Wastelander

Well, before some personal setbacks and COVID, while I was prepping to open my own dojo, I had set up a structure where my childrens' ranks were completely separate from the adult ones. This is an idea that I shamelessly stole from BJJ, lol. I figured there was no sense in trying to have kids and adults learn the exact same curriculum in the exact same way/order and just breaking the belts into pieces, although that is what my previous instructors did. I liked the idea of setting up a youth program that had its own curriculum, which would build up to where they could join the adult program sometime in their teens and be well prepared to do so.

With regard specifically to your point about the kicks in Chinto, and people in the same lineage doing it differently, I can give a direct answer; they are the same thing being done with different emphasis, and since it appears in Kusanku, as well, you can do it one way in one kata, and the other way in the other kata. By that, I mean that a jumping front kick IS two front kicks, more or less, because you get the momentum for the jump by starting to throw the kick on one side, and then continuing with the other. Practicing both gives you more options, and more food for thought in your application. Nakazato Shugoro (another senior student of Chibana) said that in Chinto we double-kick, because in Kusanku we jump-kick, and that way we practice both variations.

I always refer people to Matt's article on topics like this, and Wado Heretic's breakdown is good. I will add that Tachimura no Passai would be considered a contemporary to the Matsumura/Oyadomari versions of Passai, given that it was passed down by a contemporary of Matsumura Sokon, but while I have learned the kata, it is not publicly available to watch and compare. It's quite similar on some ways, but has some unique variations to it, and its softer nature does fit more in-line with both Chinese arts and Udundi, so I would tend to think it's a bit more true to its roots than the other versions, but that's an opinion, not a fact.

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It depends on the context and which open hand strikes you're comparing to which closed hand strikes, but there are definitely pros and cons to each. Consider a simple punch vs. palm heel example: The punch has several inches of reach advantage over the palm heel, and makes contact with small, bony surfaces that can cause a lot of damage, BUT the small bones of the hand are prone to breaking if they make contact with a harder surface or at a bad angle, and the wrist can be prone to injury if it can't withstand the strain of the impact, and for those reasons it is more difficult to learn to punch correctly. The palm heel takes the small bones of the hand and the complex joint of the wrist out of the equation, meaning that you can now strike with more power than you might have with the punch, without having to worry so much about injury, but you have lost several inches of reach and are now hitting with a larger, softer surface that will do less damage to the target, although this is easier to learn how to use properly. This starts to change when you compare other strikes, like shuto-uchi vs. tetsui-uchi, for example, and you have to weigh the pros and cons based on what your intent is with them. Competition fighting often benefits significantly from a reach advantage, for example, where self defense benefits less.

Many thanks for all of your years of dedication, Devin!

According to the WKF judging class I took some years ago, the throws are not allowed to lift both of the opponent's feet off the floor (other than sweeping someone who is kicking), because it makes the throw "dangerous." The problem I found with this, in practice, is that people proceeded to do hip throws incorrectly, making them more dangerous, rather than less dangerous.

I'll be honest; I have no idea what your Sensei means by that statement, so I'm also not sure how it would apply to the ADA. I mean, you use stances throughout karate, regardless of where you practice it or use it. Someone in a wheelchair, for instance, would have a "stance," but it would be the stance of their wheelchair, rather than their legs. And are we actually talking about "stances" or are we talking about "postures," or about more generally moving bodyweight?

I have both a rope bundle pad and a leather pad, and I can slip a piece of floor mat into a pocket in the leather pad for when my knuckles are sore. They each have a different feel.

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Well, it would certainly make starting my own dojo MUCH easier, once the pandemic subsides. I could actually buy my own space, instead of renting, which would be awesome! Not to mention all the equipment I could buy outright, brand new.

Personally, I have found that people who have an interest in developing a well-rounded skill set should be engaging in a variety of sparring methods. As with ALL training methods, there are different pros and cons to each, and all of them compromise something, so by using different methods, you can get overlap that makes up for what would otherwise be gaps caused by those compromises. That said, I certainly have methods I like better than others. My favorite is probably kakedameshi, which is close range sparring where you maintain contact with your opponent's limbs at all time, and focuses on tactile sensitivity, muchimidi, and limb control. It's an excellent sparring method for working your kata applications against resistance, and because of the close range, you can adjust the contact level of the strikes as necessary. My second favorite is MMA-style sparring, with more open rules to allow for some more "dirty" methods--still done with enough control to be safe, of course.

