Wastelander

Ties are definitely the first thing to go, if you are doing much grappling--there is a reason that judogi and BJJ kimonos don't have ties to begin with! Personally, I just cut them off from the get-go. I did keep the ties on my formal dogi, since I only really wear it for seminars and belt tests, and the ties are reinforced so they can handle that much wear and tear. At least, they have so far.

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I'm right-handed, but I spend about 75% of my sparring time in a Southpaw stance. There are pros and cons to everything, but I would say that people fighting from a left-handed stance generally have an advantage over people fighting from a right-handed stance. That advantage being that there are more right-handed people than left, so both people will have more experience fighting against right-handed people than left-handed people. Personally, I find that fighting from an open stance like that really opens up my strikes, in general. You just have more space to work.

Thanks for sharing, Leigh. I've seen this application from a few people, including Iain, so I'm familiar with the idea. I do want to point out that this technique would actually be legal in MMA competition, as the wrist is not considered a "small joint"--that rules only covers fingers and toes. The real trick is that gloves and wraps make wrist locks pretty much impossible! Personally, I don't like to use this lock as an application for the opening of Passai, because the mechanics don't feel right to me. I do use it in other kata, but not here. There are two applications I generally prefer, and they are both a little more Ti-inspired than that. Of course, my Passai Dai is not the same as your Bassai Dai--my Passai Sho would actually be closer.

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Welcome to the forum!

I'm in IT--have been for about 12 years, now--and currently an "Energy Systems Analyst," which is a fancy way of saying that I am basically the help desk for computers that control lighting and HVAC systems.

Thanks, everyone!

I will say that, technically, the word "bunkai" means "to separate and analyze." It is more commonly used to mean "kata applications," which isn't accurate, but hey, we aren't native Japanese speakers, right? From what I understand, if you ask most old Okinawan masters for kata bunkai, they will ask which section of which kata, and then break down exactly how and when every muscle and joint moves in that sequence. If you're looking at bunkai in that fashion, then "how to move" is EXACTLY what it is teaching. If we're looking at bunkai from the Western perspective of being kata applications, it does seem that people often get caught up focusing on what the opponent is doing, which can be a bit of a hindrance. The concepts being applied by both parties are more important than the specific techniques being used by either party. In that regard, bunkai can teach you "how to move," I suppose, but "how to move," in this case, should still be within the context of self defense and fighting.

I'm not a "weapons guy," but I find myself strangely interested in the mae sun sawk (wooden arm shields) of Siam/Thailand. They are the ancestors of what eventually became the Okinawan tonfa, and can even be seen in Hokama Sensei's Okinawan Karate History Museum. There are many different styles, but the ones in the Museum are basically heavy round tonfa that have ropes to tie them onto the forearms, with an extra handle to act as a handguard. My Sensei has a bigger interest in weapons than I do, and with his recent birthday and belt promotion, I decided to make him a pair. My woodworking skills are pretty poor, but I think they came out okay, all things considered. At this stage, they are basically just heavy round tonfa: http://s21.postimg.org/resirrc2f/11173323_1594811257428094_5093106604360184379_n.jpg Now, tonfa with a handguard: http://s21.postimg.org/rq9z4isif/11014633_1594811267428093_4796485270016800873_n.jpg The handle and handguard pinned in place, and the holes drilled for the forearm ropes: http://s21.postimg.org/jolqmm9qv/11048744_1594811284094758_6977764894444985214_n.jpg All finished, with the excess wood from the handle, guard, and pegs ground off, everything sanded smooth, and painted, with the tied forearm ropes: http://s21.postimg.org/3p3332dp3/11125189_1594811300761423_174736905038284635_n.jpg I presented them to my Sensei at the dojo, last night, and he was very pleased with them. Several other people were very excited about them, as well .

