Hombu Dojo Podcast

HDKI headquarters instructors Ross and Ru discuss their karate lives and their karate adventures.

About the show

We are Ross and Ru, full time karate instructors at the HDKI Headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. Teaching and training under Scott Langley Sensei, we are dedicated to developing our level physically and mentally. After morning trainings, weekend seminars, or informal pad sessions, when our bodies are recovering, our minds are still working. This podcast is a vehicle for our musings on karate. We talk theory, training methods, teaching methods, and general chit chat about happenings in the karate world, as well as sharing stories about our dojo life.

Hombu Dojo Podcast on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 26: The Dojo Teens

    12 July 2020  |  1 hr 9 mins

    Karl, Caitlin and Ben give you their unique perspective on the dojo life.

  • Episode 25: Ask The Instructors

    25 May 2020  |  1 hr 4 mins

    The four Hombu intructors sit down over Zoom to answer questions sent in on facebook live.

  • Episode 24: Scott Langley, Martin Lindley and Rick Jackson

    27 April 2020  |  52 mins 17 secs

    Biomechanics and the bad old days of hardcore KUGB training.

  • Episode 23: Quarantine Special with Scott Langley Sensei

    27 April 2020  |  49 mins 27 secs

    Before lockdown came in in full effect, Scott, Ross and Ru sat down to do a podcast to update everyone on our karate lives. Enjoy!

  • Episode 22: Dojo Kids on The Podcast!

    7 March 2020  |  1 hr 3 mins
    commitment, dojo, hombu dojo, karate, kids, martial arts, motivation, podcast, ross stewart, ru mew, shotokan, training

    This is by far our cutest episode. Three of our badassest dojo kids - Bianca, Defne and Ben - join us on the podcast and reveal to us the world of a child at the early stages of their journey in Budo. Seeing the dojo through their eyes is to see the dojo anew. These kids are very smart and funny and dedicated karate students. Enjoy!

  • Episode 21: Scott Langley and Martin Lindley Part II

    14 February 2020  |  57 mins 27 secs

    Two experts in the fields of martial arts and biomechanics get down to the nitty gritty and hash it out.

  • Episode 20: Juan San, the first intern.

    10 February 2020  |  43 mins 36 secs
    commitment, dojo, hombu dojo, juan, karate, martial arts, motivation, podcast, ross stewart, ru mew, shotokan, training

    Juan, from HDKI Barcelone, was the first intern of the Hombu Dojo internship programme. Two years later he is back in the dojo to train and chat.

  • Episode 19: Let the boy wear his Batman t-shirts

    13 January 2020  |  1 hr 23 mins
    adventure, aikido, anime, attack on titan, batman, chat, conor mcgregor, dragonball z, fun, hdki karate, japan, john kavanagh, journey, karate, lithuania, martial arts, mma, portland, rokas, self defense, shotokan, spear, straight blast gym, switzerland, training, uchi deshi

    Rokas has found viral fame through YouTube with his "Aikido vs. MMA" video. 100k subscribers later, Rokas shares his story through his channel "Martial Arts Journey". He came to the dojo with a sore ankle and we had an amazing time talking to him. This is a fun and insightful episode.

  • Episode 18: Earth, Man, Heaven

    15 November 2019  |  51 mins 43 secs
    aikido, karate, martial arts, rick hotton, scott langley, shotokan

    "It's just connecting with the one thing you really have. The only thing you ever had. It's the moment. That is self defense." Rick Hotton Sensei came to us travel weary and soft-spoken, but that didn't stop him from dropping some beautiful warrior priest wisdom on our podcast. Enjoy! (The first 4 minutes of this episode are a bit noisy, but the problem was then resolved).

  • Episode 17: Epic Spider Kumite

    10 November 2019  |  40 mins 40 secs
    arachnophobia, boxing, chrissie howard, competition, dojo life, fitness, hdki karate, hombu dojo podcast, karate, karate kids, kumite, leg kick, makotokai, martial arts, motivation, sensei, shidoin geiko, shotokan, sparring, spiders, strength and conditioning, summercamp, tough training, training, weights, white belt

    Some dojo chit chat about how we made some changes to our training regime over the summer. We became obsessed with the idea of getting tougher and stronger. And when we train hard, our students have to train hard!

