In my journey as a deshi, I have been given some great opportunities to come up with clever ways to… Read more 3 Fun Ideas for Teaching Kids Karate
Tag: Martial Arts
Returning to the Dojo
One missed class can easily become three. Three classes becomes a month. Then six. Then a year. And then there’s a day when you open your cupboard and there is your gi, hanging up and gathering dust. Waiting. (And silently judging you.)
Episode Two: Love, Lobola and Taxis
For this episode, I chatted to my dear friend Stanford, who is a man of great wisdom and who always… Read more Episode Two: Love, Lobola and Taxis
Doilies, Vases and Greek Life Lessons
It all began with a doily, and a vase. My yaya, a woman who has caustic wit and very thin… Read more Doilies, Vases and Greek Life Lessons
Obituary: Kazuo Chiba, 1940 – 2015
Even though I no longer formally practice Aikido, it is a martial art that still matters to me, and one… Read more Obituary: Kazuo Chiba, 1940 – 2015
Women Warrior Series: The Dahomey Amazons
Not long ago in West Africa, there was a warrior clan so fierce, so hardened and so unbelievably tough that it took the might of an industrialised nation just to slow them down.
What the Dreaded DNF Can Teach Us
It was the sickening realization that even though I trained, and followed the programs, I would not finish the race. Because no matter what they say, sometimes your best just isn’t fucking good enough.
I Fight Like a Girl
I may be a lone voice in this, but I really want to bring this rallying cry into the martial arts, and especially in karate. I hate hearing ‘you punch like a girl’ being leveled at boys, that anything feminine is inherently weaker. It is one of the reasons why we see such an attrition of young female budo-ka.
Dear Adult Beginners: It Gets Better
But as an adult beginner, the constant corrections are overwhelming, and sometimes humiliating. It’s hard not to feel like a failure, and to think that no one else has ever been this bad at karate, or aikido, or judo, or whatever you choose to do. But you know what? There isn’t a senior who wasn’t a junior, and who doesn’t learn every day from the junior students they teach. You’re not slowing anyone down by asking for help.
Women Warriors: The Gulabi Gang
The Gulabi Gang India, despite its respectable number of female goddesses, is not a country known for treating women well.… Read more Women Warriors: The Gulabi Gang
Zojo Dojo 