Wastelander

I have used them, but not regularly. You can hook your foot through the handle of a kettlebell, as well, for some things. That doesn't work the grip of your toes, though

We don't specify what kind of vocalization, provided the correct breathing and muscular contraction is occurring. Oh, and we don't let people say "kiai" as their kiai. Mostly it comes out as "huh" or "hah" variants, and some people (like me) also do more hissing kiai from time to time.

Everybody has their preferred methods of protecting steel tools and weapons, and while there are some that are simply objectively better for certain applications, a lot of it boils down to personal preference. You should never use a petroleum-based oil or lubricant on steel that is going to be kept in a leather sheath or pouch, for example, because the petroleum will break down the leather. For sai, in particular, you have several options. If you are just doing kata and don't care about traditional looks, you can paint them with automotive paint, or something similar. It holds up well, and if it does chip it can be touched up. If you want something more traditional than paint, MatsuShinshii's suggestion of a gun bluing kit is excellent. Parkerizing kits are good, too, but more expensive and take more work. For forced patinas, I prefer a vinegar soak over mustard, but anything acidic will do.

The topic we covered in this week's Waza Wednesday video is one that is important, but often neglected by karateka, which is a point of ridicule from people who practice other systems: groundwork--specifically working toward getting back to the feet, where escape and effective striking are viable options. As we point out in the video, we are only covering three specific situations to consider, and there are many other contingencies to include in your training. Additionally, we believe it is very important for all martial artists to have at least basic grappling skills, such as the ability to escape from a mounted, side-mounted, or half-guard position, and dealing with basic submissions and takedowns. Dealing with such situations has always been a reality when it comes to violent physical conflict. Obviously, avoiding such conflict is ideal, and avoiding ever being taken to the ground is ideal if you do end up involved in such a conflict. Unfortunately, no matter how much some may want to believe that they are "too fast to be taken down," or that they can stop such a thing with "anti-grappling," things happen. Ankles roll, shoes slide, gravel slips, attacker's catch you off guard, punches mess up your equilibrium, etc., and you fall down. In early karate books by Funakoshi and Itoman, we see this addressed with primarily keeping the legs between you and the opponent, kicking, knocking them down, and regaining the feet. This can even be seen in the Bubishi. For those who are curious, my Sensei and I are not BJJ black belts, nor are we trying to create top-level submission grappling competitors in our dojo. We do both have varied backgrounds with grappling experience, and do work grappling regularly in the dojo to keep up our skills and evolve and explore. Since we are karateka, who primarily strike and work standing grappling methods, this type of approach to grappling is our focus, although we do cover things more in depth for those with an interest. How many karateka actually work a full array of grappling methods and randori (free grappling/sparring)? How many work self-defense-specific grappling like this? How many stick to takedown defense, or "anti-grappling?" I would be interested to see what is out there in the karate community, today, especially with the growing prevalence of MMA, and its impact on society.

As sensei8 points out, Okinawan stances are not generally very low in comparison to Japanese styles, and neko-ashi-dachi, in particular, is not a very low stance. It only goes so low before you compromise the structure of the stance.

Excellent opportunity! Have fun!

Welcome to the forum

Thank you! I'm glad you found some value in my ramblings, and the videos that my Sensei and I have put out. I don't know about being an Internet star, but thanks! Iain Abernethy Sensei has some great stuff, and even when I don't agree with certain techniques or methods he likes to use, that is usually based on my personal preferences, rather than ineffectiveness. His base art was Wado-Ryu, but he also had some Shukokai Shito-Ryu influence, among other things. He is one of a growing number of instructors who have stopped carrying the label of their style with them, though. For a rather similar approach, Vince Morris Sensei and several of his students have videos online going through applications to kata. Morris Sensei's methods and Abernethy Sensei's methods have a lot in common, although I find that Morris Sensei's tend to use flow drills less. For some very good information on kata bunkai and body mechanics, Chris Denwood Sensei is a great resource. His public videos tend to be very detail-focused, and show very isolated examples of techniques and drills, but they are excellent starting points for beginners, and good jumping-off points for more advanced practitioners With a bit of a bias, I would recommend looking at content put out by Ulf Karlsson Sensei (he is my KishimotoDi teacher, albeit mostly remotely) on YouTube, and by Jan Dam Sensei on his Genten Kai Facebook Page. Karlsson Sensei has a few videos out showing old-style Suidi (Shuri-Te) applications, particularly focusing on the Tachimura-lineage version of Naihanchi. Jan Dam Sensei is formerly a regional head of the Shinjinbukan, so his material comes from Onaga Yoshimitsu Sensei's approach to Ti, which is a combination of Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, and old Suidi and Nafadi (Naha-Te) principles and training methods. Ryan Parker Sensei has some good, thorough videos on YouTube, and articles on his blog, regarding old-style Okinawan techniques and methods. Many of his videos are older--from the 90's and earlier--and he admits to having altered his views and approach since then, having grown in his study, but it still provides good food for thought.

Welcome to the forum!

