Wastelander

Sparring people from other styles is fun--it gives you lots of new learning opportunities! As TJ-Jitsu said, we can't really judge how good either of you are, or how you did, since there is no video and we weren't there. From what you describe, though, it sounds like your opponent's range made you uncomfortable, and his leg kicks were problematic. Honestly, the leg kicks aren't such a big deal if you're just sparring a bit, but they definitely add up, so it's important to learn how to check them. The range is a bigger problem, since you sound like you mainly rely on long-distance techniques. You will need to learn how to keep him away with kicks, cut angles around him to get space back, or learn how to fight at close range. All three would be ideal, of course.

Yes, I heard about it from one of his students, otherwise I'm sure I never would have known about it. The man left embarrassed and never came back

Cross-training is very beneficial, but there is a fine line between cross-training and dojo-hopping. You really have to have some type of foundation before you cross-train, or you'll just end up with a confusing mess of material that you don't know how to utilize properly.

I don't think Shiroma Sensei would appreciate me going into details, but the young man was taught a lesson, very quickly.

Well I, for one, am thrilled with this turn of events! I think, for demonstration videos, that slow with metronomic timing is probably the best. It keeps things clear and simple for the viewer, and things can be fine-tuned from there.

I haven't been, although my Sensei was, once, under the guise of "wanting to learn to spar." I also know that Shiroma Jiro Sensei, here in Phoenix, had someone come and "watch classes" and when they shook his hand, tried to sucker punch him.

Turning around in circles on one foot has always been a bit of a problem for me. I have notoriously floppy ankles and have to concentrate on tensing the right muscles in my lower body to make sure my foot and leg stay together at all times despite the friction of the ground under me. It's good for me to face my weakness I think. There is a lot of room for me to grow there. I've heard of Gankaku a few times, but never saw it. Just watched it performed by Kanazawa on YouTube. Very cool kata IMO*.Not knowing anything about its history, I'm guessing Kanku/Kusanku has very similar roots, as it looks like Itosu and Funakoshi could have developed Pinan kata from it. Pinan is from Kanku, but looking at Gankaku, if I didn't know better I'd say Pinan came from Gankaku. *Kanazawa will make any kata look great. Gankaku is Funakoshi's name for the kata, Chinto. Legend has it that "Bushi" Matsumura Sokon confronted a shipwrecked Chinese man who had been stealing from locals, and we unable to apprehend him, in the end exchanging martial arts training for resources. Chinto is supposedly either the kata Matsumura learned from the man, or the kata that Matsumura made to record what the man taught him. Chinto may have also been the name of the shipwrecked man. All this is legend, of course, and pretty close to impossible to confirm, but it's a neat story. If you search for Chinto, you'll see a wider array of versions than you will get from searching for Gankaku Thanks for the primer! Say, Wastelander, do you know what the characters are for "Chinto" ? I'm having trouble looking them up. I ask because I had always assumed it was related to the kata "chinte" which means "unusual hands" ... but a man's name starting with "unusual" would be... well- unusual. Assuming this is not the correct character, I wonder what is. I also have very wobbly ankles--my feet are naturally pronated, fairly badly, and it messed up my balance quite a bit. As for the characters of Chinto, I'm afraid I don't know. As far as I'm aware, the Okinawans wrote all of their kata names with kana, rather than kanji/hanzi, until sometime after the Meiji Restoration. Really, they wrote almost everything with kana.

Welcome to the forum!

I've heard of Gankaku a few times, but never saw it. Just watched it performed by Kanazawa on YouTube. Very cool kata IMO*.Not knowing anything about its history, I'm guessing Kanku/Kusanku has very similar roots, as it looks like Itosu and Funakoshi could have developed Pinan kata from it. Pinan is from Kanku, but looking at Gankaku, if I didn't know better I'd say Pinan came from Gankaku. *Kanazawa will make any kata look great. Gankaku is Funakoshi's name for the kata, Chinto. Legend has it that "Bushi" Matsumura Sokon confronted a shipwrecked Chinese man who had been stealing from locals, and we unable to apprehend him, in the end exchanging martial arts training for resources. Chinto is supposedly either the kata Matsumura learned from the man, or the kata that Matsumura made to record what the man taught him. Chinto may have also been the name of the shipwrecked man. All this is legend, of course, and pretty close to impossible to confirm, but it's a neat story. If you search for Chinto, you'll see a wider array of versions than you will get from searching for Gankaku

Thanks for sharing, Patrick! We would love to have KF members attend, so if you can make arrangements to attend, definitely let me know!

