Sokusen

11. Understanding that gaining your black belt is the beginning of your training not the end of your training.

To me this sounds like an issue of respect. Perhaps if you take the time and give your ex-boss the respect he deserves from his military experience, in other words there is a huge time difference between WWII and Vietnam, and it’s a bit disrespectful to have a “whatever” attitude about it. Then he may give you the respect you deserve for your MA training. If he doesn’t, then just nod and smile and don’t bring it up again because he obviously has nothing of value to offer on the subject.

Yes you could but I don't consider what I study is from India. At some point techniques are so far removed from the original birthplace that it no longer has any relevance. Even though Uechi is directly from China I would be willing to bet that the Okinawa influences, in a relatively short amount of time, have changed it so that it doesn’t look like the original Panginoon. In fact I bet in another 100 years or so what is being taught in America will look different then what is being taught in Okinawa. I have heard that the martial arts began in India as you mentioned, and I'm not challenging that statement. But where are the Indian styles of today? Where are the Indian forms of Sanchin? Are there any?

Uechi-ryu is directly from China. Kanbun Uechi traveled to China and learned Pangi-noon from Sushiwa which he brought back to Okinawa and was eventually renamed by his seniors as Uechi-ryu. I would think as a general rule that any Karate style that incorporates Sanchin into its system has roots to China.

First of all quit smoking because it will eventually kill you not because it may impact your training. Second, many MMA fights start training at your age some even later. With something like Kyokushin Karate there isn't a lot of longevity in that style of competition only because it's full contact and beats the body down. You’re in the beginning of your prime with plenty of time to learn and compete, so go for it!

You are always going to have those people who can power out of things just due to there size. But you really can't base whether a technique works or not on the extremes. I mean really how many power lifters or PCP drugged up monster are we going to get into fights with?!? That being said though I'm sure your husband is neither of those examples. So’ why doesn’t the technique work? Well as unrealistic as cooperative opponents can be when working on a technique sometimes resisting opponents can be just as unrealistic. Meaning your husband knows what you are trying to do when you are doing it and is resisting in such a way that it's not going to work. Now you being a nice person isn't trying to hurt your husband so it puts you at a disadvantage. A lot of the time in actual situations certain locks and manipulations have to be set up with a something first or even during the attempt. Imagine shoving your fingers into your husbands eyes first or kicking him in the balls during the lock, I'd bet he would be much more cooperative then.

Sanchin can be done with weights, I’ve seen it performed with the use of Gami’s, sand filled jars, and I personally have done it using gami’s, but I don’t believe that was the purpose of Sanchin. Did the added weight give me a good work out? Absolutely! But more importantly I found the added weight helped my Sanchin not that Sanchin helped my weight training. I felt more grounded with the add weights; it helped me feel my posture, stepping through my center with my entire body, not just my legs. These are all things that Sanchin is meant to teach. If you look at the way Katas progress, one could compare it to a ladder the most basic being the bottom rung and the most advanced being the top rung. Some see Sanchin as the bottom rung being that it is a Kata in its most basic form. I like to look at Sanchin as being the sides of the ladder that hold all the rungs in place. This is what I think was meant when you hear “all you need to know is Sanchin”. That’s because Sanchin is the essential basics that all kata contain, from the most basic to the most advanced. Therefore by only practicing Sanchin you are practicing all your katas in its most primitive form.

Tallgeese, I agree using Machida isn't the best example since he is the cream of the crop and 99.9% of us will never be that good. But If I were to say "look at Bob at my dojo he has a great sense of distancing due to his point sparring." You wouldn't have a very good visual. At least some people on this forum have seen Machida fight and can get a visual of what I'm trying to say.

