Wastelander

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. When I started training in the martial arts, I often heard black belts talking about how "concepts are more important than techniques." Unfortunately, none of them ever really explained what they meant, so it took me a while to work it out on my own. Of course, early in your martial arts training, it's much easier to understand a technique than it is to understand the underlying concepts. As you develop as a martial artist, however, the concepts will benefit you much more than a collection of techniques. Some people, in their quest to advance, begin collecting techniques. This is partially influenced by the fact that most schools have a list of techniques that must be learned before someone can test for their next rank. This, in a way, incentivizes technique collecting, especially if the fundamental concepts of those techniques aren't explained. This results in martial artists who "know" many techniques, but they tend to have difficulty applying them or modifying them. They think of techniques as "right" and "wrong," rather than fluid methods that can change based on innumerable variables, without changing the concepts that make the technique work. So, what exactly is a "concept," and how is it different from a technique, when we are talking about martial arts? That can be a bit difficult to answer, but to put it simply, a martial arts concept is the basic physical or psychological actions and principles that make a technique work. If you learn a technique, you know a technique, but if you learn a concept, then you know many techniques. It's like the difference between memorizing that 10*2=20, and understanding that any number multiplied by 10 will simply have a 0 added to the end. To use an over-simplified example of a physical concept, we can look at a punch. While a punch is recognizable, no matter what style someone practices, every style punches a bit differently. We can recognize it because a punch is pretty much always going to consist of the extension of an arm in order to strike a target with a closed fist. There are many ways to generate power, form a fist or move the arm, and there are many targets you could potentially strike, but it is still a punch. Even complex techniques, like compound joint locks, can be broken down in this manner to find the essence of what makes the technique work. Sometimes, a concept is more of a psychological thing than a physical one. Just like physical concepts, these are key factors in making techniques work, and they can be a little more complex. They include things like aggression signals, flinch responses and active resistance. These things are not techniques, of course, but if your attacker shows signs of certain types of aggression, or flinches or resists in certain ways during an altercation, it will have a major impact on the techniques that you can use. Rather than having specific techniques for every possible factor, you can simply modify your techniques based on the concepts that make them work, by understanding the psychological concepts that are in play. It will always be easier for a student to learn a technique, but it is important for instructors to point out that the techniques we teach work because of the physiology of the human body and physics, which can be applied in a myriad of ways. Without that additional understanding, they are simply memorizing movements, and not learning how to move for themselves. Early on, in the Shu (copy) phase of Shu-Ha-Ri (a developmental process), this is perfectly fine, because it gives the student something to work with. Over time, though, they should be able to use the concepts they have learned to modify techniques when necessary, as part of the Ha (adapt) phase. In the Ri (rranscend) phase, they should be freely applying techniques that they haven't necessarily learned before, but are based on concepts that they have previously learned. This is, of course, a very granular application of the Shu-Ha-Ri concept, but it is a fairly clear example. In order for us to evolve as martial artists, we must understand more than just how to perform a technique: We must understand how it works, at a fundamental level.

Hello, everyone! In addition to Shorin-Ryu, I'm a practitioner of a small, rare system of old-style Shuri-te called KishimotoDi on Okinawa, or Kishimoto-Ha karate, on mainland Japan. The style consists of just four kata; Naihanchi, Nidanbu, Passai, and Kusanku. As it stands, I know the KishimotoDi version of Naihanchi, and Nidanbu (which is unique to KishimotoDi). My KishimotoDi teacher, Ulf Karlsson, plans to teach me their version of Kusanku in March. He has been on a bit of a Kusanku kick, lately, and just put together this video showcasing some applications for Tachimura no Kusanku (also known as Takemura no Kusanku on mainland Japan). I do not have any public videos of Tachimura no Kusanku, performed in the original KishimotoDi fashion. The closest that can be found is the Kusanku of Gensei-Ryu, which shares lineage with KishimotoDi, but has been heavily "Japanified," for lack of a better term. You can see the Gensei-Ryu version of Kusanku, here:

Welcome to the forum!

Your build may be small, but your STRUCTURE can be made strong through training. No need for a specific build to train.

Hello, everyone! This week on Waza Wednesday, we switched gears a bit and took a look at one of the more esoteric weapons of Okinawan kobudo--the san-setsu-chaku (three section flail). It's similar to the nunchaku, which more people are familiar with, but since it's much less common, we wanted to highlight it for people.

I see that all the time in styles that do long, deep front stance. If you want to get really confused, start training in our style, where we DO lean just slightly forward I'm afraid I can't really provide much more guidance than having someone check you periodically, or check yourself in a mirror, and get used to the feeling of when it's right so you can self-correct

Hi Curtis, There are actually some recommendations being posted in this thread, already, which may be useful to you: http://www.karateforums.com/recommend-a-youtube-martial-art-video-vt49983.html

I appreciate the endorsements! Honestly, I don't even upload that many videos on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/wlbushido). Most of what I do is with my instructor, and uploaded on our dojo YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/peacefulwarriormartialartsandhealingcenter). As far as my recommendations go... Paul Enfield Sensei - Okinawan Goju-Ryu: https://www.youtube.com/user/GKCgoju John Titchen Sensei - Practical Karate (Shotokan based): https://www.youtube.com/user/jwtdart He Jinbao - Yin Bagua: https://www.youtube.com/user/YSBinternational Funker Tactical - Modern Weapons and RBSD: https://www.youtube.com/user/FunkerTactical

Welcome to the forum! You're lucky to be finding an interest in karate while living in the birthplace of karate! Don't worry too much about the language barrier. Karate can largely be learned physically, at least to start with, and most dojo will have a few people who speak some English, even if the instructor doesn't. The Okinawan people tend to be quite friendly and welcoming, so it shouldn't be an issue to get some help when you need it! I hope you and your son enjoy the experience!