Lately, Tawada Passai (which we call Passai Dai), has been the kata I find myself the most drawn to. Prior to that, I really had a thing for Seiyunchin. Of course, Naihanchi is every present in my mind, since everything is Naihanchi

It sounds like your question really boils down to "what do I call this thing I'm doing?" Now, I imagine it is pretty clearly karate, so you could just call it "Karate" and be done with it. Alternatively, I suspect that it is strongly based on Wado-Ryu, so you could keep calling it "Wado-Ryu," regardless of the changes. The important thing is that you are transparent and honest about what you do. Be truthful about who your teachers have been, how much experience you have, and how what you do is the same or different from what you've learned. As long as you're honest, I don't think you'll have a problem.

Well, the real test is happening all the time, in every class. The official test is really a test of will more than anything. My shodan test took 6 hours, which included a written test, a physical workout with hojo undo equipment and calisthenics, kata performance, kata bunkai, self defense techniques, yakusoku kumite drills, and finally kumite (basically MMA-style) to push you to want to give up. Now, in my previous style, a shodan test was much more involved. First, you had to submit three essays on the history of the style, a biography of an important figure in karate, and a topic of the chief instructor's choosing. Then, you took a very long written test, which takes several hours. Then, the next day, you had to meet physical fitness requirements, which take several hours to get through. Then, the next day is spent relentlessly drilling the people testing on kihon, kata, three types of formal bunkai (being attacked for every move in every kata, verbally explaining the applications for every move in every kata, and "point method" where you use gestures to explain to a partner how to attack you for every move in every kata), kobudo kata, and three types of yakusoku kumite type drills (one type is for power, one is for speed, and one is a combination) done in up to eight directions with partners. The testing panel is incredibly strict during this, and everyone testing generally has to redo every kata and drill several times for minute imperfections. Sparring only happens if they pass the test, and is typical competition point-fighting.

Congratulations!

Haha, yes, we agree with you on that! It is "complete" in the sense that it covers applications for every movement in the kata, but of course, nothing is ever truly "complete" Thanks, Bob!

Thank you very much, Patrick!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Hello everyone, I'm not sure how many folks here practice a version of Wansu, but it was one of the first kata that I ever learned, and I've been playing with it over the years, trying to make it more like the older versions and working out applications. There is a sequence at the end of the kata where you take up an open-handed jodan/gedan posture, like that seen in Seiyunchin, then strike forward with both hands, then turn the body and rotate the hands. In the version of the kata I was originally taught, the hands actually lifted up into a yama-uke before turning. The application I was shown for this was a judo-style kata guruma (shoulder wheel) throw: Since then, I have tweaked my Wansu to be more like the Seibukan/Zentokukai version: I have been surprised to find, over the past several years, that there don't seem to be many other interpretations on this sequence of movements. Pretty much everyone seems to agree that it is intended to be a kata guruma, aside from this application from Angel Lemus Sensei: Certainly, there are verbal (and, if I recall correctly, some written) suggestions that it is intended to be a "shoulder throw," and of course, kata guruma is certainly effective and useful. In researching karate history and kata applications, however, I found a number of techniques--including other "shoulder throws"--that fit the sequence. Specifically, the "single shoulder throw" shown by Itoman Morinobu in his book, The Study of China Hand Techniques, as well as the katawa guruma (cripple wheel) and yari dama (spearing through) throws shown by Funakoshi Gichin in his books. Since my Sensei and I release a weekly technique video, I decided to share a variation of those throws as an application for this sequence, today: I'm curious to see what others think of these variations for this sequence, and what other applications you might have?

I was once told that "lineage only matters in music and martial arts." Of course, the person who told me was a martial arts instructor AND a music teacher . Lineage can be a very handy tool for tracing the history and development of a style over time. It can also be a decent indicator of the quality of the material up to a certain point. For example; we have historical records and first- and second-hand accounts of the skills possessed by masters like Matsumura, Itosu, Chibana, Motobu, etc. This means that we have a decent idea of the quality of material they knew, and would have tried to teach. That doesn't guarantee that the students picked it up very effectively, and that holds true all down the lineage. My sensei is very knowledgeable, with a high level of skill, and teaches effective material, but if I don't internalize it or put in the work, that doesn't help me all that much.

While I like a lot of the material, and the general approach, I'm often not fond of the drills. The intent is good, but I find that the drills require a bit too much "drilling for the sake of the drill." By that, I mean that there is a lot of memorization and practice just to get good at the drill, and the drill itself is too strictly structured for my tastes. That said, my only exposure to KU has been videos and articles online, so I admit that it is entirely possible that I simply don't know enough about it.

Chito-Ryu is a bit of a strange one, because while it is Okinawan in origin, it was heavily influenced by Japanese culture and practices. It really is an Okinawan-Japanese system--not one or the other, but both.

Which direction is this/that?? If I might ask. He is being more open about teaching kata applications, and focusing more on having people perform kata based on application and not aesthetics.

When you teach, do you teach by yourself or do you co-teach with another instructor. Those are classes that I teach by myself. I will assist or co-teach 1-3 more, on average.