Wastelander

I'm happy to share! It would have been great if you could come, but you have nothing to apologize for--things happen. Hopefully you can make it next time!

This weekend was our Ryukyu Martial Arts Friendship Gasshuku, which was an event I put together with the intent of getting martial artists together to learn and train in a variety of martial arts from the Ryukyu islands. I have never put anything like this together, before, but I think it went pretty well! Everyone said they enjoyed it, and found value in the material presented, and are looking forward to the next one. We started on Friday night, when I taught a three hour session on KishimotoDi, which is a small, rare style of Shuri-te that is in danger of dying out if it isn't spread. Here are some photos from that session--the link goes to Facebook, but you shouldn't need an account to see them. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1014485815263485.1073741844.121994281179314&type=1&l=cd6e1fd233 On Saturday, we got started with a session on Pinan Godan bunkai with Ryan Parker Sensei, who has been working hard to spread old Okinawan karate through various internet mediums for years, now. After that, we had a session with Chuck Merriman Sensei, who is a Judan (10th-dan) in Goju-Ryu, and he gave a lecture on the principles and history of Goju-Ryu, followed by some partner drills and kakie. Finally, we had an open exchange session, where people were free to train together in any fashion they wanted, and we also took turns teaching techniques to the group. After training, several of us went out to Hiro Sushi, which is a local restaurant run by an Okinawan family who love karateka and serve excellent food. Here are photos from that day: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1014845155227551.1073741845.121994281179314&type=1&l=4bb7bdab55 My favorite picture from Saturday is probably this one, taken at Hiro Sushi. Left to right: me, Don Bratton, Ryan Parker, Richard Poage, Matt Sheridan, Ed Dinardo, and Chuck Merriman. http://s3.postimg.org/x19lbbnab/hiro_sushi.jpg On Sunday, we kicked the morning off with Raphael Gutierrez Sensei teaching Yamane-Ryu kobudo--specifically, he taught Shuji no Kon, and some associated drills. After that, Ed Sumner Sensei taught Goju-Ryu kata bunkai for Sanchin and Seiyunchin, and then went into some footwork and kumite drills. Finally, my Sensei--Richard Poage--taught a session that started off with some hand-speed drills based on kata movements, and then continued on into a variety of kata applications. Here are photos from that day: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1015198211858912.1073741846.121994281179314&type=1&l=51ad858ff3 I know I had a great time, and I am sore all over! Hopefully next year the event is even better!

Interesting stats! Thanks for sharing!

Glad you liked it! I've used Wing Chun dummies, as well as a couple different types of kakiya/kakete-biki. I actually love the idea of this dummy--I just can't get past the sharp corners on the elbows!

It's not strictly necessary for a karateka to practice other arts, or even be familiar with them, but it's certainly beneficial! I know that I've really gained a great deal from training in other styles, and familiarizing myself with even more. Every new experience can unlock aspects of your own art you never realized were there, and can add to your personal approach to your karate.

A friend of mine showed me this video of Guru Maul Mornie, who is a well-known silat instructor that I follow, using the Wall Dome training dummy. I love training dummies, but I honestly am not that fond of this design. Regardless, Guru Mornie shows a lot of great limb control techniques in this video--many of which can also be found in karate--so I thought I would share it here.

To each their own of course (I suppose if it gets you training its not a bad thing). Personally, I don't think it would be making the best of my time. I see you challenged Mr Abernethy... I wouldn't mind seeing his kata. K. This type of thing may seem silly, but it's a bit of fun that helps get people to do a little extra training, and doesn't hurt anything. It could be seen as a waste of time, but it doesn't really need to take much--certainly, nobody has to make a video as involved as the Karate Culture one, or mine. Regardless, it's not something people have to do if they don't want to Unfortunately, Iain had to decline, as his schedule is currently jam-packed with traveling to seminars. I kind of figured that would be the case, but I was interested to see him perform a kata, as well. The most I've seen is a few moves here or there, rather than an entire kata.

As someone with some experience with knifemaking, I'm familiar with the ulu as a tool, but not it's use as a weapon. This is very interesting, and I thank you for sharing it! Out of curiosity, did your teacher use "true time" with her techniques, in the same way European martial arts emphasize with their weapons?

Congratulations!

I do like that idea--we could use this thread, since it's already here, if anyone wants to kick things off?

You could challenge someone on KF, or you could challenge people in other places. Since I uploaded my video to YouTube, anybody can view it, and I just sent the link to the people I called out. I just figured that people here might be interested in doing it, as well, so I wanted to share it As far as pulling videos off your camera, if you send me a PM with the model of camcorder you have, I can see if I can help you out!

In celebration of Karate no Hi (Karate Day), which is on October 25th, I was challenged to a Kata-Off. While I'm passing it on to three people, I also think everyone should participate and spread the love around! Just record a video of yourself running kata, and challenge someone else to do the same!

