Shoto4Life

Who did you train under in Mn? Master Fusaro? I think its mostly sensei related.

In addition, in arts like judo, they strictly avoid long belts as they can be used against you in tournaments. How would you like to be strangled out with your own belt?

Long belts are completely a fashion statement. It’s like sagging your pants and in my opinion its lame. If you were in battle would want a ridiculously long belt slapping around? Not cool!

IMO - you shouldnt be allowed to test for black until 16 let alone be allowed to teach a class.

Welcome to the rest of the world’s traditional karate’s political problems! Maybe Kempo is not so different after all?

Front leg Roundhouse with right leg and reverse punch with left hand while sparring. Nails them everytime by the ear, neck, or back of head. During training I like to step in front kick, step in roundhouse and then finally back thrust. If you do this right it works in sort of a flurry carrying momentum and feels really good.

If you guys get a good tournament cut gi like juka offers there is no need to tailor the uni. Also its tournament cut pant is extremely loose so much so I nearly get my leg stuck in it. If you guys havent tried juka try the 10oz. dragon brand tournament cut. Its only like $75 bones and its really like a 12oz. Very good quality for the money. Side note too they have told me that they actually manufcater the tokon gis.

RIP - :'[ - I missed his last local seminar. I was gonna get a pic and have him sign my book as well.

Yes I tend to carry my shoulders high and I am stiff. Lots of focus in my training has been to drop shoulders and loosen up. The breathing though I think I have always had trouble with. Like jogging its always hard for me to find a nice steady slow rythym. I seem to find it hard to avoid breathing hard. My sensei told me to breathe from the gut which I think might help. Seems wrong for me to loosen up and go willy nilly. I think fighting in the real world is like arm wrestling - the closer your arm is to your shoulder and the stronger the bond the more power you have. I think by not tensing and flexing the shoulders you will have no power. Well not the kinna power that hurls people through the air anyway which I have done before. I think that running up the stairs will really work my respitory system and even out my breathing. That and sprints. Jogging helps but its not enough. I just have the feeling that I cannot get out of this contiunal feeling of being out of shape. Maybe if a lose some weight?

Whats your favorite gi? Please no comments about how other gis are not listed.

Very simple. Happened to me in high school and after bobbing and weaving several large blows one hard shot to the throat was enough to watch a certain state champion body builder drop to his knees and cry like a baby. Otherwise target the knees. No teeth or nose for liability and ethical reasons.

When I train I train hard like I’m actually fighting someone. I think this leads me to be tense. Also it’s like I expended myself right away and find that I’m the first to tire and the most worn out and sweaty. This sucks. What can I do to increase my cardio so that I’m not so beat down all the time? The worst part is that when I get so exhausted my form goes right out the window. I also really don’t want to be all loosely loose like I’m flicking my arm out as if it’s a string either. I have tried jogging which helps but I’m thinking I need to do something more like sprints or up stairs or something.

Yea you guys are right. I need to just clear my head, refocus and push forward. Thanks for the support!

Updates After a couple days off I returned. The sensei that likes me was teaching. It was nice to see some of the lower level students and they were happy to see me. Tails were wagging. It still felt awkward though. Afterwards the sensei thanked me for returning. I think it was obvious how much I put into it and how I felt about the outcome. After a little conversation he confirmed enough of what I felt and described in this post to validate what happened. He also basically told me it’s really good that I came back and that’s how I will show them. This felt good but it almost creates more dilemmas. Now I know what I perceived to be more or less accurate and because of this it just doesn’t feel right. That coupled with the fact that I have trained judo and wanted to have started back into judo but figured that for the long run karate would be better for my body. I do however prefer to strike and it comes a little less naturally so it makes me try harder. I probably had the most fun training on my own prior to rejoining a dojo in preparation before all the politics and pressure started in. The issue though is that I feel my body type is better suited for judo. So I wonder, do I continue to train in something that might not be my ideal sport and on top of that have to deal with people that don’t want to see me succeed? Or do I shift focus towards something that lends itself more naturally to my body type? Its like if I can’t get a purple belt how will I ever become a black belt? Most people do not fail at such an early level. I also do not take failure easy as it doesn’t happen to me often and this was very hard on me. I do believe most sensei’s spare students this negative experience and tell them not to test if such thing might happen. Thanks for the input keep it coming.

