17/08/2026
🥋 PASSION: Reflections from Grandmaster Sensei Jim Hulse, 10th Dan
As my friends enjoy the banquet over in America, twelve months after I was there for my Judan promotion, it got me thinking.
I’m thinking about how I got to Judan and what it means. Not just the usual things like being a Grandmaster, reaching the highest rank in the system and being old enough to get it!
I got there through determination, desire and hard work, having good teachers and finding the best style for me. Of course, they should all be in the mix, but the most important thing to have is passion, and lots of it!
So, let’s have a look at this passion.
Passion for the style. Passion for training. Passion for being in the dojo. Passion for discipline. Passion for learning. Passion to be the best you can be. And a passion for teaching!
Phew... lots of passion.
🥋 PASSION FOR THE DOJO
If you are going to do this, then you need to get to your dojo and be there every chance you can.
Support the dojo in order for the dojo to support you.
It’s the atmosphere in a great dojo: the sweat, the noise, the hard work, the enjoyment and the support during the struggles you will inevitably have.
Your mindset should always be to get there and train. Let everyone know about your passion for training. Everyone knows where I go on a Tuesday and Thursday every week without fail.
My wife, Gill, is so used to me going to the dojo that, at 70 years old, she is still helping me out of the door!
But passion isn't just about getting to the dojo. It's about how you train once you're there.
If you are passionate about getting better, you can't just go through the motions or pretend to do it. You have to do everything to the best of your ability.
Be passionate enough to try to make your kata better than the last time you performed it.
🥋 PASSION FOR LEARNING
Be passionate about learning and studying your art.
If your dojo is great, then you will have found a dojo with a passionate Sensei whose aim is to make you the best you can be.
If you trust your Sensei, you will understand their motives, but remember, they need to trust you too.
Believe in each other, passionately!
🥋 PASSION FOR RESPECT
Respect the system. Respect the knowledge and training of your Sensei and your training partners.
Most of all, respect those who have built up the courage to walk through the dojo doors for the very first time.
Whilst there are times to question and understand what is happening, when there is respect and trust between you and your Sensei, you know there is a reason behind what you are being asked to do.
🥋 PASSION FOR THE STYLE
Uechi Ryu Karate.
It’s the best style ever. It’s the toughest. It’s the most satisfying...
FOR ME!
It gives everything to me, and I'm passionate about learning it, still!
I'm passionate about teaching it.
I'll research everything I can to make my Uechi the best it can be without changing what Uechi is.
I'll find the best way to make an application work for me. That might even be something I have seen a lower rank doing!
I may change something in a Bunkai because I have found a better way to deliver it, not simply for the sake of changing it.
Trust your Sensei.
Uechi excites me every single day. It's in my mind all the time.
I'm passionate about Uechi Ryu!
🥋 PASSION FOR DISCIPLINE
We are learning to fight. We need to discipline ourselves to allow us to do what we need to do.
To deliver techniques to the right target with the right mindset. To control a situation by walking away, or by doing what is necessary for defence.
Discipline in training means not getting upset when things aren't going right, but applying more determination to make them better the next time.
Be disciplined in your movement throughout kata, kumite, conditioning and everything else we practise.
Discipline yourself to the dojo rules, to friendship, to learning and to helping others.
🥋 PASSION FOR YOURSELF
Be passionate about yourself, your self-belief and your ability.
More than anything, be passionate about your own humility.
The worst thing you can do is think you are better than everyone else.
Be confident, but humble.
Be humble in your teaching.
🥋 PASSION FOR MY STUDENTS
I'm still here because I'm passionate about all these things.
More than anything, I am passionate about my students.
I will push them.
I will help them.
I will protect them.
They are the future of the style. They are my legacy, and when they call me Sensei, I am very proud.
This is how I got here:
My passion.
My teachers.
My students.
My family.
Yours passionately,
Jim Hulse
Grandmaster Sensei, 10th Dan
Uechi Ryu Karate Do
