Kuma

I imagine that since it's hara breathing, by making it audible it causes you to concentrate more on proper breathing.

I think if you're in a fight for your life, anger can actually be a tool you need to realize it's either you or them. CONTROLLED anger though, not uncontrolled.

Something to keep in mind too: a kiai is not necessarily emitted as a shout. In many styles of swordsmanship, the practitioner actually focuses his kiai through the blade itself and not by vocalization.

Uechi Ryu also does a forced exhalation in their Sanchin kata, though theirs tend to be more hisses than the louder Goju ibuki style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESYN8thbFUQ

Very true. Do what you have to do. One of our guys just got into a big fight with a suspect and ended up having to stab the suspect after he went for the officer's gun. In a situation like that, I'll take a jury trial over my funeral any day of the week.

I first learned of the 3/4 turned fist from reading about Chotoku Kyan as he used it for seiken jodan tsuki. However, I never really applied it to any other strike. Interesting.

As a supplementary exercise (as practice is the best way to get better at something), you can try overhead squats. A simple broomstick will work well, and it will not only improve your balance but it's also good for flexibility, strength, and athleticism. Check Google, there's lots of good links.

From posting in some of these topics, I've noticed there seems to be quite a few KF members around the area. Something that could be a fun thing to do is maybe do a "meet and greet" sometime in the summer. Meet up to introduce ourselves and train together, that kind of thing. Could be fun. What does everyone else think?

Congrats!

This is something I've been analyzing on my own. My personal conclusion is that using a closed hand strike (for the most part, your basic punch) against a hard target like the head is bad news. I prefer shotei (palm heel) for head strikes now and save the closed fist strikes for either the body or as a hammerfist. I came to this approach in a few different ways. One is seeing several guys I work with, two of which have training, who broke their hands during a fight with another individual. All of them struck out instinctively with their strong side hands, which just so happened to be their shooting hand as well. So now not only did they break their hands fighting an aggressive subject, but now if the situation were to go to deadly force they'd be in a world of trouble. They also had to take time off of work and in general it wasn't too good for them. Another stigma of the closed fist, at least on the LEO side, is how it looks on camera. Punching a guy like it's the Rumble in the Jungle isn't going to look too good on your end. An open hand strike though is a bit more camera friendly as well as being a bit easier to justify. An open hand blow can be quite powerful, so you don't really lose too much in that end. Watch any of the old Pancrase fights and you can see quite a few KOs from open hand strikes (which, due to no gloves, were the only strikes allowed to the head for that organization). At most I feel you lose a tiny bit of reach but the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

I probably have watched this movie well over a hundred times. I average watching it about once a month, and Lord only knows how many times I watched it during down time in Iraq http://www.impawards.com/1986/posters/heartbreak_ridge_ver1.jpg

What was a "typical" class structure for him? (i.e. warm-up, kihon, kata, kumite, etc. or whatever he used the most)

Scientific boxing that we know today actually came from fencing. A gent by the name of James Figg popularized linear attacks in fisticuffs in or around 1719, and so the footwork and stances are in fact based off of fencing (Figg was also an accomplished swordsman). What's interesting too is if you compare the fencing lunge with the falling step of a boxer, the two are very alike. Actually, they both look a bit like zenkutsu dachi Stances can be transitory after all.

I think the main difference between Kyokushin and Ashihara is Ashihara allows you to grab and yank your opponent around, whereas in Kyokushin they don't let you do that. Kyokushin also has more of emphasis on the standard kihon and kata, whereas Ashihara is more into fighting techniques and their kata is more for kumite. Other than that, I don't see much of a difference.

Tuck your chin and break their grip is about as simple as I can say it. Bring it up to your teacher though, just say "Hey, I noticed I get caught in gi chokes and I was wondering if we could spend some of class working on those." Most likely your instructor will appreciate your initiative as it might not be something he's thought of teaching in a while.

Ahh, okay. That's true. I think there's a lot of benefit though to practicing within that system's philosophy for the kata though. When I was cross-training with a friend of mine who trains in Uechi Ryu, we had a lot of fun comparing and contrasting our Sanchin kata. While Goju's tends to be a bit slower, Uechi's was a bit more dynamic, for example. We both got something out of each other's approach though, so now I like to train in both kinds of ways whenever I do Sanchin.

It could be "hara", the center of your being. I have no clue though, but perhaps Espina can answer that one for us.

I agree, I'm incredibly jealous right now. Thanks for these awesome video clips though!

I trained in goju for a bout four months, and im currently learning sepai from my Uechi Ryu Instructor. ````````````` Espina....I have to ask...does ashihara involve alot of leg movements or striked to the leg or kicking techniques? Sepai isn't one of the standard Uechi kata. I'm guessing he has a background in Goju too? Here's some video of Ashihara in action for you, Traymond. That should answer some of your questions.

Kelly McCann/Jim Grover calls it the "axe hand" when he uses it like that (basically a shuto uchi uchi). Apparently that was a method that was pretty popular with WWII combatives. I've tried it out and I like it, but I still have some concerns about the extended thumb, just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Hmmm what I meant was that, if you learn goju ryu kata from goju ryu practicitoner it will be 100% goju ryu, but it you learn goju ryu kata from uechi Ryu master it is not 100% goju ryu. So it almost turns into a different kata because the bunkai and the whole movements in general turn to be UEchi Ryu styled than Goju ryu, and if you go to a Goju Ryu only Tournament and you do the goju ryu kata taught by your uechi Ryu Sensei it will not be the "same". similar yes, but same no...thats how I figured you were stating it, haha. But maybe not. I dunno if that's such a good comparison as Uechi Ryu has kata different from Goju, not to mention the kata they do share are executed in a different manner. Compare Sanchin kata in Goju to Uechi and you'll see the difference. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1070562260918624443&ei=wMzMSZu8L42grwLiuYS5Cw&q=sanchin+kata+goju&hl=en&client=firefox-a http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2311791963008270920&ei=cs3MSfOACoKwrALxsIWhCw&q=sanchin+kata+uechi&hl=en&client=firefox-a Sure there are similar movements, but from execution you can tell that they come from two different mindsets. Kata is kata however, and getting good at one kind of Sanchin kata will help you progress much faster in the other.

One of my former instructors got to train in Enshin for a while, so he brought some of that to us. I'm a big fan of both philosophies, but it was hard enough to find Kyokushin around here, much less either one of those

You should see some of the boxing gyms I've been in. The ring floor covers are yellowish brown thanks to all the sweat and blood on them over the years, the equipment smells like a hundred used jock straps, and you can practice your footwork by dancing around the roaches. Ahh, memories

Didn't you have some kind of training in Goju or something like that Traymond?

Very cool! Seems to be a lot of us around this general area