One of the great Funakoshi's 20 precepts is :Think of your opponents hands and feet as swords. This might help you get the lead out.

Thanks for the input guys. So generally you guys think I should stick it out then? I think Im gonna rationalize it like Ive only been back into it for like 6 months. It would have taken 9 mths at the soonest to get my green belt in the first place so Im still prolly catching up to where I once was and Im sorta lucky I didnt have to start out from stratch again. I love Shotokan and this dojo is connected with one of the highest ranking non japanese senseis in the nation or world so I really wanna get my rank through them.

Clashes havent bothered me really its more about the test. I want to move to the next kata. I feel like I deserved to pass and was failed as sort of a we are in control message. I feel like I was inappropriatly stepped on.

Yes its the first time. I received my current rank from a different sensei in a different dojo. As mentioned before I really have no idea. I feel like his rational is that I wasnt ready. I think he is intimidated and doesnt wanna see me on his level anytime soon. Away from that I know they are realy judgemental and dog a girl who is sort of different in sort of a special way all the time which turns me off. Its like obviously she is alittle off no need to sit and dog her behind her back. So Im guessing its prolly based on things from simple conversation and him drawing conclusions about me. I have good sense at reading people and my feelings and insticts are usually spot on. One of the other instructors seems like he doesnt like me much either. He admitted to being the small kid that got beat on as a kid. He says he didnt have size so he had to work harder and be faster to win. He views me and the strong type A male and sort of resents me. He has referred to me in class as a construction worker and Im a white collar college grad. He however keeps things on a more neutral and professional level than does the other one where one day you could see it in his face - looked like he wanted to pop me. That day I think his attitude was spawned from me slacking during kumite as I was paired with his 10 year old daughter. Honestly I ran threw her kumite several times but I didnt want to spend all day with her as she is so small it sort of ruins my form to work with her. I don't really feel like young kids should be mixed in with adult classes.

The sensei that doesnt like me is one of three we have as regular senseis that rotate teaching. I think thats part of the go to the other city and test because it takes this sensei that doesnt like me out of the equation. Thanks for the input guys! My gut tells me to keep going because I love my style. I wouldnt drop out of college because of a failed test and/or a professor I didnt like would I? But Im just not sure I can get my head around it. Im also not keen as to going to another city in an unfamiliar dojo to test. I think part of him saying a month is just to try and sound better and keep me on board. Somehow I dont think itll end up being a month. I was really counting on it for much needed inspiration and motivation.

Well I had my 5th Kyu test the other day and I thought it went well. However I was worried as I could hear them deliberating after the test and the main sensei said he thought I passed and another one that doesnt like me very much was talking to him and he said oh you have it opposite. This made me nervous as there was continued debate. He then acted like he would think about it and started the seminar afterward. I felt like he used this to watch me more as he is normally not in my dojo. He comes from another city as he is a very high ranking for grading purposes. Of course I was spent after the testing and when I’m spent my technic falls off. Anyway I felt as if he was still grading me and looking for a way to agree with the other instructor and rationalize not passing me. So after testing I came away rather worried and discouraged with what I had heard and the vibes I got over the whole thing only to find out when I got my results that everything I felt seemed to be have been accurate and after half a week I just found out that they did in fact fail me. This is crappy because I trained for like 6 months with them and two months prior on my own for this. I also feel like I’m much better than the girl that I train with who they allowed to pass. In fact they passed all who tested but me and one of which is noteably suspect in class. Last testing I watched everyone pass as well. He then pitched it to me as the visiting sensei was on the fence about me and they didnt want to get in the middle. Normally they defend the student and help them pass. However they DID get into it which was more than visable and I heard the main sensei say “he had me passing” and then one of my normal instructors seemed to actually rally against me on it, while the main sensei said “oh you have it opposite?”. My normal sensei told me when he informed me I didn’t pass that the main sensei wants me to work on my recoil and come down and test in his city in one month. Interestingly the recoil thing came from the seminar after the testing in my opinion. He said that if I had recoiled in the test just like I did in yesterdays class that I would have passed. Now the worst part of this is the fact that I feel like I didnt pass because of almost an ego/dislike thing. Also if I heard right how could the main sensei allow someone to change his mind like that. I find the whole thing rather disturbing as I feel I passed and deserve the new rank and I feel most people I train with look up to me and feel the same as well. I find it hard to continue back with people that in my opinion afforded me very poor judgement and more or less screwed me over. I also feel sort of ashamed towards my other classe mates that I didnt pass and because in general most people don’t fail there purple belt test. What do you all think of this? Alittle backround is that I started training with them back in march after a seven year absence. I also used to train with sort of a rival dojo. I have always sort of felt like their attitude without saying it is that it’s cool to train with us but you should prolly go grade with your school. Also for some odd reason the sensei I mentioned that seemed to rally against me seems to have some sort of problem with me. Its been really apparent in several last class periods. He spent one entire class period picking me apart the whole time. No idea really why other than he might be intimitated by me for some reason. After the testing he seemed rather happy/cocky as I talked about how it sucked to wait for the results and such basically snickering. I was also bothered by the fact that in his speech afterward he was basically saying that “if you wanna get down on this and not come to class that’s fine. No one will care or miss you. Someone else will just pop into your spot. Its really about you and how bad you want it.” Yes this is a somewhat good point but how brash? What kind of person would say that to someone?

