Wastelander

As others have mentioned, those kata look made up. As a Shorin-Ryu practitioner, I can say that the kata are far removed from anything I've learned, and the mechanics are lacking. Actually, it kind of reminds me of the mechanics I tend to see from competition TKD forms, more than Shorin-Ryu.

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

As sensei8 said; demotions do happen, and they are at the discretion of the instructor. Personally, I would think you had to do something far worse than quit for a month to be demoted that far, but perhaps he just has different expectations and policies than I would. Just remember that the belt you have isn't important--you still know what you were taught, and you will still continue to learn and develop your skills, regardless of what color belt you wear.

That they do, and I'm afraid we seem to be quite at odds on this one--I hope you don't take offense! I do not intend anything personal, but I'm going to address some of your points from my perspective, and I know that can get touchy I tend to disagree, a bit. The movements are there, yes, but they are applied drastically differently. Why not drill them the way they are applied? Perhaps I am immature. It's easy to assume that I am, only being 31 and having been training for a little over 13 years, there are plenty of people who have been training longer than I have. Even so, I would like to think I have spent a lot of time in that 13+ years looking hard and thinking deeply about my karate. I've been getting a lot of the "you just don't understand what the drills are meant to teach," from people in my organization since I made some comments about such drills. Now, I suppose it could be my own ego, but I actually do believe I understand what they are meant to teach--it has been explained to me quite thoroughly, by good teachers, and I have spent far more hours than I care for practicing the drills. It is exactly that understanding that allows me to see that they are not worth the time and effort that is devoted to them. Can you find valuable concepts in the drills? Sure! But the way they are drilled in traditional step sparring is definitely not the best way to do it. I would also argue that, when it comes to drills, if you can say "you just haven't been training long enough to understand" to someone who has been training diligently for over 13 years, then that should illustrate that the drills are terrible. Continuing to learn things from drills after that long is one thing, but to simply "not understand" a drill after that long? I'd like to think my brain is not THAT slow. By and large,l the arguments that have been given to me in this regard have been logical fallacies. I made a statement that something was impractical, because it does not in any way reflect effective combative strategy/logic, or effective applications of the techniques being used, and pointed out that the same things people claim the drills teach can be taught more quickly and efficiently with different drills. My evidence to support this is provided by examples of people within karate teaching in this manner, and having students grasp the material more quickly than students taught with the traditional drills, as well as examples of drills and corresponding results from a variety of other martial arts. The responses I got were things like " created them, and they wouldn't have taught us something that doesn't work!" (Fallacy = Appeal to Authority), "The drills are time-tested and important components of our style!" (Fallacy = Appeal to Tradition), and "I have been doing these drills for years and understand how valuable they are, and you just don't understand them because you haven't been training long enough!" (Fallacy = Sunk Cost). The list goes on. I realize that we are not on a college debate team, and aren't having points deducted for using logical fallacies in our discussions, but I have to say that such things don't carry much weight with me. I can respect the time, effort, experience, and knowledge of the person who made the drills, and still think the drills are poor training exercises. I can respect the fact that we have been doing the drills for something like 40-50 years, and still think that doesn't add value to them. I can respect the fact that someone has spent a lot of time becoming skilled at doing the drills, and still think that their time would have been better spent on more realistic drills. As I mentioned in the OP, this isn't to say that prearranged partner drills aren't valuable; it's just that this particular take on such drills isn't valuable enough to justify their use. Whereas I do not hold any such love for them, and will promptly remove them from my practice and teaching once I am no longer part of the organization I currently belong to. I have plenty of other drills that teach the concepts, tactics, and techniques of karate more effectively. I would also argue that the formalized drills I'm referring to are in no way a prerequisite to jiyu kumite, but I have other drills that are. I am in complete agreement that the individual martial artist is responsible for their skill and knowledge, and ability to apply it. I would say, though, that some styles have formalized curriculum that is not really conducive to that. I have also known people who have spent years and years practicing such formal step sparring drills who did, indeed, promptly fail to execute anything they learned when they were attacked, because the drills they spent so much time practicing did nothing to prepare them for it. All that said, I haven't seen the drills that you do, Bob! It is entirely possible that the drills you do are ones that I would find value in. I can only go by the drills that I am familiar with, which utilize the wrong distance, the wrong attacks, unnatural responses, dead hands, and applications for movements that I would NEVER teach if they weren't required as part of the curriculum, because they simply don't work in reality, or don't work well enough. To your point, realistic drills just do a better job, and I honestly haven't had any problem with safety teaching them, even in larger groups. If you think about it, teaching kata application at a seminar is the same thing. That's kind of my point--I have no problem with the general concept of a prearranged partner drill, but the way they are generally done is not useful for the type of karate I practice and teach. Both very good and important quotes for the karateka!

