Killer Miller

As they say, you have now passed your basics, now is when you start to learn! - Killer -

Thanks Patrick. - Killer _

My background is traditional JKA International. And that would always be my reference... - Killer -

Kia is not an action, it is a by-product of an action. It is not, nor was it ever, designed to scare the opponent - however, a strong and proper kiai will scare the heck out of an opponent. Kiai is simply the noise the body makes when "stopping" the rapid exhalation of air through the air pipe of your body. So if you kiai naturally and with kime, it means that you did the action correctly - which in kata and in real life, it would be the actual "killing" blow or technique. - Killer - I believe they are nessecary in kihongata and Yakusoke Kumite Only, Regular Kata and Kobudo, they are pointless...If a guys running at me with a pair of nichogama ima run...he doesn't need to kiai to scare me. in Kata for competition sure...but its not something I feel is required, I dont require any one that learns underneath me to use them.

You obviously totally misunderstood what I was referring to. When I said there was only "one" way, I was referring to the context of an individual's interpretation of the meaning of the kata with the intent of correct bunkai of a real situation, and changing that interpretation for competition. Technique variation always has and always will have variations in the interpretation of a particular kata - which is fine. - Killer - As you are a shotokan practicioner you should know that all katas are not always done the same, Karate is not Iaido, kata cannot always be done the same. If you look at the two different videos of Funakoshi Sensei doing Tekki Shodan, you will see what I am talking about.

I have seen International masters, champions, teams, etc., and have "Never" seen them perform any kata this way - with the exception of demonstrating the inner feeling of a technique for training purposes only. I might do something similar only to demonstrate correct breathing technique, but just enough to get the point accross... - Killer -

LOL, his technique is actually pretty good, but I hope the over exaggeration of the breathing was just for training and exaggerating the breathing to demonstrate the inner movements of the kata and not actually perform the kata this way...? - Killer -

There is only "one" kata and "one way" to do kata. If you are doing kata correctly, there is absolutely no difference between practise and competition. However, certain body actions may be over emphasized for competition - example, big draw are that the judges can see. But if you are doing kata correctly, this would not be an issue - but some will win a kata competition using this cheater's method. So for competition training, you may have to stress this point to lower levels to ensure they are competitive in competition. - Killer -

Bassai and Sochin are probably the two most common cross organizational katas I've seen. But, I've seen so many variations of these two katas that you can barely call them the same kata... - Killer -

Also, for those of you that missed it, here's a link to the Article I wrote 4 years ago about training with Nishiyama. http://www.karateforums.com/an-evening-with-hidetaka-nishiyama-vt15063.html - Killer -

He really never had a typical. You would think it was going to be typical, then he would push you far beyond what you thought you could do. For example, he would have you do 5-way kicking until your legs burned and you couldn't lift them any more. Then he would tell you to use breathing from your lower diaphragm and make you do it until you could lift your legs correctly. Like I said, break you down, then build you up... A common work out would be about 15 minutes of stretching, 15 to 30 minutes of warm-up with basic kicks, punches, etc., then a new concept of the day in almost every variation you could think of, timing training applying the concept of the day, some sparring applying the concept of the day, warm down, the a really good stretch at the end. This would be typical in a general sense. Every class was a new day pretty much as to what you learned. - Killer -

Thank you Sensei8, Yes I was very fortunate to have trained with him and I will always think if him as well as all the other great karate-ka that trained at Central with him - they were all a great bunch of guys/gals. Note: Central is what we all called Nishiyama's dojo in LA. My contribution and tribute to Nishiyama is to give you guys a little bit of Nishiyama and his training concepts here on the forum. Also, if any of you have questions about Nishiyama's training concepts, etc., feel free to ask me. Osu.

