It’s been a while since I set foot in a dojo proper; Covid has made sure of that. But I had been diligently practicing my karate katas in my home’s basement each week… until recently. I’ve started running more, and with the nice weather, my katas began to fall by the wayside. It wasn’t until I did them again for the first time in a month that I realized how important they are to me.

Training martial arts feel great. So does belonging to a dojo or gym, and having friends and students to train with. But have you ever felt like things were going a little too far? If your gut tells you something is off, it just might be the case. Here are 5 signs that you might be in a dojo cult; if you notice them in your situation, it should tell you to turn around and run, don’t walk away.

If you’ve trained karate with any sensei worth their salt, you’ve probably had countless little adjustments made to your techniques; widen your stance, lift your arm, rotate your wrist, and so on. The other day, our Sensei asked us the following question: How can studying fighting helpful contribute to creating a more peaceful world? There are a bazillion possible ways to answer that question, but the first one that came to mind to me was that it’s in the little adjustments.

I count down the days until my Nidan – my second degree black belt – grading. Eight left. The date is coming fast – maybe too fast. Am I ready? Can I remember all the theory under pressure?

I’m set to grade for my Nidan, or second degree black belt, in karate in just two weeks. It’s a nerve-wracking prospect, not the least because it comes with a question-and-answer component that focuses on the theory of martial arts, and outside factors that influenced it to become what it is today. One of the most significant among those is Zen, and so today’s post is my attempt at connecting some dots between Zen and classical martial arts.

I recently started joining my wife in practicing yoga more regularly. Almost immediately upon starting up, I noticed a number of interesting similarities between yoga and karate – similarities that make the two disciplines complimentary to one another. Here are five of the most significant ones.

This quarantine is a tough time for martial artists. Gyms and dojos are closed, and if you’re lucky enough to still have classes to attend, they’re virtual. Definitely better than nothing, but a poor substitute for the real thing. Ultimately though, COVID has reinforced a lesson that my sensei has been teaching since I first joined his dojo seven years ago: your karate training is up to you.

Today’s post is a bit of a reflection on how my karate training has changed me as an individual. There’s no doubting that, in the six years since I began training karate at my current dojo, the Jason who walks out of there today is not the same version of me as the one who walked out the very first time. Describing that change hasn’t been as cut-and-dry as I thought it would be, though.