Congratulations, CTTKDKing!

My Sensei and his girlfriend, who co-own the dojo, collect payments themselves, by check, money order, cash, or card. Dues are paid at the beginning of each month, and there are different rates depending on how many classes you plan to attend each week. Instructors fill out timesheets and turn them in to be paid on the 15th of each month. It's a pretty antiquated process, from the perspective of an IT guy (me), but it does work.

Welcome to the forum!

Ridgely Abele Sensei has written some books on Shuri-Ryu, which I understand to be quite good, but they are also very expensive. Since Trias created Shuri-Ryu, and it is a relatively small style, there just isn't a great wealth of material covering it, specifically. You can definitely find valuable information elsewhere, though! The Bubishi is a good choice from a historical and cultural perspective, and a very interesting read. I would also suggest Mark Bishop's books, of which there are several to choose from, for an exploration of Okinawan styles. The best book for karate history is going to be Karate 1.0 by Andreas Quast.

That's awesome! It's great when kids are involved and excited in their training! I started my training under Joey Johnston, back in Morton, actually

Well, which hammerlock are we looking at, specifically? There are several ways of applying locks which would be classified as such. Generally, though, you can roll out of it, limp-arm out of it, or grab your own arm and physically oppose the lock with strength.

Welcome to karate, and to the forum!

For those who don't know, the Shorin-Ryu that I practice comes from the Shorinkan--and organization that was founded by Nakazato Shugoro Sensei in 1975 to continue the development and transmission of the karate that he learned from his teacher, Chibana Chosin Sensei. Born in 1920, Nakazato Sensei has seen a great deal of change in the world, and has been a major contributor to the development of Shorin-Ryu karate. He began training in karate in 1935, under a Shito-Ryu instructor named Iju Seiichi Sensei. He enlisted in the Japanese military during World War 2, acting as a bayonet instructor and manned torpedo pilot, before retiring back to Okinawa and becoming a student of Chibana Sensei. As a senior student of Chibana, Nakazato Sensei passed on all of the material that he was taught by the legendary Shorin-Ryu master, but his curriculum also included his own material--namely Fukyu no Kata, Gorin no Kata, and a set of yakusoku kumite drills--and the Gojushiho kata that he was taught by Iju Sensei. Here is a short clip of Nakazato Sensei teaching ashi-waza (leg technique) and kuzushi (balance breaking) concepts on his last trip to the United States, at the age of 80: Nakazato Sensei at the age of 90, demonstrating his favorite kata, Kusanku Dai: Nakazato Sensei as a young Kyoshi, demonstrating Chinto: A few weeks ago, Nakazato Sensei celebrated his 96th birthday, which is quite a milestone, even for famously long-lived Okinawans. Unfortunately, he had been having some health problems lately and, three days ago, on August 25th (on Okinawa, which was the 24th for those of us on this side of the world), he passed on from this life as the result of complications from pneumonia. Nakazato Shugoro Sensei built the largest Shorin-Ryu organization in the world, and contributed to the development of many outstanding karateka. While I never had the pleasure of training with him, personally, he was a great master of karate, a great man, and an inspiration to everyone in the Shorinkan. He will truly be missed, and I wanted to spread the word of his passing to any who may be interested. For those who would like to send flowers or letters to his son, Nakazato Minoru Sensei, I can provide an address.

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum!

You might break fingers or toes with a shinai, but it has enough flex that you shouldn't break any other bones. It'll leave you with a heck of a welt and bruise, and the edges of the slats can cut you. Additionally, you can cause ligament and tendon damage that takes a long time to heal.

I don't regularly teach our fitness kickboxing class, but I do occasionally cover it. Basically, as long as the students have good enough form to be safe, we don't dwell on it. Because it's a fitness class, intensity is more important than the development of skill. Even so, with enough classes, you'll see people learning to hit harder just by virtue of hitting things on a regular basis with some simple instruction. I usually start the class with low intensity, mobility focused warm-ups, such as side bends, hip rotations, and arm circles. Then, we get into slightly more intense warm-ups like air squats, sit-ups, and push-ups. After that, I generally have them work some simple striking combinations in the air, with footwork, until they're sweating. At that point, I'll either bring out punching mitts or heavy bags, so they can work the combinations on actual targets. I'll usually alternate between working combinations in the air, and working them on targets, and I'll mix in exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, and sit-ups in the middle of combinations. Toward the end of the class, I'll usually teach a self defense technique that they can drill as a cool down, and then we spend about 5-8 minutes stretching out.

We have those titles, but we don't generally use them in speaking with each other--we just use "Sensei" or "Senpai," as is appropriate, most of the time. As far as titles go, Shihan requires a license from the organization on Okinawa, and you have to test in the Honbu dojo for that. Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi, however, come automatically with rank for us; Renshi for 5th/6th, Kyoshi for 7th/8th, and Hanshi for 9th/10th. When you pass you tests for those ranks, people just start referring to you by those titles, although typically only in writing.

Congratulations to him!

Best of luck to you!

Hello, everyone! This week's Waza Wednesday is a special presentation of applications for the entirety of the kata, Kusanku Sho. These are not the only applications for the kata--or even the only applications that we teach and practice in our dojo--but they are some simple examples that you can use in your own training. The distance between the attacker and defender has been increased to allow for easier viewing on video, but should be closer in training. The attacks shown are also just examples, as the specific attack isn't as important as positioning, points of contact, and direction of movement. I figured that some folks here may find it interesting to compare with how they do the kata, and it may give some ideas to play with in the dojo.

Welcome to the forum!