A lengthy conversation has been going on, recently, about "x-step sparring" drills, which I'm sure many karateka are familiar with. Things like ippon/sanbon/gohon kumite or yakusoku kumite drills. In general, the basic premise of "prearranged drill where someone attacks you and you practice a defense," is fine, but the way that these formal drills are done (almost universally) is not practical. Generally, the attacker will step back into a preparatory position of some sort, then step forward with a formalized, basic karate attack, and the defender steps back and blocks it with a formalized, basic karate "block" before countering. Here is an example of typical sanbon kumite (3-step sparring): I am of the opinion that these are impractical, ingrain terrible habits in students, teach improper distancing and timing, and do not scaffold to be built upon by practical drills later on. If your goal is developing practical skill, you would be better off making your own prearranged attack/defense drills using realistic attacks and defenses at a realistic distance instead. I'm curious as to the forum's opinion on the matter, though, as some people really seem to venerate these drills, but I have yet to hear a convincing argument for it aside from just enjoying doing them, which is fine for the individual doing it, but not for everyone.

Like sensei8, I have doubts about the functionality of the bamboo as a makiwara. I do suspect it would work as something like an ude-makiwara or tou for conditioning, though. You will definitely want to be cautious of splitting, as previously mentioned. I don't know of anyone who uses it for that purpose, explicitly, but I know some people who have used pieces of bamboo to fashion "arms" for training dummies, and it seems to work okay. If you want a makiwara, I would build a proper one.

Honestly, I don't wear wraps/gloves when hitting the bag, at all. I have tried it, after having person after person insist that I will be able to hit the bag harder if I do. Apparently, I'm weird, because if I do that, then I hurt my wrists, which DOESN'T happen when I punch bare knuckle. I'm so used to hitting with the knuckles that the curved surface of the glove makes the impact feel wrong, and it feels jarring to my wrist, and makes my carpal tunnel flare up.

While I get your reasoning and point, I can't say I completely agree. As an example, a friend of mine taught a womens' self defense seminar, and one of those women was attacked while jogging within weeks of that class. She very specifically used what she learned from my friend to fight against her attacker. It actually even became national news, and she became an outspoken advocate for good self defense training and having the right attitude to protect yourself. Did she learn how to fight well? No! Was she proficient? No! Would she have fared better and escaped in better condition if she had actual proper training? Yes! Even so, the seminar taught her about escape, the mentality one has to have to stay alive, and enough basic techniques to give her something to work with, and it made the difference between life and (most probably) death. I won't say that "anything is better than nothing," because some of the "anything" you can find is absolutely terrible. I do think, however, that a class that heavily focuses on awareness, avoidance, and escape, along with the mentality you HAVE to have when defending yourself, and some basic grip releases and strikes, IS better than nothing. I will always recommend that people get proper, consistent training if they want to learn to protect themselves, because they will, of course, become much better at it the more they train! That said, I wouldn't tell someone NOT to attend a self defense seminar, unless I knew that the material was bad.

