Sharon Massey from Pyramid Karate in Indianapolis, Indiana joins us this week to discuss women's self defense. Sharon talks about some of the real-world situations she has been in, her transition to traditional martial arts, and how the self defense concerns of women differ significantly from men, including the difference in physicality, situational awareness, dealing with domestic violence, and sexual assault.  Sharon will be hosting a Women's Self Defense seminar on Sunday, September 9th from 1:00-3:30 at Pyramid Karate in Indianapolis.  Call 317-656-7627 or visit www.facebook.com ..read more

This week's guest, Phillip Koeppel, is a true American Karate Pioneer.  Sensei Koeppel has been practicing martial arts for over 60 years.  Starting in 1956 in Yokohama Japan under Toshio Kawaguchi and Richard Kim, then moving on to Hawaii to train in Kajukembo with Adriano Emperado, before returing to Illinois and joining Robert Trias and the USKA.  His many credits include opening the first karate school in Illinois, organizing the first tournament in the midwest, and founding the United States Karate-Dp Kai.  He has been involved with every stage of karate's development ..read more

This week, Ezra and Nate review the Akira Kurasawa classic film, Yojimbo,  starring Toshiro Mifune. At the top of the show, Ezra and Nate discuss what they have been up to over the last few months, how they have been handling quarantine, both individually and at the dojo.  If hearing more about the Covid sends you into a depression spiral, skip ahead to the first break about 30 minutes in! In the review, the guys talk about Kurosawa & Mifune's influence on Japanese cinema, and how this film marked a major change from earlier Chanbarra films.  WWII strongly affected both the ..read more

This week's guest is Professor Stan Russell, expert on Japanese architecture and carpentry.  Stan is an Associate  Professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He is also the founder of One Corner Architects, a full service Architetural design studio in Ybor City, Tampa Florida. One Corner Architects specialize in creative contemporary design solutions for residential, commercial, and institutional projects.   Stan is very experienced in international architecture, having worked in the offices of Balkrishna Doshi in Ahmedabad, India, Team Zoo in Kobe Japan and ..read more

This week, Masahiro Imafuji joins the show. Imafuji Sensei is the host of the Kendo Podcast, which you can find at www.kendo-podcast.com.  He is also the author of the Kendo Guide website www.kendo-guide.com, where you can find a TON of great information on kendo including books, videos, and web courses, this is for kendo practitiors of every level from complete beginners, intermediate, and  all the way to advanced students. You should also check out the Kendo Guide channel  on YouTube, which has great videos, including  interesting discussions on its Kendo Talk Show ..read more

This week,  Don Sonney returns to to discuss his career in law enforcement and how it was influenced by his martial arts training. Don Sonney's martial arts training led him  to join the Ohio Highway Patrol, which he discusses today. during his time as a trooper he was selected for their newly founded Ranger program (which was the predecessor of the SWAT Team) He also become an Instructor at the Highway Patrol's Academy. Mr. Sonney's undercover career started during his time with the Highway Patrol, and amazingly his first undercover assignment was exactly 50 years ago at the Ke ..read more

This week,  long time karate practitioner Don Sonney joins the show..  Mr. Sonney started his karate career in 1964, training in Shotokan Karate in Gary, Pennsylvania under Artis Simmons, who was one of the top karate competitors of the era. He then went on to train in Shuri Ryu with, James McLain in his Cleveland dojo.  Don Sonney competed against, worked out with some of the top karate men the time, including Dr. Mel Wise, Phil Koeppel, Robert Trias, and was a close friend of the head of Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu, Takayoshi Nagamine. Now, everyone thinks of Nagamine as an OKINAW ..read more

This week, Andrew Clark joins us to discuss his experience living in Japan and training in Okinawan and Japanese Sumo. Andy moved to Japan 2004,  to teach English on the tiny island of Kitadaito Jima,  a few hundered miles East of Okinawa. While there, Andy had the unique opportunity to train both Kakuriki, or Okinawan Sumo (also known as Tegumi & Muto). and Japanese Edo Sumo, which is the Japanese sumo that most of you are familiar with. Okinawan Sumo and it has been a popular grappling art for hundreds of years. Some people, including Shoshin Nagamine, thought that Okinawa ..read more

This week, Dr. Andy Wells, joins us to talk about COVID-19 and the Corona Virus. Dr. Wells is an Internal Medicine physician, and will be starting a Cardiology fellowship this summer, at a major academic medical center.   The Doctor breaks down what this virus IS, what makes it different that the flu, the best way to prevent yourself from getting it, what to do if you have symptoms, and the current  situation with protective equipment at the hospitals. For those listeners that are still having group training, Dr.Wells  tells us  the best way to stay safe and  prevent i ..read more

Nate and Ezra follow up last week's catch-up episode with a focused discussion on the pros and cons of "Open Styles" of Karate.   Support Our Sponsors! Kosho Martial Arts Equipment Medical Resort A-Tac Tarvin Plumbing ..read more