Budokan Dojo Martial Arts University

The other day I was chatting with my students and I asked how many of them have seen the Karate Kid. I was in total shock that most of them had no idea what I was talking about...



The Karate Kid series of movies (I, II, III and IV) were iconic in defining an entire generation of Martial Arts that refocused on the real meaning of the arts and not just the simplistic view that MMA has promoted which is violence/competition. I had already been in Karate for a seven years when the Karate… Continue

Today MMA has exploded with schools opening up all over the place. Traditional arts have always had problems with unqualified instructors running out and opening schools but never have I seen anything like MMA where a 22 yr old starts "teaching" in their garage and saying they are "licensed" to teach.



MMA has no licensing body, is not a martial art and many of the people who I have seen teaching it just have no idea what in the world they are doing. Yes, there are some highly… Continue

Recently I attended a national level tournament. It was ran fairly well and the competition was tough but what has prompted me to write this blog was what had occured during the black belt meeting prior to the second day of the event.



Part 1 - Who are you and what did you say?



At this event there were a whole bunch of masters not wearing a uniform. They were getting upset because people did not "bow to them" or talk them in the manner in which they were accustomed to… Continue

Our dojo is probably different than most out there in one distinct way. Our black belts do not wear the fancy belts with stripes or colored belts to signify rank beyond black belt shodan. Over the years it has been fun for us to attend seminars and tournaments wearing only our no stripe solid black belts. About three months ago I attended a tournament where all these Master level guys wore everything from the white/red/black to a white/red with gold stripes belts. It was amazing that none of… Continue

Over the past 15 years martial arts has changed drastically in terms of the purpose behind competition. Some of it has been for the better but much of it has been for the worst. In this blog post I am going to focus on two things. First the sparring at events today and secondly the attitudes of competitors in relation to traits of martial artists.



Kumite was not meant to be about who can slap who the first with an off balanced technique or who can beat who to the strike. I competed… Continue