Wastelander

Welcome to the forum! Good luck in your search!

My dojo is definitely a second home for me. My dojo-mates feel like an extended family, and my Sensei is also a friend (we can keep those roles separate, though). It's a place where I feel safe from all the other troubles in life and I can focus on bettering myself, working out my frustrations, and sharing my passion with others.

John, first off let me apologize for not recommending your store, I completely forgot about it I'm sorry for that. Secondly you are right, I wasn't even thinking about the Chinese Tokaido line. I have heard that their quality is not very good and lifespan can be under 6 months on one of those, have you had any experience with them? I'm not John, but I figured I would throw in my two cents on this one. I was given a Tokaido Arashi (a Chinese-made gi line) for Christmas the year I started training. I used it for about 14 hours a week for a year and a half, and it held up perfectly, aside from a little sweat staining. I kept wearing the pants with a judogi top during judo, so I did eventually wear a hole in the right knee that was too big to stitch up, but that was after over 2 years of consistent use. The gi top was doing pretty well, but I had done a poor job of hemming the sleeves, and they started to tear. Around the same time, the upper part of the right sleeve started to tear where I had patches sewn on from my old dojo. If I had gotten the hemming done professionally, and if I hadn't put the patches on the sleeve, it probably would have lasted quite a while longer than it did. I've known people who have made them last as long as 6 years. As it was, mine made it through about 3.5 years of hard use, which comes out to about $40 per year for the cost (at the time) of the gi. I couldn't really complain--that would have been the cost of replacing torn lightweight uniforms every year!

Not in any sort of wide-spread way, like Kyokushin and its derivatives. Goju-Ryu does have iri kumi (close fighting), which is very much like knockdown, but most of the videos I have seen labeled "iri kumi" don't look like it, so I gather it isn't really common in Goju-Ryu. Some Shorin-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu people do it, but again, it isn't common. That kind of sparring just isn't as much an integral part of any other style. It's really what Kyokushin was made for.

I started training in karate because there wasn't a Japanese swordsmanship or kendo school in the area, actually. I have always been a nerd, and I really found myself drawn to Japanese culture through films, anime, and manga. That, coupled with my pre-existing interest in medieval European arms and armor, led me to being very interested in Japanese swordsmanship. It didn't hurt that I was out of shape, and I figured it would help me in that department. I looked around, but couldn't find anything, except for a karate school that also taught Okinawan weapons and Japanese sword after you reached yellow belt. I started in karate, and ended up getting hooked! I did work on weapons, but I found myself much less interested in them than the empty hand material.

If a dojo is not fulfilling your needs as a martial artist, and the instructor can't (or won't) change anything that needs changing, then you will need to go somewhere else. Before you leave, I would recommend talking to the new chief instructor to see if he can rein things in, or at least explain why he does things the way he does. If you do leave, hansenator is absolutely correct--finding an instructor that fits you is better than searching for the ideal martial arts style. Out of curiosity, what happened to your old chief instructor? You said you got a new one, but never said what happened to the old one. If he/she simply stopped running the school, perhaps you can arrange lessons with him/her? Of course, if he/she moved away, that wouldn't really be feasible.

As time passes, new masters develop as old masters die--we can only hope that the new masters expand on the knowledge of the old, and don't lose too much. I have noticed that some of the modern masters are trying to spread their knowledge a little more widely than they used to, but it's still not a huge number of masters or huge amount of expansion. Shinjo Kiyohide Sensei of Uechi-Ryu and Taira Masaji of Goju-Ryu, in particular, have projects going on for this purpose. I've also seen some expansion in knowledge sharing amongst Shorin-Ryu masters, as well. As far as lineage and organizations go, I don't know how much can be done to preserve them when they are headed by on person, as cheesefrysamurai mentions. The Shorinkan, for example, has been headed by Nakazato Shugoro since he founded it. He is still alive but, at 95 years of age, he has passed on the running of the organization to his son, Nakazato Minoru. So far, I don't think anyone has broken away from the Shorinkan because of this, but I suspect there will be a schism when Nakazato Shugoro passes away. The same thing happened when his sensei, Chibana Chosin, passed away--his top students all started their own organizations and claimed to be the true successor of Chibana. I'm hoping that Nakazato Shugoro's approach to succession (appointing his son with the approval of the Board of the Shorinkan) will keep the splintering to a minimum, but we'll see how things turn out.

