Iain Abernethy - The Practical Application Of Karate

Welcome to the third and final part of this year’s Q&A end of year podcast! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and topics! In this third part (66 mins) we cover the questions on the future of practical karate, teaching and miscellaneous questions! If you missed it, the first part covered self-defence, kata history and general training! The second part covered bunkai and my personal like and dislikes! So that’s a total of 212 minutes of podcast! Be sure to listen in manageable chunks! Unfortunately, the length of the combined podcasts means I ran out of “adverts” for this one! I hope you enjoyed the ones in the previous parts and that the content makes up for the lack of them in this instalment! Thanks for the support of the podcasts! Have a great Christmas! All the best, Iain

Welcome to Part Two of this year’s Q&A end of year podcast! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and topics! In this second part (70 mins) we cover the questions on bunkai and my personal like and dislikes! The final part will be out soon and it covers the future of practical karate, teaching and miscellaneous questions! If you missed it, the first part covered self-defence, kata history and general training! As is something of a tradition with these end of year podcasts, I’ve also included some spoof advertisements :-) Thanks for the support of the podcasts and I’ll be back with more very soon! All the best, Iain

Welcome to the first part of this year’s Q&A end of year podcast! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and topics! In this first part (76 mins) we cover the questions on self-defence, kata history and general training! The second part will be out soon and it covers questions relating to bunkai and my personal like and dislikes! The third part will cover the future of practical karate,  teaching and miscellaneous questions! As is something of a tradition with these end of year podcasts, I’ve also included some spoof advertisements :-) All very tongue in cheek! Thanks for the support of the podcasts and I’ll be back with more very soon! All the best, Iain

This podcast is a conversation I had with Sue and Greg of the “Conversations on Karate” podcast. It was a great conversation where we covered a wide range of martial arts topics! Topics covered include: Consent in training; the two kinds of discipline (one positive; one negative); kata-based-sparring; creating new combative habits; protecting others; martial arts vs. self-protection; the inherent values of various facets of the martial arts; bad bunkai; the rise of practical karate; the “sunk cost fallacy” of X-step sparring; controlled vs. heavy contact sparring; and a lot more besides! I’m really grateful to Sue and Greg for inviting me on and I’m grateful to them allowing me to share this recording here. Be sure to check out the “Conversations on Karate” podcast: https://anchor.fm/karateconversations/ All the best, Iain

The crossover podcasts with Wim Demeere and myself are always popular! In this one Wim and I discuss teaching; with a specific emphasis on one-on-one coaching and seminar teaching. Wim does a great deal of one-on-one coaching; whereas I do very little. Conversely, I do lots of seminar teaching; whereas Wim does not teach seminars that often. We therefore had questions for one another about our experiences and relative felids of expertise. The podcast makes for an interesting listen, which we feel brought out a lot of information that will be useful to all martial arts instructors; particularly those who may wish to branch out from group teaching to also provide one-on-one and seminar instruction. It’s always great to talk to Wim and I hope you enjoy the podcast! All the best, Iain

In this podcast I discuss kata as a training method with Daniel Marino of the Motion Martial Arts Podcast! The podcast was recorded at my recent residential course and covers the kata training process, some of my favourite quotes from the past masters, and the relationship between kata and live practise. Some topics covered include: The Kata Training Process How Kata Should Inform Live Practise The Type of Grappling in Kata Consensual vs. Non-Consensual Violence The Role and Value of Solo Kata Key Quotes from Itosu, Funakoshi, Mabuni, Motobu, etc And More Besides! It was a fun discussion which I am sure you will enjoy! Master Ken – Yes! THE Master Ken! – also makes a brief cameo at the end of the podcast too! Thanks for the support of the podcast! I’ll be back with more soon! All the best, Iain

