It seems everywhere you look in the shotokan world, karate sensei are debating kata applications.

I find kata bunkai very interesting, but my karate training mainly consists of the three k’s (kihon, kata and kumite), every now and then, we will practice kata applications, classical (as the moves are performed in the kata) and self defence versions of the same moves.

As I have said many times before, I personally, do not practice karate just for fighting, don’t get me wrong, fighting definitely plays a part in my karate, but if I just wanted to fight, I would practice mixed martial arts.

In France it's "la rentrée" where the children go back to school and sporting clubs resume normal activity. Although we had a few classes over the summer that were really aimed at 2nd and 3rd Dan Kata, I was looking forward to normal classes twice a week with a view to making good progress towards my blue belt.
Unfortunately I hurt my back at work lifting a generator into the back of the van and the disks pressing on my sciatic nerve caused a lot of pain and discomfort meaning I missed the first two weeks back.
Having gone back to karate this week, I found that although it was hard work and tiring due to my absence, the training is helping a lot with my back pain and is helping to loosen up the stiff muscles in my lumbar region.

Well, what do I mean by choose the right karate dojo for you!

Quite often there are karateka who are completely out of place in their dojo, they are as good as every other karateka in the dojo, but they look uncomfortable, unhappy and uneasy. This is normally down to differences in their mind make up when it comes to karate practice.

The sensei (teacher) has their way of training, a way that has developed over many years, they may be more interested in kumite (sparring), than Kihon (basics) and Kata (forms). Because of this they practice everything, but the majority of their training steers towards kumite training, this is only natural for sensei who have been training many years.

Here is our club site, that I'm building. I've included a bunch of you tube video's. I don't believe there are any legal issues, but if anyone knows of any please let me know!

http://sites.google.com/site/springdalekarate

have a great day!

As karate is primarily a striking art, I have always believed in punch bag, focus pad, kick shield and makiwara, training.

You may disagree, but one of my primary objectives with new and experienced karateka, is to encourage them to hit fast and hard. Not only is this an essential part of a striking art, such as karate, it's also good fun!

I am still shocked at how many karateka are not training with, punch bags, focus pads or makiwara!

I do not practice Shotokan karate just for fighting, I love everything about karate, kata, kihon and kumite, if I wanted fighting I would join a MMA gym, they take the best fighting techniques from all the martial arts and put them to practical use in the ring or cage.