I recently posted about my Sensei being promoted to Godan, and now that he has gotten back from Okinawa, I've been able to hear all kinds of great stories about his trip. Something interesting came up, though, that I was curious to get feedback on from others here on KF--that is the subject of "Renshi belts." For those who don't know, these are belts that are split down the middle with red on one side, and white on the other, like this one: http://www.kataaro.com/Products/Renshi-Belt__4939.aspx Different styles and organizations give the title of Renshi at different ranks, if they use it at all, and it isn't always connected to dan ranks. In our organization, though, the Renshi title is given to Godan and Rokudan instructors. That means my Sensei is now a Renshi. Most Renshi in our organization do not wear the above "Renshi belts," but some do. Interestingly, my Sensei's Sensei told him (and a Rokudan from our dojo) to wear Renshi belts instead of their regular black belts. It's a bit of a strange adjustment, but they agreed to do it. We know of quite a few Nanadan and Hachidan who don't wear their kohaku-obi (the "candy cane" belts used along with Kyoshi titles) for anything but formal events, so after the belts break in, that might be the route they take. My question is; does your style/organization/dojo use different colored belts after black belt? When are they used? Do they denote ranks, titles, or both?

I think that most proponents of practical karate are familiar with Motobu Choki, but for those who are not, he was born in 1870 as the third son of a branch of the Okinawan royal family. Being the third son, he was not taught his family's system of udundi (palace hand), although he spied on his father and oldest brother's training, and picked up some material from his brother. His noble birth did come with connections, however, and he was able to train with several Okinawan masters of karate, although he frustrated several of them with his tendency to go to the docks and get into fights to test his karate. One of the masters he trained with was Matsumora Kosaku, which has led many people to say that Motobu's karate was actually Tumaidi (Tomari-te). Recently, the Motobu-Ryu organization on Okinawa published an article on this topic, and Okinawan martial arts researcher, Andreas Quast, just published an English translation of that article. I thought some here might find it interesting. http://ryukyu-bugei.com/?p=4123

Well, the mikazuki-geri part of that sequence is a Shotokan addition that we don't do in Shorin-Ryu, but we do often kick as we step in application. With that in mind, we can assume the mikazuki-geri in Shotokan's version of Pinan Sandan is simply emphasizing that application. As for what the arms are doing, we generally use them for elbow wrenches followed by strikes. The kata repeats the sequence in case the technique fails, and repeats again to put you back on the initial side before you continue. A friend of mine--Ryan Parker--uses this continuous flow-drill for this sequence, which I have adopted. He is only using the upper-body movements in the video, but the steps and stances from the kata can be done in the drill.

First of all--welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are very new to karate. My initial recommendation would be to ask your sensei, or one of your senpai, about the techniques you are having trouble learning. They should be willing and able to help you, either during class, or before/after. Practicing at home is great! Necessary, even. The trick is that you need to practice things properly, and you will have to have your sensei or senpai make sure you can do that. For connecting the hip to the punch, I like to start people a simple stance-shifting drill. Stand in a 45 degree shiko-dachi, then drive forward with your back foot so that your back leg straightens, turning your shiko-dachi into a zenkutsu-dachi. If you have your arms relaxed, and you do the shift correctly, you should notice your back hand swings forward. Once you have a feel for how that works, you can start punching with that hand, instead of letting it swing. This drill won't magically fix everything, but it gives you something to work with, and you can start to feel how everything should move together. As for using a heavy bag at home, you might want to just start throwing one punch at a time, focusing on kihon. I know that putting together combinations and finding a rhythm is more fun, but form can suffer when you do that. At your stage, you would probably benefit most from sticking to the basics. Throw your choku-tsuki, one at a time, against the bag, from a variety of stances and with different kinds of stepping. Once you're comfortable with that, add the second punch with the other hand.

This is an interesting idea--I suppose I never really thought of trying to relay an overall approach to kata application through a single phrase. I do tend to say "shut them down" fairly often, because I feel like it's pretty self-explanatory in the context of kata application.