Welcome to this special cross cover podcast with myself and Wim Demeere! As you will know, Wim and I did a cross over podcast last year where we took listener’s questions. In this podcast, Wim and I discuss our top training tips for martial artists and self-defence practitioners. It was a wide-ranging and fun conversation! I hope you enjoy it! Check out Wim’s show notes for this podcast here: https://www.wimsblog.com/category/podcast/ It’s been a while since I released the last podcast, but the good news is that I have a number of podcasts recorded which I will be bringing you very soon! Thanks for your support of the podcasts! All the best, Iain

Welcome to the second part of this year’s Q&A end of year podcast! In this second part (77 mins) we cover all the questions relating to Kata and Bunkai, Stance and Technique, Weapons, and Miscellaneous. In the first part you can find the Self-Defence, Training and General Karate questions. The podcast includes some spoof advertisements! Some of these adverts contain very mild “bad” language. Nothing overly offensive, but it’s probably wise to ensure young children aren’t in earshot. Thanks for all your support in 2018! All the best, Iain

Welcome to the first part of this year’s Q&A end of year podcast! Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and topics! In this first part (70 mins) we cover all the questions relating to Self-Defence, Training and General Karate. In the second part (out very soon!) we will cover questions related to: Kata and Bunkai, Stance and Technique, Weapons, and Miscellaneous. As is something of a tradition with these end of year podcasts, I’ve also included some spoof advertisements :-) A big thanks to Dylan Tucker who also submitted some advertisements. Some of these adverts contain very mild “bad” language. Nothing overly offensive, but it’s probably wise to ensure young children aren’t in earshot. I’ve also tried to make the podcast as Christmassy as possible! That way you can simultaneously enjoy some martial discussion, get your Christmas on, and catch up on all those last-minute preparations for the big day as you listen! Enjoy! All the best, Iain

In this podcast, Stephan Kesting & I discuss our thoughts on the value of kata. I really enjoyed this conversation for two main reasons: Firstly, Stephan is a really nice and genuine guy.  He was fun to talk to. Secondly, we disagree on the nature and value of kata; and that made for an interesting conversation. Neither of us changed our viewpoint as a result of the conversation, but we both enjoyed having it. Whatever your own view, we hope you will enjoy listening too. The conversation came about as a result of a YouTube video Stephan put out in the summer called, “Why Kung Fu Forms and Karate Kata are (Mostly) Pretty Useless!” You can view the video here: https://youtu.be/Zc3rkmaoSi0 I was contacted by a lot of people wanting to know my thoughts on the video. Some of whom were quite upset by it! Although, I’m unsure if some of those who were upset had watched the video (i.e. reacting to the title and not the content). Around the same time Stephan was asking his audience who they’d like to hear from on his podcast; and my name came up. Long story short (full history is in the podcast), Stephan and I put a date in the diary to chat and this podcast is the result. It first came out in Stephan’s “Strenuous Life” Podcast: https://www.grapplearts.com/kata-is-usless-for-combat/ I’ve added a little introduction, and then it has the entirety of the podcast as Stephan put it out. At the risk of “spoilers”, I will say that, although Stephan and I remain firm in our original viewpoints, we do agree on quite a lot of general points. I will also say that much of what Stephan critiques about the way kata are practised are things that myself, and those like me, also critique. This was, therefore, not a “debate” between “opposing sides”. This was a friendly and objective conversation around the topic of kata between two people with differing viewpoints. Please listen to it in that spirit. Digest the points made, by both of us, and consider how they apply to your training and your experience of kata. Objective criticism, from both outside and within, is vital for the health of any worthwhile martial art. I’m therefore really grateful to Stephan for sparking further discussion on these important topics and for making this podcast happen. Whatever your own take on this topic, I am confident you will enjoy the discussion.   All the best, Iain

