hissatsu more »Continue Reading

Nijushiho Shotokan Karate Kata Stuart Amos

Shotokan karate kata Nijushiho, performed by Stuart Amos. The original name for nijushiho is Niseishi and is still practiced as niseishi in many karate styles and schools. When master Gichin Funakoshi introduced karate from Okinawa to Japan, he changed the name of the kata from Niseishi to Nijūshiho. Both names mean 24 steps and many more »Continue Reading

Choun No Kon Dai – Yamani Ryu Kobudo

Michael Stevenson, who is one of our black belts, travelled to Seattle, to train with the legendary Shihan Akio Minakami. He stayed in Seattle for 2 weeks and trained every day under Shihan Minakami, also participating in other karate classes with some of Shihan’s senior sensei. Michael enjoyed every second of his trip and said more »Continue Reading

How To Learn Karate By Yourself

It is possible to learn karate by yourself, but I always recommend joining a professional karate dojo. There is nothing better than being part of a good karate class, where everybody is positive and has great spirit. But if there are no karate classes near, it should not stop you trying to learn karate by more »Continue Reading

Shotokan Karate Exercises The Hikite Combination

Some of the basic fundamentals in shotokan karate are shomen and hanmi, hikite, using the driving leg, kime and of course many more. In our shotokan karate belt system, we have a combination that covers several of the fundamentals in shotokan karate. We call it the hikite combination and is introduced at brown belt. Many more »Continue Reading

Shotokan Karate Syllabus White to Orange Belt

Below is a video showing our shotokan karate syllabus for orange belt. There will also be a complete video tutorial, posted at the bottom of this article, for all of our online karate dojo members. The first shotokan karate grading is a big deal for most people, there is sometimes a lot of pressure involved. more »Continue Reading