sensei8

Politics strike again. Dictating when one can and/or will talk about another MAist in any good light is politically driven, imho, because when politics permeate any dojo, that dojo looses its focus, and the focus in any school of the MA is to train, and in that training, one should be seeking their path of betterment and leave the politics of the MA at the door. Yamashita Sensei, imho, is an excellent karateka. As far as the term "Yamashita Shorin Ryu", I'm sure this is just saying that this Shorin Ryu is Yamashia's brand of Shorin Ryu; his own interpretation of executing Shorin Ryu.

As I'm posting this, I'm in one of my Gi pants, as a matter of fact, I slept in the same Gi pants. Gi pants have multiple uses of when one can wear Gi pants. For me, they're an easy on and off; no zippers, no belts, no snaps...just slide them on/off with the greatest of ease.

Official style of karate?!? There's nothing official that brands a style of the MA official of anything. Google isn't the official governing body for the MA styles of the world. This link might answer your questions, or at least direct you a way to find the answers to your questions about Shotokai... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dt%C5%8Dkai Hope this helps.

First of all...Welcome to KarateForums.com!! Secondly, with the amount of members here, I'm almost sure that you'll receive some info and the like to help you. I'm sorry that I'm of no help to you.

In Karate there is almost no time when you use only the muscles of your upper body. The hips always form the base. The moment one kicks, punches, and blocks your hips will naturally move. You don't move the hips on purpose; you must move your hips naturally. You exhale strongly but not entirely when striking, punching, kicking, and the like. Exhale 70% to 80% of your breath and leave 20% to 30. This is in order to deal with the next consecutive attack. Here are some of the drills that I put my students through to get them to understand their tangible hips... For nearly all kicks, I start out with slow dynamic kicks. This is a good stretch as well as a way for the student to see the proper line of motion - in slow motion. And for many kicks, I have them move the hips without the kick. This forces them to focus on the hip and not the kick. For kicking, one drill is to have them kick as of they didn't have any leg below the knee - so they just point with the knee. I keep extra long belts for those folks who need more visuals; for them, I'll replace their short belt with a longer one and then they can watch how the belt moves. If the belt doesn't move, it means their hips didn't move. So I would my run my students through a few dynamic kicks, watching for the whipping belt. I also run my students through a few dynamic kicks at slow motion. Once they get the idea of the moving hip, then they can add the slow throw of the instep. I prefer teaching the instep method of the kick because it produces better formation of the leg and knee, and it helps them extend their kicks. With ball-of-toe, new kickers tend to hold back a little. Side kicks: the easiest way is to have them do kicks along a smooth wall. This will aide ones posture. I'll use a focus pad or a blocker to encourage their head from bowing down too much. I'll attach a bag of tennis balls that will hang over the hip toward the back; the idea was to try to fling the bag with the hip; this was to build the crescent kick. I don't do this because it's very time consuming, and I have a lot of students, which means I have to have a lot of bags/balls. So instead, I have them imagine the technique, which seems to work fine. As to punching drills, I explain that with the reverse punch, they have to lift their heel a little. When they do this, the resistance pulling the hips back is released, allowing the student to more easily punch. I do not do this drill with a forward punch. For the knife hand block, it's hard; I tell the student to imagine their knife-blade going in one direction, and their forward hip twisting backward in the opposite direction. I don't dwell on this because it's not used much. Another drill I do is similar as described, but this is walking up and down a line. The student steps forward, then lifts the knee pointing to the target as the standing foot pivots backwards; the kicking knee drops to the floor and the other foot becomes the kicking knee, etc. I engage the students to focus on lifting the knee to point at the target, then to focus on the pivot foot. With a 180 degree pivot, the hip can do nothing but turn. Try these drills to better understand the concepts and principles of the hips.

I believe you would.

You know, I wanted to get a tat when I was 19 years old, but then I decided to just think about it first. Now, I'm 54 years old and I'm still only thinking about getting a tat.

