Wastelander

Congratulations!

Some of us get our names embroidered in katakana at the bottom of the lapel, where the brand label goes. If you were to write it, there, I suspect it would be fine--it's a pretty standard thing to do for most karate styles. Writing it instead of embroidering it is a little unusual, though. I can't say how that would turn out after washing. I did write my name on a gi in Sharpie, once, and that was okay for a while, but it did bleed over time until you could barely make it out.

Our style is a known style of Okinawan karate, and belt ranks in our dojo will be recognized in the honbu dojo in Naha. I would say that is pretty legitimately "Okinawan karate." That said, the instructors at our dojo bring in a variety of other training experiences and knowledge, which give our karate a different flavor. Some of those experiences are other Okinawan karate systems, but others aren't. That doesn't make it something other than Okinawan, in my opinion, because Okinawan karate has always been an amalgam of people's experiences with a variety of arts. We follow some Japanese and Okinawan traditions, but we aren't Japanese or Okinawan people, and we don't pretend to be. There is a mixture of Japanese, Okinawan, and American culture in our dojo etiquette. Again, I don't see this as a problem because I'm not tied down to practicing strict adherence to a single culture.

I actually thought the same thing... I wonder if there's a connection between these two specific forms (Gojushiho and bil Tze)? From looking at videos of the form, itself, I would say that they are not related. Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't share some applications

Looks like Gojushiho\Useishi, to me Thanks for sharing!

1 - Yes 2 - Don't worry about it I don't do Shotokan, so I don't know if you need Bassai Dai to pass your test. If you do, then yes, you should be worried about executing it properly. Well, as properly as you can, anyway. As far as "excelling amongst the others," that isn't something you need to worry about. Rank tests aren't a competition with the other people testing--they are a competition with your self. Do the best that you can, and don't give up. Good luck!

Ah, that makes a lot more sense! I practice a different branch of Shorin-Ryu, so I highly recommend you refer to CredoTe's information, because he practices the same system. Best of luck to you!

I go through 2 or 3 kata, with low intensity, in the mornings. I wouldn't call it a "workout," though .

According to that website, they teach Krav Maga and Al Tracy's method of American Kenpo. You will find this to be vastly different from Shotokan, and while some of its techniques can be found in Shorin-Ryu, the way they move is different. That's just from my observations, though.

Unfortunately, I think that martial artists are doomed to debate terminology and semantics until the end of time--somehow, none of us can agree on any of that stuff! This is my personal definition of what a "martial art" is:

Ah, yes, we call that Sanchin-dachi, as well. Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! CredoTe - My branch of Shorin-Ryu comes from Nakazato Shugoro, not Higa Yuchoku, although I'm certainly familiar with him. I'm also familiar with Onaga Sensei and a little of his method, as I've had discussions with some of his students. My own personal exposure to Ti (aside from what has been passed down in Shorin-Ryu, of course) has been through KishimotoDi, which has some significant differences from Onaga Sensei's Ti. I could be wrong, but I believe that Parker Sensei's Shorin-Ryu lineage comes from Toma Shian Sensei and a bit of training with Taika Seiyu Oyata. He also had some Goju-Ryu training, if I'm not mistaken.

I actually use the word "receiver" whenever I translate the name of an uke-waza online, or when asked. While my Sensei knows that this is how "uke" is translated, he grew up calling them "blocks" (even though he learned to use them for other things) so he still calls them "blocks" in class. I also originally learned to call them "blocks," so in the dojo, that's what you'll hear, for the most part. I would totally be on-board with switching over to "receiver" though!

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to karate!

Well, without pictures I'm a bit hazy on a few of them, but here's what I have: Short Stance = I'm not sure what kind of position you're talking about with this one Deep Lunging Stance (Forward Stance) = Zenkutsu-dachi Lower Stance (Shiko Dachi) + Its variations = Shiko-dachi Cat Stance = Neko-ashi-dachi Half-Lunging stance = Shizentai-dachi Upper Block = Jodan-uke Middle Block = Chudan-uke Lower Block = Gedan-barrai Upper & Lower Block = I assume you mean doing these at the same time? We don't have this one in our system. Middle & Lower Block = Morote-uke Outward Deflecting Block = Chudan-uchi-uke (I think--depends on what you mean) Inward Deflecting Block = Chudan-soto-uke (I think--depends on what you mean) Knife Hand Block = Shuto-uke Front Kick = Mae-geri Groin Kick = Mae-geri to the groin (although we know it's called kinteki-geri) Roundhouse Kick (Ribs) = Chudan-mawashi-geri Roundhouse Kick (Head) = Jodan-mawashi-geri Reverse Roundhouse Kick = Ushiro-mawashi-geri Back Kick - Ushiro-geri Side Kick - Yoko-geri Knee-Joint Kick = Kansetsu-geri

Oleg has actually done a lot of recording on Okinawa and, I believe, he plans on putting together three films with the footage. This is the first one, and it certainly has me excited to see the rest! I know he has teased some Goju-Ryu footage, at least. Thanks for sharing!

