Colin Wee spent four relentless years dragging his students through a single kata with no breaks, and no distractions. Just one kata, stripped bare and rebuilt again and again until its soul revealed itself. Then he took them through another year of the same so he could write about their journey. Through COVID, while the world was baking sourdough, he dissected the tactics, layout, and commentary. Along the way, Colin discovered there are no secrets hidden in the old methods, only layers for someone patient enough to peel them back. We welcome you into this process. Into the questions, the methods, and the hard-won understanding. Dive in and see what happens when you stop chasing more.
Breaking Through Book
Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata is the culmination of a four-year kata obsession—one form, studied to exhaustion, until it gave up its secrets. This isn’t about choreography. It’s what happens when you strip tradition down to its bones and ask: How does this actually work?
Inside, you’ll find:
- 12 combative lessons, with their applications broken down with step-by-step clarity
- 200+ annotated photographs showing traps, angles, takedowns, and transitions
- A blend of hard-style efficiency and soft-style adaptability
- Tactical insights that challenge assumptions baked into modern training
When instructors and students link the martial arts applications from Breaking Through to how Colin and his Black Belts got there and how it addresses dynamic situations, you will be able to fill in the gaps often created by modern hard-style training.
This book isn’t Karate-centric. It’s kata-centric. And that irony wasn’t lost on martial arts historian Ørjan Nilsen, who calls it “the best Bassai book ever written,” going so far as to recommend it to his Taekwondo students.
Awards and Recognition
Winner – 2026 American Legacy Awards (Sports)
Winner – 2025 Literary Global Book Awards (Non-fiction-Sports)
Winner – 2023 Best Indie Book Awards (Non-fiction Martial Arts)
Finalist – 2023 International Book Awards (Sports Category)
Book Details
Title: Breaking Through: The Secrets of Bassai Dai Kata
Author: Colin Wee
Publisher: Moosul Publishing, LLC., 2023 Website
ISBN: 0996264051, 9780996264051
Length: 160 pages
Originally published: 23 March 2023
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What Others Say
“Breaking Through … is jammed-packed with essential tactical applications, biomechanical principles, and self-study probing questions …”
Chris Hanson
Karate Unity
“Wee takes the traditional practice of patterns found in the striking arts … and repurposes them … as intrinsic components in the study of combat. “
GM Mike Swope
World Chun Kuhn Taekwondo Federation
“In a world where so many rush to criticize and divide, Master Wee stands tall as a leader who seeks to celebrate and connect. “
Sensei Ando
Happy Life Martial Arts
Acknowledgements
Jack Berry
Wilson and Natalie Chu
Lexie Chu
Kelly Cox
Chris Hanson
Anthony Hockley
Peter James
Will Just
Joshua Lay
Emmeline Lee
Lindon McKenna
Leonard Montagnana
David Moore
Roy Moore
Andrew Netes
Sean Osborne
Jeff Palm
Mike Proctor
Bryan Robbins
Doug Spear
Stephen Starnes
Betty & Bill Wee
Bethany Wee
Will Wee
Steven Weston
Keith Yates
About the Author
Colin Wee is a martial artist, coach, and writer.
For more than four decades, Colin has explored the depth of martial arts, from the sweaty archery fields and training halls of Southeast Asia in the 1970s to the Midwest USA in the 1990s, and eventually to founding Joong Do Kwan in Perth, Western Australia in 2000.
A black belt under GM Keith Yates, Colin is ranked as a 7th Dan in Traditional Taekwondo (2021), received the Instructor of the Year Award (2016) from American Karate and Taekwondo Organization, and was inducted into Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame (Inc) in 2020.
Colin’s journey has always been about more than technique. His work examines how martial arts shape decision‑making, resilience, and the way we carry ourselves in life. He shares these insights without ego, drawing on the history, characters, and lessons gathered across a lifetime of practice.
See: Author Bio