Videos

A Few Good Moves: This video is my humble contribution to advancing the Shotokan.

I produced it in Brisbane, Australia, during a teaching visit in 2009. One student, unable to understand and perform rotary and multi-directional movements, bankrolled the video production so that he and others would have a reference for training in both kihon and sanbon kumite.
 


 
Kihon samples: Half a dozen clips of rotary kihon combinations.

Quite different to typical linear, always front-facing JKA-type training. Once you have mastered the mechanics of spinning, try to perform 40 or 50 reps of each combo—left and right.
 


 
Hokatsu Tekkina:

In the early 1980s, my Shotokan karate sensei and mentor, the incomparable Stan Schmidt, devised a five-part, bilateral sequence of techniques that he initially called the kumite kata – it contained every basic punch, block, strike, kick and stance, and followed the same embusen as Heian Shodan. He later changed the name to Hokatsu Tekkina, Japanese for “comprehensive”, and also made a few amendments. This is my humble effort to perform the kata in its original form. I fluffed a few moves and couldn`t do it at full speed because I am too fackin old now 😎 but I doubt Stan would have kicked up a fuss over my rendition of what is, in my opinion, an enduring work of karate genius. A big oss and deep bow to him.