ryoanji.budo

Not to learn karate from but a few excellent books for all interested is Moving Zen and if anyone is particularly interested in Shotokan - Shotokan Dawn series is excellent. For young readers though a fictional series called Young Samurai is superb. I brought them for my 10 yr old and ended up reading them myself. Also, any teenagers persuing karate, University age students can go and study in Japan as an international student. Much cheaper than studying in England and you can learn martial arts with some of the top instructors. The environment is beautifull. Take a look at the JKA - England website. Oss Oss

HOPE THIS HASN'T ALREADY BEEN POSTED - LAPTOP CRASHED. Has anyone heard of Chien FU or Master Winston CHIN or Tony ROBINSON. It was very successful at Freestyle tournaments in the 80's. Japanese Karate based with a Chinese twist - Shaolin Fist, Tiger Claw and Phoenix eye. I think it was a member of B.A.S.K.A The clubs were based in South London, England and later in Kent. They used to wear black gis which at the time was quite unusual. Am desperate to find any clubs or students that are still involved in the martial arts and practise the style.

Hi guys, does anyone have a Hirota or used one in the past ??? It's about the only highly regarded make that I and my training colleagues have never used. I've owned 3 Tokaido - ones a black one. The white SAW has lasted me the best and is still white? it's my favourite. I've brought a Shureido NW3 for my next grading which feels nice and dried quick, although I could've probably done with the next size. I also own a Kaiten EUROPE, red label, only cos it was half price. Doesn't iron that great though. Feels nice mind. The cheapest and best quality medium weight ones would have to be the Blitz Diamond that you can pick up for about £45 and the Cimac 14 oz, also about £40. TOKAIDO and SHUREIDO WOULD BE PERFECT IF THEY DID AN ELASTIC WAIST on the heavyweight designs.

Yeh, I've heard that too. I used to think that Dai was indicative of the lower/easier kata and Sho was the higher grade and harder kata. As in Bassai Dai and then Sho. Although !!! Kanku Dai is a much longer and more complex kata to Kanku Sho, however Kanku Dai is taught from 3rd kyu in Shotokan. Kanku Sho is considered a 2nd or 3rd dan kata. Does one not mean minor and the other major or something ???

Who knows what went on, and what caused the JKA/KUGB to split and then fragment. I've recently started training with the JKA in London and find the instruction superb. Sensei OHTA is great. I've also trained with Master KANAZAWA and his association on many occasions and was really impressed. I've trained several times with Sensei HAZARD and Sensei BUTLER who were all involved with the JKA and KUGB in the early days in London. All seem to be like minded and share an amazing passion for Karate-Do. What happened? Why did KANAZAWA get expelled? Did him and ENOEDA fall out. Was there hard feeling that Sensei OHTA was asked to run the JKA England when ENOEDA passed? Does anyone have the true facts? I'm only curious as I've been reading a few biographies and lots of karate history of late and can't fatham out what went on. Any ideas? None of the books really make it clear. OSS