Karate Essence     Photograph and editing by Zoё Lake Ethical Philosophy  ‘Fear’ By T.D. McKinnon Hanshi  I first met Michelle Darbro Hanshi about six years ago.  At the time, I was a columnist for ‘The Shotokan Times’, an international martial arts magazine out of Dusseldorph, Germany.  After reading my column, Michelle Hanshi invited me as a guest on her ‘Wildcat Dojo Conversations’ Podcast.  I have since appeared on Michelle Hanshi’s Podcasts on many occasions, and both myself and my wife...

Karate Essence ‘Ethical Philosophy’ 先手 Sen Initiative By T.D. McKinnon Editing by Zoё Lake Budō  (武道),   ‘the art of war’  – often translated as ‘the martial way’ – is actually a very principled methodology emphasising strict, ethical, spiritual, and philosophical   guidelines.   We begin 2026 with a new series of articles entitled ‘Ethical Philosophy’.   The very first article of the year, the January Blog, is t he ‘ Sen   Initiative ’. Table of Contents               The Relevance of the...

“Briefly, I would just like to express my profound apologies for the lateness of this post.  ‘Up Close & Personal’ was originally meant to be the November Blog post; however, due to on-going Internet problems during the month of November I was unable to post it then. Karate Essence   ‘Reality Check’ Up Close & Personal Combining Devastating, Short-Range Weaponry Editing by Zoe Lake Here at the Karate Essence   ‘Reality Check’ , over the last couple of years, we have just about covered every...