The podcast is split into two halves. In the first half, I discuss the topics that I feel a holistic and pragmatic syllabus should include and why they are so important. I think it would be fair to say that the majority of martial arts syllabuses omit these things so I hope it provides some food for thought. The second part of the podcast discusses how my personal syllabus (which I keep private) is set up and the podcast also breaks down what we do for 9th kyu and 1st dan; and a little bit of what we cover as students make their way from one to the other.

As I hope I made clear last month, I personally don’t believe that a universal and standardised criteria for dan grades is a good idea (listen to the podcast for the details of why I think that). So in that vein, I am not suggesting that what I do is what others must also do; nor am I suggesting that all syllabuses adopt the criteria I personally use. I do, however, hope that this discussion on what I personally do is helpful to you in structuring what you do.

I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with a standard length podcast next month!

All the best,

Iain

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I cover the origins of the black belt; how the grading system can encourage the pursuit of things that have no bearing on combative function; how the grading system can both encourage and discourage the inappropriate rise of ego; what could happen if we got rid of the grading system; the lack of standardisation in grading criteria (which I think is a good thing); what grades are legitimate; and many more of the issues surrounding the grading system.

This podcast also has a little bit of information on some of the exciting changes that will be coming to iainabernethy.com in the next few weeks! I hope that you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with a new one next month!

All the best,

Iain

PS The picture associated with this podcast is drawn by Lauren Fast and is of myself strangling Scott Knowles (the “official uke” of my recent Canadian trip) using a technique from Pinan Yodan. I’ll share high resolution versions of these with you in coming weeks, because they are amazing works of art! Thanks to James Freeman for arranging these pictures, to Lauren for drawing them … and to Scott for being happily strangled for a fortnight!

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Before doing the workout, you should watch the video that goes with this podcast (found on the blog of iainabernethy.com if you are accessing this podcast via iTunes etc). This video has demonstrations of the key exercises and should make it clear what is required.

IMPORTANT: If you are unsure of how to perform any of the exercises safely, effectively and efficiently then do not attempt this workout without first seeking instruction from a suitably qualified and experienced person. Also be sure to work at a suitable pace and immediately stop if you feel any undue pain or discomfort.

The workout is cardiovascular and muscular endurance in nature and is time-based (i.e. each activity is engaged in for a given time). It is therefore important to work at a pace that allows you to keep moving for the duration of each section. If you find that you need to stop / take breaks because of exhaustion, then you need to reduce the pace at which you are working.

I hope you enjoy the workout and find it a useful addition to your training program. I’ll be back with a normal podcast in a few weeks!

All the best,

Iain

PS The bench press picture above has absolutely nothing to do with this workout!

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You may be asking how a relatively small number of techniques can ever be considered to be a full system? Well if you are, listen to the podcast and I’ll do my best to explain my thinking to you! Kata are a lot deeper and much wider reaching than many people suppose.

As part of this discussion we will also cover the nature of kata, how kata should be practised in order to realise its full potential, what some of the past masters had to say about kata and its application, and how and why kata were created in the first place.

I hope you enjoy this latest offering and I’ll be back with a new workout podcast and online video next month!

All the best,

Iain

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This month I want to discuss what many seem to regard as the biggest secret in the martial arts! While there is no doubt that many martial artists are aware of this secret, there are very few who will publicly discuss it. Indeed, most will totally deny this highly influential secret and seem to regard it, and the influence it has, with great distain.

Want to know what the secret is? Well I can pretty much guarantee it has a big impact on how you train. It certainly does with me. The picture that goes with this podcast (assuming you are viewing this on the blog of iainabernethy.com and not on i-tunes or elsewhere) also gives you a clue.  It’s myself and Dave Hazard at the recent British Combat Association residential course. Dave’s superb session certainly involved this rarely discussed “secret” aspect of the martial arts in large quantities. Still not sure what this secret is? Then I suggest you listen to the podcast!

