Wastelander

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.

The kata that most styles call Bassai Dai is what we call Passai Sho. Here is Kinjo Sensei demonstrating it at one of our style's annual training camps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqB-nFJKb4o

any pics? I have none. I came close once in relation to a personal tragedy. I like the art and always sort of looking for that perfect idea I'm not planning on posting pictures of it, since someone might print it off and take it to their tattoo artist for a copy. I will say that the tree has lots of roots representing the search for knowledge, and three levels of foliage representing "Shu-Ha-Ri."

Congratulations!

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Tuttle Publishing, through Patrick, has been kind enough to provide me with a book to review. That book is Traditions: Essays on the Japanese Martial Arts and Ways, written by Dave Lowry. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Lowry, I would like to provide a little background information. He is an American writer who has authored a number of books about the martial arts, which he began studying in 1968. Since then, he has trained in several martial arts, including kenjutusu, karate, aikido and judo. His interest in Japanese culture goes far beyond the martial arts, however, and this book illustrates that quite clearly. As the title implies, Traditions is more of a collection of essays than a cohesive novella. It has only 174 pages, but found within those pages is an impressive 53 chapters that cover everything from legendary stories to Zen musings to practical martial arts advice. There is little-to-no connective tissue between the chapters, as they were not meant to flow from one to another. You could literally begin the book at chapter 53 and work backward with no issues. This means that the book can be read in short bursts and doesn't become long-winded or drawn out, so it is a good book for you to keep at hand when you are going to have just a few minutes to read. This essay collection format does have one issue, though, in my opinion: repetition. Since the essays were seemingly written completely independent of each other, you will see some of the same things brought up a number of times, and they are written about as if you have never heard of them before. This isn't terrible, particularly if you are reading the book in short bursts, but I felt I should mention it. The content of the book is interesting and, depending on your pre-existing knowledge of Japanese culture and martial arts, quite enlightening. You will not find photographs or descriptions of techniques or kata, because that is not Mr. Lowry's focus. Instead, he tells stories that illustrate how to be a better martial artist and how to become a better person through martial arts training. Some of these stories, like "Bushi" Matsumura Sokon's encounter with the vicious bull, are widely known, but others are less so. The author also includes many stories from his own youth and training, which keeps things interesting and gives the book a more personal feel. Many of the legends that are recounted in this book are still perfectly applicable, today, and they have the added benefit of teaching you a bit about the history of Japan and Japanese culture. While I found some of the content to be based on historical inaccuracies, or espousing impractical ideals, I can still appreciate the points that the author was trying to make. His essays are more about the mentality and philosophy of a martial artist than the practical approach to training in a martial art. He stresses the importance of keeping an open mind, of avoiding the need to use your training and of understanding peoples' places within different cultures and environments. In addition, he does discuss fighting aspects like the importance of focus, distance, receiving an attack and sensing your opponent's intentions. Overall, the book is quite well-rounded in the way it addresses the central theme. Even when things are repeated (such as the introductions of Mr. Lowry's old Buddhist monk judo instructor), they do not feel stale and are used to make different points. The writing is simultaneously serious and lighthearted, in that it covers deadly-serious topics, but the author often writes about them with a sense of humor. Personally, I enjoyed the book and feel that I benefitted from its content. If you are a martial artist - particularly one who studies a Japanese or Okinawan art - I think that this book is one that should be in your possession. It's something you can go back to for inspiration, and it's something you can quote from when teaching or loan to your students when they need some sort of insight into the way they should be training. Even if you do not train in the arts that this book is centered around, I think the concepts can still apply quite well to just about any martial art. In fact, the author includes some comments on the differences between Asian arts and Western arts. This is definitely a good addition to any martial artist's collection! Buy the book: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk (KarateForums.com receives a small commission on any sales generated through these links).

I just recently got one, after passing my shodan test. It's between my shoulder blades, and it has a lot more meaning to me than it sounds from the description--it's a tree with the mitsudomoe (the symbol Spartacus Maximus described) carved into the trunk.

We have requirements for each rank, with a total of 9 kyu ranks, and for children we have intermediary "training belts" to keep them interested. We aren't super thrilled about doing the training belts, but it's kind of a necessary evil to keep kids coming in. For your example of a white belt going to the next rank (yellow, for us), they must be training for at least 4 months, or 80 class hours. That's a long time for a kid to be doing something without getting a tangible reward. For the curriculum they need to know, we are flexible with how proper everything needs to be in the lower ranks. For each rank, they have to be able to show us certain stances, blocks, strikes, kicks, sweeps, breakfalls, self defense techniques, and kata, and they have to be able to answer some questions. As long as they get pretty close to what it should be, we're okay with that. The standards get more strict as the students go up in rank, though. By the time they get to 5th kyu, we will have really started working on cleaning up their technique and form.

