Wastelander

My karate instructor also teaches a family style of Japanese jujutsu, which he has blended a bit with his other grappling experiences. I help teach the grappling classes--there is a lot of carry-over from my judo, as well as the tuidi of our karate style--but I have no serious interest in testing for rank in Japanese jujutsu. He also teaches kobudo, and I'm not interested in testing for rank in that, either. Training is good, though!

Welcome to the forum! I'm afraid you are experiencing the symptoms of EKS--Enthusiastic Karateka Syndrome. This disease is fairly common amongst new karateka, and most people with this affliction will go on to live healthy, productive lives.

Datsusara has some pretty sweet gear, and since they make it out of hemp fabric, it's tougher than cotton, naturally antimicrobial, and UV resistant. If you have the money to spend, I would highly recommend them. They're good people, too.

I think I'm going to have to retire this gi, pretty soon--at least the top. As you can see from this video, it's kind of falling apart, now. I'm pretty hard on dogi. http://youtu.be/ZkmSg95TEsI

First of all, welcome to the forum! I don't practice Kyokushin, and I'm not an expert, but I would like to think I know a thing or two about mawashi-geri. There isn't any real shortcut to opening/turning-over the hips--you have to spend a lot of time practicing kicking properly. A big thing to keep in mind is that the foot of your supporting leg is going to have to turn as far to the side as you can get it, or your hips will be locked up. Something that helped me was actually practicing turning my kick over so that it makes contact at a downward angle. In order to do that, you HAVE to turn your hips over, so it forces you to do it.

They've been working on that for quite a while, and they've made some good progress this year. That said, all the demonstrations I've seen of someone being struck while wearing it has been done with a very flexible waxwood bo, not a hardwood bo. If it can stand up to use with hardwood weapons, then I definitely see it as useful for weapons training.

Hi everyone, This tournament has been going on all week, and ends on the 28th. If you're interested in checking out high-level sumo, I definitely recommend watching some of this tournament. This YouTube channel posts daily updates with highlights of the tournament: https://www.youtube.com/user/kintamayama A lot of people just think of sumo as two fat men trying to push each other out of a ring, but it really has a lot more nuance and technique to it than that. There have been some very interesting matches, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the tournament, even though I'm only a very casual fan. It's great to see the display of strength, kinaesthetic awareness, technique, and determination.

My Sensei pays the other instructors at the dojo for their teaching time. That said, he can't afford to pay a lot because the dojo doesn't make a huge income. We do it because we love it, though, so nobody has been offended, as far as I know. My pay was equal to my dues, so I just opted to barter for classes instead of cashing a check and then writing a check. If I had taught more classes, or taken fewer, then the equation would have been different, but I like the balance I have. I do still get paid in cash for any private lessons I teach, though, since those are extra.

Aikido, judo, hapkido, Japanese jujutsu, BJJ, or the tuidi of karate would all be reasonable sources to work from for teaching people how to deal with aggression in that environment. One of my former training partners used to work in precisely the environment that you describe, and she used her judo training on more than one occasion to avoid injury to herself and her clients, and control them until help could arrive. The key thing is to be sure that anything that is taught, is taught and trained properly and appropriately for the environment.

As sensei8 points out, aggression certainly gives you a serious leg-up in self defense. A large part of your response to aggression is going to depend on what the attacker is doing. A tackle, as you describe, is best dealt with by either getting out of the way, sprawling, or counter-throwing--in that order. This kind of attack is actually very easy to deal with, as long as you see it coming.

Very thoughtful--thank you for sharing!

Hand conditioning is a pretty vast topic--it's been the topic of countless books and videos, nevermind all the arts that teach it. There are lots of ways to go about it, but how you do it is dependent on how you are planning to strike; punches, small-surface strikes, palm strikes, slaps, etc. Since this thread is pretty much about punching, I'll assume you're wanting to condition your hands for punching. The first step is typically knuckle planks or push-ups. The key to these is to focus on making your striking knuckles bear your weight, since most people will let their fists collapse flat onto the ground. Hitting the heavy bag without gloves or wraps is also a good starting point, but you have to work up to hitting hard. Hitting too hard, too soon, will result in injury and will set back your conditioning, rather than accelerating it. You can also use a maize bag (a head-sized bag filled with corn, beans rice, sand, or some combination of those things), since it will have more give than the heavy bag. Karateka tend to jump straight for the makiwara when discussing hand conditioning, but I want to stress that the makiwara is NOT meant for hand conditioning! It does toughen the skin and bones through impact, but that is a side-effect. Its real purpose is strengthening the entire structure/power chain of your strike, and giving you feedback as to where weaknesses are in that structure/chain. Be careful with the makiwara, and be sure to start out slow--I usually have people start by just putting their knuckles in the pad and pushing the board back. Once they are comfortable with this, they can start striking it lightly, and work their way up over time. Too much power, or too many repetitions, will lead to injuries and setbacks.

