Wastelander

The release date isn't actually until next Tuesday, the 21st, but I do have an advance copy to review for my site. I haven't read it all, just yet, but the new forewords are interesting.

Thank you, everyone! It was very cool for us to get props from McCarthy Sensei, and I'm glad that people are finding the material interesting and valuable! We wanted to make something that would showcase not only the original material from the Bubishi, but expansions on the material and examples of similar methods being used in other arts, to show how fighting is connected.

Hello, everyone! We are thrilled to share this video, which is a special presentation of our intrepretations of techniques found in the Bubishi--the "Bible of Karate"--as well as connections to kata movements and comparisons with a variety of other martial arts. We are also honored to have an introduction from Patrick McCarthy, Hanshi, Kudan, who wrote the English version of the Bubishi that most karateka refer to, today!

Thank you for the input, everyone! There is absolutely a connection between verious Crane styles and Naha-Te styles of karate--especially Goju-Ryu, due to Miyagi Chojun's connection to Gokenki. Just comparing Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu, and Ryuei-Ryu to Crane styles makes that fairly evident, I feel. They also have written histories that support the connection. That said, I can't help but think that this connection tends to get stretched to incorporate ALL styles of karate. As a Shorin-Ryu practitioner, from all I have been able to find, there is nothing to suggest that Crane styles had much--if any--impact on the development of Shuri-Te systems of karate. Personally, I believe that the proposed connections between Crane systems and Shuri-Te came later, and were especially promoted after the original Karate Kid film. The late 80's started a trend of all sorts of Hakutsuru kata coming out of the woodwork, with little to no legitimate origin, and these were often included in the curriculum of Shuri-Te lineage schools. This is the problem that I have with the proposed connection--it is absolutely there when talking about Naha-Te styles, but not when looking at Shuri-Te styles. Sure, there is going to be some overlap just due to the nature of fighting, but that's about it. With that in mind, I feel that the inclusion of Crane kata and history in Shuri-Te systems is disingenuous. What are your thoughts?

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum!

Hello, everyone! This is a topic that I have a tendency to avoid, but it recently came up in a conversation I had with a fairly high ranking member in my organization, and I wanted to put it to the sounding board here at KF. Many karate people have a tendency to, at some point in their journey, research the origin of their art. Some stop at the founder of their organization, some go back to the early 1900's, when karate became public. Others, however, want to go back as far as they can, and that is where things become foggy. I have seen countless people on this search be told that White Crane is the origin of karate, or that the real secret to good karate is found in White Crane. I have my own opinions on this, but I want to see what the folks here have to say on the matter, first. Do you think that White Crane is the source of all karate? Some karate? None? How much of an impact do you think it had on the development of karate? Do you think that "White Crane" kata found in karate systems are links to this mysterious past? I look forward to hearing what people have to say. Thank you for your time!

I wish I could have made it for the live stream, but I'm enjoying watching the replay! I'm 2 hours in, so far!

Jesse Enkamp, of Karate by Jesse fame, recently posted a video outlining his views on the matter: https://www.facebook.com/karatebyjesse/videos/1235511743128516/ While I understand his perspective, I disagree with it. That said, I also understand that everyone--on both sides of the argument--is just speculating and sharing opinions. We don't have any facts to back us up, at this point, and we won't until after the 2020 Olympics are said and done. Even then, unless every karate school out there starts recording each student's reason for starting, we won't have solid facts.

Good stuff, Alex! We work VERY similar methods for this scenario, actually, which I find to be really interesting since we aren't a BJJ school, although my Sensei did train at a shootfighting gym when he was younger. It's nice to see the same types of methods being developed by different arts, and you've given me some little differences to play with. Thanks!

Makiwara and punching bags are both very valuable training tools, but they serve different purposes. The key benefit of makiwara training is that it provides progressive resistance--the harder you hit it, the harder it pushes back. People often talk about the knuckle conditioning aspect of this, the real benefit is that it teaches you how to better align you body, how to better generate power, and it strengthens the power chain of your strikes. Punching bags, on the other hand, swing away from you as you hit them, so they don't provide progressive resistance. They do, however, provide good feedback for the feel of a strike that hits a moving target, and it provides a good surface for striking from a wide variety of angles. This means that you can work combinations and movement that you simply can't work against the makiwara. Additionally, you can hit a bag full power, which is something that is harder to do with a makiwara.

I personally believe that withholding kata applications is a terrible idea. It weakens karate, as a whole, and holds your students back. To a degree, yes, every student should develop their own personal approach to kata applications. That said, they won't have the underlying knowledge to do so if the instructor hasn't taught them the process of bunkai, and taught them a variety of examples.

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Congratulations! This is definitely a big landmark!

I wish I could, but I will be meeting with our insurance agent at that time! I hope it goes well!

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Welcome back!

Thank you, everyone! Sorry for the late response--I was out of state with limited internet access on my birthday, and for the next week after, and I managed to miss this thread. For those wondering, I'm 28, now

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

It would be great to see you there! I'm planning to include an "open exchange" session, where we go around the room sharing techniques, so you'd even have a chance to teach us karate folks some grappling No kidding, I'm seriously considering this. I have to get ahold of a LE conference date that runs around that time that will have to take priority, but if it's a different set of dates... Awesome! I hope you can make it!

It is open to teens and adults of all ranks and styles, provided they have an interest in learning about Okinawan martial arts methods! Some of the material may be a bit tricky for less experienced practitioners, but that's no reason not to try! Yudansha struggle with things, too, particularly when working with material from other Okinawan styles.

It would be great to see you there! I'm planning to include an "open exchange" session, where we go around the room sharing techniques, so you'd even have a chance to teach us karate folks some grappling

Welcome to the forum!

Kihon 1-3 Fukyu no Kata Naihanchi 1-3 Pinan 1-5 Passai Sho/Dai Kusanku Sho/Dai Chinto Gojushiho Gorin Several of the instructors have some extra kata, which are taught from time to time, but those are the kata in our official curriculum.