Wastelander

I do think that practicing empty hand kata with weapons can certainly be an interesting and enlightening experience. Indeed, some weapons (tekko, tonfa, sai, etc.) are excellent force multipliers that can be used with the same techniques the kata is teaching empty handed. There are also occasional movements in kata that could possibly be seen as references to the use of a concealed weapon, such as a hairpin or small knife. That said, I've never been sold on the "empty hand kata are secretly weapons kata" idea. Even after the Japanese Satsuma conquered the Ryukyu islands in the 1600's, they left the Okinawan nobility to continue their role of policing and defending the islands. They also continued managing their trade and envoy ships traveling to and from China (which was the reason Japan largely left them alone), and they had to protect those ships from Wokou (pirates). We know that Okinawan weapons systems, including sword and spear systems, were passed down through Okinawan nobility and military for these purposes. They simply had no reason to hide weapons systems within empty hand kata, at least not beyond a quick "by the way, if you have a hairpin, you can stab them here" movement or two.

Honestly, from talking to non-martial-arts people, I've found that they generally don't even know there are different levels of black belt. Even if they see that someone is described as an "X Degree Black Belt," they don't understand what that means, or how it's any different from "black belt." What tends to catch people's eye more is how many black belts someone has, rather than how high a level of black belt they are. Of course, we all know that neither a high level black belt, nor a bunch of black belts, mean that someone is a good instructor. Calling an instructor's organization or teacher can help, somewhat, because you can at least confirm some information about training history, knowledge, etc. Even then, though, you have to trust other people whom you can't confirm the credibility of. The organization might have some actual documents that could help, but that will usually be in the form of certifications, or "hall of fame" entries. You can pay to have a background check done, if the organization/teacher doesn't do them, but that is limited to criminal history, and doesn't vouch for skill or knowledge. Competition records for the instructor and their students can be a good guide, if you're looking for competition, but that's about it. People really have to go on trust, for the most part.

I think it's a neat idea! Thanks! This is my Sensei, Richard Poage, competing at a recent tournament with Kusanku Dai: This is his Sensei, Eddie Bethea, competing with the same kata at a tournament about 15 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1KntGGXuSo His Sensei, Nakazato Shugoro, demonstrating the same kata for an event on Okinawa: His Sensei, Chibana Chosin, demonstrating the same kata for a student in his back yard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t4eKs8Qhno

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum!

When I started training in martial arts, I gave up a lot of the time I used to spend playing video games and watching anime/movies. There is some sacrifice of time away from my wife and our pets, but I've cut that time down since I first started, to try to balance things.

I've heard of the sword idea, before, but it doesn't fit with my kenjutsu experience, or my interpretation of kata. Granted, my kenjutsu experience was limited to about a year and a half of training, but it also doesn't look like the Jigen-Ryu I've seen, which is the sword style Matsumura supposedly practiced. On top of that, older versions of Passai don't hold the left hand up with the right fist--they hold hold it down by the elbow in meotode-gamae, which is a definitively empty hand fighting method. As far as the stacked-hands postures in kata, they can certainly look like drawing or sheathing a sword. That said, I don't really see that as something that necessarily adds value to the kata. We already have effective empty handed applications for that posture passed down by various masters. It isn't exactly a mystery. I suppose I see no reason to incorporate a sword technique when I have perfectly good empty hand applications.

Sounds like you lucked out! Congratulations on finding a new dojo to train at!

Haha, yes, my Sensei goes through a wide range of hairstyles throughout the course of the year. Right now, he has a 90's hairstyle. For a while, he had a samurai hairstyle with a topknot

We have had good experiences with KI International at my dojo. My Sensei got one of their higher end dogi, recently, and he really likes it--maybe even more than his (several) Shureido dogi. They don't last quite as long, but they are still pretty durable and comfortable, in addition to being cheaper.

The Pinan kata are certainly built out of techniques from Passai, Kusanku, and Chinto, but I'm in agreement with Mark B that the Pinan kata aren't necessary prerequisites for the older kata. Because they contain many similar movements, I do think they can make it easier to learn the older kata, but that's kind of grading on a curve. In the time it took the student to learn all five Pinan kata, they could have simply been refining the older kata to begin with. In the long term view, a student will become more proficient with the older kata sooner by not learning the Pinan kata first. Now, that isn't to say that the Pinan kata have no value. While I certainly prefer older kata, the Pinan series contains a lot of good fighting techniques. I just don't feel that they are required steps on the ladder. Instead, I feel like they are extra steps. My Sensei feels the same way, and if they weren't a requirement in our organization, we would probably have stopped teaching the Pinan kata, completely.