I'm a bit confused as to the connection between the MMA gym you mention and the person you describe. Does this person own the MMA gym? Do they teach there? Or are these two completely separate issues? Personally, I would at least tell your friend that you know they are exaggerating their experience, and that they should not be doing so. That gives them an opportunity to correct their course and save face. Claiming to have double your actual years of experience, and three to five 5th dan ranks in arts that don't give them away like candy, is a recipe for disaster, and privately calling them out can potentially save them from that. Now, if this person is teaching, and they don't make a change based on your private conversation, then something more drastic may need to be done. Hopefully, your friend will see reason. As for the MMA gym putting people into amateur fights without much skill training, I would say that isn't terribly uncommon. From what I understand, it's pretty standard for MMA gyms to line up amateur fights for people with about 6-9 months of training, with 1-3 hours a week of skills training during that time, and the rest being strength and conditioning. Since promoters will generally match up amateurs with similar amounts of training and experience, these people will probably be fighting someone with about as much skill as they have. It's certainly not my preferred approach, but it does seem to be the way most MMA gyms do things.

I've seen some "dojo for rent" ads on Craigslist here in Arizona, although they often say "dojo/dance studio for rent." Generally, they are spaces that started off as commercial spaces that were rented out by someone to teach dance or martial arts, and they reached a point where they could no longer pay and were evicted. Rather than sell off all the stuff inside, the owners just leave it and rent it out as a pre-equipped space.

As a karateka, I'm pretty much automatically a fan of any MMA fighter with a karate background, and Machida is no exception. Tomorrow night, he fights Luke Rockhold--a fighter with a somewhat karate-esque fighting style, despite having no karate background that I'm aware of. Jack Slack wrote an article for VICE on the upcoming bout: http://fightland.vice.com/blog/rockhold-and-machida-pressure-versus-patience What do you all think? Can Machida's bait-and-counter stop Rockhold's aggression? Can Rockhold stifle Machida's movement with his forward pressure? Who are you rooting for?

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! We kind of suspected his Sensei would have him test, but we didn't know for sure. He really just went over there to train, and at some point, his Sensei told him he was testing.

Well, I'm nothing special, but I started training at 18, and I was out of shape with almost no sport background. I feel like I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. As for people of note who started after the age of 18, I can think of an awful lot of them! The first generation of Western karateka pretty much all started training in karate during their military service, which puts them in or above the age range you mentioned. Does training as soon as you can walk give you a head start? Yes. That doesn't mean that someone who starts training later in life can't become just as skilled, or more so!

My Sensei is currently on Okinawa with his Sensei--Eddie Bethea--to train at the honbu dojo and experience the culture of the homeland of karate. On this visit, he was asked to test for Godan (5th Degree Black Belt) in front of Nakazato Minoru Sensei. Of course, he passed! Here he is with Nakazato Sensei: http://s23.postimg.org/b7c7sejy3/10410112_10204564891335393_6182274753824530199_n.jpg Here is a video of him running Chinto during the test: I'm very proud of his accomplishment, and proud to be his student, so I'm bragging a little

While it is certainly important, we generally consider hojo undo (supplementary training) to be something students should do on their own time. Class is for learning material and working with partners, and the more time you spend exercising, the less time you spend training. In the kids' and family classes, we do spend 5-10 minutes on it, because kids aren't very good at taking it upon themselves to stay fit and strong. The teen and adult classes very rarely include any supplemental fitness/strength work, except when Sensei is teaching how to use some kind of equipment, or how to do some particular exercise. Every now and then, we will do a 15-20 minute workout just because Sensei feels like we need it, but it's very rare.

The belt washing one really gets to me--I actually made a "how to wash your belt" video on YouTube for that reason! Another M&M that gets me is "karate was developed by farmers to defend against samurai."

Our dojo is about 6400 square feet, total, but that includes office space, a couple massage rooms, a storage/weight room, and the front lobby area. We have two narrow rooms with hardwood floors that we run smaller classes in when the main mat area is in use. The main mat is about 1200 square feet, arranged in an L shape. I'm not sure how large the room, itself, is.

Welcome to the forum!