Wastelander

I'm a very poor runner--my lungs are permanently damaged from childhood asthma, my feet are pronated, and my knees are bad. I can't run very fast for very long, even under the influence of adrenaline. For self defense purposes, for me, it's important to be able to deliver maximum damage in a very short time so I can escape at a sustainable pace. Strength/explosiveness (and technique, of course) are very important for that, in my opinion.

I'm sorry to read all of this--I hope you recover quickly, and can get back on the floor!

Congratulations!

Yes, there are kiai points, but I often don't audibly kiai when I practice by myself. In the first kata, Wansu, the kiai points are on the pull/uppercut after the front kick, and on the downward palm heel strike after the spin. In Gojushiho/Useishi, the kiai points are at the first standing swim-block/spear hand facing the front, and at the double spear hand facing the rear in cat stance. Of course, those are just for the styles I learned these kata in. Other styles and organizations have kiai points in different places.

A few years ago, a friend of mine started a tradition of welcoming the New Year with kata out in the yard. This year, we decided to run the first kata we ever learned (Wansu), and the last kata we learned (for me, that's Gojushiho/Useishi). I've kind of Shorin-Ryu-ized Wansu, so I apologize to my Shuri-Ryu friends for that . It's colder for my friend, back in Illinois, than it is for me here in Arizona, but tonight was still pretty chilly (less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit) and rainy. Normally, we do this without shoes of any kind, but I forgot to clean the yard up, today, so I had to wear sandals. That actually turned out to be worse, because the wet grass not only made my feet numb, but also made the sandals stick to the ground, and made my feet slide around on the sandals!

Happy New Year, and welcome back to karate!

When I got my black belt, it was pretty stiff and didn't want to stay tied. Every time I wore it, I would loosen the knot and then yank it tight, again, which helped it break in.

I don't personally have PTSD, but I know martial artists who do, and we have one student at our dojo who does. Triggers and reactions are different for every person, so it's hard to make generalizations. Whenever someone starts having those feelings, I have found that it's usually best to stop whatever is going on, immediately. After that, though, it depends on the person. Some people want to be left alone to deal with it. Others want to be comforted by people they trust. Some may need medication. Etc.

I could be wrong, since I don't do it, but I believe it functions basically the same way as regular point fighting, but full contact is allowed and a KO is an automatic victory.

I don't know any serious judoka that don't have at least one bad knee. It's very hard on the body if you practice it with intensity. Since most clubs train for competition, that's most of what you will find. You can do it much more gently, and safely, but you won't have nearly as much success in randori or shiai.

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, there is no evidence that I've seen--except one Westerner's unattributed claim in his book, and other books quoting it--to support the idea that the three modern Naihanchi kata were ever part of a single, longer kata. Many people do run all three together, though, to save time with the yoi positions and bowing. If I could count all three as one for this thread, I totally would! As it stands, though, what we know of as Naihanchi Shodan seems to be the direct descendent of an older Naihanchi kata, while Nidan was probably created by Matsumura, and Sandan was created by Itosu, although it's possible that Itosu created both sequels.

We have laminate flooring in two of the training areas in our dojo, but the main training floor is matted with two layers of puzzle mats--1" thick "striking" mats on the bottom, and 1-1/4" thick "grappling" mats on top. The laminate flooring is okay, but it's coming loose in spots and leaving uneven areas and gaps. I've seen some of the more modern laminate flooring that looks like it would hold up much better, though.

I've heard of it, and I'm certainly familiar with Kyan and his history, but I don't know too much other than that. How different is what you do to what the Zentokukai folks do?