I hope you enjoy this podcast and I’ll be back with our 31st podcast in a few weeks!

All the best,

Iain

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There are many different ways in which history can impact upon us and in this podcast I discuss the following: How important is it to be “historically accurate” with regards to kata bunkai? What is “traditional”? Should we faithfully preserve what has been passed on to us? How can we integrate modern developments and remain true to our martial heritage? How should we use “history” to ensure a positive future? Is the “historic way” or the “modern way” the best? And a few more issues relating to the positives and pitfalls when looking at the history of the martial arts.

Thanks once again to all the regular listeners for your support of these podcasts! The number of listeners is growing all the time and I thank you for your continued support and for telling others about these programmes. I’ll be back with more next month! Enjoy!

All the best,

Iain

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Personally, I’d rather put forward solutions and suggest how things could be made better. However, people will only be interested in potential solutions if they are aware there is a problem in the first place. So what I thought I’d do in this podcast is point out what I feel are the three most common, and yet frequently unseen, mistakes in karate.

I hope you’ll forgive me for being a little “negative” on this occasion and that you appreciate that my purpose in pointing out these errors is to encourage us to think of positive solutions and to help ensure that both the art of karate and its practitioners can reach their maximum potential.

These three mistakes are so important because people often do not realise that they are making them. There are other common errors to be sure, but what makes these three so problematic is that people either don’t recognise they are making them or don’t fully understand the serious implications of allowing these mistakes to creep into their martial practise.

Curious as to what these three mistakes are? If so, you’ll have to listen to the podcast! In the podcast we explore these three mistakes and then move on to suggest what steps we need to take to ensure we avoid them. I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with more next month.

All the best,

Iain

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As part of the discussion that leads to my definition of kata, we also discuss how kata came into existence and the nature of the link between kata, kumite and combat. I also look at the relationship between principles and techniques as it relates to kata. Whether you agree with my final definition of kata or not, I hope that you enjoy the podcast and find it interesting and entertaining.

I’d like to thank you all for your support of the podcasts. All feedback and suggestions are always gratefully received (iain@iainabernethy.com) and I’ll be back with another one very soon!

All the best,

Iain

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In this light-hearted podcast, Richard and I discuss my own personal journey through the martial arts; from my very first class to the current day. We also discuss the purpose of kata, the rise of the “McDojo”, the realities of self-protection, the future for karate, my current training, and a number of important martial topics.

Regular listeners to the www.GeoffThompson.com podcast will also be treated to numerous “in-jokes” and an update on the unnatural urges that afflict Richard’s dog! I had a lot of fun recording this podcast, and despite all the joking around and general silliness, I think we managed to fit some interesting discussions on the martial arts in there too!

I hope you have as much fun listening to this podcast as we had recording it! Thanks to everyone for the continued and enthusiastic support of the podcasts and I’ll be back soon with more.

All the best,

Iain

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Having covered the history of the most widely practised styles, the podcast then discusses how those styles came into being through the Shuhari concept. We break down this important concept and look at how our moving away from it in recent times has been problematic for karate. We also look at how this has affected kata and the way kata are viewed and practised.

The podcast concludes by looking at both the positive and negative aspects of style and gives my own personal view on the way forward for karate as a whole.

We’ve now had a total of over 75,000 podcasts downloaded! Thanks to everyone for supporting them and for the kind words said about these podcast on i-tunes. I hope that you enjoy this latest podcast and I’ll be back with more soon!

All the best,

Iain

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“One whose spirit and mental strength have been strengthened by sparring with a never-say-die attitude should find no challenge too great to handle. One who has undergone long years of physical pain and mental agony to learn one punch, one kick should be able to face any task, no matter how difficult, and carry it through to the end. A person like this can truly be said to have learnt karate.” – Gichin Funakoshi

In this podcast I discuss the ways in which martial arts training can strengthen the mind, and how that strengthening process can benefit our daily lives as well as our combative skills. I think this vitality important aspect of martial arts training is largely ignored or misunderstood; and yet without an understanding of how we strengthen our mind, there can be no true “Jutsu” (combative skill) and no true “Do” (personal development). I hope you enjoy the podcast!

