Posts Tagged ‘east valley martial arts’

Okinawa Shuri Castle Photo a Favorite

This photo at Shuri Castle is one of my favorite group photos and general karate pictures. For me it symbolizes Ryukyu no shin – the heart of the Ryukyu Kingdom, or the heart of karate from Okinawa in current times.

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Partner Drills for Self Defense

At East Valley Martial Arts, we practice many different partner drills to build self defense skills. I would like to share many of them here and how they improve defense abilities. A big safety layer at our school is competent supervision. In other words, do not try this on your own. You are liable for…

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Kids’ Karate Builds Physical Skills Part 1

Welcome to Part 1 of my pair of short blogs about the physical skills learned in karate. We will specifically focus on those skills as they affect children. Martial arts training is a fun way for kids to successfully practice and develop physical skills. In addition to the regular developmentally appropriate skills that children learn,…

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Karate Kid Fun: Glimpse into Dojo Hilarity

One of the perks I have as a martial arts instructor is seeing karate kid fun first-hand. Kids say and do the some of the funniest things. We run a tight, disciplined ship in class, but we have fun too. Your perk today? You don’t have to put in the hard work, sweat, concern, tears…

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There’s No Crying in Karate

The Tom Hanks quote, “There’s no crying in baseball,” came out in the 1992 movie, A League of Their Own. Since then, this phrase has gained popularity. We even use it to frame other phrases about sucking it up in other activities and places. That generated the proclamation, there’s no crying in karate! THERE’S NO…

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Karate Title Changes

Changing karate titles are a natural part of our dojo’s martial arts culture. In Japan, people have changed their names: when they became the head of a household or a company; to demonstrate allegiance; and when their social status evolved, among other reasons. They have even changed their names to shed bad luck. And artists…

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3 Tips on Japanese for English-Speakers

In traditional Okinawan karate, we promote the culture that created our art. Language is an influential part of culture. The Japanese language remains the most enduringly difficult part of my martial arts training. Like a thorn in my side, it occasionally causes agonizing discomfort. Yet it’s survivable. And I don’t even notice it or think…

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Romaji for Japanese Words

Romaji is simply the use of roman characters (such as the English alphabet) to write pronunciations of Japanese words. The Japanese language is a part of the traditional culture that we represent and promote at our dojo. As a custom, the Japanese language is written in a complicated mixture of the complex kanji (adapted from…

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Goal-Setting with Karate

Goal-setting was unknown to me as a child and youth. I had dreams, hopes and standards. But I did not have the tool of writing down smart goals for a roadmap to help me accomplish what I wanted. As a young adult I learned how to set well-crafted goals from my karate instructor, Michael Newland…

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