Wastelander

These are grappling techniques, albeit practiced as part of a striking-focused art. Hence it is simple repetition of the point that against a grappler it is best to have some grappling experience of your own. As I was training tuite last night in my Kyusho class, my Sensei told me a story. His son is an MMA fighter whose base is TKD. He also trains in BJJ and wrestling. Both he and his son are about the same size (6'0, 210). His son was in town last week, and they decided to do some ground work. His son took him down and started doing what he was taught to do in BJJ. Sensei Defrene said that even though he was in a vulnerable position, he said his eyes opened up because of all of the targets he had available. He took his elbow and pressed it on the inside of his son's thigh as his son was attempting a RNC, and his son yelled and let go of the hold. He said that was the easiest one to hit, but he saw about a half dozen other techniques he could have used. His son had a bruise a for a week from just applying a little pressure while on defense on the ground! That's the beauty of Kyusho that I'm finding. No matter what situation you're in, there are multiple ways to get out of it. Now, I can't say that I'd be able to prevent an olympic level wrestler from throwing me once he gets a double leg on me. But before I land, you can be assured that I will have activated at least 2 points on him, and he will be affected by it. Once we get on the ground, if I'm still conscious, and if I can still move my arms, he is at as much of a disadvantage as I am because I know how many targets I have available. And unless he has trained as I have, he doesn't! So he may think that his ability to keep me on the ground puts him in control. But once I dig my knuckle into spleen point 6, he'll have to seriously evaluate whether or not it's in his best interest to stay there! The attack to the inside of the thigh that you mention has been used in MMA--it's no secret--but I would say that it works maybe 1 time out of every 10 attempts. A friend of mine is quite good at tuite, kyusho, and kiko, but ended up pinned and eventually choked out by a judoka in an MMA fight. He landed several strikes to effective kyusho points, but they didn't work for him on that person in that environment, and he didn't have the grappling fundamentals to escape the position he was put into. Kyusho is helpful, but it is not a panacea. Grapplers are very skilled at grip fighting, and usually have a good understanding of limb control and body weight distribution. These things make it very difficult to apply pressure to a point for any decent length of time, and being on the ground limits the power and speed with which you can strike. On top of that, in a high-stress environment like a real fight or self defense situation, kyusho points are less effective thanks to adrenaline and other "fight or flight" chemicals rushing through the body.

I would train at whichever one has better instruction and a better atmosphere for me, personally. To figure out which one that is, you'll have to visit both and try out classes at both. As Lupin1 said, those are both good deals for most of the US--that many classes costs over $100/month on average, in my area. To figure out if the classes are worth the cost, though, you really have to visit and try classes.

RAM18 - Your version isn't all that different--I'm just doing all three Naihanchi strung together. Our Naihanchi is also completely lateral:

I don't know of any canvas bags that really last--they aren't really built for it. Unless you hit like a freight train, or you had defective bags, I'm still not sure how you have destroyed them as quickly as you have. My recommendation would be to get/buy a canvas maize bag, and fill it with sand. They tend to be fairly durable, since they aren't supporting as much weight as a heavy bag. You'll get the conditioning from the density of the sand and the texture of the canvas. You could also look into iron palm bags.

sensei8 - Haha, well, I recorded it on an old iPhone 4S, so the quality isn't great. The editing I did in Sony Movie Studio 12. This one seemed a bit more awkward to me. Why is the sabaki in the spots that you show? Have you also been using these changes in any applications? I'd be interested to see those. Thanks for sharing the videos with us, I think its a very cool idea. I haven't been doing that exercise as long as I've been doing the mawashi exercise, but I actually like it more. The basic idea is that your attacker is coming from straight in front of you, wherever you happen to be standing. Essentially, we've simply turned Naihanchi at every step into kosa-dachi, so that you enter side-on into your opponent's attack. We do work applications that use that exact footwork. In fact, it's actually the primary entry used by KishimotoDi for all of its Naihanchi applications. For simplicity, I only let my body lean forward as I moved, but different applications will have you lean differently, or not lean at all. We also work applications that use the mawashi footwork--usually joint dislocations and throws.