I've never had to worry about it in any of my jobs, but my girlfriend has just used makeup in the past, when necessary

Our intermediate to advanced kyu rank tests take that long, too. As JR mentions, the tests are cumulative, so you don't just demonstrate the requirements for the rank you are testing for--you have to demonstrate everything from white belt up. Of course, we could tell whether someone should be promoted without that process, but it is a rite of passage, and forces students to overcome nerves and physical/mental stress. On the other hand, dan rank tests on Okinawa in our organization are generally handled by having you perform 2-5 kata in front of a panel of 8th, 9th, and 10th dans, and that's it.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks! I like mixing in various takedowns, as well, and it's always fun doing it with people who wrestle It's in the smaller training floor in our dojo--the same room we filmed our Waza Wednesdays in

I wouldn't necessarily call kakedameshi a drill, since it is supposed to be free-form, like sparring, but for a specific context. We could certainly just be using different terms for the same thing, though We promote and teach the close range techniques, the closer the better, and our goal is to get behind our opponent, as often as possible. If it's not feasible enough to get behind our opponent, then remaining up close and personal is quite acceptable. Cut the distance by remaining in the close range proximity with our opponent that is where most MAist shy away from due to the uncomfortable feeling that that type of combat. We describe this our brand of close range techniques as it being akin to being claustrophobic. It's just not for everyone, and most assuredly, what Noah is offering here is quite worth to explore....taste as see if it's good for your MA betterment. Surely, it can't hurt to try, you just might like it. Thank you! I know that training at close range like that does make some people uncomfortable, but I definitely find it very valuable! The wrist-to-wrist scene you're talking about can definitely be one of the positions in kakedameshi. I typically try to stay connected to both arms, unless I'm actively executing a technique, though, so I'm not usually in that particular position quite so long. I have recorded some light kakedameshi, focused on flow and not really worrying about resistance or strength, although I haven't recorded harder kakedameshi. I mostly did that with my Sensei, before he passed, and I wish I had video of it. Now there are only two people in the dojo I can do that with, on occasion, and it's usually rather spontaneous, so I don't set up a camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85TyUOWckR8

Congratulations, Alex, and thank you for all you do for the forums!

Congratulations!

Bear with me--this is a long one... Kakedameshi means "connecting/crossing/hooking to test," depending on how you interpret the first portion of the word, and as the translation suggests, refers to a method of pressure testing or sparring. Masters like Motobu, Nagamine, and Funakoshi wrote about it in their books, and while some schools still practice it, today, it has fallen out of fashion. Indeed, there are many people who have never even heard of it, or misinterpret it, believing that it refers to "street fights." This is unfortunate, as kakedameshi is a far more appropriate method of sparring using kata movements than the long-range sparring developed on mainland Japan, which became the popular sparring method for karate. That more popular method is very poorly suited to the classical methods of karate that are contained in the kata, however. Rory Miller, an expert on violence and personal security, has actually addressed this before, saying; "When I look at their kata and kihon, they have possibly the best body mechanics for infighting that I've seen... then they choose to test it at sparring range, where it sucks. Or, worse, point contact range where it sucks AND it screws up everybody's sense of distance and time." So what is kakedameshi, exactly? Well, defining it is difficult, as it can be approached in a variety of ways and it isn't a competition format (yet, although I'm working on putting something together for that). In general, though, it is a method of sparring where the participants remain close, and attempt to maintain at least one point of contact with each other at all times. Nagamine Shoshin described it as being like "very aggressive Chinese pushing hands competition," because the opponents touch their arms together, and attempt to manipulate each other through limb control while utilizing that connection to feel what the other person is trying to do, and avoid or counter it. We also know that strikes, locks, chokes, and takedowns are meant to be used in kakedameshi. All told, what you end up with is something like a blend of pushing hands competition and Muay Thai clinch sparring--if you look up those two things on YouTube, and keep in mind to add joint locks and chokes, you will have a reasonable idea of what kakedameshi is. It is a specialized type of sparring, certainly, as it doesn't account for longer ranges, or specific habitual acts of violence, both of which you should be including in your pressure testing methodology. Since most karateka only spar at point fighting range, or kickboxing range, however, this specialized sparring method becomes very important, especially for those concerned with self defense, as the majority of self defense situations occur at close range. From my perspective, kakedameshi can be approached as a spectrum, although you could broadly classify it as kakedameshi-ju (soft kakedameshi) and kakedameshi-go (hard kakedameshi). The soft approach is not really meant to pressure test, so much as it is develop skills. Neither partner is trying to resist anything with strength or speed, but rather trying to find ways to avoid or redirect, while staying relaxed and going with the flow. The idea is to develop tactile sensitivity, to be able to tell what an opponent is doing by touch, and to help figure out when you can best apply certain techniques at that range. Kakedameshi-go, on the other hand, is where participants actively resist and counter each other, as one would expect from sparring, and while they are still intended to remain at close range, connected to each other, relaxation and flow aren't the emphasis. Of course, these are not two distinct approaches, but rather a spectrum from one to the other--one might begin kakedameshi-ju, and over the course of a training session, add more resistance, speed, and power, to transition into kakedameshi-go. Even within these approaches, one can be fairly granular. Perhaps, you need to specifically work on getting to a particular joint lock, for example. Kakedameshi-ju is a good start, but you may also want to isolate your session so that you are only allowed to use joint locks, and perhaps your partner can do everything, or perhaps only strikes, if you are trying to counter those, or just their own joint locks. By picking and choosing the specific technique sets used in the session, you can isolate methods that need to be focused on for improvement. As I mentioned, this is not the be-all, end-all sparring method. When people think of "sparring," they often think of one type of training, when it should really be a variety of methods used to cover a variety of ranges and skills. Kakedameshi allows you to focus on developing your close range fighting methods, especially those found in the kata. Point sparring and kickboxing-style sparring give you the chance to focus on long range strikes. Randori (grappling sparring) gives you the chance to focus on just the grappling methods of your art. MMA-style sparring allows you to blend all of the ranges together. "Bully sparring," self defense scenario sparring, and bodyguard sparring, give you the chance to work those same skills in a specific context that karate was meant for. If you only do one type of sparring, then you are limiting the development of your skillsets, but by combining them, you can become a much more well-rounded martial artist.