Of course Shindokan is Karate-do, but that's not how I read the poll, and yes, I took the question literal. Shindokan is NOT Japanese, and Soke would roll over in his grave if I took that stand. Stubborn or dumb of me to read into the poll question? Maybe, but I stand on my reasons for my first post. You and I are kindred spirits through our style; this I'm proud of!! I took the same stance with my Shorin-Ryu. It's definitely Okinawan, and not Japanese

Limb control is a major component to our method of Shorin-Ryu, but of course it is also present in a wide array of other styles. We also call it "sticking hands" in some cases--the Okinawan term for it being "muchimidi." Interestingly, "looks like Wing Chun" is an inside joke among a karate study group I am a part of . You do tie up one of your hands to control your opponent's hand, but the idea is to do so in a way that puts you in a superior position, or interrupts your opponent's technique in order for you to execute your own. The second video makes more sense if you are familiar with our approach to tuidi-waza (seizing hand techniques). You aren't too far off the mark with your comparison to Ikkyo, though. The exercise was based off a tuidi-waza that is somewhat similar to Ikkyo .

I just thought I would share these, in case anyone else might find them useful. The first is a combination kote kitae (forearm forging) and hikite (pulling hand) drill that helps develop the use of hikite as a response to forearm contact. The drill is in three parts--shuto vs. shuto, haito vs. haito, and shuto vs. haito. Of course, these are just used for the purposes of the drill, and you can mix them up or use different movements as you see fit. The second is a tuidi-based hojo undo (supplementary training) exercise that I have been playing with for a little while, now. I started doing it with a broom handle, and then a jo, and then a bo, and now I use the rubber-coated 5lb iron bar you see in the video. It helps develop fine motor control, tactile sensitivity, and muchimi (stickiness/heaviness). I took the movements from the Naihanchi kata, but it also works for Sanchin.

With the amount of training you will have when you go to CA, I recommend you do not train in Shotokan. There are more differences than just blocks, and you will end up dealing with a lot of confusion and frustration trying to learn two different systems. If you had been training in Shorin-Ryu for a year or two, then I would tell you to go for it, but not after just a few months. That said, it could be beneficial to ask them if you can come in and spar with them on a fairly regular basis. That will help you keep working on karate in a way that won't force you to change your Shorin-Ryu basics and kata. It will also help keep your reactions, timing, and speed improving. You can work your kata and kihon at home.

A deserted island might have dangerous animals on it, though, so a spear kata might be the most useful! Deserted islands aside, I would choose Naihanchi.

It was a perfectly timed and placed kick. It's one of those kicks that causes arguments over what it's called, too. I know some people are calling it a mae-geri (front kick) while others are calling it mawashi-geri (roundhouse kick). Some are calling it sankaku-geri (triangle kick) because of the way he threw it. No matter what you call it, it was excellent!

I like my Ronin, but I haven't had an Ironman, myself. I have known several people--a couple of whom were previous instructors of mine--who swear by the Ironman gi against anything but Shureido. Personally, I think they're too short, but that could just be because of my height.

Similar to a movement in our Naihanchi kata

Thanks, everyone!

Congratulations!

Matt's article on Passai is definitely a good overview of the different variants of the kata. One that it doesn't include is Tachimura no Passai, because there is no video of this kata publicly available. It would fall in the Shuri category, but is somewhat different from most, although even I haven't seen the whole thing. The KishimotoDi oral teachings indicate that Naihanchi, Passai, and Kusanku were all taught as a set by "Tode" Sakugawa Kanga. If we look at the systems that contain these kata, and compare their lineages, we can see that this does seem to be the case--every system passed down from Sakugawa, that we know of, has passed on these three kata. There is sometimes a bit of controversy surrounding this because of the commonly-accepted idea that Matsumura created Passai. Personally, I suspect this came about because he modified Passai, so he created his own version of it, rather than having created the original kata, itself. The version that is usually called Bassai Dai, and which we call Passai Sho, was developed by Itosu based on the Passai he learned from Matsumura. He made changes to the kata to suit his personal approach to karate, which was very focused on power and strength. There may also have been some changes made to make it more easy and safe for mass practice. It's a solid kata, and still contains many good applications, but I prefer the non-Itosu variants of Passai.