Iain Abernethy - The Practical Application Of Karate

Welcome to the last podcast of 2013! This month we answer your questions! It’s been over a year since the last question and answer podcast so it’s about time we did another. Thanks to the many questions submitted, we cover a whole host of topics in a podcast that is a whopping 96 minutes long! Hopefully plenty to keep you entertained over the holiday period. Think of it as an early Christmas gift :-)

Topics covered include stances, women’s self-defense, my top 5 martial arts movies, the relevance of kata in the age of MMA, high kicking vs. low kicking, weapons training, my favorite kata and why it’s my favorite, adapting technique to the circumstance and the individual, dealing with feeling de-motivated, meditation, the non-combative benefits of kata, martial arts and character development, conditioning vs. technical training, training for the over 40s, and loads more besides!

I am extremely grateful for the support these podcasts receive and I hope this end of year mixed bag is something you enjoy. I’ll be back with another new podcast early next year!

Until then please have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyous Winter Solstice, a Great Saturnalia, Omisoka, Shogatsu, etc! Whatever you and yours celebrate at this time of year, I hope you have a great one!

All the best,

Iain

PS The direct download link can be found below.

In this podcast we look at Street Fighting! In particular, I explore what the term actually means, the connotations it can have, and the confusion and dangerous thinking that can result. The podcast looks at the vital differences between “street fighting” and “self-protection” and explores the why fighting skills are not what is needed to deal with criminal violence.

The podcast highlights and explores the key three problems with “street fighting”, why neither you nor the criminal wants a fight, vital legal considerations, and why most martial artists as blind to what truly works when things get physical.

We also have the usual quick round up of news and some new theme music! Thank you for your support of these podcasts, and in particular a huge thanks to all of you who keep telling your friends and training partners about them! There would be no podcasts without your support!

I hope you enjoy this latest offering and I’ll be back with more soon!

All the best,

Iain

PS The download link for this podcast is found below.

This is not the latest iainabernety.com podcast, but a “bonus podcast” of my recent interview with MartialPreneur TV! It’s just over 50 minutes long and looks at my experiences as fulltime martial artist. In the podcast I am asked about how I came to be a full time martial artist, what lessons I have learnt along the way, what is my advice for those who similarly want to commit to the martial lifestyle, my advice for those looking to publish books and DVDs, and quite a bit more too. I really enjoyed chatting with Scott and I think that comes across. I hope you the podcast! I’ll be back with the next iainabernethy.com podcast very soon; which is on the subject of “street fighting” :-)

Speak soon!

All the best,

Iain

PS The download link can be found below the player

MartialPreneur TV Blurb: “This week’s special guest is Iain Abernethy. Iain is best known for his work on the practical application of karate and kata bunkai or application of the moves within kata for real combat. He has been a published author and has produced many books and training DVD’s. He also produces and hosts a successful podcast which I like to listen to regularly which spurred me to ask him to come onto the show. Iain produced a podcast episode in which he called “money and the martial arts” which I think every martial preneur should listen to. In our martial preneur tv episode I expand upon that podcast Iain did and also ask Iain to guide us on how he went from an electrician to full time instructor and published author. This episode is a real cracker and is absolute fried gold for anyone wishing to pursue a career as a full time teacher in the martial arts.”

YouTube Link: http://youtu.be/aRH--t6Z5Uw

MartialPreneur TV Link: http://martialpreneur.tv/episodes/episode22-martial-arts-author-iain-abernethy-talks-about-making-the-leap-and-going-professional/

In this month’s podcast we cover two topics! The first thing we cover is “The Case for Kata”. The question is often asked if kata itself plays a meaningful role in practise. If kata is nothing more than a repository for bunkai, then why not just practise the applications and do away with kata? Does keeping the solo forms, and devoting time to their practise, serve any meaningful purpose? Naturally, I think the solo form does have an important role to play; and in the first section I explain why.

The second section of this podcast looks at “A Warrior’s View of Fate”. I begin by discussing my take on the character development / life-enhancing side of the martial arts before moving on to the topic of “fate”. The warriors of the past had well developed views on fate in order to ensure bravery in battle and to help deal with the precariousness of their existence. It is also my view that time in the dojo can teach us about the workings of fate, and that we can use that knowledge to help shape our future outside of the dojo. To explain how I see fate, I look at some for the ancient mythologies of Europe and see what they had to say on the subject. We also touch on history, psychology, and the “do ethos” in the martial arts as envisaged by it’s greatest proponent; Jigoro Kano (the founder of Judo).

So this month we have a mix of the “jutsu” and the “do” and I hope you find it an interesting listen! Many thanks for your support of these podcasts! Please keep spreading the word to your friends and training partners and I’ll be back with more soon!

All the best,

Iain

This new podcast looks at the ever controversial topic of money and the martial arts. In the podcast I share my views on whether it is right to take payment for martial arts instruction; what amounts to unethical  behaviour; the different attitudes that exist to money; how people can unwittingly help unethical instructors; how to most effectively combat money hungry “McDojos”; how money can effect the teacher / student relationship; how money can further good quality martial arts; and more besides!

This podcast also includes the usual news and our first ever musical section! Towards the end of the podcast we have (in full and with permission) the brilliant song “Dojo Blues” by The Aspiring Legends! It’s a brilliant song that all martial artists will be able to relate to, and once it gets into your head it will be there for days!

I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with move soon!

All the best,

Iain

PS The direct download link for this podcast can be found underneath the player below.

This month’s podcast covers one-step sparring; as well as the related practises of three-step and five-step sparring. Whist a very common form of practise in karate, taekwondo, etc. it is my belief that such training is a largely pointless. In the podcast I look at why I feel one-step sparring is a “dead-end” and why it does not develop any useable attributes. It is important to isolate techniques however, but this needs to be done in a way that can progress to live practise and free flowing application.  I therefore also suggest what I see as better ways to isolate techniques.

