Greetings and welcome to The Applied Karate Blog. This blog and its associated podcast explore the histories, personalities, techniques, technologies, applications and philosophies of classical karate.

My name is Des Paroz, and I am a long time practitioner of a style of karate called Shorinjiryu, founded by Kaiso Kori Hisataka (1907-1988). Over the years, I have had the fortune to live and train in Japan (for almost 2 years), and also to train in dojos in Japan, Okinawa, the USA, Spain, Switzerland and my native Australia.  I am fortunate now to be part of the Shorinjiryu Koshinkai Karatedo school of Shorinjiryu!  I was formerly a direct student of Hanshi Masayuki Hisataka, the son of the style’s founder, and was also a student of Hanshi Shunji Watanabe, another of the founder’s senior students.

Along my own journey, I’ve had a strong personal interest in karate’s histories, traditions, philosophies and personalities, as well as of course the techniques and applications.

I am also a strong believer in the concept of Shin Gi Tai – the development of mind, technique and body. In this regard, I am an advocate of strength and conditioning for martial artists, particularly using the kettlebell.

In this blog and podcast I hope to share some of my experiences and occasional insights in karate, kobudo and kettlebell practice, so that others may read, consider, debate and challenge those. I believe that through this we can all learn.

I have a small karate dojo in Sydney, Australia (the Kengokan Dojo), and am a member of Shorinjiryu Koshinkai Karatedo Australia.

Please feel free to comment on any of the topics. I look forward to any discussion and feedback.

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