http://www.iainabernethy.com/Jissen_Magazine.asp

Hey guys, this looks pretty good, all i've read so far is the "street sparring" article by Iain Abernethy, it was great.

There is also an excerpt from The Way of Kata, which is authored by the dudes I train with, which of course given my personal bias I think is great!

Looks like an article on the Heians, and some other 'applied karate' stuff as well, all in all it appears to be chock full of good stuff, it also appears to be free.

Bump, read the thing!! The "Tradition In Karate" article touches on alot of the things we are currently arguing about right now.

I always wondered if articles and book material are sometimes rehashings of unsourced public thread discussions.

not accusing or talking about this article specifically (haven't read it yet). but I have run across some articles here and there that seemed hauntingly familiar to the 'winning argument view' of people's past discussions.

anyway, thanks for the link.

The magazine covers alot of the articles written by Iain Abernethy.

The "Tradition in karate" article, is nothing new in my opinion. It's just common sense and logic.
You might also want to read the "On-Ko-Chi-Shin" article. They are both (at least, that's what I read in them) about finding your own karate, the one that fits you personally.

Yeah, that sort of thing has been an argument as far back as I remember in Karate circles (admittedly that's not so far back compared to some guys). I don't imagine it's gonna go away or get resolved anytime soon either.

This is the first one. I am very impressed with the content but I am already used to Iain's writing via the books he has written. Iain, if not many people know has written many books and recorded many instructional DVD's especially for Bunkai of traditional Kata, mainly from a Wado Ryu basis but he shows and allows for other interpritations in them (Iain, I'll pick my cheque up later, lol). There are also invites for writers to have articles in the Magazine so its a chance to get you name on a magazine. I'm already preparing mine. but need to get some photos

Osu

I find the article on the "actual" meaning of Pinan quite interesting.

I quite agree with his view. The dictionary and ordinarily understood meaning of "Ping An" to a chinese speaker is "safe" or "safe and sound" i.e. safe from any physical danger, harm or mishap. It denotes environmental (not emotional or mental) safety/tranquility or the modern idea of security.

If one wants to denote something non-environmental/non-physical, i.e. mental/emotional peace and tranquility, it would be (in mandarin) "Ping Jing" i.e. calm, tranquil manner. And so meditation is also called "Jing Zuo" (Zuo = to sit)

Finally, "peace" in the sense of the opposite of "war" is (in mandarin) "He Ping" (He = harmony)

I think the idea of interpretting Pinan as 'peaceful/tranquil mind' perhaps comes from the idea that if one is safe from any physical danger, one will have, in a sense, a "peace of mind"

That is precisely what Funakoshi said it meant. He didnt whisper it to a friend though, he wrote it for anyone with an interest in Karate to read.

Mastery of Heian/Pinan is supposed to impart sufficient self defense skills that one should walk with a peaceful mind as one is safe from harm and confident in their ability.

It's amazing what one finds about a subject from reading books written about it.