Welcome to this special cross cover podcast with myself and Wim Demeere! As some of you will know, I was a guest on Wim’s podcast a few months ago. I’m a big fan of Wim’s work and I was keen to get him back on my own podcast. We chatted through the options and thought it may be fun to do a crossover podcast with questions from listeners! Thanks to everyone who submitted them! While both Wim and I share a strong practical bias, I have a background in traditional Japanese / Okinawan systems and Wim has a background in traditional Chinese systems. It was our hope that our respective viewpoints would make for an interesting discussion … and I think it did! Lots of good information in this podcast! Topics covered include: • Differences in Chinese and Japanese forms. • Comparing internal and external systems. • Ensuring actions in self-defence are both effective and legal i.e. use “reasonable force”. • How to remain healthy when training hard and aging. • Weight training for the martial artist. • What principle-based training means to us, our teaching and our personal practise. • Red flags when seeking instruction. • Who do Wim and I seek to emulate. • The links between karate and kung-fu. • How we feel about the sporting offshoots from our respective systems (sparring and forms). • If Wim and I had to start again and study another martial art, what would it be and why. • And more too! This was a fun conversation that you will be able to find in both my podcast feed and Wim’s (http://www.wimsblog.com/category/podcast/). Enjoy! All the best, Iain

On this podcast I discuss Mental Strength with Türel Süt of Radio Anatolia! We look at dealing with negative thoughts, true positive thinking, developing our talents, how to effectively leave the comfort zone, etc. This conversation was first broadcast on Radio Anatolia and is shared here with the permission of both the host and the radio station. It’s a light and entertaining chat which I hope you will enjoy.   Türel is a regular attendee at my seminars in Germany and I always enjoy talking with him. He is an artist and radio DJ who presents the nostalgia show (music from 70s, 80s and 90s) on Radio Anatolia in Los Angeles. I therefore also got to pick a few of my favourite songs during our conversation too! We also covered the things that make me happy, the things that make me angry, and the three things I’d NOT take with me to a desert island. I really enjoyed chatting with Türel and I’m delighted with the end result. All the best, Iain

Iain and Jamie Part 2 Jamie Clubb joins me on this podcast! You’re going to love it! Jamie is someone I always enjoy talking to! The combination of his deep knowledge and critical thinking always make for fascinating conversations. I’ve been wanting to capture one of them for a while! This did not disappoint! Jamie and I can both talk! So our conversations are always lengthy. Our original plan was to talk for around an hour in this podcast, but it ballooned to two and a half hours! The topics covered were wide ranging and the conversation fascinating!  Over the two and a half hours we cover: • Historical Martial Myths • Training Flaws • Critical Thinking • Solo Training: Shadow Boxing and Kata • Self-Defence vs. Martial Arts • Self-Protection for Children • And Loads more! I’ve been doing these podcasts for over a decade and this has to be one of my all-time favourites! For ease of listening, I have split the conversation into two parts. Please be sure to listen to them in order! Learn more about Jamie, his book and his podcast here: https://clubbchimera.com/ All the best, Iain

Iain and Jamie Part 1 Jamie Clubb joins me on this podcast! You’re going to love it! Jamie is someone I always enjoy talking to! The combination of his deep knowledge and critical thinking always make for fascinating conversations. I’ve been wanting to capture one of them for a while! This did not disappoint! Jamie and I can both talk! So our conversations are always lengthy. Our original plan was to talk for around an hour in this podcast, but it ballooned to two and a half hours! The topics covered were wide ranging and the conversation fascinating!  Over the two and a half hours we cover: • Historical Martial Myths • Training Flaws • Critical Thinking • Solo Training: Shadow Boxing and Kata • Self-Defence vs. Martial Arts • Self-Protection for Children • And Loads more! I’ve been doing these podcasts for over a decade and this has to be one of my all-time favourites! For ease of listening, I have split the conversation into two parts. Please be sure to listen to them in order! Learn more about Jamie, his book and his podcast here: https://clubbchimera.com/ All the best, Iain

Lots of new podcasts coming soon! To tide you over, here is my recent interview on The Wim Demeere Podcast! I’m a big fan of Wim and this was a fun and wide-ranging conversation! If you’re not a regular listener to The Wim Demeere Podcast, you need to be! My introduction to this podcast also contains some recommendations for other great podcasts that you may have missed. There’s so much good material out there now if you know where to find it. I hope you enjoy and I’ll be back with new podcasts soon! All the best, Iain