Now Smoke This!
From Chapter 28 of Never Heel Up — what if the blood, sweat and spirit soaked into an old dojo floor could be bottled and passed on?
Author · Shotokan Karateka
Michael Busha
pronounced boo-shay
More than forty years on the dojo floor — fourteen of them living in Japan. Stories of training, travel, and the medicine of karate.
The Book
Never Heel Up
Karate as effective therapy for life
Devastating events can lead a person many different directions, some good and some not so good. Scars can last a long time. We have to find the right medicine to treat the wounds properly.
In 1978, needing something to pull himself out of years of emotional turbulence, Michael stepped up onto the dojo floor of a little red-brick building and entered another world. Six years later he was taking his first class at the JKA Ebisu Honbu dojo in Tokyo. This is the story leading up to the decision to leave everything and move to Japan.
The Path
Forty years on the dojo floor
Realizing that karate was powerful and effective medicine, Michael eventually quit his job at GM in Flint, Michigan and relocated to Japan — training with some of the most respected instructors in Shotokan.
- 1978
First steps onto the dojo floor of a little red-brick building in Michigan.
- 1985
First class at the JKA Ebisu Honbu dojo in Tokyo, taught by Tanaka Sensei. Daily training with Nakayama Sensei and Kawawada Sensei at the Hoitsugan.
- 14yrs
Living, working and training in Japan.
- 2007
San-dan test before Okazaki Sensei at The Ohio State University, after a year and a half training under Uno Sensei at JKA Kobe.
- Now
Training with the Central Illinois Shotokan Karate Association in Pekin, Illinois — and writing it all down.
From the Blog
Stories from the dojo & beyond
Cross Word Puzzle
How well do you know your karate? Try the Shotokan crossword — solve it on screen or download the printable PDF.
Testing The Spirit
Two years after double hip replacement surgery, back on a plane to Japan — and back on the floor of the JKA Honbu and the Hoitsugan.
Best Training Points
Lessons re-learned on the dojo floor
“I’m having fun, after many years training, learning (or re-learning) things that make my karate better. Everyone is different. It is my journey.”
Karate & Japan gallery