I will say that, even on Okinawa, karate has been changed. My KishimotoDi teacher actually told me that he knows a very old man on Okinawa who learned old-style karate before WW2, and that man said that they changed karate after the war to be more like Japanese karate so they could sell it to the Westerners stationed there. He actually admitted that he forgot almost all of the old-style karate material because of that. It can still be found, of course, but it's not so easy to come by. Sometimes the organizations don't keep their websites updated very well--Crowder Sensei may not have his dojo, anymore, or he may simply not have a website. If you Google him, you can find phone numbers that are supposed to be for his dojo. At worst, it will be a wrong number. You can try looking into other organizations, as well. There could be Goju-Ryu, Uechi-Ryu, or other Shorin-Ryu organizations that have instructors in your area, but they may not have websites or advertising for their dojo. You can also try contacting other martial arts schools in the area--a lot of them will know each other, and might be able to get you in contact with the kind of instructor you are looking for.

It isn't terribly common, but it does happen. It's much more rare with adults than children, though. My Sensei has taken belts away from three students, that I can recall--every one of them under the age of 9. Kids go through a lot of changes as they grow up, and martial arts can contribute to that in a positive way, but only to a point. Hopefully your instructor has followed up with the parents to discuss the issue.

My guess is that you are overthinking it--I was overthinking everything leading up to my shodan test, last year . Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! We use quite a bit of tuidi (seizing hand) techniques in our dojo, so we certainly work at close range a lot. That said, we don't use kakidi/kakete/kakie all that often--maybe once or twice a month. The majority of our tactile sensitivity drills are more ballistic, like the ones bushido_man96 linked to. Personally, though, I have been working on developing my tactile sensitivity in a variety of other ways, using both equipment and partners: While I never had a problem using our kata applications prior to starting this kind of supplemental training, I have certainly seen improvement because of it. Just last week, I had a very experienced (40+ years of training) partner comment that my locks had gotten much smoother. I think the more I work on it, the more I will see improvement. In addition, as I think Mark B alluded to, the kakidi position is an excellent platform for learning the concepts of a technique, and how to apply it by feel. This is, in my opinion, something that is very important. I've seen people learn all kinds of great, old school karate techniques, and then they can never find a way to fit them into live training. I think the reason for that is their lack of ability to "feel" the technique. I will say that I don't have any problems with kata applications that are based solely on realistic attacks, in the vein of "moves for this" and "moves for that." If they are drilled thoroughly and practiced in an alive manner, I think they can work quite well. I've met quite a few karateka who practice this way, and have had to use it in real life, and it worked just fine. I do think that this approach is much more limited, however, than developing a "feel" for the technique.

Glad you can get back on the mat!

The books that bushido_man96 recommended are excellent resources to get you started! Abernethy and Wilder both also have some free videos on their YouTube Channels with examples of kata applications. In addition, I would recommend that you check out Paul Enfield's videos on https://www.youtube.com/GKCgoju where he shares training methods and techniques from his Sensei's approach to Goju-Ryu. I can also recommend this video from my friend, Ryan Parker, which is from one of the instructional videos he recorded back in the early 90's: In general, you're not going to find a whole lot of material based on the Taikyoku kata, since they weren't built with practical application in mind. You can find ways to use them, of course, but you won't find too much good material labeled "Taikyoku bunkai," I don't think. It's the older kata where you are going to find relevant material. There are also some videos and books out there on specific movements, like the infamous "low block," that could be useful. As far as kata application in sparring, don't worry about that too much--the techniques in kata are meant to be used in a different context than the one most people use in sparring. I use kata techniques in sparring a lot more than most people seem to, but I'm still limited by the context most of the time.

First of all, welcome to the forum! As far as your quest for Okinawan karate in your area, I'm afraid I don't know of any. It looks like you are in a pretty remote (but probably beautiful) area, so your options are going to be limited. The closest Shorinkan dojo I know of is in Bozeman, which is quite a long distance from you. Google didn't turn much up in your surrounding area, but you might be able to find a dojo by going to the websites of Okinawan karate organizations--they often have listings of affiliated dojo, sorted by country and state. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum! People often get caught up in trying to find the right style but, as Iskrax and sensei8 mentioned, the style isn't really that important, unless you want to be a part of a specific lineage. You really just need to go visit those schools, talk to the instructors, watch and try some classes, and see what works best for you. All four of those styles are going to vary greatly in the way they are taught and practiced, so you have to check it out on the local level.

Thanks for the review!