Congratulations, Heidi! This is a huge accomplishment, and we are all very glad to have your support here! Thank you!

In addition to what has already been mentioned; battle ropes, nigiri-game, and pull-ups on a gi. You will also see improved grip strength through barbell deadlifts, which have the added benefit of improving overall strength at the same time.

The only sites I regularly read and post on are KF, Iain Abernethy's forum, and Sherdog, unless you count Facebook groups. There are two of those which I regularly interact with, called Ryukyu Martial Arts (Research and General Discussion) and Ryukyu Martial Arts (Practical Applications and Training). I do jump into a few other sites on occasion, though, and I follow a great deal of blogs.

I agree that the stationary drill is technically an unnecessary step, and I often skip it. Really, this is for people transitioning from doing the head-on drills to doing more realistic drills. Instructors sometimes like to test student's uke-waza during solo practice by walking up and punching them, forcing them to block. The trouble is that they usually do this head-on, which reinforces the wrong idea to the student. The reason I show the angled version is more for the instructor's use than anything. If you incorporate realistic angles early on, already, then it's not much of an issue. As for drilling the footwork and body movement separately, we do that, as well. We work through a variety of stepping drills, and work them into different deflections and receptions, much as you describe. We are not so different

Welcome to the forum!

Very cool! Congratulations! My wife has, a few times, had me show her a few things. She doesn't actively train, though. It's usually just helping her hit pads or the heavy bag, or showing her some self defense techniques. Whatever she feels like doing. It doesn't happen very often, though, unfortunately.

Thanks! I'm glad I could share something insightful! Interesting thoughts on Chibana. He most certainly picked up knowledge from his contemporaries, but he clearly had a great deal of respect for his primary teacher (Itosu), since he insisted on only teaching his kata, with the exception of Tawada Passai. Even then, he was specifically told to teach it by Itosu. I'm sure Chibana knew more than he taught, which is actually sad, when you think about it--who knows what was lost when he passed!? Indeed, he didn't teach any kobudo, but when asked, he could demonstrate saijutsu and bojutsu. To be fair, though, those largely use the same concepts as Ti .

I used "receiving" as a bit of a catch-all, there, but yes, I did mean "deflections," in this particular case. We do receive more along the lines of what you are thinking, as well, I believe, but that wasn't the purpose of this video and these drills. That said, it doesn't take much to change these drills into drills that receive in that fashion (if we're thinking of the same things). My knee certainly didn't do me any favors in the stationary stance, but it gave me trouble in the stepping, as well. Quick weight-shifts and turns are a problem, still, as is driving into the ground for power.

You should absolutely talk with this person, and ask them to go lighter. I will admit that I have been the guy hitting too hard in sparring, but only because I didn't know it was too hard for the person I was sparring. I try my best to judge how hard they want to be hit, based on how they hit me, but I don't always get it right. Of course, there are also accidents, but those can be forgiven. A quick "can we go lighter?" can work wonders.

Congratulations!

Hello, everyone, I've had basic blocking drills on my mind, over the past few months, and wanted to put together something on the subject. This video shows a set of drills for uke-waza (receiving techniques) that I like much better than the head-on stationary drills, or head-on/walk-back-and-forth dynamic drills that are so common in karate these days. They are still very basic, and intended to work the "receiving" application of these movements in isolation--no strikes, no grabs, etc.--the only difference is that the angles have been changed to reflect concepts found in kata. I'm afraid it isn't my best presentation. I injured my knee pretty pretty badly a couple months ago, and it still causes problems with stances, stepping, and kicking. In addition, I also tried to make my movements look as "formal" and "proper" as I could for the general karate public, which makes it look very clunky. Normally, we do this kind of thing with a much softer, open-handed approach, but that is harder to see clearly in video, sometimes. Still, I hope that the video still conveys what I intended! Any thoughts on these kinds of drills? Do you work anything similar? Are there different drills that you prefer?

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

To the bold type above... How so, Noah?? Well, from what my Sensei and I understand, the Renshi belt was invented by the Goju-Kai on mainland Japan, and was never an Okinawan trend. At some point in the Shorinkan's history, though, someone brought that belt from mainland Japan back to the West. As others have mentioned in this thread, it isn't worn on Okinawa (at least, not in the Shorinkan), but it is worn all over the rest of the world. It's a bit strange to have one bought for and given to you on Okinawa, where it would not be worn.