Yep, that's why I do bare-knuckle (well, recently I've taken to wearing hand wraps, I consider it impolite to bleed on punching bags that don't belong to me) heavy bag work at the sports centre nearby once or twice a week. I'm still trying to think of more ways to harden my knuckles themselves (heavy bag only helps to get technique right). The knuckles will harden some with the heavy bag work. You could look into some makiwara training, or some smaller hanging sand bags to build them up, as well.Am curious to listen more Are you wanting to learn more about hand conditioning, in general, or the use of makiwara or maize/sand bags, in particular?

Since we cannot train with 100% realism, it stands to reason that we also cannot compete with 100% realism. Anything that is not 100% realistic is going to develop expectations based on theory or experience that may not be accurate. This is something we have to keep in mind when we train or compete, lest we become complacent. When you're great at hitting pads, or have great success in competition, you might feel that you are fully prepared for self defense, even though you are not. Of course, if you only ever practice with a compliant partner, and never hit pads, you'll be even worse off. Personally, I'm not fond of competition--winning doesn't give me any sense of accomplishment, losing makes me feel terrible, and I'm very non-confrontational. I will say that competition certainly has benefits, though! Dealing with someone who is fighting back and resisting you, developing a sense of distance and timing, being forced to perform under pressure, etc. I really do think that the key to avoiding complacency is maintaining an understanding of the limitations of your training and competition. Unfortunately, many instructors don't seem to foster this understanding in their students.

Oh, man--we must not do Shorin-Ryu, either, then! All the instructors at the dojo have brought their own past training and experiences with them, and it's become a very blended system. The core is Shorin-Ryu and, while many things have come from other arts, it all connects back to Shorin-Ryu. I'm not fond of the creation of styles and sub-styles. Often, this is completely redundant and done primarily for political reasons. There are thousands of styles and sub-styles out there, right now, and a lot of them teach almost the same material as the other sub-styles in their branch of martial arts. To me, a new style would have to be fairly significantly different from not only the core art of the creator, but significantly different from similar existing styles. That's a pretty tough bar to reach.

I'm afraid I don't know of any, personally. You would probably have better luck asking a senior instructor of your style, like Bruce Heilman Sensei. They would know a good number of people in your lineage, and where they live.

Welcome back!

Much appreciated! According to pictures, I got an 8.75, an 8.91, and an 8.79 on the scorecards.

I was a yonkyu (4th kyu) in Shuri-Ryu, at the time, but I started learning kobudo around rokkyu (6th kyu)--they encouraged everyone to learn kobudo. A bo kata was required to earn sankyu (3rd kyu), and you had to pass proficiency tests with bo and sai to test for shodan. I had already passed my proficiency test with the bo, and narrowly failed my sai test, by the time I competed in this tournament.

I am always highly skeptical of "secret" or "inner circle" material, particularly when it includes kata that are claimed to be incredibly old. Hakutsuru and Channan are their own cans of worms, and while I'm not terribly familiar with Wanduan (I've seen it in one of McCarthy's books, and it's been discussed a bit in some other forums), it's looking like a similar situation. There tends to be a lot of political strife mixed in with these, as well, and I try to stay out of that when I can. I will say this--if it really is that old, and really does come from Five Ancestor Fist, then you should be able to send a video of it to an experienced instructor of Five Ancestor Fist and they should be able to recognize the material. Not necessarily the exact form, but the way of moving, the postures, and the possible applications. If they don't, then it's likely either a modern creation, or it's been changed so much over time that there is little of the original material left.