I'm glad you think so highly of me, but I wouldn't call myself amazing . I can say that, for the most part, you are likely going to have issues finding video examples of applications for the rest of the kata because the instructors teaching them are keeping that reserved for seminars and in-person students. The opening movements are the teaser material to get you to buy the rest, so to speak. You might also find scattered examples, and if you took the time, you could probably put them together to get a full picture of the kata (that's sort of how we approached Waza Wednesday). I know Iain Abernethy and Arakaki Kiyoshi Sensei have put out a couple videos on YouTube where they go over drills that span the entirety of Naihanchi, and Iain has quite a bit for the Pinan, as well. There are LOTS of bits and pieces to be found, but they are scattered because, again, for the most part you are looking at freely available content from people who charge money for instruction. I do believe that Michael and Aaron of Karate Culture made their Naihanchi and Pinan instructionals available for free on their website some time ago, though.

A very impressive milestone! And I'm happy to have been a part of it!

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I've actually visited and trained at the Shidokan school Bob suggested--very nice people, and interesting material! I also know some kali folks over there, but unfortunately, I don't know of any Goju-Ryu practitioners in the area.

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I absolutely agree. Plus, you can be an excellent instructor without being terribly skilled at applying things under pressure, yourself, or having a competition record. Unfortunately, competitive success is still the majority of people's method of measuring the effectiveness of a martial art, for better or worse.

You've already had some good responses to consider. I would add to that the recommendation that you don't name it after something that exists in fictional media, and if you intend for the art to be taken seriously as a fighting or self defense art, then you need to prove that it works, somehow. Competition is the most popular way to do that, but you would also need to do it in a competition format that has credibility in the type of martial art you are trying to build (eg. point fighting competitions will not give you any credibility as a self defense art).

I do practice Sanchin, but it's been an evolving kata for me. The version I first learned in Shuri-Ryu had been modified pretty significantly from the Goju-Kai version it originated from. After I left the style, I started trying to adapt what I had learned to fit the Jundokan Goju-Ryu version. Recently, however, I've been working on the Bugeikan's Shuri Sanchin, and that will probably become my default version of practice. I honestly prefer Tensho, because it combines not only the structural development but also softer muchimidi components.

I've done a wide variety of tactile sensitivity drills and exercises, and I think they are incredibly important, if often out of context. Karate has a variety of kakie/kakidi drills for this purpose, which build up to kakedameshi, which is a free-form sticky hands type of sparring. You can also press a ball against a wall and move it around the wall just with pressure from your body, or work sticking and moving with a swinging bag, or tie a rope to something and manipulate it without grabbing it or letting it fall, etc.

This topic sort of revolves around the Shu-Ha-Ri learning concept. First, you learn by copying (Shu), doing exactly as you are told and shown, until it comes naturally. Then, you start to adapt (Ha) what you learned to be more suited to you, personally, which is where self expression starts to come in. After a while, you learn to break free (Ri) from what you were taught to be able to come up with your own material, while still holding true to the fundamentals that you built up over time. This is a process that is constantly happening as you learn; not just in the overall process, but in every individual technique and nuance, as well. After a few years of consistent training and learning, your karate should begin to take on its own unique flavor, without violating the overall principles you've learned.

To add to Wado Heretic's response, I would say that the kata in the video is nothing I have seen before, either. It does have bits and pieces of several kata put together, and they are assembled in a pseudo-Naihanchi style enbusen, but structurally and mechanically, it doesn't look anything like the Shorin-Ryu that I learned. I would tend to agree with the theory that it was a modern creation.

I learned the KishimotoDi versions of Naihanchi, Passai, and Kusanku, which are definitely recognizable but quite different from the versions I learned in Chibana-lineage Shorin-Ryu. I also had a sort of reverse situation, where I learned weirdly modified versions of Wansu, Sanchin, Tensho, and Seiyunchin, and then later adjusted them to be more like the versions I had seen in other styles that I preferred.

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