I'm glad things are looking up! I've had trouble putting things on Wikipedia, in the past, and have pretty much given up on it. Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan is a pretty large system, as far as the number of practitioners worldwide. Our style originates from Chibana Chosin, but the Shorinkan, itself, was founded by Nakazato Shugoro, one of Chibana's senior students. We practice all of the kata that Chibana learned from Itosu Anko, except for Itosu's Passai Sho. Chibana learned the Passai that was passed down from Matsumura Sokon through the Tawada family, and Itosu told him to pass it on to his students, instead. We also practice the three Kihon Kata that Chibana created, the Fukyu no Kata and Gorin no Kata that Nakazato created, and Gojushiho, which Nakazato learned from his first teacher, before he became a student of Chibana.

Welcome to the forum!

Aside from our system's kata, we occasionally teach other kata. My Sensei and I both know several kata from other systems. We've taught Sanchin, Tensho, Seiyunchin, Wansu, Enpi, Rohai, Seisan, Rokkishu, and Hakutsuru. There may even be others that I can't think of right now. These aren't kata that we regularly teach, though--just when they would fit someone in particular.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

The equipment is similar to the Olympic TKD body pad, although the headgear is more like the Kudo headgear. The organization doesn't ring any bells for me--they probably just named the organization after the competition format, since it was being called koshiki to begin with. I know Robert Trias of Shuri-Ryu had at least something to do with the koshiki competitions in the USA.

My old dojo allowed some people to do it--the head instructor won the first koshiki tournament in the US, back in the day. It seems to be a modern resurrection of the bogu kumite that was advocated for by the likes of Mabuni Kenwa and Nakamura Shigeru in the early 20th Century. From what I saw of it, koshiki does allow hard contact and throws, but it's still a rather restricted ruleset that focuses on modern tournament-style fighting methods, and they still pause the fight to assign points. That said, I don't believe there is a single overseeing organization that handles koshiki, so different groups may be doing it differently.

Well, I assume "Ueshiro Shorin-Ryu Karate USA" would be an organization that teaches Ueshiro Ansei Sensei's brand of Matsubayashi-Ryu. If so, then I suppose I've heard of it--he was a rather well-known instructor under Nagamine Shoshin, if I remember correctly.

I started out blogging on Blogger about 7 years ago, and posted pretty regularly for a while. Then, I took a couple years off, and then started up a new blog on Blogger, which I kept up with better. Recently, I upgraded to using WordPress. Personally, I think blogging is a very healthy way of delving into your own thoughts on your training.

The Gracies actually did start the UFC, and they did it to showcase Jiu-Jitsu--that WAS the whole purpose of the tournament. Royce also won UFC 1, 2, 4, and fought to a draw in 5. That said, MMA has evolved quite a bit since those early tournaments, and Jiu-Jitsu does not hold the power it once did inside the cage. Honestly, wrestling is beating BJJ more often than not, these days, and striking is slowly becoming more dominant as fighters become more well-rounded. It may have started as a marketing tool for the Gracies, but it isn't anymore.

I love watching MMA, and I even participated in an MMA bout, once. Certainly, MMA is not a perfect representation of self defense, but there is still value in an arranged fight between trained opponents--especially in a venue where the ruleset is relatively open, and allows for many types of fighting, the way MMA does. The pressure testing aspect of it, if nothing else, is very valuable. Interestingly, the more MMA develops and evolves, the more old-school karate techniques I see showing up. I've written a variety of articles on the topic, and I routinely save animated GIFs of fighters using these techniques, even when they have no idea that those techniques exist in karate. Think of how popular shovel/oblique kicks and side kicks to the legs are becoming. Trapping and limb control are also showing up more and more often. I think the more fighters grow and evolve, the more we will see the more advanced aspects of traditional martial arts. The image is one I've seen thrown around Facebook an awful lot, but it's just marketing. Traditional schools are often worried that MMA schools will steal their students. There is definitely a difference between the training in traditional martial arts and the training in MMA, but the image is sensationalist and biased. I've met and spoken to a lot of very respectful, humble MMA fighters, and to say they aren't disciplined is ridiculous! Also, the MMA fighter pictured is Jeff Monson, who is quite intelligent and articulate. Besides, I don't know about anyone else, but my karate is pretty brutal.

I'll be honest--organization and planning are NOT my strong suits! I train at least a little bit every day, but it's pretty random. A kata here, a drill there, an exercise there, all scattered throughout the day. Sometimes, I will set aside a long block of time for training, but most of the time I just wing it and do what feels right, when it feels right. Efficient? Maybe not, but it works for me.

Wastelander, thank you for sharing that. Is bridge a more appropriate term for the chamber or are you referring to something different? Can you provide a youtube sample? Does this help at all?