Anxious Black Belt Podcast

In the world of Karate, the practical Karate movement is a growing in popularity. This phenomenon is not only seen in Karate. In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with Ciaran McDonald, from Old School Perspectives on Taekwon-do, who's book is creating ripples around traditional Taekwondo circles. Listen to our conversation about the similarities between Taekwondo and Karate and the drama...

Through my friends I had heard positive opinions about Lee and his work, I even exchanged with him thoughts about mental health and depression but we have never met in person. I was very happy that Lee kindly agreed to join me on Accidental Podcast Or Something Like That, where we discussed all things Karate, mental health, our dislike of presenting on both audio and video platforms. I didn't expe...

It is important how we are communicating, in this episode I share my views and experiences working with people with disabilities. Hope you will enjoy it.   If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel free to use my affiliate link, for which I get a small commission when you purchase something - note that it is completely free for you!  Please fin...

In this episode I chat with Dan Holloway, owner of the Empower Martial Arts Academy. Dan is also the author of The Martial Masters book. We talk about Dan's journey in martial arts from Aikido to self-defence.  Dan also discusses his focus on empowering students and his family focussed academy. Dan also shares with me how he ended up interviewing masters for his book. I hope you will enjoy this ep...

In this episode I share with you my observations about the behaviour of the Karate community during the pandemic.  Positive and negative aspects of training and interacting online. I have a look at what I have discovered in my own training and what changes I have decided to apply in order to improve the quality of my teaching online.  Hope you will enjoy it. If you would like to support the show w...

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. James Hatch, and our chosen topic was books on training. As usual in our conversation we drifted over different subjects. I always enjoy talking with James as his depth of knowledge in Karate and many other subjects is just impressive. We have ventured into some very controversial topics, that might spark up some debate.  I hope you will enjo...

When I was establishing my club, I was looking for a meaningful motto, I looked around and could see that most people use the same quotes. Fall seven time get up eight, Black belt is a white belt who never gave up Black belt is just beginning etc. You get the idea what people use on their dojo walls, not that there is anything wrong with using them, but none of them really resonated with me. I was...

In this episode you can listen to my take on Shu Ha Ri and how it was applied to my Karate. Hope you will enjoy this one. If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel free to use my affiliate link, for which I get a small commission when you purchase something - note that it is completely free for you!  Please find the link below. https://amzn.to/...

Lengthy conversation with Rob Davis from Red Fish Karate, about all things Karate. Visiting the "dark place" enjoying the ride down the slippery slope of being different, and having ability to think. Exchanging thoughts and experiences about the techniques and our perception of them, exploring fear and our reaction to it. Contemplating lightening the fu.k up.  Hope you will enjoy this one as much...

Retrospection of the year 2020, I’m very proud what I have managed to achieve despite pandemic. If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel free to use my affiliate link, for which I get a small commission when you purchase something - note that it is completely free for you!  Please find the link below. Amazon 🥋About: Les Bubka is an author, Ka...

Wow it's the fiftieth episode of Accidental Podcast! In this episode I have the pleasure to talk with Jamie Gray.  Jamie loves to engage in banter about my height, and I don't hesitate to give back to him about his.  All round he is a great martial artist and great fun to be around, he is very open and friendly despite his size. Jamie seems to know everyone in Karate, he also has a very focused po...

What a treat this week I had a pleasure to chat with fellow martial artist and musician Mike Clerk. Mike just realised his new single Keep Moving. Our conversation focussed on martial arts, music mental health and crowdfunding where Mike manage to raise funds to create his project. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to this Scot, I'm pleased that I could understand him, hope you will find interesting to...

In this episode I had the pleasure of talking with Sue and Greg from the Conversations on Karate podcast. We chatted about martial arts, podcasting and everything in between. If you are not familiar with their podcast you should check them out, really good to listen to! Conversation on Karate Facebook If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel f...

Few thoughts on social media and trying to fit in on TikTok . Will I succeed? Who knows If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel free to use my affiliate link, for which I get a small commission when you purchase something - note that it is completely free for you!  Please find the link below. https://amzn.to/369jbki 🥋About: Les Bubka is an a...

In this episode  I have a pleasure talking to my friend Leigh Simms. Author of best selling book - UK Self-Defence Law: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Law of Defending Yourself. Leigh is a Lawyer and a Karateka, I always so no surprise here that our conversation was revolving about self-protection and law.  I hope you will enjoy this one.  Please checkout Leighs' website for great content....

In this episode I talk with PJ Broomy, an independent Karate practitioner from Australia. We met via social media and have similar views on Karate. Paul was mainly answering my questions about living and training in Australia, correcting my misconceptions about being an Aussie. Hope you will enjoy this one.  For more info about Paul and his club below please see the link below. http://www.cairnska...

This episode started unusually, it's not everyday that you meet a person who has a kangaroo in the house!  My guest is Jamie Clubb, from Chimera martial arts.  Jamie is an author, podcaster, online coach, and self protection instructor.  Our conversation focused on self protection training, especially for children, and the misconceptions of self protection in relation to young people. We also talk...

Mary Stevens is a practical martial artist, club owner, writer, and charity worker.  My conversation with Mary focusses on the empowerment of women and her charitable work for the Fair Fight project in India and Africa, where she manages Karate teaching.  We also talked about mental health, inclusion, and story telling.  Mary also gives us some insight into creating a world for her Warrior Monkeys...

Some time ago I was listening to a a friend's podcast, Conversations on Karate, and they were chatting with a person that I had never heard of, Dr James Hatch.  I really enjoyed hearing about his approach to Karate, weapons training and tradition.  A lot of our views are polar opposite to each other, but at the same time I can appreciate his viewpoint and reasoning.  Fast forward a few months and...

Tracey Radley is a mother, martial artist and founder of the Kuroten Practical Karate club. Our conversation revolves around Tracey's martial arts journey, how she got involved in Karate and how she transferred into the practical side of this art. We explore female views on martial arts, for example the barriers and obstacles that women face in their practice. We cover mental health, inclusion and...

This week was not great, my Karate for Mental Health project was put on hold. I hope all will be resolved soon and we can come back to teaching and supporting students. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter please visit www.lesbubka.co.uk If you would like to support the show with no cost to you and you shop with Amazon, please feel free to use my affiliate link, for which I get a small...

Samantha and Paul Harrison are a lovely martial couple, Goju exponents and ever searching for knowledge. We met at a seminar and I immediately liked them, open, funny and eager to learn. Our paths crossed many time since then, and thanks to the lock down we have had the chance to train together and exchange views. In this episode we talk martial marriage, how it is to be married and run a Karate b...

I had a conversation with Jen  Mok and Chris Hanson on the subject of what life is like being in a relationship with a martial artist. Jen is a school teacher and fitness instructor, and Chris is a teacher too and a martial artist.  Chris has relentless energy and passion for the martial arts, promoting cross training via his Karate Unity platform.  Our conversation focused on how marriage can be...

Life is unpredictable, we never know who we will meet, when and for what reason. My friendship with Keith is one of those cases. Keith appeared from seemingly nowhere to join our club and we have become friends. We discovered that we have similar interests in mental health, with us both doing our bit in different areas. I was intrigued about the hypnotherapy work that Keith does and I thought that...

John Titchen is one of those teachers that impresses with his methodical approach to every aspect of martial arts. It doesn't matter if its Karate or self defence, his program is very detailed, with every possibility covered. John is a world renowned author of books covering both Karate and self defence. We talked about mental health, his Pinan flow system, the evolution of DART, training methodol...