Keep what survives contact. This article shows how constraints, cycles, and partner pressure turn values into behaviour — and training into something that lasts. Sandro Sandten teaches partner-contact–oriented Karate with a pedagogical and sustainable design focus. His work centres on training systems that remain functional under real-life variability — honest partner interaction, clear constraints, and […]

Real-World Lessons for a Functional Karate System (Part 2) Author: Tony Bolton In Part 1, we looked at the mechanical and strategic gaps in modern training. But a fight is not just physics; it is physiology and psychology. When the conversation stops and violence begins, you are not fighting the opponent in front of you. […]

There is a curious obsession in traditional martial arts, and karate in particular, with the way you stand. Not with how you move, not with how you get somewhere, but with the precise frozen moment at the end of a technique — the stance. The angle of the foot. The bend of the knee. The […]

Real-World Lessons for a Functional Karate System (Part 1) Author: Tony Bolton We often describe traditional Japanese Karate as a "Japanese Garden"—beautiful, structured, and manicured. But real violence is a jungle. It is chaotic, messy, and unfair. If we want our karate to be more than just successful choreography, we must acknowledge where the gaps […]

A few years ago we recorded a GLIMPSE video that got a bit of attention. We were asked to create a readable version for those of you who do not want to sit through a lengthy chat. Fear originates in the amygdala, triggering a chemical cascade including adrenaline. Everyone reacts physically the same way — […]

Some deeply personal thoughts by Sensei Chris Edwards The people that know me well know how much I struggle with my Mental Health. My one saving grace between my job as a Nurse and my other stresses in life is Martial Arts. Without Martial Arts, or Karate in particular, I know for a fact I […]

Parents often bring their children to the dojo with a specific vision in mind. They hope for a bully-proof child, better school grades, iron discipline, and perhaps some lovely photos in a crisp white uniform for the grandparents. These are understandable desires. Yet, they often miss the actual purpose of our practice.Martial arts is not […]

Thoughts by Sensei Sandro Sandten Does martial arts train character? Many of us started martial arts because we were looking for more than just movement or self-defence. We wanted to develop a posture—an attitude—to understand ourselves better and to find a path that connects physical training with personal development. There is a lot of talk […]

Sensei Sandro Sandten about Peer Tutoring in Martial Arts. In Karate, you often get the feeling that you have to work everything out for yourself. But many eventually discover that learning in the Dojo becomes much easier when you have someone by your side. Someone who understands where you are, and helps you stick with […]

Missing Link is the Method. Gendai Koryu Karate is the Style. After nearly 15 years of Missing Link Martial Arts, we have decided that the Karate we practice deserves its own name. For a long time, we had good reasons to stay away from specific lineages, style names, or large official organisations. We wanted the […]

Why Missing Link teachers are guides, not gatekeepers It’s a familiar figure in any dojo, in any art. The competitor who is untouchable in point-sparring but freezes when the context changes. The kata specialist whose form is a breathtaking display of athletic perfection, yet who possesses only a superficial understanding of its application. The historian […]

Sensei Heero Miketta about Empowering the Student… and the Teacher Traditional karate, and many well-known martial arts, are built on checklists. Kihon, Kata, Kumite: three sacred pillars, three tick-boxes. Master the external performance, copy your teacher’s version, receive your grade. But where did these boxes come from? Kihon drills and kata sequences have grown more […]

Sensei Tony Bolton, Manchester, addresses a particularly difficult issue In recent years, UK police statistics have highlighted a concerning trend: as children transition from primary to secondary school, their risk of becoming either victims or perpetrators of antisocial behavior and criminal activities increases dramatically. While social media and rapid news circulation may amplify these concerns […]

Self-defense in the context of martial arts—now there’s a topic that has been discussed endlessly, yet still leaves room for fresh perspectives. What new insights could possibly be added to this well-trodden subject? Let’s start by acknowledging that many martial arts don’t actually focus on self-defense at all. Instead, they emphasize combat and fighting, which […]

In today's martial arts landscape, where many schools focus primarily on competitive sports or strict traditional forms, Missing Link Martial Arts takes a distinctly different approach. Our community's philosophy goes beyond the mere physical aspects of martial arts training to create something truly unique. Beyond Techniques and Syllabus While many martial arts styles define themselves […]

The concept of Missing Link has a long history. On the one hand, in terms of traditional martial arts that all of our founder circle and master circle members have studied for many decades. On the other hand, in the way way our own community developed. In the 90s, we started the Hatsuun Jindo Akademie […]

The topic isn't exactly new, and we have had a long KarateTalk about it some years ago, but it is a discussion that pops up again and again. What does all the traditional martial arts stuff even mean in our modern world? Shouldn't we drop the whole philosophy and "deep background" of martial arts - […]

I remember times when the word “Winter” triggered mostly positive emotions: Snow (yay!), holidays, Christmas and baked apples. Today, there seems to be a certain feeling of doom and gloom connected to winter time, maybe partly due to my age, and surely thanks to the pandemic experience of the last years. Winter will be a […]

It has been more than two decades ago when I first started identifying an issue that became a defining topic for my work in the years since then. In the lack of a better term we called it "Entkörperung", back in the days in Germany, when we worked on the violence prevention concept that defined […]

So we survived. Remember the end of 2020? When we collectively said good bye to year full of challenges and hoped for a better start in 2021? Things are never quite that easy, it seems. Whatever your opinion about the years of the pandemic or the way it has been managed, we now think about […]

A GLIMPSE video with some serious martial arts knowledge, recorded during the pandemic. Here, Gary Bohm and Heero Miketta dive in the issue of fear and fear management from a martial arts perspective, but touching topics like conflicts, stress and anxiety as well.