With the recent passing of Nishiyama Sensei, I thought I would post this small collection of videos of him in action. I trained with him for many, many years. The clips bring back many memories. He was known for breaking you down to the most basic level and rebuilding you back up to his preferred standards. If you noticed in the Dojo where everyone would bow to the Picture of Funikoshi, but if you watched Nishiyama, he was truly bowing to his Sensei and had a great deal of personal meaning to him. Most know him on the seminar level at a distance, but I knew him on the regular basis on a personal level and remember many of his serious/joking comments. It was hard to determine sometimes if he was serious, or kidding around a little... He was a great man to respect and had a great family as well. Anyhow, here's some of the clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=189VBCjHyHQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8HN0oBgrUU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdC5K4hg5FA

Yea, I figured the traditional shotokan guys would have spotted it right off lol... - Killer -

As I recall in one of the books, either Go Rin No Sho (Book of 5 rings), or Funikoshi's Karate-do My Way of Life, it mentions that modern karate was made up from an India wrestling art for the low stances and Jujitsu with the higher stance and open hand techniques. But I think it was just more of a wrestling thing and not an actual MA. - Killer -

Original Tokaido! Go Tokaido!!! - Killer -

I guess no-body noticed that all these kata names were made up. Just a joke to see if anyone would catch it or not lol... - Killer -

If you think of it as Kata against imaginary opponents, then it is Bunkai because you visualize that actual application of technique that would realistically apply in a real situation - which is one of the backbones of practicing/performing kata in the first place. - Killer -. To your first point - I agree 100% On the second point. I personally believe that kata is NOT bunkai, but a way to help remember and practice so that you can do bunkai. The movements in kata should not be taken as a literal fight but as a dance to help you remember concepts in fighting. Hope that makes sense?

1. When MA was outlawed, they practiced MA in the form of a classical dance - called Kata. It was their way to still train and not be classified as MA. 2. Kata is a series of movements or techniques used against one or more imanginary opponents - thus, the Bunkai of Kata... - Killer -

I am still really swamped and haven't had time to write the article on breathing. I should have some time this weekend and I'll try to get something posted. I haven't forgot about you... - Killer -

Katas: MaiHun KukKou WatseiMai Sho and Dai TekkiEigo 1-3 Kitsuwiki Dai EidoNou Sho WatsuUpi Heans - Killer -

There are 3 primary methods for Knife Hand: 1. All fingers straight and tight, thumb tucked in tight - this is for striking the palm side of your hand as to not break the fingers with force. Loose fingers will be broken otherwise. 2. All fingers straight and tight, with the exception of the middle finger which is bent in even with the Index and ring finger, and thumb tucked in - this method can also be used for striking with the side of the palm. But if you have big knuckles, like I do, the middle knuckle can be an obstruction when striking to the side and either hurt or be broken with side force. 3. Same as #2 above, except that you are doing Shuto - this middle finger is bent even with the index and ring finger for straight thrusting and preventing the middle finger from becoming broken being the one finger that sticks out further than all the others... Hope this helps, - Killer -

If I offended you, that most certainly was not my intention and would certainly apologize for that misunderstanding... If it's in your system to learn at your level, then by all means learn the kata. In my system and instructing, I wouldn't ask a student to lean this kata until black belt at least. My only reasoning for this is because it is one of the most difficult katas to learn if you haven't mastered the basics and other kata's first - which Unsu has portions and techniques from many of all the other katas in it. And that is my only point why I would have a student to wait and why I was asking questions to begin with as to why you were learning the kata at your level. But If your instructor has ask you to, then that is most certainly all that needs to be said. So in that case to answer your question, the jump is successful by staying centered as if you had a pole going down through the center of you body and affixed to the floor. You jump up, with good breathing timing from your lower diaphragm, as high as you can maintaining the centered axis where most of your effort is going up and not outwards. At the same time you do a centered turn on the axis that naturally occurs - but the jump force is mainly going up. Too many Karte-ka doing this kata are typically off-centered of out of balance when starting the jump upwards. Therefore, the force needed to go "up" ends of going more outward instead of up - thus losing the height needed for the jump. Hope that helps and sorry for the misunderstanding... - Killer -

As JusticeZero stated, nobody is discouraging anyone from learning Unsu. But it's kind of like someone asking how an electonic ignition module works when they haven't learned what a spark plug does and what the 4 strokes of an engine are? Same thing with Unsu, there are so many comprised basic techniques that need to be perfected first prior to not only learning, but more importantly understanding Unsu. Unsu requires little explanation - if all the other basics and katas are perfected first. - Killer -

I will try to post something this weekend on breathing when I have some time - I've been really busy lately. I think my "Mind Dumping" article in the article section covers breathing timing a bit. But I'll put something together a little more comprehensive for you guys/gals... - Killer -