Good comments but far too many absolutes. As mentioned in the first reply "All" types of sparring are training tools, even prearranged sparring has its place as a training tool. There are several different benefits to each type of sparring that was mentioned though the one benefit that is seen in all is understanding your distancing. To use Machida as an example, since it is so plainly obvious when you see him fight, is his understanding of distancing. Do you think he became the most elusive fighter in the UFC by standing toe to toe with someone and beating the hell out of each other during his training? I doubt it. His traditional training in all types of sparring and his understanding of the one shot one kill principle taught him to keep just out of range of his opponent until he see’s an opening for an attack. He understands that a tippy tap shot to the face during training could become a knockout blow with 1 more inch of penetration. I don’t think the problem is with the training tools, it’s with the understanding of what you are training. If all you want is to be able survive a bar fight then any type of sparring is the last thing you should be working on. There are many other self defense techniques to learn that would be better suited for a bar fight. All in all if you only train one way, be it point sparring or full contact, then your going to get pigeon-toed with your training and it’s going to give a false sense of security.

Be careful with the usage of the word traditional. Uechi ryu is a traditional Okinawan style of Karate which uses the "toe fist" as the striking surface of the mae geri. Though I would agree the ball of the foot is the more common striking surface.

Depends on the style, and the out come you are looking to achieve. Most styles use the ball of the foot; safe striking surface and powerful. Some styles strike with the big toe; takes a long time to develop but you obtain deeper penetration with the strike. Other styles use the full foot as more of a stopping technique, not necessarily used to inflict damage but can set your opponent up for other techniques.

I was told that, by traditional standards, you should never wash your belt.

I don't see anything wrong with a kata based curriculum, but at the same time you don't need to learn several kata to become a great martial artist. Uechi ryu only has three original kata that was brought back from China; Sanchin, Seisan, and Sanseiryu. Eventually 5 other kata were developed as "bridging" kata to help students transition from one of the original kata to the next. The two kata between Sanchin and Seisan have pretty much the same techniques in them as in Seisan. So essentially you are studying the techniques of Seisan for about 5 years before you test for your black belt. Granted a student could only learn Sanchin and Seisan rather then learn the bridging kata. But I think you would weed out alot of students who have a hard time making that leap from Sanchin to Seisan. So in this case it is multiple kata being learned in order to master one.

I am interpreting the block as a palm heel or wrist block.

Who is to say that a lead hand parry is not a traditional block? Every time I do a circular block there is a parry block that precedes it, but I can only speak for Uechi-ryu. Though I would think in every system of fighting even if you don't physically show a parry block, every time you post it would imply the ability to parry. So I would say a parry is not only a traditional block but also a fundamental block.

I would think if people were dropping left and right due to Sanchin we would hear about it. Especially in this day and age of litigation. As a Uechi practitioner Sanchin is a very important Kata to the system, you might even say it's the beginning, middle and end to all of our Kata. In Uechi-ryu we do not utilize the dynamic breathing as seen in Goju, but there is a noticeable focus on the breath after every strike. Sanchin is a great kata to learn how to focus your body and control your breathing. If done correctly, you can use Sanchin to calm yourself down and catch your breath after a taxing workout.

I already have the pricey mouth guard, which probably saved my teeth. I took a nice boot to the jaw, which rang my bell. Though the people that lost their teeth all had mouth guards, no idea how much they spent on them though. I understand the idea that people should know what it's like to get hit, but at the same time these tournaments are supposed to be fun. I'm not a professional fighter I just like the feeling of a little competition every now and then. This last tournament just put things into perspective. I'm not getting any younger and the bills aren't getting any smaller. So is it worth the risk of increased medical bills not to have the right gear?

I was just recently at a tournment and saw several people loose there teeth, which made me re-think the type of head gear I have. I saw a couple of people wearing a Mizuno helmet, http://kuroobiya.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=88 It's kind of expensive but then again so are my teeth. Has anyone out there used this helemt? Good, bad?

I think we are all saying essentially the same thing just in different ways. I would never suggest standing flat footed and rooted to the ground in an attempt to hit someone. That’s why I mentioned rotational power and linear power. I like to think of a strike much like a Bow and Arrow, your Legs and Hips being the Bow and your arm being the arrow. Your Hips have to rotate or load before striking, that load is much like drawing a bow. When the hip comes forward "the release” due to the driving action of the legs, the arm flies out like an arrow. There should only be enough tension in the arm to form the weapon, and enough tension on impact to not break the weapon i.e. the wrist. This all happens in a blink of an eye any longer and you missed your window of opportunity.