I'm curious as to how many of you change your footwork in kata training, in order to further your understanding of the kata, its applications, and variants of those applications. My Sensei and I occasionally work Naihanchi, in particular, with different footwork than normal--we still transition to kosa-dachi (cross stance) and then Naihanchi-dachi, as the kata says to do, but we get to those positions differently. We aren't actually changing the kata, but we are exploring it in a different way than normal. Here are two kind of awkward examples I recorded a couple weeks ago (sorry for the poor video quality; I used a smartphone):

All I know about it is that it is a blend of Shorinji Kenpo and Aikido. You say that sparring is encouraged, and I'm interested to hear what type of sparring you do. Aikido isn't really suited to sparring, so I'm curious as to how that works in. A quick Google search seemed to show mostly bogu kumite matches, but I couldn't watch them here at work to see what they are like.

Although it isn't really within my control, all that much, my biggest goal is to find a solution to my ongoing health problems, which have been plaguing me for over a year, now. That isn't directly martial arts related, but those health problems have been preventing me from training as often or as intensely as I want/need to. For more direct martial arts goals: 1. Memorize the rest of Sensei Bethea's kata yakusoku kumite drills and Nakazato Minoru Sensei's yakusoku kumite drills. 2. Compete in at least one grappling competition 3. Attend at least one Shorinkan training camp

Judo belts are definitely harder-wearing than karate belts. Shureido is pretty much the standard for quality karate black belts, but I've actually been impressed at how well Pine Tree Brand belts wear! My old instructor preferred them over Shureido for himself, although he bought Shureido belts for all his black belt students. I use a hemp black belt from Datsusara. I do feel the need to mention this, again, though: please stop this "tradition" of not washing your belt! The belts were invented for judo, and judoka wash them every time they wash their gi--if you don't, you're putting yourself and others at risk for skin infections! Their belt tradition is older than the karate tradition, if tradition matters to you, and it's much more hygienic. It's not a magical piece of cloth that loses its power when exposed to detergent, and it's not going to fall apart when you wash it.

Congratulations!

1. Sort of done--I attended two seminars, but that's not more than the year before. 2. Done! 3. Fail. I participated in one freestyle judo scrimmage, but no other grappling competitions this year. My health hasn't been up to it, the timing hasn't been good, or the cost has been prohibitive

Definitely--I would love to meet and train with more people, too! You're not outside the realm of possibility, for me, either. I'm originally from Central Illinois, my work has properties in the Quad Cities and Chicago, and Sensei Stolsmark puts on a Shorinkan gasshuku in Milwaukee every year, so I have plenty of excuses to be in your general area, eventually

Wow! I was not expecting that, considering the other members who were in the categories that I won. Thank you, everyone! And congratulations to all!

Harkon72, I would say that it isn't just harsh--it's rather short-sighted. If you truly believe that, then you are going to miss out on a vast wealth of knowledge. Following that line of thinking, one must believe that Freddie Roach should have retired the moment he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, because he couldn't properly demonstrate because of the shaking. Cus D'amato never should have trained Mike Tyson, because he was out of shape and old. Chibana Chosin should have given up his rank and stopped teaching when he was diagnosed with cancer that caused him immense pain and sapped his strength. Besides, you may someday be the elderly, injured, out-of-shape one with lots of knowledge and experience, but without the body to demonstrate it. How would it make you feel to have all your years of dedication considered irrelevant by people you are teaching? Do you really think you wouldn't be able to help them improve, just because you can't physically do everything, anymore? There are a good number of teachers who have taught students that went on to greatness, even though the teachers, themselves, were unable to do so.

Oh, for sure! They're a very tough bunch, and they incorporate face punches and grappling in their sparring, too, unlike some Kyokushin dojo. Thankfully, I've never felt like I've been in over my head when sparring with Kyokushin people--except in the fitness department! They can go forever!

Not much that I didn't already know about from having researched and cross-trained with Kyokushin people, before. What I forgot about was the pace of kumite. In our dojo, kumite tends to be done at a more measured pace, and there aren't as many techniques thrown per round. It's been a while since I've sparred with Kyokushin people, so I forgot about how many techniques they throw in such a short amount of time . It was good fun, though!