Thanks! That's actually a purple belt, and this was back when I did Shuri-Ryu. In that style, purple belt is the yonkyu (4th kyu) rank. I definitely didn't have much room, and you can see me adjust my stepping during that sequence so that I wouldn't run into the judges. I didn't think I got too close, but obviously the judge who put his mouthpiece in thought I did

In the first two years of my karate training, and all throughout my active judo training, I competed. I never liked competition--I'm a VERY non-competitive, non-confrontational person--but I did it, anyway. As my interest in practical karate grew, the competition aspect just lost my interest. Back then, I also used to practice kobudo, but that interest faded around the same time. When I was competing, I had a few pictures taken, but not many, and almost no video. When I was going through photos, this morning, I stumbled across one video, though! It's of me competing in the Weapons division of the 2008 Midwest Regional Championships outside of Chicago. Honestly, I'm pretty embarrassed about it, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to share it, anyway

I do this, every now and then, and my instructor teaches it fairly regularly to our competitors. If you get the timing right, you can actually make them think they blocked the strike. I really see it as more of an entry into close-range techniques, but that doesn't actually matter in point sparring.

Thanks for the feedback! I wouldn't say I approach pressure points as a "naysayer," exactly, but I am an eternal skeptic. I just take the "better safe than sorry" approach, I guess . Perhaps, once I've amassed as much experience as you have, I will change my tune. Until then, though, I will train to expect the worst and hope for the best!

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. Most, if not all, people involved in martial arts have heard of pressure points in some fashion - kyusho, dim mak, poison hand, death touch, etc. There are entire books and DVD series on the subject, and a wide array of seminars where you can "learn the secrets of pressure point fighting." On the other hand, there are huge numbers of combat sports competitors, martial artists and scientists, who believe that there is no such thing as an effective pressure point. It is a controversial subject but, as is usually the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. This article will briefly cover how to approach pressure points in a practical manner. What Are "Pressure Points"? What most people call "pressure points" are really more accurately described by the terms "vulnerable points" or "weak points." They are places on the body that are more susceptible to injury, or the introduction of pain, than the rest of the body. An example that everyone is familiar with is the "funny bone" point — the spot where the ulnar nerve passes through the elbow and is unprotected by muscle. While many of these points are nerve-related, there are also many that are not, including the knee joint, the iliotibial band, the liver, the carotid sinus and the temple. It is necessary to learn where pressure points are on the body, what effect they can have when attacked and how they should be attacked. The Effects of Pressure Points When used against a healthy, non-resistant person, quite a large number of pressure points can be effective, and studying their effects can be very educational. Some points can cause a temporary loss of consciousness or motor control, some can cause the legs or arms to weaken, some can cause pain, some can cause muscles to cramp, some can cause breathing inhibition, and some can cause vision disruption. All of these points may also be more susceptible to certain types of attack, such as striking, pushing or rubbing. While the locations of these points can be found in books and diagrams, much practice is required to get a feel for where they are and how to attack them to get the greatest effect. It is important to remember that not all of these points will work on everyone, and they will work even less often when used on a person who is resistant and fighting back. For this reason, it is important to focus on training pressure points that you can safely and reliably access in a self defense situation, that produce the desired effect a majority of the time. Incorporating Pressure Points in Training While there are a great number of pressure points on the body, only a small number of them are likely to be readily accessible in a fight. These are generally points that do not require you to be behind your attacker and do not require them, or you, to be in any awkward or unnatural positions in order to access them. They should also not compromise your defense; utilizing both of your hands to attack the pressure points while your attacker has one or both hands free, for example. These criteria will allow you to keep your training focused on practical targets, and your exploration of their effects should have taught you how much force is required when attacking them. This means that, in your training, you can strike, push or rub the vast majority of the pressure points available to you, at a level that is safe, while still receiving feedback. Some targets, like the eyes, may require protective gear for safety reasons, but most will not. The Reality Pressure points cannot be relied on to end a fight and should not be the only attacks that you use in your training. You might miss, the attacker may not be susceptible to a particular attack, or factors like cold, layers of clothing or the influence of drugs might diminish the effect. The successful use of pressure point attacks should be treated as extra credit, rather than the end goal or you can end up in deeper water when you try to use them. When training, it is helpful to incorporate pressure points, but to train as if they will fail to produce their intended effect. This will help keep you grounded in reality, as non-compliant training will quickly reveal the unintended consequences you may face when utilizing impractical pressure points. If you consistently fail to affect a point in training, or you consistently end up on the losing side of your engagements when using a point in training, then that point should be dropped. Martial arts training is meant to be a process of constant improvement of self and of technique, so evaluate yourself and your material as objectively as possible, as often as possible.