Welcome to one of the longest podcasts we’ve ever done! It’s been a while since I last turned the podcast over to listeners and asked for questions and topics; so in this one I put that right! I asked for questions via Facebook, Twitter and the newsletters and got way more than I could possibly answer! Thanks to all who contributed!

I printed them all off and did my best to answer as many as I could in the time available. Here are just some of the topics covered:

How many kata should we learn; individual expression and kata; how the differing versions of kata complement each other; how karate has changed and my predictions for the future; the role of stances; heel down or heal up when punching; karate for the older practitioner; kumite vs. kata; kakie exercises; throws in self-defence; my favourite kata; seminar teaching; developing a bunkai-based syllabus; kata and multiple enemies; how to validate bunkai; stretching; kyusho Jitsu and kata applications; karate in schools; kata in the Olympics; fitting training into a busy schedule; is karate still Japanese; what most people disagree with me on; and more!

Whether you agree or disagree with my take on the various subjects covered, I hope that you find it an interesting and entertaining listen.

To break the podcast up also I recorded some “fake sponsor announcements” which are interspaced every 15 mins or so. I could have just used some music, but this amused me more :-) Whether they amuse anyone else remains to be seen.

I’m aware that at this time of year many listeners will be traveling for their holidays and I hope the increased length of the podcast helps pass the time on various road tips and flights.

Many thanks for all your support of these podcasts!

All the best,

Iain

PLEASE NOTE: In the podcast I got little confused! This October see the start of the 10^th year of the podcasts … whereas when recording I said it was the 10^th anniversary (which would the end of the 10^th year and not the start). Still a great achievement which is entirely down to the support of listeners … but we need to keep the champagne on ice for a little longer :-)