Sokusen

Don't move out, move off line. That way you can strike at the same time without having to physically block. The fact that your off line is your block but still in range to strike. Yes easier said then done but something to work on that will save you some brusies.

To quote the great Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid II.. "The best block is to not be there". Work on Tai Sabaki techniques. When he punches move out of the way, and punch him back.

I think Joesteph is right. It sounds like shadow boxing but with a partner. I can see the usefulness of learning how to read your partner and react to openings without having to worry about getting hit or, if your control sucks, hitting your partner. Like anything you have to break something down and work on specific aspects of it using drills to become proficient at it. To me this sounds like your working on awarness of your opponent. What do you do when your opponent strikes? How does your opponent react to your strikes? How is he/she moving? Who is controlling the pace? Theses are all things that you could be working on durring that drill.

If you want my opinion don't try anything fancy. Just run him over with Gyaku's and Kizami's. If you start thinking, If he does this then I'm going to do that, then you've already been punched in the face, and you lost the point.

Best way to find out what you like is to take a trial class. So try both.... then choose Uechi-ryu

To get speed and power your hand/arm needs to be relaxed. To do damage you need to be focused on impact. So as long as the hand/arm is focused on impact, a little space between your fingers while it's moving through the air dosen't matter

Here is a great example of how the hook kick can be used as a kick to the head and as a sweep.

Just go to youtube and type in Sabaki challenge, plenty of hard hitting full contact Karate. The problem is you are comparing apples to oranges. You are taking an MMA fight and comparing it to a point tournament. As you know they have completely different rule sets. You are going to have to alter your game plan depending on the rules given. You can’t even compare the Sabaki challenge to MMA since you can’t punch to the face and there is no ground attack in Sabaki. Every style has a front kick, ever style has a hook punch, and every style uses knees and elbows. It depends on the given moment or in this case, rules, on how to use them. Machida took his karate and has supplemented it to the rule set that he is fighting in. His base is Karate. His mind set is Karate. Is it traditional Shaotokan? Depends on what he is doing, but I would argue it is still Karate. On another note be careful in using such absolutes as all Karate does this or all Karate does that. I believe it is dojo dependent. I study Uechi, which is a very direct form of Karate. Grab the person and bash him in the face and hammer his legs; not very tournament friendly. Probably more suited for Kyokushin style tournaments then point sparring. But in our dojo we work on both types, since both has something to offer. I have been to other dojos of the same style that work on neither types of sparring, and other dojos that focus on one and not the other. In every case the fighting looks different, but it’s all Uechi.

Seriously, you want evidence of how people train? So because I hit pads I now do Muy Thai? Because we work on combinations I now do boxing? But I also practice kata so am I now doing Uechi? Just because someone supplements there training with non traditional methods doesn’t mean they are studying a different style of martial art. Machida became the fighter he is today because of his Karate background, and really good genes. When he fought Evens he hit Evens with a front kick immediately followed by a punch that rocked him, this is text book point sparring. The difference is he wasn’t trying to score a point he wanted to knock him out. Machida is a master of distancing, something, in my opinion, he learned from point sparring; how to hit someone without being hit. Here he is in a karate tournament in 2005, this is not Muy Thai. What I think MMA did for Karate and most likely any martial art that contains forms or kata, is make people re-examine their kata. Maybe that knee in my kata could be a flying knee. Maybe that elbow could also be used when on the ground. The mechanics are all there in the kata its how you view it. That’s why Karate is a life long journey. You should always be reexamining what you are learning. When you do it doesn’t mean you are studying a different style it means you have an open mind.

I think as target areas go the most bang for your buck would be, eyes, throat, groin, and knees not necessarily in that order. But what strikes to use to attack those target areas....way too many variables to really get a good answer.

Seems to be working for me. I think the reason conditioning has gotten a bad wrap is that most people do it wrong. For some reason they start conditioning and feel they have to make up for lost time, hurt themselves and then say conditioning is stupid. You can't just go up to a makiwara and start pounding away at it you have to work slowly into it. If you don't you just end up hurting yourself. Conditioning starts with hitting pads then working up to things with more resistence. Same with arm pounding or leg pounding, the slow pace wins the race.

Constantly doing knockdown kumite will eventually condition what ever is getting hit. The problem with only conditioning that way is exactly whats happening to dave_pvc. You get bad bruises that take a while to heal and in the mean time you aren't training. Light, CONSISTENT, arm pounding with a partner or on your own will help minimize the bruising. Personally I like makiwara training, I also have a piece of bamboo with a tee shirt wrapped around it. I rarely bruise up anymore, except for those nice occasional shin to shin clashes.

My suggestion would be to start conditioning your forearms. Eventually the bruises will be fewer, and it won't hurt nearly as much. Your fore arms then become weapons and people will think twice at throwing a particualr technique if it hurts them when you block it.