Hello everyone, Several people here on KF have mentioned that they do some form of kakidi/kakete/kakie (hooked/crossed hands) training at their dojo. It occurs to me that we've never really had a thorough discussion about that type of training, though. I figured it would be an interesting topic, if we could get some valuable discussion going on. This will be a long post, in order to provide the (what I feel to be) necessary background information, so please bear with me! For those who are unfamiliar, a quick Google search of "kakie" will provide you with a variety of examples of the type of training I'm talking about. Kakete is simply another word for it, and kakidi is the Uchinaguchi (Okinawan language) pronunciation of kakete. Basically, you and a partner get into closed-face stances (usually) and cross your lead arms at the wrists, and then go through a variety of exercises for pushing, pulling, resisting, and redirecting. I think most people probably associate this type of training with Naha-Te styles. This is fair, since Goju-Ryu folks seem to have preserved this training method more widely than other styles. Still, I know it exists in Shuri-Te and Tomari-Te styles, too. We practice some of these types of drills in my dojo, but not as frequently as some of my Goju-Ryu friends. Lately, though, I've been on a bit of a kakidi kick, which has been partially spurred on by an increase in its popularity within a karate study group I am a part of. So, we know that people practice this type of training, but what they do with it is less consistent. Some people just do the back-and-forth pushing, some people do very flowing movements similar to Taiji pushing hands, some do lots of joint locks, some do lots of strikes, some cross arms on the inside while others cross on the outside, etc. There are so many variations that it's hard to keep track of them all! What I would like to know is, for the people here on KF who practice some form of kakidi/kakete/kakie, how and why do you do it? Can you explain (or even share video) some of the drills that you practice? Do you have a particular focus on what you are developing when you are doing this type of training?

I was originally taught to only ever pivot on the heel. The reasoning behind it was that pivoting on the balls of your feet moved you away from your opponent, and therefor you lost power. Now, I have since learned that this really only applies to specific scenarios, but at the time, we were told that it was the way you were always supposed to pivot. In my current style, we mostly pivot on the heels, but there are some times when we pivot on the balls of the feet. In KishimotoDi, on the other hand, you always pivot on the balls of the feet. Sometimes, I find that pivoting through the center of the foot works better, for me, personally. When it comes to pivoting, there are pros and cons to every method. They all have situations in which they work best, situations in which they don't work well at all, and situations where it doesn't really matter too much. There are stylistic preferences, but over time you will find your own preferences, as well.

I'm in agreement with AlwaysInTraining. The people who flinch and are afraid tend to be that way because getting hit is "the unknown." The unknown pain is always more frightening than the known pain. If you can work on your body conditioning, and grow accustomed to being hit, and hitting someone back, then it won't be frightening anymore. It may also be beneficial for you to do some trust exercises with your partners, before hand, just so you aren't panicking during the conditioning training.

My Sensei is certainly not replaceable--he is a fundamental part of my karate journey. That said, he believes (and hopes) that there will come a day when he has a student who has nothing left to learn from him, and then that student should seek further instruction from someone else. I don't see that as replacement, though, but as addition. I'm certainly anywhere near that point, anyway

It does certainly sound like your Sensei's job simply doesn't leave him with enough time to really teach, which leaves him too stressed out and rushed when he does teach. If you aren't learning anything and improving, then there isn't much sense in you continuing to go to classes. If your Sensei doesn't have the time or knowledge to train you privately, then it doesn't make sense to keep training with him. Practice at home as much as you can, research as much as you can, try to find other martial artists to meet up with and learn from. When you move for school, find a good dojo and get started with them. With your instructor being a nidan, he probably can't promote you to shodan--usually, you can only promote people up to 2 or 3 ranks below your own. That may be why he's never brought it up. Since you aren't affiliated with an organization, your rank probably won't be recognized anywhere else, so you'll probably have to start at white belt. Try to see that as an opportunity, rather than a setback.

Congratulations!

Well, cici118, you are certainly in a tough situation. You are at an age and experience level where you should not be in a class for children. You have outgrown them, and it sounds like your Sensei may have reached a point where he is burnt out. If you want to keep training with him, I would say you will need to ask him for private lessons instead of attending the regular classes. If you decide to quit, and just keep practicing your karate at home until you move somewhere that has a dojo you can join, that can work for you. At brown belt, you should really be starting to train more on your own, anyway. As far as your rank goes, and what will happen to it if you stop training with your Sensei or go to a new dojo, try not to worry about it. In all likelihood, a dojo that does the same style and is in the same organization as your instructor will probably recognize your rank, regardless. Any other dojo will probably have you start at white belt, though, and that's perfectly fine! If you focus on the training and the learning, the rank will come with time.

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, Itosu was one of Funakoshi's teachers, along with Azato.