todome

Thanks for asking. The term has a couple of meanings. Generally it means "finishing blow". It can also mean something more along the lines of "disabling an attacker" but "finishing blow" is the more common intent. I train traditional Shotokan. Nishiyama school. The goal is develop the ability to go from zero to kill at the moment of kyo and do it every time. Maybe it isn't the best thing for the streets. Doesn't matter to me. Its the art that keeps me coming back. That and the fact its at the top of my list for lifetime activities. Thanks for the clarification. I think the idea of a finishing blow is a valid one, but, like tallgeese, I'm also a proponent of the idea of combination striking. I think each strike should be performed as a finishing blow, but never singularly. I want to finish the guy with this blow, and this blow, and this blow...and so on, as tallgeese mentioned, until the threat is neutralized. I think of it the same way I think about a lethal force situation involving a handgun. I'm not going to shoot a lethal threat once, and then check to see if he/she falls down. I'm going to keep shooting until the threat is down. Well put and we're on the same page. Always trying to maximize and always ready to do it again. In my experience I find that proper kime (focus at the peak) is only achieved in such a way one is by virtue of kamea (posture, preparedness) ready to do it again, as if part of the follow-through, such as it is. One may or may not hold their position at the end of an attack but the muscles should be instantly relaxed without losing control.

Used as a feint I'm sure its worth it but for the most part all that movement gives the old dogs more transition to catch you in. IMO.

I never said anything about downshifting. Shizentai means readiness such that one is prepared to wait OR react. Sometimes that reaction is another strike. The mind is ready and so is the body. Kamae.

An important aspect of todome is that kime is instantanious and the state following it is shizentai, the state of complete readiness. Failing that one is not training properly, a mistake that leads to precisely the error you're describing.

You've probably trained long enough to know that if you train long enough you can quit assuming. Gotta go. I'll try pick this conversation up later.

tallgeese: I meet up with a couple of boxers from time to time in the studio I practice in. We've talked a bit. I wish I had their footwork and they wish they had my reverse punch. But their footwork won't do me any good if a 5th dan gets a bead on me and my reverse punch won't do them any good if they have to land it twice. It's a trade off and we each see the merits in what the other is doing. Maybe I should have explained what I mean by "karate" when I piped up. Land one and go home. Like swordfighting.

Thanks for asking. The term has a couple of meanings. Generally it means "finishing blow". It can also mean something more along the lines of "disabling an attacker" but "finishing blow" is the more common intent. I train traditional Shotokan. Nishiyama school. The goal is develop the ability to go from zero to kill at the moment of kyo and do it every time. Maybe it isn't the best thing for the streets. Doesn't matter to me. Its the art that keeps me coming back. That and the fact its at the top of my list for lifetime activities.

I agree. But I'd expect them to rely more on keeping their distance and relying on good stance work than movement that can be timed. That's not really a strategy that works well in boxing.

You're not saying there's no such thing as todome, are you?

My point is that squared of with an old master gloves off no rules winner takes all I honestly don't think a bunch of bobbing and weaving is going to do you a hell of a lot of good. He'll be out to punch you once and go home and probably will. Poking him a few times would just help him get his bearings. That's what I think karate is about, anyways. I didn't pick this screen name because its easy to spell.

If you're going to box, box. Don't adapt karate to a different set of rules and keep calling it karate. Transfer what you've learned about generating power into your technique, absolutely. In fact if you look at the greats in the sport you'll see how effectively they put their body behind everything they do and likely see it better than average boxers themselves. But don't a call it karate.

Karate isn't a popularity contest.

In our school it's Heien Shodan. Quite similar. I go back to it all the time. When you stop finding something new in it you're not paying attention.

Sounds to me like you're keeping your other pursuits off the dojo floor, sensei is minding his own business and there's really no issue. Make sure you don't walk away from a problem that isn't there.

That's probably more a function of iffy technique than iffy muscles. Make SURE you're not dropping your knee during extension of the leg otherwise you're playing hell with your quads, particularly with kicks that require a lot of hip rotation at the same time (roundhouse and side kicks). See if that doesn't make getting out of bed the next morning a little less painful. I always tell junior belts to check with sensei before trundling off to physio.

ISKF ippon kumite matches are two minutes long non-contact with one clean (ippon) or two "nearly finished" (waza-ri) techniques deciding the winner. Starting out? 1) practice jabbing with authority. Jabs don't usually score but it help you learn your distance going in and finding your distance during the bout (ala boxers in the first round) Distance is the number one reason techniques are waved off in the junior ranks. To tell you the truth it drives the officials crazy. 2) practice your outside block (jodan and chudan) reverse punch counter. Confidence with that takes away the fear factor when it comes to setting yourself up in the hot zone. Scores a lot, too. 3) learn your distance with front kicks and make a point of getting used to recoiling fully and stepping down with authority. (and unless you enjoy getting them bent down from a lousy lousy block, coil your toes!!!!) In the junior ranks especially a decent front kick followed by a strong oi-zuki generally gets the opponent running for the hills and puts them a half stance away from jogai with little room to manouver. 4) speaking of oi-zuki, its actually a great technique to have in your quiver at any level. Practice landing it in a strong stance that's properly balanced so you can continue to the next technique in any direction. It covers a lot of ground so it gives you two levels of attack (kick or punch) at the far end of the hot zone. It gives your opponent (the smart ones, anyway) more to worry about sitting in the chute. It doesn't take a lot of variety to be effective in kumite. Confidence without recklessness is half the battle. Watch the senior ranks. The reason they're so fast is their stances are solid enough (even the bouncy ones) to turn impulse into speed. Injuries: The only really serious injuries I've seen coming out of the junior ranks are self-inflicted, usually pulls and tears from overextending. Keep your cool and know your limits. good luck. have fun. dont' worry about getting bopped a couple of times. unless the guy is huge and you're so focused on attack you don't react in defense the worst that'll happen is maybe possibly a cracked nose that doesn't need resetting. It's kind of like having a cold.

more like a heel kick?

