Whether you’re a brand-new martial arts student or seeking promotion to any level, Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder’s The Way to Black Belt: A Comprehensive Guide to Rapid, Rock-Solid Results is a great resource.

The authors include a wealth of information, including quotes from other martial arts instructors and students, for students who are looking to begin their martial arts training. As instructors, they know what students are interested in. They have undoubtedly seen fantastic instructors, and ones that leave something to be desired. From setting your goals to picking an instructor to continuing on the path toward and following through with achieving a black belt, Kane and Wilder provide you with smart, measurable ways with which you can tie that belt around your waist.

This book is not written for children, though, as some of the contents of this book may go above their heads (not to mention it’s more than 250 pages long). Instead, parents who would like to get their children involved in the martial arts should read this book to see what it takes to earn a black belt and what they should be looking for when deciding on a training facility and instructor.

The book’s title – The Way to Black Belt – may imply that it is only for martial artists who have not yet received a black belt in their particular style. However, Kane and Wilder provide plenty of things to think about that beyond the black belt level. The resources that are included could help an instructor build a fantastic library of information. I know I’ll be referring to this book often to remind myself about a particular aspect of the martial arts, or to seek out other leaders for their ideas and philosophies.

Additionally, instructors who are running their own schools (or who are interested in doing so) will be able to glean information from this book regarding student interests and items to think about incorporating into their program.

The only part of this book I wasn’t much of a fan of was the pictures. I did not feel that they added much to the message of the book as they were not in color, and most are crammed four to a page. These would be better served for a website, or at least larger, color pictures.

Despite the pictures, I am a big fan of this book. The Way to Black Belt should go on any serious martial artist’s bookshelf.

(Full disclosure: YMAA Publishing Center sent me a copy of this book in order to review it.)

I’ve studied Okinawan karate for nearly a decade, though interestingly enough, I’ve focused mainly on the movements. Only within the last several years have I made a pointed effort to start digging deeper to discover the roots of my art. The history and culture surrounding the martial arts, and especially Okinawan karate, are as interesting to me as the physical applications.

Karate’s roots can be traced back to roughly 500 A.D., according to Robert Trias, when an Indian abbot crossed the Himalayas into China. Bodhidharma’s purpose was to enlighten the Chinese monks at Shorinji Temple to teach them the way of Zen, but found them “lacking in physical and mental development and unable to endure the severity of the discipline required to bring them to satori, or enlightenment.” Within a few years, it is said Bodhidharma instituted a physical fitness program based on the Buddhist doctrine of the inseparability of the mind and body that transformed the monks into the most formidable fighters in China.

While I am sure it existed, none of my research has indicated much in the development of the martial arts until 1477, when Sho Shin, ruling the island from Shuri, banned the ownership of arms in large quantities. During this time, Trias states that the Chinese replaced civil emissaries with military personnel, some of whom were familiar with Chinese kempo (aka tode, or Chinese boxing). The Okinawans liked this form of unarmed combat, Trias says, and adapted it into Okinawa-te (Okinawan hand). In Okinawan Karate, Mark Bishop says the Okinawans would study Chinese boxing in China, or the Chinese (such as Kusanku) would teach it on Okinawa.

 Sokon “Bushi” Matsumura was among the Okinawans who received instruction in China. Matsumura studied Chuan-fa and Hsing-i in China, and when he returned, he was the personal bodyguard to two kings at Shuri Castle for more than 50 years, according to Bruce Clayton. Even in the 19th century, it’s reported that Matsumura lived well into his 90s, nearly twice the average lifespan during that time period (sources dispute his birth and death dates, though all suggest a long lifespan).

In 1609, members of the former Japanese province of Satsuma (now Kyushu) invaded the Ryukyu Islands, weakening the kingdom for decades. In 1699, Satsuma prohibited imports of all bladed weapons. While the Ryukyuan upper classes were allowed to trade or make farming instruments by 1724, peasants were not allowed to until 1879 when Japan annexed the Ryukyu Islands during the Meiji Restoration. (Note: Trias suggests the Shimazu clan could also be responsible for the weapons ban.)

This is a key point, as Bishop argues the martial arts didn’t develop as a result of weaponless peasants trying to overthrow their Satsuma overlords. In fact, prior to 1879, he says martial arts were limited to upper class families. Ti, tode’s predecessor, was practiced for self-defense and as a means of self-development by nobility. Karate, meanwhile, was practiced by others in the towns of Shuri, Naha and Tomari.

Okinawa-te developed tremendously over the centuries in secrecy with no written records until the 20th century. In 1901, Ankoh Itosu integrated karate as we know it into the curriculum at the Okinawa Normal School. Styles proliferated throughout the region as a result of Itosu and other masters such as Gichin Funakoshi and Choki Motobu, and as a result of World War 2, the financially hard-pressed Okinawan masters realized karate’s commercial value.

(As an aside, George Dillman states in his book, Kyushu-Jutsu, that the term “karate” wasn’t introduced until about 1930, when a nationalistic, pre-World War 2 imperial Japan wanted to eliminate the reference to the Chinese and began referring to tode as karate.)

One of the men who received karate instruction (specifically Shuri-ryu instruction) during this time was Robert Trias, who is credited as opening the first karate school in the United States. Trias trained a number of students (obviously), including my instructor, David Hawkey.

Trias received instruction from T’ung Gee Hsing (or Hsiang) while stationed in the British Solomon Islands in World War 2. Hsing, in turn, learned the Chinese art of Hsing-i from his uncle and adoptive father, Shang Tsao-Hsiang. Trias describes how during the 1800s many traveling monks were being robbed and killed on a road in China. Shang Tsao-Hsiang taught his martial skills to the monks to allow them to travel safely through the highway robbers.

