Wastelander

8 out of every 10 students were failed?! That certainly seems like sabotage, to me! I hope you are able to work this out--you are definitely in a tough situation. As for your questions, I think that I would still be learning from my Sensei, and developing as a martial artist, without our organization. The style, as a whole, would fragment and there would be a loss of consistency in curriculum, but people would still be teaching what they have learned. To me, an organization provides a sense of normalcy across a large group of people, to make sure they are doing the same stuff. If you dissolve that organization, all of those people are still doing the same stuff they learned, but over time, it will change. Whether those changes are good or bad remains to be seen.

They cover about the same amount of the hand, although the WKF mitts stick out further to the front and less around the edges. The biggest differences are the lack of thumb protection on the WKF mitts, and the fact that the WKF mitts force your hand into a more curled position, making some grappling difficult, but making accidental eye pokes less common.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to give a quick overview of an event I attended this week, in case anyone here has the chance to go to it in the future, as it is an annual event. Next year, it will be in San Antonio, Tx. http://s18.postimg.org/sqc6odhdl/11701146_1096007190428421_9180602343132633449_n.jpg The Brotherhood of Veteran Warriors is a martial arts organization that is entirely based on the sharing of knowledge--they don't do any ranking or curriculum--and it was founded by a group of American military veterans. This event saw me as the youngest karateka in attendance, and the only one without military or law enforcement experience. I was honored to be invited, and I had a great time! We covered standing chokes, gun defense, tuidi, self defense, knife defense, handgun retention, and Krav Maga escapes from ground situations. http://s1.postimg.org/n4kdkwn0f/Noah_and_Chuck_Merriman.jpg The guest of honor was Chuck Merriman Sensei, who is a 9th-dan with the Jundokan, and was recently given an honorary 10th-dan by a panel of senior karateka from several styles. I had the honor of being his demonstration partner for a few moments, and I got to speak with him quite a bit over the two days of the Gasshuku. If you ever get a chance to learn from him, you should absolutely do so! He is a great man, and a wealth of knowledge!

They are generally MMA sparring gloves--most MMA fighters don't actually spar with the 4oz gloves they fight with, but with gloves like these. My Sensei and I use Combat Sports Intl, actually, which is the same brand you have pictured. They are great, and durable! My Sensei has a lace-up pair that are over 10 years old, and still going strong.

My Sensei and I use those, and they work great! Enough padding to take the edge off, not so much that it gets in the way, and you can still grapple fairly well. I highly recommend them over any other gloves I've used

At my first dojo, I was told the myth about your experience and hard work being washed out of the belt. At my current dojo, I was told that it was a matter of respect for what the belt represents. In judo, though, I was told that it should be washed with my dogi to prevent the spread of skin infections. With as much grappling and close-in fighting as we do, I always tell people to wash their belts--I even made a YouTube video about it

Welcome to the forum!

A few people at our dojo sneak it in, but they picked it up from Japanese styles--it just isn't said on Okinawa. I've shared Jesse's article on the topic a few times . I always thought it was weird that BJJ somehow picked up the word, too

Congratulations!

I started training because I had an interest in weapons and Japanese culture, and wanted to learn Japanese sword, but it wasn't available, so I joined a karate dojo that also taught weapons. Secondarily, I also hoped it would get me in better shape. Now, I train for the love of it, and for developing self defense skills, and for teaching.

Thanks, everyone! Of course!

Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment!

Thanks! The initial armbar, and the shoulder lock, are both from Naihanchi. The straight-arm lock and throw are from Pinan Yondan. That said, with some slight modifications, you could use entirely techniques from Naihanchi.

While I agree that one shouldn't rush through their kata, I feel that there is also value in doing so from time to time. If the movements must be applied quickly, and blended together, then it only makes sense that we should practice them that way, at least occasionally. Consider Tetsuhiro Hokama Sensei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7GBs-LE1A He runs a karate history museum out of his dojo on Okinawa, and is considered a master of Goju-Ryu karate, which is a fact that I don't think many would debate. From what I understand, though, he regularly runs his kata the way you see in the video, above. It has sections that are controlled and precise, but it also has sections that are seemingly-sloppy flurries of movement. He says that he does this because of the applications of the kata, and that makes perfect sense to me. Now, all that said, I feel that this is really only beneficial if you've learned how to do all the movements properly and precisely, first. That requires you to slow way down, and practice at a regular tempo.

Hello, everyone! My Sensei and I just made this video showing a simple armlock flow drill, using tuidi-waza from our kata. It doesn't teach how to do each individual lock, but rather how to transition from one technique to another in response to your opponent's resistance. I thought some folks here might find it useful!