Door to door? Sorry, If they came to my house, well, I'd just close the door.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your very kind words, I bow to you as well. I thank my Dai-Soke for everything that he's instilled within me to be the karateka that I am; then, now, and in the future.

Congrats and so well deserved!!

I'm sorry that you've had some bad experiences with 8th Dans! I can only hope that I've not been one of them. If so, please find a way in your heart to forgive me. As a 8th Dan, it angers me when I read things like this because I don't want to be associated with and/or lumped in with them just because we share the rank. It is said...one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. This is how I've always been; past, present, and future. The betterment of ALL students means everything to me, and with me, it shall always be that.

Yes...makiwara training!!

OK!!

Ahem...crisis have been solved, right? Then Skype away!!

In Shindokan, we don't block...we deflect.

Then I guess I'm about to lose all of your respect with what I'm about to say...How strong is your loyalty to your Sensei/Dojo/Association??? If my Dai-Soke had been CONVICTED of a crime involving moral turpitude, most, but not all...I'd walk away from him and never speak of him ever again, and I love him more than any man I've ever loved, even more than my dad!! Some I will never associate myself with no matter what!!

I'm sorry but I don't understand the question. If someone has been CONVICTED in a court of law, then I don't have to see anything. I'm saying I have more faith in my instructor's integrity than I do in that of 12 people who I don't know. For that matter, I don't think I could hand pick 12 people who match his integrity in my mind. People around here seem to think that if you are arrested you must be guilty. I had someone literally say that to me in a jury I was the foreman of. That rattled my already shaky view of the justice system. Still, a conviction is a conviction.

I'm only asking hypothetical questions, in that, I think Wrong Convictions are for another thread because that's a whole bunch of things.

For now, I yield to you the high ground.

I'm sorry but I don't understand the question. If someone has been CONVICTED in a court of law, then I don't have to see anything.

Average...interesting term. I've seen them, on an average go for $100. However, check this site... http://www.shureidousa.com/obi/embroidery.html Only bad thing is that this site requires you to call them for prices...check out their FAQ section. Good luck and please let us know what you've decided.

I doubt that Ikken hissatsu is a joke, and therefore, imho, it shouldn't be taken lightly either. There's an ancient Okinawa principle that might interest you. It's practiced as it was meant to be by the Okinawa warriors of that day, but few Okinawa schools practice it. Shorin-ryu, Goju-ryu, and yes, Shindokan, still do practice Renzoku ken (Continuous Fist). Bushi-te is the art that was practiced back then, and to do Renzoku ken any justice, one must still practice it. And without going into a lot of its history, development, techniques, and applications here, let me just point out some key points. Imho, Ikken hissatsu is no joke. *Excellent grappling applications for use in subduing and restraining *It included the devastating Ikken hissatsu technique for life-or-death situations *It also addresses vital-point strikes, so that one will know where to deliver blows which could severely injure or kill an attacker *For those situations when grappling was ineffective and the one-strike kill was foiled, the art provided a follow-up attack known as renzoku ken *In the Bushi-te, each renzoku ken technique was fully focused, as if it were the only technique needed. Just as the concept of Ikken hissatsu IS *If the technique was blocked or dodged, the bushi-te stylist would flow into another technique which was a natural extension of the original movement. The result was an extremely effective series of techniques which kept an attacker on the defensive, and eventually overpowered him *Renzoku ken serves as an effective follow-up maneuver to a grappling technique. If grappling moves failed, one would be in close proximity to their opponent and vulnerable to a counterattack. Thus, the bushi-te exponent was prepared to transition naturally from the grappling technique to a withering barrage of strikes *Tuite, Shindokan's bread and butter, in which one person attacks while the defender applies a joint lock. then flows into whatever counterstrike comes most naturally *To move again and again until a resolution is eventually achieved *Ikken methods, sometimes are not enough to end a real confrontation. All too often, however, it is the second or third strike that's needed. Hence the importance of also training in Renzoku ken

The entire post sir!!

Solid post JZ!!