Hsing settled in Kume Mura, a Chinese settlement in Okinawa, where he met Choki Motobu. Hsing and Motobu then incorporated their styles together, which “became the basis of modern Okinawan Shuri-te and the entirety of the Shuri-ryu system as taught today,” according to Trias.

I am by no means presenting a comprehensive history of Okinawan karate, as I am unfamiliar with the development of its other forms. I will be rereading Bishop’s book, Okinawan Karate, for the first time since I began practicing my art in order to better understand the differing styles.

Regardless of the style, I think Master Trias’s words speak volumes about karate in general:

Although the development of the science of karate over the centuries has been long and arduous, and even in danger of being lost to mankind by suppression or indifference, it has nevertheless persisted due to the devotion of its many students and masters, often in the face of great hardships. Karate must be considered in its final form and spirit as an expression of man’s indomitable will to survive adversity in the most direct and self-reliant manner possible, requiring only that which nature gave him – a mind and body rigorously disciplined as an inseparable entity.

Note: Two years ago, I began to practice tai chi chuan and Hsing-i chuan. It’s a great feeling to practice the art that Trias describes as a prototype to Shuri-ryu. In my mind, by complementing one art with the other, I am getting a more complete view.

Thanks to my brother for suggesting I write about this topic. I am open to writing other martial arts topics, too. Send me an email or leave a comment letting me know what you want to know more about. Other friends have suggested I discuss the benefits of kata and sparring, how to stay inspired after attaining a black belt, why you should learn more than one style, and what place the martial arts have in our society today. 

For the majority of my karate training, I basically lived in a bubble. I didn’t care to compete. I didn’t know about many tournaments that were happening. The ones I knew about, I didn’t really care to attend.

This changed two years ago when I started training in Chinese martial arts. I started to realize there are things I don’t know that I don’t know. Lots of them.

So I became a sponge. I started attending more tournaments and seminars to meet people to learn some of the things I should be thinking about and doing. For example, at yesterday’s tournament put on by Ms. Vera Harrison, I wound up having two extensive discussions with a Shuri-ryu stylist who was gave me some pointers on what I should be doing to advance.

Another example was Friday night’s pre-tournament seminar. Six martial artists demonstrated some very basic but very effective techniques – everything from pressure point and joint lock work to potential rape scenarios. Each instructor brought a new perspective to the table, ideas that I’ll be thinking about as I move forward in my own training. I even learned from my partners – one of them turned out to be one of the demonstrating instructors, and the other was a girl who wasn’t going to take crap from anybody.

Learning what I don’t know I don’t know is especially important for me at this stage. I have a solid library of techniques and experiences thanks to all of my instructors that I’ll continue to build on, but it’s critical that I seek out more information from others from time to time.

I would suggest to any martial artist that you get out of their comfort zone and take a class somewhere else. Find out what you don’t know that you don’t know so that you know your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you know striking but not so much grappling, so you go find a grappling class.

No matter what you know, there’s always so much more you don’t.

In what turned out to be a fantastic early birthday present to myself, I attended Mr. Richard Clear’s free tai chi seminar in Peoria last Friday night.

While I did not attend his paid sessions due to other commitments, I found the free session enlightening. I was asked if I’d learned anything during the session, and I said I’d have to let Mr. Clear’s ideas marinate.

The main point I picked up was how calm Mr. Clear and his students were. We were working on a drill where we were trying to root our bodies in order to push somebody else away in an effort to use our entire body and not just our arm/elbow/shoulder. I felt like I was beginning to understand this drill when one of Mr. Clear’s students, Ben, told me I was too tense. He slapped my shoulder a few times to relieve the tension, I tried the move again, and it seemed to work better.

Another drill consisted of partners putting at least one hand on their partner’s hip and the other either on the other hip or the arm. The partners would try to find each other’s center and push the other person off-balance once he/she found it. I was surprised at how easy my partner was able to gently push me away. This type of pushing hands drill is more complicated than how my tai chi chuan instructor teaches it – not that it’s right or wrong, just different. After watching me lose my balance several times, another one of Mr. Clear’s students approached. Not the typical, athletically built martial artist you might think of, Mr. Kerr (I believe) advised I “hang” my entire body from my skull, like a puppet. Let everything dangle from that point. I tried it, and though I was still pushed off balance, I was able to spend more time actually trying to practice the drill.

Much of the seminar can be seen in this video. Skip to about 38:00 and you’ll see me.

Any martial artist interested in the Chinese martial arts should get their hands on Yang Tai Chi for Beginners.
Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming takes the viewer through each step of the tai chi chuan form for Yang style. Each step is clearly labeled with English, Chinese, and the Chinese ideograms. At each new movement, he explains both the structure and the application and shows each from different angles.

Dr. Yang sprinkles in bits of tai chi history and philosophy throughout the nearly five-hour-long DVD. He explains why his style does what it does, and he explains that other styles have their own ways. Instead of discriminating against other styles, he acknowledges that they exist, doesn’t say whether one is better than another, and encourages the viewer to follow what his instructor teaches.

I’ve only purchased a handful of instructional DVDs. The ones I run across seem to always have poor production quality and lack easy navigation. YMAA, however, comes through in both respects.

My first introduction to Dr. Yang was through a link I clicked on Twitter from the YMAA feed. David Silver wrote a great article about Yang Tai Chi for Beginners. The link includes a video from the DVD and includes many snippets from Dr. Yang, including a great quote that I posted on the Metamora Martial Arts blog.

After taking my time to really concentrate on this video the past few weeks, I’m intrigued by Dr. Yang. Just 10 minutes in, and I felt like he and I could have a great conversation and that I could learn lots from him. I hope to be able to incorporate some of the teachings in this video to the tai chi class I’m currently involved with in order to help expand our collective thinking.

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this DVD in exchange for posting this review.