I wear UnderArmour for the moisture wicking and cooling benefit, rather than the skin protection. Phoenix is hot, and overheating is bad

We have some who do, but most do not. I always wear UnderArmour, which works quite well for me. Honestly, I'm not sure why everyone doesn't wear a rashguard or UnderArmour under their gi.

Everyone has different criteria when they go looking for a martial arts school, so it's almost impossible to say that there is just one thing that brings people in. I would say that our three biggest draws are location (our students generally live somewhat nearby), youth programs (after-school and day camps), and curriculum (we offer a fairly wide variety of material).

Welcome back! Do you train with Ray Owles Sensei, by any chance? I know he's in that area.

I fairly regularly tell students to look things up on YouTube--I certainly have! In fact, I have actually learned the pattern of a kata entirely from video, before, so that I could get proper corrections on it when the instructor visited for a few weeks, rather than have him spend a week teaching me the pattern before getting to the good stuff. The trouble is, as you've discovered, that not all styles want to publicly post videos of their kata. I think this is silly, especially considering the technology age we are living in. My organization doesn't tend to like it, but we post stuff, anyway. Luckily, there are some videos of Chibana Chosin (the founder of our style) that are publicly available, so I can refer people to those, if nothing else. My recommendation would be to ask your instructor if you can record him/her running the kata you need. You can agree to keep it private, if that's what they want, but you would still have a video to use for reference, and you would know it is exactly what you are supposed to do. Since every dojo and every branch of a style has subtle differences--even if you did find a Kenshin-kan video, somewhere, it might not be exactly the way you're supposed to do it.

Welcome to the forum!

1. Speed - You are actually talking about two different things, here--physical speed, and mental speed. Physical speed can be increased in a number of ways. Plyometric and explosive weight training (Olympic lifts) will do that. Proper body mechanics will also do that, if you drill your basics with that in mind. Mental speed will develop naturally over the course of your training, I believe. The more you spar and drill, the faster your reaction time will be, and the less you will have to think about what to do. 2. Strength - This one is pretty straight-forward; start a strength training regimen of some kind. Check out Michael Clarke's book on Hojo Undo, and/or look into modern programs like Stronglifts, Wendler, or Starting Strength. Get the right nutrition, lift heavy things, and get some sleep, and you will get stronger. 3. Breakfalls - It seems like your main concern is with front falls, which isn't surprising, since they are the scariest breakfall to learn, and quite jarring. Have you tried practicing them from a kneeling position on the floor, so you don't have to fall as far?

I use a 150lb 6ft Muay Thai bag from Outslayer, and it is fantastic. I would never buy anything else, now that I've used it. It's heavy enough to give good feedback and resistance, dense enough to have a conditioning effect, soft enough to prevent injury, smooth enough to not tear your hands up, and tall enough to work strikes from ankles to head. I think I have used gloves or wraps just a handful of times, but usually only if I have some kind of injury with my hands. I really don't like using them--they mess up my alignment and change the feel of the strikes, plus the slapping sound of gloves tends to make you think you're hitting harder than you are. If you get a bag heavier than about 50lbs, you probably shouldn't start hitting it as hard as you can bareknuckle, because you'll hurt your hands, but you can build up to it. I've gotten to the point where I can do about 20 minutes of bagwork with no ill effects. Much longer than that, and my knuckles will tend to bruise, but it's not the end of the world.

What kind of rope/striking surface did you use for the Makiwara? At the dojo, we use Shureido leather makiwara pads. I have made leather pads for my old dojo. My personal makiwara, I made a pad the traditional way because I'm a nerd like that, although I had to use manila rope instead of rice rope. I feel its important to point out that wrapping the board in rope is NOT how to make a makiwara pad. They were made out of a bundle of rope or straw, which was then wrapped in rope, and the whole assembly was tied to the board. It is a much different surface to strike than just wrapping the board in rope. Here is mine: http://s13.postimg.org/isarr68x3/Homemade_Makiwara_Pad.jpg

I can't really comment from firsthand experience, because I've never used sine wave theory power generation. That said, it seems to me that the sine wave theory is an over-emphasis of one aspect of power generation. Basically, dropping your bodyweight into a strike can add power, and so can driving your weight upward, depending on how you are striking. That said, this rising and falling is only one aspect of power generation, and it seems the sine wave theory uses it to the exclusion of everything else. Now, there are also people who do the same thing with hip twisting, and with driving forward. They will neglect all aspects of power generation aside from the one they want to specialize in. In reality, to get the most power out of your techniques, you must be able to rise/fall, twist, and drive/pull, all together, depending on the technique you are using.