In 1992 a friend, Paul Zadro – Australian President & NSW Operations Manager of ISKA (International Sport Karate Association) – asked me to step up, in a one-off, friendly match against a USA visiting team, and my opponent was to be ISKA World Heavyweight Champion, Ton...

A Nice Surprise

I got a nice surprise a short while ago when it was revealed that my wife, Zoë, had entered my name and details in response to an online add that Graham Slater, CEO of Martial Arts Australia (MAA), had posted:

"Shaolin Black Sash"

Nominate a Master for Thi...

Hiki-te, another of those Japanese terms that means more than it says.  Hiki-te: the pulling hand.  Firstly, the hand that is the counter-piece, of any given hand technique is not just pulled back per se.  The difference from most hand striking (punching for the most p...

For many years the Karate competition organisers have been attempting to do whatever it takes in an effort to make the Olympic dream come true.  It was being talked about in my heyday as a fighter, in Scotland in the 1970s; and in the 1980s in Australia, while still fi...

The following film clips are from a Karate Union of Australia seminar conducted for Dan grades by the KUA Technical Committee: Chief Instructor Kathy Sweeney Sensei 5th Dan, Technical Advisor Ted D'Arcy Sensei 6th Dan and Technical Advisor Thomas McKinnon Sensei 5th Da...

Torakan Devonport Presents:
 
Ted D’Arcy Sensei 6th Dan & Thomas McKinnon Sensei 5th Dan hosting a Traditional Shotokan Kata Seminar
 
Attention:  Due to unforeseen circumstances; there is a change of venue and the seminar will now take place at the East Devonport Recr...

Preamble

Karate; is it a sport, a self-defence regime or an art?  Or is it a sport, a self-defence regime and an art?  The answer to these questions would depend on whom you ask.  For the current, ever increasing numbers of karate students, or karateka, who...

Images from the Karate Union of Australia Dan grading examination.
 

KUA Dan grading examination, examiners and examinees
The guys in these photographs actually took part, in one way or another, in the grading proper for most on the Sunday. Kathy Sweeney Sensei (KUA Chi...

Thomas McKinnon with two of the three Bulldog Gym fighters he was in the corner with, who fought and won on Saturday Feb 4th 2017, in Launceston. The little one in front is Nick Stone’s son, Samet, who was the towel boy.

Kime can be said to be a focal point, where mind, body and spirit meet with intent, during zanshin (total awareness – physically, mentally and spiritually – during combat), from the core of your being to the delivery point.  It probably doesn’t help to say that ki (ano...