Applied Karate #011 (mp3 - 17MB - 51 mins)

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 011 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

This episode of The Applied Karate Show sees the introduction of a slight revision to the format of our show. Rather than simply jumping straight into the interview portion, I am going to incorporate a brief (generally no more than 5 minutes) “editorial” to the front of the show. After a break, we’ll cut over to the interview, which will remain the basis of each episode.

This week’s editorial provides a brief summary of these changes, and a recommendation to listen to the new episode of The Health and Fitness Show (also on The Podcast Network), which features an interview with Australia’s leading kettlebell instructor, Don Stevenson, and is a good followup to our last episode with Pavel Tsatsouline.

In this episode’s interview, I talk with longtime Shorin Ryu practitioner, Shihan John Hamilton of the Sho-Ha Shorin Ryu school. Hamilton Sensei holds a kudan ranking in Shorin Ryu karate, and also a Shihan ranking in Tenshinryu Kenjutsu. Hamilton Sensei began his studies over 40 years ago, under the tutelage of Sensei Glenn Premru. He has college degrees in engineering and anthropology/sociology, and now teaches Sho-Ha Shorin Ryu Karate and Nito Tenshin Ryu Kenjutsu fulltime, at his dojo in Pittsburgh, which he established over 30 years ago.

Hamilton Sensei provides a deep look at a variety of aspects of his training, including

• Karate training under Glenn Premru Sensei
• Kenjutsu training under Frederick Lovret, Sensei
• The key principles of the Sho-Ha Shorin Ryu school
• Applying an engineer’s analysis of karate mechanics, and an insight into some interesting discoveries he has made in that area
• Developing strength not through muscular contraction, but expansion
• The importance of maintaining a healthy body
• The quest to maintain a traditional dojo

Again, another fascinating discussion that I hope our listeners will enjoy.

Hamilton Sensei can be contacted through his website at www.shorinnotoradojo.com, where you’ll find address and phone number information.

A special thanks to Mark Tankosich, Sensei (guest in Episode 5 of The Applied Karate Show) who kindly arranged this interview, patiently acting as a middleman to set things up. A special feat considering he is in Hiroshima, Japan, Hamilton Sensei is in Pittsburgh and I am in Sydney, Australia.

We love feedback. You can leave an audio message by clicking on the icon above. If you’re in Australia, you could also leave a message on our feedback line at (02) 90189302 (+61-2-90189302 for international callers). I would love to include appropriate audio messages in future shows!

Email can be sent to podcast@appliedkarate.com.

Of course, you can leave a comment below, or alternatively, post over on The Applied Karate Forum.

I’d appreciate it if you could pop over to PocastAlley.com and vote for us, or comment and rate us in iTunes through the music store.

Applied Karate #011 (mp3 - 17MB - 51 mins)

LISTEN HERE TO EPISODE 011 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

My Odeo Channel (odeo/02a746f305adc4e2)

Back in May last year, Jo Leutton of ABC Radio in Brisbane gave The Applied Karate Show a great review.

Applied Karate
Blurb: I’ve never needed to “apply” karate to anyone, but I’m sure that once I’ve listened to this, I’ll be armed. Des (our host) guides us through the complex and tongue-twisting world of Karate in its various forms, and in doing so, you get to meet some very interesting people along the way. This podcast covers Karate’s personalities, philosophies, techniques, technologies and history…
Episodes: 5
Web: http://karate.thepodcastnetwork.com/
Subscribe: http://karate.thepodcastnetwork.com/feed/
Jo’s Rating: Des is a very amiable host, and a man who knows his Eastern Martial Arts! Good interview talent as well. I particularly love the understated way that these men with lethal skills talk about themselves!

Podcast reviews - 11/5/06 :: ABC Brisbane.

beti, from The Health and Fitness Show on The Podcast Network recently interviewed Australia’s leading kettlebell instructor, Don Stevenson.  A great followup from episode 10 of The Applied Karate Show featuring kettlebell pioneer Pavel Tsatsouline, I heartily recommend everyone listen to this episode of The Health and Fitness Show.

