Wastelander

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.

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).