Wastelander

Gekisai isn't part of my organization's curriculum, but many people in the system practice it, and several other Shorin-Ryu systems call it Fukyugata Ni. This video is a simple padwork drill I've been playing with for the mae-geri/age-enpi-uchi/uraken-uchi/gedan­-barai/gyaku-tsuki sequence. While we only recorded one iteration of the drill, there are several ways it can be altered to suit the people practicing it. Of course, there are more ways to apply these movements, but this drill is used to highlight and develop the striking applications, specifically.

Congratulations, everyone!

Well said, Heidi--thank you!

Here are a few. Boston University: http://www.bu.edu/today/2015/stretch-before-exercise-not-so-fast/ MIT: http://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_5.html University of Nevada: https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/stretching-truth

Rolling is one kind of ukemi, but not all ukemi are rolls. Ukemi is "break-falling," and there are several ways of doing it.

I'm not sure how popular the Nakaima family kobudo kata are outside of Ryuei-Ryu and the Shorinkan, but I figured some people might practice them, and find this interesting. It's a pretty simple application, but we've found that many people don't ever give much thought to the application of their kobudo kata, so maybe it will help someone out!

Being thrown IS hard on your head, especially if you are dehydrated. That said, if you know how to fall properly, and your partner is throwing you properly, it isn't so bad. Have you learned ukemi yet? I also recommend seeing a doctor to make sure there isn't something more serious going on.

There is actually a traditional training dummy for Okinawan karate, which is called a kakiya, or kakete-biki. You can find illustrations of it in several old books, and there is even a photograph of one that was in Miyagi Chojun's garden dojo. Essentially, it is a wooden post with a weighted (or spring-loaded) arm. Here is a playlist of videos to give you some ideas:

I'm right-handed, and I prefer to fight from an open stance--that is to say that I fight Southpaw against an Orthodox stance, and Orthodox against a Southpaw stance--most of the time, but I also switch depending on what my opponent is doing. I do think it's important to train for both sides, and against both sides.

It sounds, to me, that you have an issue with the teaching style, not necessarily the art, itself. Spartacus Maximus and bushido_man96 have valid points, as well--effective training is often repetitive and boring, regardless of the style. You could ask your Uechi-Ryu instructor if it would be possible to do a wider variety of training, to liven things up. If you do insist on finding somewhere else to train, you will need to watch classes and talk to the instructor to see if they teach the way you want. The style isn't going to dictate that so much as the individual instructor, so don't rule out anything that you didn't like before.

Welcome to the forum!

You should definitely check with your Sensei--generally, they go on the left side of the chest, but many instructors pick different locations for their patches.

There are definitely aspects of it that remind me of Shuji no Kon, but it's filled with all kinds of extra stuff. I'm guessing he (or his instructor) modified it for competition purposes, if it was supposed to be Shuji no Kon.

Hello everyone, Our Waza Wednesday for this week is a special one, because my Sensei's Sensei was visiting our dojo and agreed to record one with us. Eddie Bethea, Kyoshi, Hachidan, has been training in the Shorinkan under Nakazato Shugoro for over 50 years, and is one of the most experienced karateka in the US. In this video, he shows a simple application for the yoi and initial step across in Naihanchi Shodan, which applies a very painful compound joint lock, and sets you up to stomp or kick the opponent.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum, and good luck!

My Sensei is 30, and Sensei Bethea is 71, but I don't know the precise ages of the others. I would guess that Iha Sayuri Sensei is in her 40's, and Nakazato Shugoro Sensei is in his 60's.

Hello everyone, I just thought I would share a bit about this event. Over this past weekend, I attended the 20th Annual Shorinkan Cal-South Camp, which is an event hosted every year by Nabil Noujam Sensei in Winterhaven, CA, just across the border from Yuma, AZ. It is specifically for members of the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan, which is the organization I am a part of. Normally, I'm running classes at the dojo while everyone else goes to camp, but this year I was able to attend, which was really cool! The event begins with a workout for the black belts (and some select brown belts) in attendance, with the keynote instructor leading the count. This year, Nakazato Minoru Sensei--the son of Shorinkan founder, Nakazato Shugoro Sensei, and current head of the organization--was the keynote instructor, and I would say there were about 130 karateka attending this workout. After taking us through junbi undo (preparatory exercises), he went through our kata. As we went, he made corrections here and there, and demonstrated some applications, and answered questions. Overall, he was pleased with most of us, saying "good instructors, all same kata." I was very interested in some of the things he said about the kata and applications he showed, and it was a great experience. After that, there were dojo demonstrations. Most schools demonstrated karate or kobudo kata, but a few included yakusoku kumite drills, or kata applications. What really threw us off were schools that had students read poems or do interpretive dance. Our dojo went second to last, which is usually a sign that they expect a good demonstration from you. We did a pretty varied demonstration, including karate and kobudo kata, karate and kobudo drills, and kata applications. Normally, my Sensei has our brown and black belts do it, but we had a bunch of kids attending camp for the first time, and he wanted to include them, so they were pretty nervous, but had a good time. Here is the video of our demonstration--my Sensei only acted as uke until the end, when he demonstrated a few techniques on me, because he wanted the demo to focus on the dojo, not just him: The next two days were mostly set up in breakout sessions, with four instructors running classes in different rooms, so people could choose which sessions they wanted to attend. I attended every session with Nakazato Minoru Sensei, except for a kobudo session he taught. Other than that, I attended sessions with Eddie Bethea Sensei, Neil Stolsmark Sensei, Clint Green Sensei, and Art Garcia Sensei--all of whom are Kyoshi-ranked instructors in the Shorinkan. It was a great experience, and I'm very glad I was able to attend! Before I left on Sunday, there were demonstrations by the camp instructors. Everyone did kata, except for my Sensei and his Sensei (Eddie Bethea), who also demonstrated techniques. I was able to record a few videos, which people might find interesting. Iha Sayuri Sensei--one of only two active female Kyoshi in the Shorinkan--performing Sai Dai San, which is part of the Kokusai Rengokai kobudo curriculum: Nakazato Minoru Sensei--Hanshi, Judan, and the current head of the Shorinkan--performing Gojushiho: Eddie Bethea Sensei--my Sensei's instructor, and Kyoshi, Hachidan in the Shorinkan--performing Kusanku Sho and demonstrating a lock-flow drill and kata application on my Sensei: Richard Poage Sensei--my instructor--performing Kusanku Dai, and demonstrating some techniques on me that are based on the kata: I also got the chance to grab a photo with Nakazato Minoru Sensei, although the lighting was terrible so it turned out pretty bad: http://s14.postimg.org/cmnyajiox/20151108_110041_1.jpg

Good luck to everyone, and thank you very much for the nominations!

We generally follow the "two ranks below your own" rule, as well. That said, black belt tests require a panel of 2 or more black belts. My Sensei is currently a Godan, so he can grade someone to Sandan if he is the highest rank on the panel, but we also have two Rokudans that train at our dojo, so if they are sitting on the panel, we could potentially have people test up to Yondan.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

I recorded this video, so I can speak to your comments, a bit. Merriman Sensei did say that we have kihon bunkai to get people started, which I suppose it what you may be thinking of with "correct bunkai?" After that, though, he insisted that everyone should explore the kata and test it to find what works for them, even if that makes it different from what others are doing.