I started this page because I wanted to do some writing about martial arts and this seemed like the best way to get it out. This page, like all other pages worth a damn, is constantly being updated. If you know of a link to some decent resources about martial arts e-mail me and let me know.

For those of you who are wondering, I am a shodan in karate-do, a first-degree black belt. I have been training in karate-do for about 6 years now. I started in a style called Chito-Ryu, which is similar to traditional shotokan. I got bored with this after I got my blue belt, so I started studying Jeet Kune Do precepts with a friend of mine in university. I trained on and off with my chito-ryu dojo for a year while I worked out on my own and with my JKD friend. I was in university during this time and more interested in partying than training consistantly. During the next summer I found a place to train in Muai Thai kickboxing, so I did that for about 6 months.

I returned to my dojo for a while and trained hard and got my brown belt. I left again after that because I didn't like the internal politics that were going on in the club. Too many people developing too much attitude. I found a dojo that was just opening up near my house. I went to check it out, and after the first night, two one-hour sessions, I went home and puked. I was hooked. It turns out that I had walked into the new school of the Canadian national >65 kg kumite champion. I've been there ever since. I have graded for my black belt and am now an assistant instructor.

Karate-do is the world's most popular martial art and it has both benefited and sufferred as a result. On the upside, the more practicioners, the better, as far as I'm concerned. The more people are doing it, the better chance it has of evolving and growing. The disadvantage of such a popular martial art is that anyone can buy a black belt and pose as a legitimate martial artist. There are so many karate schools that people who are inexperienced and who don't know any better are sucked in.

Shotokan karate is the main martial art that I practice. It was created by Gichin Funakoshi, who promoted karate within Japan and was responsible for it's original popularity inside Japan near the beginning of this century.

The first thing that you should know is that there is a big difference between traditional karate-do and modern karate-do.

Kata are a set of pre-arranged steps that are practiced to perfection and beyond. Bunkai are the practical applications of the kata. Click here for more detail.

Kumite (sparring) is divided into traditional and modern (sport). There are different types of both divisions.

Click here for a Japanese-to-English dictionary of martial arts terms.