  • Episode 16: You don't look like you're good at karate

    19 October 2019  |  1 hr 6 mins
    5th dan, adventure, aiden trimble, bagua, black belt, chef, denmark, dojo life, exercise, godan, grading, hdki, hombu dojo, italy, karate, karate adventures, karate life, kata, kawasoe, kitchen, kumite, makotokai, martial arts, nidan, paolo bolaffio, podcast, richard amos, rick hotton, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, sensei, shotokan, simon bligh, sochin, sword, tai chi, tekki sandan, tekki shodan, tommy butler, tough, training, unsu, yondan

    Sit back and relax as we regale you with tales of the karate adventures of Summer 2019. From falling for the toughest girl in Italy, to farting loudly in Tai Chi class. Of course, passing our gradings was also a highlight! Paolo Bolaffio, Simon Bligh, Rick Hotton, and Scott Langley are among the Sensei who made last summer for us.

  • Episode 15: Chi is relaxation and alignment

    23 September 2019  |  50 mins 43 secs
    alignment, biomechanics, boxing, bruce lee, chi, chinese medicine, exercise, hdki, hombu dojo, karate, loughborough university, martial arts, martin lindley, mcgregor, podcast, qi, relaxation, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, sensei, shito ryu, shotokan, sports science, tai chi, tyson, wilder

    Scott Langley Sensei in conversation with Dr. Martin Lindley Sensei. This episode includes a lot of in depth discussion of biomechanics, sports science and how it all comes back to karate.

  • Episode 14: Back Leg Drive

    15 September 2019  |  43 mins 8 secs
    adventure, back leg drive, dojo, grading, hdki, karate, kata, kenshusei, kevin downard, nidan, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, seminars, sensei, shotokan, sochin, solo training, uchi deshi, unsu, yahara, yondan

    Kevin Downard Sensei talks to us at the end of his internship. We talk about what he's learned and all the ups and downs along the way. Ross and I near the end of the road to Denmark for our gradings.

  • Episode 13: There's a guy in your way and then pain happens.

    2 September 2019  |  44 mins 30 secs
    black belt, bunkai, christian oygarden, dave hazard, dojo, dublin, england, fails, grading, hdki karate, hombu dojo, iain abernethy, karate, kata, kihon, kumite, martial arts, nidan, norway, ohio, paul uren, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, self defense, shotokan, training, yondan

    Christian Oygarden and Paul Uren share their very insightful views on kata, bunkai, and developing as a middle-aged karateka. Besides all the wealth of karate wisdom shared herein, this episode also contains a very bad and slightly offensive Iain Abernethy impersonation.

  • Episode 12: Great vengeance and furious anger!

    26 August 2019  |  45 mins 32 secs
    black belt, customer service, dojo, dublin, fails, fitness, grading, hdki karate, hombu dojo, karate, kata, kids, kihon, kumite, martial arts, nidan, ohio, parents, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, shotokan, tabata, training, yondan

    With Kevin Downard Sensei from Ohio, our current intern, we talk about getting out students ready for grading and dealing with difficult parents.

  • Episode 11: How to be Zen

    9 August 2019  |  1 hr 6 mins
    anxiety, dublin, environment, flow, full contact, hdki, hombu dojo, injury, instructor, internship, ireland, karate, kenshusei, kickboxing, kumite, martial arts, mental health, mindset, ohio, panic, podcast, richard amos, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, shotokan, sparring, tabata, training, usa, wtko, zen

    Our ninth intern, Kevin Downard Sensei from HDKI Ohio joins us to talk about his karate background and his expectations for the internship. We touch on some karate politics along the way, but we managed to be very diplomatic! We then responded to a listener question which had us talking about how to avoid fear and anxiety when sparring.