The podcast also looks at common arguments made in favour of one-step sparring and explains why I don’t think they hold up to close scrutiny. I hope you enjoy the podcast and that, regardless of weather you agree with my position or not, you find it provides food for thought.  Enjoy and I’ll be back with more soon!

All the best,

Iain

Hi All,

This is not the iainabernethy.com podcast! This podcast is from RichardBarnes.com and it is an interview Richard conducted with me a few days ago. The interview mainly focuses on my journey through the martial arts and how I ended up teaching for a living. Richard is a good friend and I hope you find the interview interesting.

Those of you who have already heard this interview from Richard’s website may be interested to know that I’ve added an introduction to this version that explains how I “walked on water”! Please listen to the podcast and see the embedded image to find out more :-)

Be sure to check out Richard’s other episodes and I’ll be back with my own podcast early in the New Year!

All the best,

Iain

Link to Richard’s website: http://richardbarnes.com/real-life-real-people-with-iain-abernethy

What I love about Iain’s story is how he gave up the day job and did the job of his dreams. In fact from an early age he made choices that meant he could do the thing he enjoyed most.

Iain Abernethy has been involved in the martial arts since childhood. Iain holds the rank of 6th Dan with the British Combat Association (one of the world’s leading groups for close-quarter combat, self-protection and practical martial arts), the English Karate Federation, and the British Karate Association. He is an author, globe-trotting teacher and podcaster.

His tells of the decision making process when it came to giving up the well paid job that would have lasted him a life. Taking calculated risks are risks worth taking he tells.

He talks self defence, having a positive mental strength, martial arts the things that in life that make it worth living. My favourite quote from him in the podcast is if tomorrow he meets St Peter at the pearly gates he can tell him that was no average life.

A rare insight to this world renowned martial artist makes great listening. Guaranteed.

Welcome to the latest iainabernethy.com podcast! It’s been sometime since we last turned the podcast over to the listeners, so I’ve put that right this month. I asked for questions via the website, facebook and twitter and we did our best to cover as many of them as we could.

Topics covered include: realism in training, kicking in self-defence, scenario training, training with joint injuries, the evolution of kata, the physiological and psychological effects of conflict, the specifics of female self-defence, home training, using weights to increase punching power, time management for training, and loads more! It’s around one hour twenty minutes long so make yourself comfortable when you sit down to listen to it!

This podcast is a little different from the normal as I’m joined by a co-presenter; namely the lovely Becky. She’s a goju practitioner who comes from a good karate family (her granddad, dad and brother are all black belts) and, in the interests of full disclosure, she is also my girlfriend :-) Becky asked me the questions and then we chatted around the subjects in order to ensure they were thoroughly explored. I think this format works really well with this type of podcast and I’m sure you’ll find it an interesting listen. Thanks once again to everyone who submitted questions for the podcast! I’m sorry we could not get to them all.

WARNING: Becky is not from my beloved Cumbria and hails from the south of England. Her accent is therefore a little strange and I’d ask you all to bear with it ;-)

Right then, that’s enough from me. I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with more soon!

All the best,

Iain

Welcome to the October 2012 iainabernethy.com podcast! This podcast is titled “The Masters Speak!” and it covers twenty-five or so of some of my favourite quotes from the works of the past masters. In the podcast we include the words of masters such as Itosu, Funakoshi, Otsuka, Mabuni, Motobu, Kyan, etc. What I hope these quotations show is that much of what is regarded as “traditional” today is not that traditional!

The quotes show that the masters of the past thought that kata without application was “useless”, that karate training should include locking and throwing, that the directions in kata have nothing to do with the angle of attack, that the idea of the kata being for multiple “opponents” who attack in turn was “nonsense”, that awareness and avoidance training is vital, that we should hit first once conflict can’t be avoided, that there is no such thing as a “pure style”, and so forth.

It’s all stuff that those listening to these podcasts are likely to agree with; and yet those like us often find ourselves labelled as “revisionists” or “mavericks”. The fact is though that the more pragmatic and holistic approach which we subscribe to is actually far closer to what was being practised in the past than the “traditional karate” of today.

I’ve also included a few, shall we say “interesting” quotes that show that some of the past masters did have some very unusual and unwholesome ideas! I’ve also included a small number of quotes from more recent martial history which I hope you find interesting too.

I hope you enjoy the podcast and I’ll be back with more next month!

All the best,

Iain

Welcome to the latest iainabernethy.com podcast! This month we cover the very important topic of “context”. The failure to understand the huge impact of context is one of the biggest problems in modern martial arts / self-defence. This failure has people training in incorrect, inefficient and sometimes downright dangerous ways. It can also stop us from enjoying all the fun and benefits our training can bring us.

In the podcast I define what I mean by “context”, explain how important it is to define the “win”, look at how context and the “win” determine what pool of techniques we should draw from, how the very effective tactics in one context can be disastrous in another, etc. I also look at some of the common misunderstandings relating to context.

Context is often an underlying issue in many debates and discussions where we see people criticising “apples” because they are not like “oranges”, and where people see defining context as a slight to their favoured art or system. To me, context is one of the most important, and most widely undervalued and misunderstood issues in modern training. Bizarrely, it also causes the most heated discussions, whereas, when understood, it should make people realise such heated debates are largely pointless. When context is understood we can start to see the value of all approaches and how nothing can be “right” all the time.

The podcast also has an update on the World Combat Association and news of my books coming soon to Kindle. I hope you enjoy this month’s podcast and I’ll be back with more next month.

All the best,

Iain

PS The download link can be found under the player below.