There are a lot of advantages in being associated with a creditable style and governing body. If you move somewhere will anyone know your new style or anything of your training? Most new styles die off. I would leave and make sure Im papered with a legit organization.

I have done my homework, for a good while at that. By some accounts, the dirrect decention of Naihanchi falls from Soken Matsumora That's right Sokon Matsumura is credited with handing down Naihanchi. Those that learned it from him or his students other than Itosu would probably be doing the original form. Further down the page he mentions the "Pinan(5 katas) the modern time warrior Mr. Itosu orginated.." If the Naihanchi kata, as he knew them, were the work of Itosu why not give him credit there as well? Did he hold them to be the modified versions that Itosu taught, or a more orthidox version he's learned from Matsumora? That's a good question. I would guess he was biased. Can't imagine that being expelled from Itosu helped this. It is quite well known Motobu was a major proponent of Naihanchi and it was his favorite kata. The other factor would be that Choki Motobu learned from not only Itosu but Sokon Matsumura, Sakuma Pechin, Kosaku Matsumora, and Tokumine Pechin. I'd like to say that he probably held to Sokon's teaching but I'm sure by viewing the handed down kata's that they are not the old way/ full version so I'm guessing he just did the new way without crediting Itosu. Just the way I understood the popular opinion.

So, your saying saying the only difference between the Okinawan Naihanchi and the Japanese Tekki is the way the kata is broken up? Do you see any difference between the Okinawan Pinans ad the Japanese Heians? I've done both the Matsubayashi Ryu Naihanchi and JKA Tekki, and there is a world of difference between them. Footwork, the stance, the techniques and the timing are different. Naihanchi, at least the version I was taught, is a closed stance, with tight step overs, the hands are tighter to the body and the techniques are different. The timing is a whole differnt matter in and of itself. I think it’s pretty easy to see what I’m saying and that’s not it. Go do your homework and find out that your Naihanchi isn’t the old way/original way. There seem to be a lot of little varieties out there but in my opinion if it’s not the full version of the original form it’s not truly Naihanchi and as such it’s similar if not equal to Tekki. That’s also your opinion I have seen it and wouldn’t consider there being a world of difference. Your kata will be like Tekki as the founder of Matsubayashi Ryu was a student of Motobu Choki who was prolly the other most commonly known student of Ankō Itosu other than Funakoshi. Ankō Itosu CHANGED the kata, broke it up and yes he also created the pinans which is a different story as he did not create the Naihanchi but changed it. He then taught the new way and discouraged practice of the original way. People that aren’t in the Itosu lineage are going to have a more true to Naihanchi form. Peace - Tekki rules!

That's just my point. Its a perfect example. Seems as most of you are really just doing Tekki and calling it Naihanchi. True Naihanchi would be from before it was broke into three parts and it would not be the same as our Tekki 1.