From the Health & Fitness Show’s blog posting

Podcast with Don Stevenson on Stevenson. RKC, Olympic weightlifting coach, strongman enthusiast and proprietor of CrossFit Sydney and Octogen Fitness. www.octogen.com.au
about Kettlebells.

What is a kettlebell?

Kettlebells can be used for ultimate strength and cardio training for ultimate fat burning.

Kettlebell Core exercises - The Turkish Getup.

Time efficient training with Kettlebells - including flexibility training and core strengthening exercises.

What is an Olympic Strongman?

Corporate Weekend Warrior engaged in Olympic Training, can develop explosive strength with Kettlebell Training.

RKC - Russian Kettlebell Challenge with Pavel Tsatsouline - the experience.

Kettlebells are manufactured in various places around the world.

Make your own home gym.

Monthly Kettlebell Fitness DVD
http://www.octogen.com.au/dvdmagazine.htm

I recently undertook a kettlebell instructors course with Don, and can attest that he is an excellent instructor and proponent of kettlebell and other strength and conditioning activities.

TPN::The Health & Fitness Show.

Applied Karate #010 (mp3 - 11MB - 11 mins)

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 010 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

For this episode of The Applied Karate Show, I am pleased to interview a person who is not known as a karateka. Instead, our guest in Episode 10 is a world reknowned expert in stretching, strength and conditioning, and has spear headed the introduction to the west of an ancient tool called the kettlebell.

Pavel Tsatsouline, Master of Sports, is a former physical training instructor for the Soviet Special Forces, currently a subject matter expert to the U.S. Marine Corps, the National Nuclear Security Administration/U.S. Department of Energy, and the US Secret Service. Once a nationally ranked kettlebell lifter in the USSR, today Pavel leads the Russian kettlebell invasion of the US. Power by Pavel, Inc. spreads kettlebell propaganda through print and Tactical Strength, Inc. “explains it manually” in workshops.

Pavel has spent his life immersed in the study and practice of practical strength and muscle training, as it applies in the very hard testing ground of US and Russian special ops, the US Marines, SWAT, professional athletes, martial artists, gymnasts, powerlifters, weightlifters, Olympic champions and numerous others for whom results are everything and failure is simply not an option.

I first became interested in kettlebells because of their reported success in building functional strength and power, without necessarily building bulk. I saw that they had a similarity in design and function to several traditional hojo undo implements used in some forms of karate. I have now being using kettlebells for about 9 months, and have personally achieved some impressive gains in functional strength and conditioning. After having done a couple of kettlebell courses with one of Pavel’s Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) instructors, Sydney-based Don Stevenson, I have become even more convinced of this tools applicability to the martial artist.

So I was very pleased when Pavel accepted my invitation to be a guest on the show. Please listen in as we discuss:

• Background and history of the kettlebell
• An interesting aside that Bruce Lee was an advocate of the kettlebell exercise called the swing
• Why a karateka should consider incorporating kettlebell training into their own regime
• Pavel’s contention that strength is a skill, and that the kettlebell swing is perfect for building relaxed tension akin to a karate technique
• Key kettlebell drills, including the swing and the Turkish getup (TGU)
• How a karateka can go about introducing kettlebell practice
• Pavel’s background in martial arts, including his study of a style called Applied Karate (!!) in the Russian military
• Breathing techniques to increase power generation, and a reference to work by Dr Stuart McGill’s work into breathing, back fitness and power.
• The Grease the Groove concept, and how it can be used to develop your technique
• The RKC system
• Pavel’s recommended books/DVDs for the karateka - particularly The Naked Warrior (about developing power through bodyweight exercises) and Enter the Kettlebell (which focuses on getting started in kettlebell training).

I highly recommend Pavel’s work, and suggest all karateka get these two books, and consider whether some of his concepts or even programs may be adapted into your own training. Kettlebells are rarely found in retail stores. In the US, you can order kettlebells through Dragon Door, and in Australia through Australian Kettlebells.

