Shotokan's Secret

Hi guys,....My name is Mark. I like the martial more than the art . I know the five Heian forms, the five Pinan forms, some of their uses and some Jujitsu. Oh, and am learning about "one-finger Zen"

Hi my name is Joel and I leave in Canada. I`m the sensei of a small dojo (about 100 members now) in my community. I have been training in Shotokan for many years and currently hold a modest Sandan. I had the chance to train with Kyoshi Clayton last summer in California and again in Montreal last fall. I have since then started to study Jujustu (San Ten) very seriously.

Bonjour,

My name is David Pinchuk. I was introduced to Shotokan karate in 1980 by my good friend Shihan Tom Frobel and presently hold a 4th dan ranking with the JKA (Canada)and a 5th dan ranking with Shihan Frobel's ASI. What has intreagued me over the years was a statement made by one of my first instructors Sensei Yaso Sakurai explaining his own black belt which was faded to almost comepletely white. He basicially said that "..the black belt is a base line for technique and experience where you should then be seeking answers with the curiosity of a white belt...". The faded belt was his reminder to 'Endeavour'.
I thouroughly enjoyed reading Kyoshi Clayton's Shotokan's Secrets. It very much reminded me of Stephen Hawking's great book 'A Brief History of Time'.

dpinchuk wrote:I thouroughly enjoyed reading Kyoshi Clayton's Shotokan's Secrets. It very much reminded me of Stephen Hawking's great book 'A Brief History of Time'.

OK, David, you get the award for "most coffee spewed on the computer screen in one shot." That comment took me completely by surprise. Wow.

OK, David, you get the award for "most coffee spewed on the computer screen in one shot." That comment took me completely by surprise. Wow.

Thanks Bruce! I'll add that award to my cv.
In Dr. Hawking's 'Brief History of Time' he reverse engineers the expansion of the universe down to a few milliseconds after the big bang. His reasoning is clear and concise.
You did basically the same with Shotokan' Secrets. And I appreciate the painstaking effort it took to accomplish that.

Hi, I'm Dr David Leasure,
I have a Nidan rank in shotokan. I've been studying karate and martial arts since 1969 when I was fortunate to be given a paperback on karate. Though only in second grade, it helped me through many situations in my rather violent neighborhood. I then switched to wrestling and was coached by K-State's wrestling coach, Fritz Knorr, And then many others, including Butch Albright. I won state heavyweight.

I then didn't study martial arts again until 2000. I deeply regret the hiatus as it has brought me some of my greatest joy. I joined Sensei Britt Baugh's dojo in Palmer Lake, Colorado. I was taught by Britt, Tim Fal, and Laurie Cochran for 12 years. I then moved to Utah, and did not find a shotokan dojo, so joined Jinyoung Kwon's World Martial Arts to study Taekwondo where I'm now close to 2nd degree.

I read Shotokan's Secret when the first edition came out. Britt's dojo already looked at the bunkai with the idea of weapon disarms, throws, and the like. I just picked up the second edition to try to figure out taekwondo bunkai. Hanshi Clayton, you opened my eyes. I can see that for poomsae are valuable, but not at all the type of intentional playbooks that were Itosu's kata. I very much appreciate the research principles in the second edition and the guidance they give.

Thanks for the kind words, David. I appreciate them more than you know.

Hanshi Clayton

I should re-introduce myself to the group - even though there isn't much activity on this forum.

I got to read the first Shotokan's Secret in 2003, and started an online conversation with Hanshi Clayton very soon after.

I practice an old Taekwondo lineage - with early Taekwondo patterns, and Chung Do Kwan Kata at black belt. Additionally I am trained in but am not ranked in Aikido. I also hold a black belt in an eclectic Chinese/Korean style out of South East Asia. At present I have been practising for 34 years. When I picked up the book it resonated with my own search for greater meaning in my martial art. I was starting my own school and was scrambling around with a syllabus that didn't make sense.

I have been researching applications and analysis now for 15 years. At this point, I am seeing connective threads across traditional patterns that were never there before. I see patterns within the patterns. I see tactical drills. I see the live grenade. I see patterns as an inspiration for coaches - not just as a syllabus for trainers. AND I see my students rising up and pushing past my own initial (and limited) abilities as a young sport-oriented martial artist.

While I have never trained under Hanshi Clayton, in truth his book and his words accompany me almost every minute of every day. You could say it's been a road map for me and Joong Do Kwan. The insight into our traditional training has in turn been shared often and in detail with a group of my international peers - and the material that we have gifted to this community has been appreciated as one of the more exciting contemporary developments for the world of traditional martial arts.

Please feel free to see the net result of Hanshi Clayton's book at

http://www.joongdokwan.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTtxmXu7V442mzExnRSfg6A

To end off, last year I embarked on a journey to publish a book which I'm calling The Martial Heart of Taekwon Do Hyung in commemoration of AKATO's 40th Anniversary. This book was to convey to other practitioners that our patterns are impressions, they are memories, and they are the wishes of experienced technicians who are now long gone. The application of these Hyung should thus consider the stress of an encounter and how the opponent responds to you. It's not simply gifting random functionality to a series of techniques.

Thank you for lighting the spark!

Best,

Colin

Colin: I am proud to have shined a bit of light on your path.

colinwee wrote:Hello. My name is Colin Wee. I started the martial arts with a mixed Chinese/Korean style in Asia, then moved to the States where I pursued Traditional Taekwondo and Aikido/Aikijujutsu. Altogether I have practiced three styles in the past 25 years and over three continents. In 2003, my passion for the arts waned as I realised many inconsistencies in syllabus and content of my style. I set myself on a path to understand what it was I was doing, and due to several influences (including input from Dr Clayton and his superb book) I have come to gain some insight and clarity, a good part of which coincides with separate findings by Dr Clayton and other sensei and sabumnin across the world. Currently the system I teach focuses on skill-based learning off a syllabus entirely based on the pattern set of Traditional Taekwondo. My classes are non-commercial, small and adult oriented. In a previous life I was a national representative and assistant national coach in Archery. I am based in Perth Western Australia. I hold a rank of 5th dan. There still remains lots to work on. Colin

ps. Good seeing you back online, Dr Clayton.

I learned of Shotokan's Secret in 2003.

I then met Dr Clayton in 2006, if I recall correctly.

I have just published a book Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata in 2023.

I can't believe I've been obsessing about this for that long! LOL.

Please visit my site at https://breakingthrough.world and support a brother!