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Ikigai in Jissen Magazine #5

June 16, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: Historical,Kata,MMA,Martial Arts,Recent Events,Site News,karate,mindset,modern arts

News update from the world of Ikigai – I am one of the authors in the newest issue of Jissen Magazine.

For those who are unfamiliar, Jissen is an online publication created and run by Iain Abernethy. Iain is a strong voice for traditional martial arts in the online community and I was very pleased to be able to contribute to his magazine.

My article for this issue is entitled “Okinawan Karate: An Eclectic Arsenal”. It is an exploration of the roots of traditional karate and an analysis of the way the original masters thought and trained.

Despite the serious divide between eclectic arts (like Jeet Kune Do, MMA, etc) and traditional arts, there are actually more connections than one might think. For example, did you know that old-style karate actively encouraged fighting and training from all three ranges, long, mid, and close? Furthermore, there were distinct methods of grappling known as Tegumi which were an integral part of the karate curriculum.

Another fact that often shocks modern practitioners is level to which instructors would share students, and encourage them to seek out knowledge from different sources. This hardly sounds like the strict, only-learn-from-me-I-have-the-secrets method we see today does it?

They may be buried underneath the sands of time, but the realities of classical training are still there for us to unearth. If you’re interested in finding out more about the development of karate and how history seems to be repeating itself – download the latest issue of Jissen for free – http://www.jissenmag.com/backIssues.asp

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 and is filed under Historical, Kata, MMA, Martial Arts, Recent Events, Site News, karate, mindset, modern arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • Seems like a good read =D

    Also, your eBook is nearly done!!
  • Yea it is! I'm pretty pumped to get it completely edited and out there. Also I have a special giveaway planned in conjunction with the release, so keep a heads up for that!
  • Yes, thanks for the Jessen link.
  • I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of "Jessen" magazine, but I will definitely check it out.

    I have Iain Abernethy's book, "Karate's Grappling Methods" and I consider it to be one of the best books on karate bunkai I have ever seen. He confirmed a lot of what I was coming to suspect about classical karate and convince me that I wasn't crazy or delusional.

    As far as any divide between traditional and modern martial arts, I agree that the divide is not as wide as people think. Change is the only constant and the martial arts are not immune to that fact. Even so-called classical karate or classical kung fu were in constant states of change. One look at all the various styles and sub-styles that exist should prove that.
  • Yes Iain is definitely a great resource for bunkai!
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