We love feedback. You can leave an audio message by clicking on the icon above. If you’re in Australia, you could also leave a message on our feedback line at (02) 90189302 (+61-2-90189302 for international callers). I would love to include appropriate audio messages in future shows!

Email can be sent to podcast@appliedkarate.com.

Of course, you can leave a comment below, or alternatively, post over on The Applied Karate Forum.

I’d appreciate it if you could pop over to PocastAlley.com and vote for us, or comment and rate us in iTunes through the music store.

Applied Karate #010 (mp3 - 11MB - 31 mins)

LISTEN HERE TO EPISODE 010 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

The Okinawan people, apart from being the originators of what we now know as karate have also been the longest lived people on Earth, with a high life expectancy, low rates of diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, as well as having an extraordinary number of centenarians.

So I was shocked to read the following over on Diet Blog:

This has all changed - and I was shocked to read that Okinawa Island now has the highest rate of obesity in Japan (almost double that of the rest of Japan). Diabetes affects 8.2% of Okinawans compared to 5.7% nationally

Having visited Okinawa in 2005, I was surprised at the number of fast food outlets around.  I’ve read that this is as a result of the US Military influence – with at one time over 100,000 US military personnel on Okinawa, it is natural that they would want to have the taste of convenient fast food that they’ve become accustomed to.

But it seems that now the locals are big customers of the fast food chains, and its affecting the health of the people.

If you haven’t seen Supersize Me, or read the book Don’t Eat This Book (both by Morgan Spurlock), I encourage you to do so.  Both will give you a fascinating insight into the “Big Food” industry, and how this industry may be affecting our health as much as Big Tobacco has.

How the Okinawans Got Fat.

Applied Karate #009 (mp3 - 25MB - 72 mins)

DOWNLOAD EPISODE 009 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW

Sensei Iain Abernethy has been involved in the martial arts since childhood. Iain holds the rank of 5th Dan with both the British Combat Association (one of the world’s leading groups for close-quarter combat, self-protection and practical martial arts) and Karate England (the official governing body for Karate in England). Iain regularly writes for the UK’s leading martial arts magazines and he is a member of the “Combat Hall of Fame”.

One of the UK’s leading exponents of applied karate, Iain has written a number of critically acclaimed books on the practical application of traditional martial arts and is well known for his work on the pragmatic use of the techniques and concepts recorded in the traditional kata. Iain’s seminars, books, DVDs and articles have proved to be very popular with those groups and individuals who wish to practise their arts as the pragmatic systems they were originally intended to be.

This was a wide ranging and fascinating conversation that covered topics such as:

• Iain’s early days of training in Wadoryu karate, under the guidance of Sensei Doug James, 7th Dan
• Exploration and importance of the study of kata bunkai in understanding the pragmatic nature of karate
• Kata being a practice that allows you to emotionally commit fully
• How to approach a study of kata bunkai
• Kata based sparring as an approach to gaining an understanding the pragmatic nature of kata
• How Iain came to write a book, and ultimately become a fulltime write and martial artist
• The three martial artist that Iain finds most inspiring - Doug James, Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine - and what it is Iain admires in them
• Weight lifting and structuring a program for a martial artist
• Iain’s latest book: Mental Strength
• What Iain is working on now

We love feedback. You can leave an audio message by clicking on the icon above. If you’re in Australia, you could also leave a message on our feedback line at (02) 90189302 (+61-2-90189302 for international callers). I would love to include appropriate audio messages in future shows! Email can be sent to des@appliedkarate.com.

Of course, you can leave a comment below, or alternatively, post over on The Applied Karate Forum.

I’d appreciate it if you could pop over to PocastAlley.com and vote for us, or comment and rate us in iTunes through the music store.

Applied Karate #009 (mp3 - 25MB - 72 mins)

LISTEN HERE TO EPISODE 009 OF THE APPLIED KARATE SHOW