Yes The only way you will become a better, more rounded fighter is to step outside your comfort zone. You are in class, class is for learning. The problem is you have to stop thinking about winning when you are sparring in class and start thinking about learning. Pick one technique and work on that. Say to yourself "I don't care what the other person does I am working on my reverse punch today." Will you lose your sparring matches? Probably. But who cares? Eventually your reverse punch will start to land because you will figure out fast when to throw it, and how to set it up. There should be a sign at the entrance to every Dojo that says "Leave your Ego at the Door."

If you are enjoying yourself and learning something then you're not wasting your time. But I would have a hard time believing that you are learning anything of quality from someone so disjointed with their own training. A building is only good as it's foundation. You being the building your teacher being the foundation.

Don't get to down on point sparring it does have it's place, you just have to remember it's a game. All Point sparring no matter what the rules are is a game of tag. You can find tournaments that have rules that better fit with what you are learning but ultimately sport karate (point sparring) and what you learn in the dojo to defend yourself are two totally different things. Games have rules real life doesn’t. The reason the winner of the black belt division was on one leg the whole time is probably because they didn't allow sweeps. You go to a tournament that allows sweeps you'll see a completely different set of tactics. The range for what’s allowed and what isn't varies between different organizations so find one that suites you. Point sparring can be really fun, I suggest AAU or WKF tournaments (I am sure there are youtube highlights) they offer the amount of contact you may be looking for but at the same time keeping it safe. Remember don't get discouraged just learn the rules.

Kanshiwa is a Uechi-ryu kata that was developed as a basic/ bridging kata for students to help them learn Seisan Kata. Kanshiwa is a combination of the first kanji in Kanbun's ( founder of Uechi-ryu) name, and the last two kanji, if written in Chinese order, of Shu Shiwa's (Kanbuns teacher) name. The Kata was developed after Kanbun past away. The Kata is a nice basic kata and incorporates alot of the same elements seen in Seisan. Not sure what Jissen based Karate is so I can't comment on why they look the same. One possible reason is that Okinawa is a small island and I'm sure alot of the teachers trained with one another and took elements they liked from what ever style they saw.

The first thing you need to do to fix this problem is learn to keep your chin down. I also learned this the hard way. The second thing has already been said, just keep sparring. Though I would take a break from it for awhile, considering you probably got a slight concussion from being knocked out. Once you’re physically able to spar again, force your self to spar with the best students in your class. Not only will it make you better but usually they have the most control so it is less likely to happen again. I was not a huge fan of sparring and I still get a little nervous when I spar. But I froced myself to do it because I knew thats where I needed the most improvment. Infact when I went for my Sandan I had an optional portion to my test and I chose a 5 man continous sparring match, every 2 minutes a new fighter would tag in. Needless to say I was quite nervous. But I survived and now sparring dosen't bother me all that much. Will that fear ever truly go away? Probably not but those jitters you feel is what makes it exciting.

I agree Cross fit is great. It's built on the principle of not letting your body get used to a certain exercise regime thereby plateau-ing and never seeing results. Also think about incorporating polymeric exercises to build that explosive speed. Karate is supposed to be "one shot one kill" so that one shot better be quick and powerful. It doesn’t get any more explosive then that!

That’s cool. That rhino block looks an awful lot like a Uechi Elbow strike from Seisan or San sei ryu. I never thought that that particular strike could also be a block. I guess you learn something new every day! To comment on the eye rake. To say that an eye rake is ineffective when the opponent’s eyes are closed is... how can I say this without being offensive? ... a little silly. If the opponent closes his eyes due to my eye rake then the eye rake did exactly what it's supposed to do, give me a tactical advantage. Now I can kick you in the balls, punch you in the throat, take out your knee, or just give me enough time to run away. It is a beautiful technique and some form of an eye strike should be apart of every self defense course.

Why can't it be both? Isn't that the beauty of Kata?

As said before it depends on the dojo not the style. In my dojo we do both point and continuous sparring. Though the All Okinawan tournament is a point based tournament.

Are there any Panginoon schools in China anymore? Or are they just off shoots of Uechi-ryu calling themselves Panginoon?

I took Goju Ryu for a 1 credit class my senior year at Marist College. I loved it, and its what got me into Karate. It was taught by John Jackson, I think was his name, it was quite awhile ago. It was a great way to get introduced to the Martial arts!

Go slower. I don't think private lessons are needed. You just need to work at your own pace. Slow the technique down and inform your partner to slow the attack down. You need to learn the technique (that includes control) before practicing at full speed. It takes time but once you feel comfortable with the technique you are applying then ramp up the intensity. You have to learn to walk before you run. Hopefully your instructor has already suggested this to you, if not then find a new instructor.