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I love the music that plays at the beginning of the Masters of Okinawan Karate videos on YouTube. Can anyone help me find a playlist with this song and others like it? I haven’t had much luck in finding anything. Thank you!

I’m mostly asking because of this guy on social media, 360 Alan. He runs a pretty cool looking Krav Maga facility. Something he keeps posting about are things like “elbow set number one” or “inside defense number one.” They seem to drill it in line formation, then practice on each other or on pads. This, to me, is kata. But a far more modern and striking focused version. Does anyone have something like this in your own curriculum? Thoughts?

I love the idea of doing my “sacred ritual” each day (example below). The whole session took me about an hour on the dot earlier today and I felt perfect. - Breathing Exercises - Warmup Exercises - All 20 karate kata - Makiwara - Stretch and Meditation Karate Kata: - Fukyugata 1-3 - Naihanchi 1-3 - Pinan 1-5 - Seisan - Ananku - Wankan - Rohai - Wanshu - Passai - Gojushiho - Chinto - Kusanku Bo Kata: (I’m new) - Choun No Kon 1-2 If I have a training partner, I love practicing a few Futari Geiko, Yakusoku Kumite, and Judo Randori or freestyle sparring. Anything you guys think is essential for me to have in a daily routine?

That’s crazy! I wonder, did he feel that Sandan, Yondan and Godan weren’t necessary because of Kusanku? Maybe he kept Shodan and Nidan because they tend to be a little more beginner friendly.

As instructors, how do you balance working on something consistently to get better at it, and having enough variation in the mix so your students don’t get bored? *teen/adult students* Personally, I feel fine doing the same thing every class. My brain just likes it. I have the same warmup, and the same “core” drills as part of the warmup. Things like basic punching and kicking back and forth, using the appropriate blocking techniques. I usually add the variation by working on something between kata rounds. Currently, my students are learning Fukyugata Ichi and Heishu Waza. So we’ll perform Fukyugata, then drill Heishu Waza for a minute or two, and repeat that 3-5 times. If there’s time before our finishing exercises, we’ll work on Kakie, flow drills, some kind of randori, etc. and relate them to the bunkai of whatever kata they’re working on. Closing exercises are various Karada Kitae exercises like kicking and punching to the stomach, then sit-ups/push-ups, and finishing up with stretching and meditation. Any thoughts or insight you can share or would like to discuss? Thank you!

Wado Heretic, That sounds fascinating. Do you have any videos you could share? I love flow drills, I think it’s so much fun going back and forth with someone and seeing how high you can build the intensity. I like to rotate through a handful based on my mood, but I don’t think I’ll ever know enough of them. Hate to say it, but I’ve gotten some great ideas from the KU system as well.

I love this project! I emailed you some links to my Sensei’s website. One has a history section on Matsubayashi Ryu, the other has a list of all the kata in the curriculum. I hope it can contribute in some way!

I don’t believe anything has gone far enough for law enforcement to be involved. And my friend said that while she believes she has enough on him to do a lot, she doesn’t have it in her to publicly call him out. She’s been very clear in saying she just wants to forget anything ever happened. To all of you out there that preach the martial arts values AND practice them: thank you.

What do you think are THE kihon katas of ALL of karate? I recently came across a post that suggested the top 3 Kihon Katas of karate were Naihanchi, Sanchin, and Seisan (various versions). I loved the combination of these 3 and started that “only the essentials” game. Say… top five?

I think Thai pads (or pro force hand pads if you need cheaper), and kick shields would be the bare minimum for the instructor. If there’s sparring, I’d make the students get their own gear.

I’ll try to leave out names… but here’s an unfortunate update. Master Kim has NOTHING to do with this. But it turns out my suspicions were right. Turns out, one of the instructors has been accused of “grooming” some of the women there. Multiple times. And some of the higher ranks there are well aware of it, but have made it perfectly clear that they don’t care. One of my friends was his next target, and he made his intentions with her VERY clear. She left soon after. Again, this is a Dojang that Master Kim does NOT teach at. Someone that works for him, I can’t possibly imagine he’s aware of what’s going on. But yeah. For the higher ranks that I mentioned: - apparently they had a lot to say about me when I traveled to Okinawa - they’ve confessed what kind of person this instructor is, and tried to justify his behavior - a friend confirmed they continue to trash talk anyone who doesn’t stay in their little circle - Multiple women (4 that we know of now) have left in the past after this instructor made their move. It’s unfortunate, but oh well. Glad I'm back with my Sensei!

Has anyone tried it out? I met James during my trip to Okinawa and loved talking with him. He’s a very passionate person and VERY well connected across Okinawa. I think his platform for bujin tv is genius, but I don’t really hear anyone talking about it. There’s TONS of bunkai, straight from high ranking Okinawans who, literally, are from Okinawa. With bunkai being such a hot topic, I figured people would be nearly obsessed with this. So I’m curious why this isn’t being talked about more. Has anyone tried it out? Was anyone disappointed or impressed? How so?

What are some good Kumite (point style) drills for teaching beginners? Light kicks to head, punches and kicks to body, and takedowns are all practiced. I have a long list of videos that I’ll be going through on YouTube, but I enjoy what you all have to say so I’m asking here as well. I’m looking for - beginner friendly striking combinations - drills for teaching foot work - beginner friendly sparring drills Thank you all in advance!

Very interesting question! I feel like I’m going to have a very unpopular opinion 😂 I prefer point style sparring, where you have to make contact while also showing enough control that you don’t knock your opponent back. I do NOT think of the modern point style Kumite matches, what comes to mind for me is the old school Shotokan sparring, but with more emphasis on the not hurting your opponent aspect. For me, it’s just fun! That being said… I’m also well aware that it’s not the best method when really training for self defense. While I like the padding on hands and feet for protection on both ends, I’ve found many practitioners will continue to get carried away knowing they’re padded, and hit harder. I once got roughed up pretty bad in a boxing gym, and my “sparring” partner was pretty brutal. We both had head gear and gloves on, and boy did I feel that for the next few days. Also, we won’t have gloves on in a real situation! With the gloves off, I think you condition your own hands for more of the real thing. You don’t hit unrealistically hard (for yourself) when you don’t have something protecting your hands, and I think that gives us a more realistic understanding of what we’re capable of. Plus, I think we maintain a little more awareness on how hard we’re hitting our training partners when the gloves are off. Again, that’s good for both ends. I also just hate wearing sparring gear… I get it, I understand it, I support it, but I just don’t like it 😂

Darth Penguin, I’ve had the uniforms for around 6 months now. I alternate between them throughout the week, and I teach 5 days a week, where I’m very active and do a lot of demonstrations. Half the time in the adult class, I just do class with my students. Lots of kata, lots of grabs and throws, sweating, etc… I’m definitely putting this stuff to work. The gis have held up very well! The black gis definitely look a little more “worn” but I don’t think it’s in a negative way at all. Little to NO signs of shrinkage. Still fit perfectly. White gis have maintained their color as well. I haven’t worn the black belt in awhile, but that’s because I simply prefer the one I got from KI International. No other reason than that! The quality of Seishin really is top tier. I still can’t get behind the price for everything - it’s ridiculously high, and that’s exactly why I won’t be purchasing from Seishin again unless Jesse can reasonably drop the prices lol. Do I think Seishin should be more expensive than other options? Yes, I really do. The quality of everything speaks for itself. However, I just don’t think it should be AS expensive as it is. I think his sales would skyrocket if he could just drop the prices a little. I hope this helps!