The color of embroidery allowed on your belt is entirely dependent upon your dojo and organization, so you will have to check with your Sensei to see what is allowed

Like Spartacus, I'm a Kobayashi guy, but from Nakazato's lineage instead of Miyahira's. It takes 6-8 years to earn a Shodan under my Sensei, on average, and we have a total of 19 kata; Chibana's 3 Kihon Kata, Nakazato's Fukyu no Kata, 3 Naihanchi, 5 Pinan, Passai Sho/Dai, Kusanku Sho/Dai, Chinto, Gojushiho from Iju Seiichi, and Nakazato's Gorin. The kihon and fukyu kata are all essentially just moving basics, more than actual kata, and Gorin is just an amalgamation of movements from various other kata that Nakazato put together to present at the 1996 Olympics. The idea isn't to have a perfect, elite-level kata competitor by Shodan, but to have someone who is comfortable with all of the techniques, movements, and sequences in the system, at least enough so that applications won't seem totally alien to them. We learn applications as we learn the kata, of course, and explore the bunkai process, so that students all get an idea of what they are looking at, and can drill it and make it useful. Really digging deep in the kata happens as a black belt for us, though. Up to that point, it's much more about being shown and practicing, more than trying to work out things for yourself (with guidance, of course).

Welcome to the forum!

I have just looked at a map of okinawa and japan and they are 1000 of miles apart! how can karate be influenced by okinawa or china? japan is closer to korea and russia. i would say tkd is more likely influence of karate. as for russia i don't know want they do. pink As JR mentioned, Taekwondo came (very directly) from Shotokan karate, so the timeline doesn't fit for it to have influenced the development of karate on Okinawa. It's important to remember that Okinawa's primary function for centuries was a trading nation--their economy was primarily powered by trade with China, Indochina/Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, etc. After the Satsuma takeover in 1609, it became an especially important trading port for Japan, which instated its isolationist policies at that point, but did not apply them to the islands. Also, do not forget that when most people say "Okinawa," they are actually referring to the entire Ryukyu Island Chain, which stretches from the Southern tip of mainland japan down to Taiwan. That leaves a lot of places to stop your ships along the way, if need be, although only about 30-40 of the islands out of over 100 are habitable. Okinawa was a veritable melting pot of Asian cultures from at least the 1400's to the Meiji Restoration in the late 1800's.

Welcome to the forum! I know some karate guys in your neck of the woods

Welcome to the forum!

Sounds like a good start!

As Spartacus says, the quantity of kata you know is unimportant, and the order you learn them in isn't necessarily important, either. Sure, you can say that some easier kata build up to more complicated kata, but I would argue that in the time it takes you to work your way through those easier kata and get to the complicated ones, you could have just started with the complicated ones and gotten better at them over time. To answer your question, though, my dojo teaches NO kata after Shodan. We are required to be able to perform every kata in the system in order to test for Shodan. The black belt ranks are for the bunkai (breakdown/analysis) of the kata, refinement of technique and mechanics, and development of a personal approach to karate.

Kenpo/Kempo is a very generic term, so it's hard to compare. Ed Parker's Kenpo, Oyata Seiyu's Ryukyu Kempo, and So Doshin's Shorinji Kempo, for example, are very specific systems, but they are using the Kenpo/Kempo name as a descriptor. Much like "kung fu," or "karate," it is very vague, and many styles can be said to be Kenpo/Kempo. Even karate can be given that name, as Motobu Choki once did.

Welcome to the forum, and have fun!

Karate is an amalgamation of native Okinawan ti'gwa, Siamese boxing, likely various other Indochinese arts, Japanese jujutsu and weapons arts, and various (mostly Southern) Chinese arts. The White Crane connection is, in my view, strongly overstated. There are certainly some styles on Okinawa that were directly influenced by White Crane, specifically, but none that I know of that can truly be said to have evolved directly from it. A lot of the supposed White Crane influences actually came from Whooping Crane, if they came from Crane systems at all.

Some people choose to name everything, while others choose the more vague "like this" approach. Shotokan is notorious for having very specific names for every technique/posture and variant of a technique/posture. Kyokushin, or at least your Kyokushin sensei, may not have the same approach. In Shorin-Ryu, we use the "like this" approach a lot--meaning, "move like this," "stand like this," turn like this," etc. More instructions than names.

You can either cut a 1/4" piece out of the middle of the handle, drill a pin hole in each remaining half of the handle and epoxy it back together, or wrap something around that gap between your hand and the knob at the end of the handle.

Yep, just cut the end off the 19.5" tonfa, and sand it smooth

My list is also a somewhat shorter one: Kevin Skoien - Morton, IL - 2006-2007 (Shuri-Ryu, Kobudo) Joey Johnston - Morton, IL - 2007-2008 (Shuri-Ryu, Judo, Kobudo, Shinkage-Ryu Iaijutsu) Joseph Walker - Peoria, IL - 2006-2008 (Shuri-Ryu, Judo, Kobudo, Shinkage-Ryu Iaijutsu) Ramon Rivera - Mesa, AZ - 2008 (Judo) Adrian Rivera - Mesa, AZ - 2008-2010 (Judo) Richard Poage - Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ - 2010-Present (Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan) Ulf Karlsson - Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ and via Internet - 2014-Present (KishimotoDi) By the way, Shizentai, are you still here in Phoenix? We should meet up one of these days!

We don't use them all that frequently, but they can definitely come in handy. Lately, we've actually just been using dry erase markers on the mirrors