Dojo – Page 4 – Pennell's Dojo

“…I expect my students to fail.” – Pennell Sensei

May 24, 2017

Failure. It’s a part of life. Athletes fail in spectacular fashion. And quite often their failure is shared with hundreds, if not thousands of spectators. Sure – it hurts. The humiliation of it all; exposing one’s self to the bitter reality of failure. It can affect your career. It can affect your personal relationships and indeed, it can have an effect on your perception of the world – sometimes, in a negative way. No one wants to be hurt –…

Eihachi OTA Seminar May 2017

May 21, 2017

Sensei Pennell

Blog, Dojo

Hi Folks! I wanted to post a few pictures May’s Ota Seminar in Orillia. Thanks again to Campbell Sensei for hosting. It was a great workout!

Sharpen Your Tools

May 20, 2017

Gary Christensen

Blog, Dojo

Carpenters, mechanics and other tradespeople all have their own tools of which they rely on to get the job done. Maintaining and sharpening their tools assures that when the time comes to use whatever it is that they need, they have confidence in that tool’s ability to work as desired. As karateka, the obvious tools at our disposal are namely our hands and feet used to strike and/or block. Hands are very versatile tools in that we can form fists,…

Pennell Sensei: Wanshū Kata

May 16, 2017

Sensei Pennell

Blog, Dojo

Wanshū Kata is perhaps one of my favourite Kata. There are several Kata under various styles of both Okinawan and Chinese martial arts that hold the name “Wanshū.” There are several different meaning as well, each appropriate for either the style in which the kata is demonstrated; for example in Mandarin, “Wanshū” means, “Excellent Wrist” due to the nature of several of the techniques that exist within a Chinese version of the Kata. Additionally, the term “Wanshū” is also meant…