Curiosity and innovation: The Martial Arts community is full of both. To nurture this search for knowledge and skills is our most important goal in Missing Link. We are an international community of curious, open minded Karateka. We do not waste much time on politics, but focus on learning and teaching instead. And we are […]

Learning martial arts online – is that even possible? The short answer is: No.  Martial arts needs the whole person, connects body and mind. Learning it is based on experience in the dojo, with and without partner, with a good teacher who literally stays in touch with their students. It takes time, patience and endurance […]

Like with most things that you invest time to learn, you will fantasies/day dream of how good it will be when you reach your goal. This could be learning guitar or learning another language, and the fantasy of that could be playing with Eric Clapton or ordering in fluent Spanish to impress a girl/boy in […]

What can you expect from a self-defence course? You'll learn to use your body - your arms, legs, head - to efficiently fight yourself out of an attack. You learn about risk assessment, typical offender and victim behaviour, you find out how your body reacts to stress and you learn how to leave any threatening […]

The Mancunian Missing Link Karate dojos currently embark on a special venture: Bringing the highly developed Women's Self Defence concept of the German police to England. This raises an important question that we encountered in Germany more than two decades ago: What should be the content of a course like this - and what should […]

A look into our Knife awareness seminars in Manchester: Why Knife AWARENESS, not DEFENSE? Because knife defense techniques are most of the time madness. A knife is a dangerous weapon, and it should not be brought to any conflict, ever. There might be examples of successful defense against a knife, but none of them does […]

I always try to push my students beyond technique. Always trying to open pathways of understanding and giving them the possibility of understanding the underlying general principles, that will crack open, not just that technique, but all of them. The other day we were training a simple drill, where one person (the defender) lies face […]

The Missing Link concept replaces the Dan grading system with an own approach to individual development, research and learning within the community. Instead of counting up the number of Dan degrees, the Okuden and Kaiden MasterLevels require the applicant to add knowledge and ideas to Missing Link Martial Arts. A full blown thesis, accompanied by […]

A little look back on Meerbusch 2019, beyond the Kuro Obi and MasterLevel gradings a fantastic seminar with Cornelia Heinz and Sascha Wagener and Master Circle Member Sandro Sandten, covering for the injured Heero Miketta.

Founder Circle Seminar with gradings for Kuro Obi and Masterlevels in Meerbusch/Germany, close to Düsseldorf. Two days of intensive training with Cornelia Heinz, Heero Miketta and Sascha Wagener.

For the fourth KarateTalk Heero and Jorge take a look at the two biggest sources of modern martial arts: Chinese and Japanese styles and what connects them. We discuss methods, principles and didactics with Klaus Günther Beck-Ewerhardy -- Language-Teacher and researching traveller between Asian and European Martial Arts, Shoshin- and Missing Link-friend/associate Sascha Wagener -- […]

Summercamps have a long standing tradition for Missing Link - and for Ten Chi Jin Martial Arts Academy in Denmark, home of Master Circle Member Jorge Garibaldi. 2019 marked a new step in both traditions: The Missing Link Summercamp moved to Aarhus. Training among friends, as modern as traditional, full of ideas, community spirit and […]

Kihon-Kata-Kumite: Does this Karate mantra make sense? Jorge and Heero chat with full contact guru Jürgen Höller.  Karate Talk No 3: Martial Arts are much more than just physical education. Reason enough to dive deeper into the background of Karate with this brand new format: Jorge Garibaldi, educator and high ranked Karate instructor from Aarhus/Denmark, and […]

A yearly tradition in Schwerin/North Germany: Karate Dojo Ronin Schwerin (https://www.dojo-ronin.de) welcomes Karateka from across the country for their New Year Seminar with Heero Miketta and usually at least one other high ranked martial arts teacher. On January 26/27th we practiced Karate and its roots - and also welcomed Markus Broich, black belt from Lübeck, […]

And here is the new edition: The Missing Links of Martial Arts describes the concept and also covers the curriculum and the way how to create an individual syllabus. Included three examples: The Dortmund Syllabus, the Aarhus Syllabus and the non-linear cycle Syllabus from Manchester. Within the world of martial arts, there exists a great […]

A little look back on our winter seminar with Cornelia Heinz, Jorge F. Garibaldi, Heero Miketta and Sascha Wagener in the Missing Link HQ in Dortmund. Training and sweat were part of the schedule - but the high class instructor team took the participants into deeper topics, including some theoretical aspects, the history of Karate […]

Remember last month's KarateTalk from Schwerin/Germany? No? Not a surprise. The transmission broke and Jorge and Heero chatted for over half an hour in front of a camera that didn't work. We are doing this again, but this time it WILL actually work. See you soon when we discuss Online Training and whether it makes […]

As an example for what we do: Here some memories of three days of intense training and gradings in Manchester 2017 and Dortmund 2018. Our seminars are the place to be for Missing Link Karateka and everyone else who is interested in exploring Karate and its roots further.

The first KarateTalk with Jorge Garibaldi and Heero Miketta.

Flashback to a seminar with Sascha Wagener and Heero Miketta in Manchester years ago in 2013. Topic: Kakie Waza and the five elements in Karate.

Martial Arts are much more than just physical education. Reason enough to dive deeper into the background of Karate with this brand new format: Jorge Garibaldi, educator. Master Circle Member and high ranked Karate instructor from Aarhus/Denmark, and Heero Miketta, Founder Circle Member of the Missing Link Martial Arts community and book author from Manchester/UK, […]

Since Missing Link Martial Arts was founded, it has grown in many ways. Most important: In content. The Community has attracted great Martial Artists from many different fields and started growing into new countries. This website - and this blog - will help to connect the individuals that make the community, and help us creating […]