All the best,

Iain

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This month we discuss the always controversial subject of “weapon defence”. The podcast begins by looking at the nature of karate and poses the question of whether the methods of kata effectively address this vitally important area? The podcast also compares unarmed combat and armed combat, as well as suggesting some ideas for effectively training with weapons. The podcast includes my own views on disarms and also asks whether “weapon defence” is even a viable concept? Perhaps there is a better way to deal with an armed enemy?

I do hope you enjoy the podcast and find it useful. The podcast also includes a little bit of news on the Society of Applied Traditional Martial Arts (SATMA) which I hope you’ll also find of interest.

All the best,

Iain

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This podcast also compares Chinto to other kata – such as the Pinan / Heian series, Kushanku (Kanku-Dai) and Passai (Bassai-Dai) – in order to explore the kata’s unique nature. Examples of the bunkai (fighting applications) of the kata are also discussed. We also cover some historical information about Matsumura’s recorded distain for certain methods in order to see how the modern versions of the kata may contain elements that were not there originally. Chinto / Gankaku is a very interesting kata to study and I hope that you find some of my views on the form useful to you in you own study.

Aside from the main discussion on Chinto / Gankaku, this podcast also includes details of how you can download Michael Rosenbaum’s free book “Comprehensive Karate” and an announcement on the formation of the Society of Applied Traditional Martial Arts.

I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with another soon!

All the best,

Iain

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This month we will be covering the history and evolution of modern boxing. In particular we will be focusing on the life and times of James Figg (1695 – 1734); who is regarded as the father of modern boxing. As we will see, the boxing that Figg practised and taught was quite different from the boxing of today.

To illustrate how boxing was originally practiced, the podcast describes Figg’s bout with Ned Sutton in 1727. This bout included punching, throwing, ground-fighting, cudgels and swords! We also cover how Jack Broughton – Figg’s student and boxing champion for 20 years – introduced the rules that saw the banning of gouging and kicking a man when he was down.

Modern boxing has also had a strong influence on the way eastern martial arts are practised in the west. This is how it should be and is indeed the traditional way. Chinese systems were influenced by Okinawan culture and indigenous Okinawan fighting systems. That is how karate came into being. Japanese culture and its indigenous arts further influenced karate when it moved from Okinawan to Japan. It is only right and traditional that western culture and the indigenous western fighting arts also had an impact when the karate reached the west. The influence of western boxing on karate is also discussed in the podcast.

I hope you enjoy what will be the last podcast of 2008. This year has seen a huge number of people listen in and I’d like to express my sincere thanks to our long time supporters and those who have recently joined us. I’ll be back with another podcast in the early part of January 2009! Happy Holidays!

All the best,

Iain

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Kushanku kata (also known as ‘Kanku-Dai’ and ‘Kosokun’) is one of the most popular forms in modern karate. It is a physically demanding and visually impressive form (when performed correctly) and it has a great deal to offer the practically minded karateka. In this podcast we will look at the history of the kata and examine some of the key concepts relating to its application.

The kata is a record of the combative techniques and concepts formulated by a Chinese martial artist who went by the name of Kushanku. In this podcast we look at the historical descriptions of Kushanku and the combative methods he is said to have employed. The podcast then moves onto discuss who created the kata, the linage of the kata and how it has come down to us today.

The main part of the podcast discusses the combative methodology recorded by the kata. This include a discussion on the concepts of datum setting - the throws of Kushanku, and the reasoning behind the order in which the techniques are presented in the kata.

This podcast also includes our new intro music! The final part of the podcast includes some news and a little gift for all the regular listeners. I hope you enjoy the podcast!

All the best

Iain

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