I use my forms heavily in my fighting, intentionally. At long range, that doesn't happen much, but once I get into close range, I use kata methods almost exclusively. Now, I tend to think that my focus on application makes my kata a bit on the "ugly" side, but it's functional. Perhaps this is due to having to make many types of adjustments, such as distance, timing, including opponent's size and skill level, in sparring.As opposed to when doing katas, where there is no need or urgency to consider these factors. Katas usually translates better in to self defence than sparring. Yes, I would say it is. And kata was developed for recording self defense and peacekeeping methods, so of course it is better suited to that than what most people consider "sparring." I just have a much broader view on what "sparring" is than most

I use my forms heavily in my fighting, intentionally. At long range, that doesn't happen much, but once I get into close range, I use kata methods almost exclusively. Now, I tend to think that my focus on application makes my kata a bit on the "ugly" side, but it's functional.

Welcome to the forum!

Keeping it level makes things look "clean," but I find it can actually be detrimental to the generation of power for some of your techniques. Our Naihanchi kata do this, because they are focused on rotational power, but the rest of our kata feature some degree of level change. I also practice a version of Naihanchi from KishimotoDi, which very specifically incorporates level change (using shiko-dachi, actually)

We have a "Little Warriors" class for the 3-5 year olds, although once they are 6, they usually move to our regular youth classes. The Little Warriors class has a reduced curriculum, where they just work a few basics, our very first Kihon Kata (basically just punches going forward, and outward middle "blocks" going backward), and one self defense technique, and it's all structured in a way that makes it playful. We're going to practice kicks, but you have to balance a pad on your head! We're going to practice blocks, but sometimes I'm going to swing this blocker at your legs and you have to jump over it! You are going to break out of this grip and race each other to that punching bag! That kind of thing.

Congratulations!

I find that it tends to be sloppy kickboxing, at that--a lot of those competitors are coming from WKF-style competition, and so they are not used to the range difference for full-contact fighting. You even see Rafael Ahgayev overcommit because of it, although there are some who are much worse about it. Regardless, OF COURSE it looks like kickboxing, because they have done nothing to actually encourage fighters to utilize the curriculum that actually differentiates karate from kickboxing--all the close-range fighting, locks, chokes, etc. that are part of the kata. Karate Combat does allow for a small amount of grappling, but they are really just trying to get people to throw lots of punches and kicks, so there is no incentive to use the ugly stuff. I'm hoping to start working with some people to put together a competition circuit that is more reflective of old-style karate methods, but I don't have anywhere near the funding or star-power that Karate Combat has, so it's not like I'll be able to put it on TV--I'll just have to get various tournament organizers to sign on the host it as time goes on.

Welcome to the forum!