Without seeing what you are doing it will be difficult for anyone to give you exact reasons why you feel your strikes/blocks feel week. In general to make a strong strike or block you need to get your lower body (hips/legs) involved. Remember you are punching with your legs. If don’t, then all you’re doing is punching/blocking with your arm, which is a lot weaker then the rest of your body. Think rotational and linear power when practicing.

I think "annoyed" would be too strong of a word. I agree with many of the comments already made that people study MA for several different reasons. I'd say I'm more currious in why people put so much time into only studying part of their art form. Why spend so much time in learning things that they could never use? bushido_man I agree it's not the level of body conditioning that determines the depth of your study. But the ability to use the tools you are leaning does. You mention a grappler has no need to hit a Makiwara, and your right. But If that Grappler doesn't condition their cardio and gas within the first 30 sec of the fight then it dosn't matter what submissions he or she knows because they can't use them.

Zero Justice, I would argue that you do do conditioning. Your walking and jumping on your palms plus the pad work have conditioned your palms to where you can strike effectively and with confidence. That’s all I’m talking about. I’m not talking about turning your hands into bludgeoning instruments of death and destruction; I agree we live in a different world where there is no need for that. Karate is filled with kata (which I love, not dissing kata here) that implements many open handed strikes, at least in Uechi. But if you never practice those strikes be it on a pad or a Makiwara. Then why learn them? If you are only striking air and never gain the confidence in what your style is teaching you then can you truly say you are studying a particular style of MA?

tallgeese here is a quick deffinition of different open handed strikes. If you go on you tube you can find Shinjo demonstrating all of these strikes (to a bit of an extreem). Shoken = single knuckle punch. Nukite = spear hand, striking surface is the tip of the fingers Boshiken = looks like a palm heal strike but the striking surface is the knuckle of the thumb Koken = Cranes Beak/ cupped hand, striking surface is the tip of the fingers All of these strikes can be used in soft tissue areas (mainly the throat) with little to no conditioning. With conditioning strikes like the shoken can be devastating to the back of the neck or the solar plexus. Hit someone with a conditioned boshiken under the chin or in the temple and they will not like it. Now hitting someone with a closed fist with enough power will produce the same result. But what if you are unable to produce enough power to get the knock out blow? I think this is why these strikes were developed, so that someone of lesser statue has the ability to deliver a blow with devastating results. This is one of the many beauties of MA, the ability to give what appears to be a physically weaker opponent an advantage. So if you ignore that portion of your style are you truly studying your style? I’ve heard in my dojo a few times from different students of how they would never use this strike or that strike due to the lack of conditioning and it’s just not practical. Which is fine I respect that. Times are different now then when these arts were developed, plus we live in a different culture from where it was developed. But then I ask (to myself) why study Uechi? Why not a different MA like boxing that doesn’t utilize weapons you can’t use? Now I am not talking about extreme conditioning where you stand around and beat each other with sticks, or punch a tree. But I do hit pads with these strikes, and I do enjoy kicking a tire, what can I say I like the feel of it. When I first started to do it, it sucked. But a little bit ever class and I have gained confidence in using a shoken or a boshiken in other areas then just the throat, and with that I have gained a deeper understanding of why these strikes were developed in the first place.

So several questions were brought up in another thread about the value of conditioning, which led me to ask the question, How far/deeply do people study there art? I study Uechi which has several open handed strikes; in fact you could argue the style has no sekin (closed fist punch). I think it's safe to say most Karate styles have open handed strikes in there system. So is it enough to just study the techniques of a particular style without being able to effectively use the weapons that are taught? Or if you are going to take the time to learn these techniques should you also take the time to condition the weapon so it's effective? What’s the point of learning a shoken or a nukite or a bushkin strike if you can never use it? Are you really studying your style of MA if you are unable to use the strikes associated to the kata? More of a philosophical question with no right or wrong answer, so let the comments fly. By the way please ignore any spelling of Japanese words I can barley spell in English.

This could easily be a new thread when it comes to conditioning. But really as more of a general question, of how deeply is it worth studying a particular style of MA? To be continued...