It's shotokan and it's not a mistake. There's nothing wrong with crossing in front if it's done properly. With the supporting leg bent there's plenty of room for a supinated foot to pass. DONE PROPERLY it provides a straight line to the target.

For the most part I don't fret about the immediate practicality of any one move in kata. You don't have to have a lot of schoolyard scraps under your belt to be justified in thinking that a large part of what's being practiced isn't going to happen on the street. Thinking the moves of kata will never see the light of day outside the dojo and that's the end of that misses the point. In fact, I see a lot of styles, including my own, losing track of what the bankai is about. Take Hangestu, for instance. Learning how to do that half-moon leg swing properly isn't about learning how stomp. The bankai is/was taught as it was, I believe, to communicate to the karateka the lines of force that can be generated and should be realized with practice. Once you start to catch on to how the transition from inside pressure stance (hangetsu) to outside pressure stance (kokustu-dachi) affords such control you can actually be pressing down on an arm or a leg without concern for balance, you discover once again these "unpractical" moves that have been handed down and refined from generation to generation would be a shame to lose.

I hate the fricking heel bruise you have to wear learning this thing. Remember karate is about controlling the tanden so no matter how much messing around you do it's eventually going to add up to "how am I generating force from my centre of gravity". What this means is ultimately what's important is finding your axis of rotation and applying controlled positive energy around it. What's going on with the legs is, by definition, peripheral. Try to forget about how hard you're pushing with your pivot leg once in a while and think about the turn in terms of force to the ground using hip rotation. Remember all movements from stance to stance can be broken into two uninterrupted phases. Contraction and Expansion. This means preparing to push off is a gathering of the entire body towards your centre of gravity. The corollary of this is your free leg should cross the body with the thighs close together, not swing around as if its primary purpose is to give momentum to the turn. With good contraction by the time you've reached the peak of the turn your right leg is already targeted towards the front so landing in the right direction is a matter of controlling the body from the tanden and driving everything aggressively into position. Actually when I'm doing it right I can sense the path the foot of the free leg will be traveling is set and under control BEFORE I leave the ground. That NEVER happens if I let things swing wide. and cheat by landing toes first for a while. Those heal bruises are killer.

outdated? jeez After 35 years since I started, almost 15 of that on the dojo floor, I'm still finding ways to improve the very first move of the very first kata. I guess I'll never catch up.

The bunkai is a window to purpose, not the purpose itself. The question that should always be asked is whether the execution of a technique is truly effective. If not, and it won't be for years (including the heian), the lesson to take from that is not that the technique is of poor design but rather that there is more to learn, more the practice of the kata and the individual techniques can teach you. Kata is the vocabulary of the style. The testing ground of change. The path through which even, perhaps I should say "particularly", the most fundamental understanding of karate should pass. I say "should" because often it doesn't. Kata is either abandoned or compromised in pursuit of more glamorous aspects of the art. Among those compromises I include tournament kata.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Wax ON Wax OFF And try get a copy of Nakayama's Best Karate Fundamentals. Its one of those books that make more sense as effort pays off and time passes.

One technique done right is worth 100 done wrong. Don't overdo it. If it feels awkward, stop. Move on to something else. If the penny drops and you think you know what made it awkward, go back to it and try it again and see what feels different. Contrarily, if it feels better, stop and try to figure out what it is you did right and try it again to see if you were right. You won't be 100% right but it will be step in the right direction. Your sensei probably gave you a handful of techniques (a few stances, a few blocks, basic punch, hip rotation, hip vibration) to repeat and a pocketful of fundamentals to focus on (shoulders down, shoulders square, hips tucked in, pressure down, power from the hips, breath). Those fundamentals don't change from technique to technique. Look for how they apply to each. Make sure you practice going backwards as much as you do going forward. That will put applying the fundamentals front and center. You're going to spend a lot of time concentrating on body parts and not the body moving as a whole. That never stops but always remember its not about body parts its about getting all those body parts to move in unison. Just like in music, harmony is the amplification of complimentary units.

Start with a straight leg and reach to the foot. Keep a flat back to ensure the best stretch of the hamstrings where they start at the pelvis. Do it with feet together and apart. I generally describe it as reaching for your toes (or the wall when feet are apart) with your nose. Feet apart stretches the hamstrings less directly but does involve them in actions relavent to the art (and unsedintary life in general). I wouldn't recommend grabbing the foot then straightening the leg because its quite possible to not follow the natural lines of movement creating unbalanced tensions therefore inviting injury.