I found out about the fight the day after it happened, but I was surprised that I hadn't seen any advertising leading up to it, even though it was in Russia. People were saying it looked fixed from the get-go, so I checked it out. Rourke dropped his opponent with a body shot, but that punch looked like it landed on his opponent's elbow/arm, not his body. Kind of suspicious. Rourke, to his credit, seemed legitimately surprised and happy--if the fight was fixed, I doubt he knew.

I understand what you're trying to do, and why, but I'm afraid it's only going to lead to frustration and confusion. Many people have tried to match Okinawan kata with their Chinese origins, and they have failed to come to any sort of consensus. We do not have written records that really connect any of them, the Okinawans changed a great deal of the material they received from China, and the Okinawans developed their own fighting arts independent of Chinese influence, as well. With the exception of Sanchin, I do not know of any mainstream karate kata that has an extant Chinese counterpart--I've certainly not seen one. The Pinan kata (what you call Heian) were developed by Itosu based on Passai, Kusanku, and Chinto, so you can essentially cross 5 kata off your list straight off the bat . For what it's worth, Matsumura Sokon supposedly brought Gojushiho (called Useishi in the Okinawan language) back from a trip to Beijing. One of the biggest problems with this type of project, is that people try to compare the appearance of the forms, themselves. The appearance of the forms change from person to person, nevermind how much they change over the course of generations. What is more important is the applications of the movements--there, you can find better links. Even so, the body only moves so many ways, so there is a great deal of cross-over. On top of that, there is a lot of misinformation out there (including from some well-respected martial artists) as to the origins of kata and techniques that just doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Basically, you're trying to put together a puzzle that is missing so many pieces, and has had so many pieces re-painted, that it can never be put back together unless somebody finds a key that tells us what all the missing pieces are, and what changes were made to the remaining pieces.

We require a little knowledge of the history of our style, and some terminology. Not as much as I would like, but I'm also a karate nerd. I will sometimes quiz students at the end of class about our lineage, what a Japanese word means, what a technique is called, or where a kata came from. During tests, you will be asked these kinds of questions, and the shodan test includes a written exam where you have to be able to answer them. We've discussed holding an extra class every now and then to cover history and philosophy of karate, as well, but haven't implemented it as of yet.

There will be those who disagree, but I personally believe that you do not need to wait until you have a black belt to start working bunkai and tuidi/torite (tuite is Oyata Sensei's word for it, which is a combination of the Okinawan "tuidi" and the Japanese "torite"). The bunkai (analysis) process is very helpful for students' understanding, and I feel that keeping the applications to kata secret is harmful to the development of the art. Some of the applications, including tuidi, can be difficult for a beginner to grasp, but that's because they've never done anything like it. I've seen people with decades of experience who struggle to learn tuidi techniques. Starting earlier simply means that it will get easier sooner. You can learn some material from books and videos, if you have a partner to work it with. It isn't the most efficient way to do it, though, and is made much easier by having a solid understanding of similar material, already. If your instructor doesn't have the knowledge, it makes perfect sense to seek it out from someone who does, in order to enhance your training. Seminars and cross-training are very valuable--for a lot of it this kind of stuff, you have to feel it and have the finer points broken down for it to make sense and work for you.

I think that there is often a tendency for traditional martial artists to believe that martial arts are sacred, in some way, and that no one should make a living by teaching them. I'm not sure where this idea comes from--as far as I know, masters all over Okinawa, Japan, and China required some form of payment for training. Sometimes it was simply payment in the form of dedication, yes, but more often it was money or food. Paying your instructor a fee for his/her time and the use of the dojo is perfectly reasonable. That said, there are certainly instructors out there who price gouge, up-charge, and add fees just to make more money. That is how capitalism works, so they are free to do it, but I don't like it. Making a living is one thing, but gaming the system is another.

Almost all of the people that my Sensei has promoted to shodan have quit, or took a long hiatus. This has nothing to do with his teaching style, an emphasis on attaining a black belt, or not having material to teach them. It was simply because they personally set "get a black belt" as their end goal--at that point, they had "finished what they started." While I do consider passing my shodan exam to be an important milestone in my journey, I really saw the shodan rank as more of an obstacle than a goal. My long-term goal is to one day be a skilled, knowledgeable, open-minded instructor. Not having a black belt was a roadblock preventing me from reaching that goal. I still haven't reached my goal, and each dan rank above mine is pretty much just another obstacle between me and that goal. Of course, I suspect will never really feel like I've totally achieved that goal, regardless.