I think you would be best served by visiting all three schools, talking to the instructors, and watching classes. That will help you make your decision much more than our advice! There are good schools and bad schools for all three arts you list. We won't really be able to tell you if the ones you're looking at are good or bad. I will say that JKD is probably going to cover more material than the other two, so it has that going for it.

I don't understand what you mean by 'power' and 'technique' in this post. Isn't technique about using your body to it's maximum potential to generate power(and move with speed, and keep your guard up and all the other things you want to do in a fight)? If keeping the heel down makes your punches weaker, wouldn't it then simply be bad technique to keep the heel down? How would practicing bad technique allow you to focus on technique? It's not "bad" technique. It's "different" technique. Although I know some people who would disagree, power is not the only marker of an effective technique. I have found that punching from the heel tends to develop short power more than punching from the ball of the foot, so it works very well at close range. In addition, you are more at risk for tripping or being taken down at close range, and having your feet planted solidly on the ground helps you maintain your balance better than lifting your heels of the ground.

Collaborative!

Last week, I had to travel to the Bay Area of California for work. While I was there, I met up with someone that some people here may remember--Evergrey! Her Kyokushin dojo is in Concord, CA, so she picked me up last Tuesday and Wednesday to train with them! http://s23.postimg.org/ns71avu4b/Wah_Dojo_Group.jpg It was a good workout, good training, and good fun with good people! I've been having trouble with motion sickness and fatigue for about a year, and it's really affected my fitness level, but Sensei Wah was kind enough to keep things at a pace I could keep up with. I also got to spar with five of their black belts, including Sensei Wah (who is a Godan, and the chief instructor), which was a great chance to exchange techniques between Kyokushin and Shorin-Ryu .

Typically--not always, but typically--the issue you describe can be resolved by shortening your stance. You only have so much leg to drive your hip with, and if your stance is too long for your legs, you won't have any leg left to drive with. Of course, it is possible that you really do have restricted hip mobility, and my suggestion won't help. I would still give it a try, though. I will point out that you definitely do limit the amount your hips can move when you keep the heel planted. You'll never be able to move them as much with your heel planted as you can with your heel up. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes it's bad.

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to karate! I believe Shorei Goju is an off-shoot of Robert Trias' karate, and I used to practice Shuri-Ryu, so we have a bit of a connection, there! I'm glad you and your son are enjoying classes. Keep it up!

Since I actively trained and competed in judo for 4 years, and have incorporated it into my karate ever since, I'm pretty comfortable dealing with grapplers. Yes, there are certainly better grapplers out there, but I feel I can handle myself in a self defense situation. My advice would be to become as comfortable as you can in all ranges. Wildbourgman's comments about tuidi are certainly true, but I also highly recommend that you get some training in a grappling art. There is really no true "anti-grappling" method except for learning how to grapple.

The general idea, as I was taught, is that pivoting and driving off the back heel moves all of your weight in the direction of your strike, while pivoting on the ball of the foot moves some of your weight away from your strike. Now, if you stand still and pivot on your heels, and then the balls of your feet, you can tell that this statement is technically true. When you push off your back foot, as you would when punching, it is a different matter, entirely! Both techniques move your weight into your strike--one just moves you farther. The way I see it, the idea of keeping your heels on the ground is based on a self defense context. It is easier to keep your balance and stay standing up if your feet are firmly planted. It's much like a defensive grappling approach to footwork. Conversely, sparring and striking-based sport fighting take place at a much greater distance, and require greater speed and mobility, which a planted stance will hinder. Just listen to any sport fighting commentary, and you'll hear complaints about "flat-footed" strikers that can't keep up with their more mobile opponents. That doesn't mean one is inherently better than another, but they are suited to different situations. Of course, you can always mix-and-match. There are times when you can/should pivot on the heel and keep your feet planted, and times when you can/should pivot on the ball of the foot and lift the heel. Figuring out the feel for when to use each will come with time.

Congratulations to everyone who was nominated!