000-1000 - Preamble & What This Site Is/Isn't
The Art That's Here - Preamble
I’ve been training karate in some way shape or form since 2008, and began my instruction journey in 2014. In that time, I’ve seen hundreds of students across almost a dozen dojos, but I don’t say that as a brag - moreso as credentials. Within my martial arts scene, there’s no governing body that awards rank - it’s all endorsements & reputation, and I think I’ve proven my reputation at the beginnings of my career.
Within the circles of my personal life, I am known as “The Karate One” and I get asked a lot of questions about what I do - it’s known I’ll give a detailed answer, big fan of a good info-dump. Recently, I was asked if karate is more a cardio sport or a get yolked (fitness/muscle building) sport and my answer basically boiled down to “yes, but also no.”
My view on karate & martial arts is very much from a practitioner standpoint; people with a more competition/self-defence focus may disagree, but I see it all as a vessel to achieve your goals more than setting what those goals are.
Like with my personal training, as an example, I use kata to improve my conditioning & flexibility, plus sparring drills for cardio. That’s how I work it; given my goals, I want a very traditional training regime.
But I know of others that will purely drill bag work and katas like Sanchin to build their strength. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I am writing this not to be prescriptivist - while I will talk about what I guide my students through in class, it’s not designed to be the be-all and end-all of your journey. This should never be deemed a Single-Version-Of-Truth, because this isn’t government - there is no truth here.
What I’m trying to say here is that my karate teaching style is very descriptivist. I am all about giving you the tools to get what you want out of it - I’m not telling you what to paint, but I will help you out with how you hold your brushes and what paint to use and advise on colour choices. Ultimately, your art is your art. Use this as a guide to help decipher your next masterpiece.
This text, or collection of texts, is written to share my knowledge with the next generation. We are in an age where information should be free, not paywalled behind subscriptions or book purchases - there's no copyright here, my karate is open source.
I'll see you in the dojo,
Beatrix Samuelsson Sensei
Founder & Chief Instructor, Open Path Martial Arts
What This Site Is/Isn't
This site is a guide.
The word kyōhan translates from Japanese as accomplice, and this site is exactly that. It is designed to accompany you in your training, work side-by-side with you to hone your craft.
This site is not your only source of knowledge.
Art must come from a variety of sources, treating this as your only source of truth is dangerous.
This site is neutral.
Yes, the majority of contributors train predominantly in Goju-Ryu Karate, this is not a place for debate on which style/discipline is better than another. All hold merit, and must be treated equally.
This site is not for everyone.
This site was spawned from a need we identified for ourselves. Not everyone will learn like we do, or will find this as useful as we do. And that's okay! Find the way you learn, and work with that.