Hombu Dojo Podcast

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.

Episode 10: Competition!

26 July 2019  |  1 hr 23 secs

competition, confidence, fails, fitness, gyaku zuki, hdki, hdki karate, hombu dojo, karate, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, shotokan, skif, squad, strategy, tactics, team, training, well being

After our annual national championship, we sat down for a good long chat about the competition itself, about the competing spirit, and training for competitions.

Episode 9: Tommy Sensei joins us for beers and karate banter

24 July 2019  |  41 mins 45 secs

fails, guinness, jesse enkamp, karate, kata, richard amos, rick hotton, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, self defense, sensei, shotokan, shu ha ri, steve ubl, tommy butler

Episode 9 is a direct continuation of episode 8. These two episodes go together. After Tommy had finished training he went for a beer run and then sat down and joined the discussion. We covered a lot, including Shu-Ha-Ri, kata applications, self-defense and of course the fails of the week!

Episode 8: Role models, solo training, senior/junior relationships

23 July 2019  |  38 mins 34 secs

dojo, feminism, hdki, karate, kata, role models, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, seminars, shotokan, solo training

Episodes 8 and 9 are essentially parts 1 and 2 of the same episode. We went on a marathon recording session as we had so much to discuss. Once again we spent some time talking about females in the dojo and the unique challenges they face, this time with regards karate role models. Then we talked about solo training, it's pros and cons, and how your relationships with your doki effects your training.

Episode 7: Guy Brodeur Sensei and Scott Langley Sensei on kata, bunkai, Steve Ubl, teaching and learning.

14 June 2019  |  1 hr 1 min

bunkai, guy brodeur, hdki, hombu dojo, instruction, karate, kata, martial arts, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, shotokan, shotokan canada, slower, steve ubl

Ross and Ru sat down with Guy Brodeur, his student Jean Phillipe, and Scott Langley Sensei to talk about ... karate! We covered a lot of topics and found Guy and Scott to be over flowing with martial arts wisdom.

Episode 6: Cross training, gradings and visiting instructors.

20 May 2019  |  1 hr 3 mins

Ross and Ru talk about cross training with other martial arts, our own upcoming gradings and also about all the fantastic Sensei we have visiting us in Dublin this year.

Episode 5: Andrea Carbon Sensei on solo training, women in karate and more.

2 May 2019  |  28 mins 18 secs

andrea carbon, cold training, competition, dublin, exercise, feminism, hdki, hdki karate, hombu dojo, kangeiko, karate, karate adventures, kata, kumite, lancashire, martial arts, podcast, ross stewart, ru mew, scott langley, sensei, sexism, shu ha ri, solo training, training, women in martial arts

We sat down with Andrea Carbon Sensei during Kangeiko 2019 to talk about being a female instructor as well as sharing our experiences of training alone and generally having some chit chat about our karate lives!