Well, "harai" and "barai" are the same word--when you put a word that starts with an "h" sound as a suffix to another word in Japanese, it becomes a "b" sound. Calling it "gedan-harai" is actually just incorrect pronunciation, as far as I'm aware (although I'm not a linguist). The word "uke" is short for "ukeru," which means "to receive." Most commonly, that gets translated as "block," though. If we translate "gedan-barai" and "gedan-harai-uke," one means "low level sweep" and the other means "low level sweep receiver." I've only ever seen these words used to describe what we commonly call a "low block."

Shotokan and Shorin-Ryu have the same roots, but they have grown into vastly different styles. Shotokan has some fairly widely accepted standards, but it's much harder to make generalizations about Shorin-Ryu. There are four main branches of Shorin-Ryu, which then have hundreds of sub-branches, and it gets hard to keep track of. For the most part, Wado Heretic's observations about stances and power generation are correct. Shorin-Ryu also tends to favor speed and fluidity over strength and rigidity, although many Shorin-Ryu schools have been influenced by Shotokan through tournaments, and become rather rigid. For someone looking to switch from Shotokan to Shorin-Ryu, I can say that some things will be difficult and some things will be easy. I transitioned from Shuri-Ryu, which is strongly influenced by Shotokan and other Japanese styles, and we have someone at our dojo who is transitioning from Shotokan, himself. Your training in Shotokan will make it easier for you to learn new material, but it will have a "Shotokan flavor" for a long time. Shorin-Ryu and Shotokan share some kata, and of course many of the kihon-waza, which will cause some confusion. Little differences will trip you up, and it will take you a long time to unlearn the Shotokan method and learn the Shorin-Ryu method. Best of luck to you!

The first one, "gedan-barai," is just your standard "low block." The other two can be tougher to figure out, though. The word "awase" means "joined," and could be referring to a variety of things. Typically, in karate it is used to describe two hands doing something in unison. The movement I've seen most often called "awase-uke" is like an "x-block" (hands crossed at the wrists). The movement that I most often see called "awase-tsuki" is a "double punch" motion, where one hand is punching normally and the other is punching inverted (palm up) below it. Typically, the arms are straight when executing that technique, unlike "yama-tsuki," in which the arms are bent and form a "C" shape, with your head roughly in the middle. This page shows what I have heard of as "awase-uke" http://www.shinkitaikarate.ca/Scona/Glossary/S/sokumen%20awase%20uke/sokumen%20awase%20uke.html This page shows what I have heard of as "awase-tsuki" http://www.shinkitaikarate.ca/Scona/Glossary/A/awase%20zuki/awasezuki.html

A lot of karateka have heard of gamaku, but don't really know what it is. Especially in the Western world, it tends to be spoken about in mysterious tones, but it's rarely actually explained. When it is explained, it's usually done so in a way that doesn't actually help you understand what it is. Personally, I don't find this very helpful, at all, as gamaku is vital to having strong karate, and not understanding it is just going to hold you back. With that in mind, I wanted to share this article by a long-time karateka that I know and respect, in which he explains just what gamaku is and does. This is the simplest, most straight-forward explanation that I have ever seen, and I thought that it might benefit some of the folks here on KF. http://ryukyuma.blogspot.com/2014/08/five-oral-teachings-kuden-and-gamaku.html I'm curious to know how many of the karateka, here, have been taught gamaku in their training? I already know a few of you who most certainly have. If you haven't, then I'm particularly interested in what you think of the concept, after reading this article!

To me, it sounds as if you are tensing too much. It's quite common for people to try to completely lock down their muscles when told that they need to tense certain areas of the body at certain times. In reality, you only need to tense enough to get the job done. If you completely contract your core muscles, it will tend to seize up your breathing for an instant. I believe that may be what you're experiencing. With regard to Naihanchi, the same thing applies--too much tension in your legs is going to increase tension in your core. Increased tension in your core slows you down, and takes up the "slack" before tension causes your breathing to seize up. With my Naihanchi-dachi, I go for "springy" rather than "solid," if that makes sense?

One of the side-effects of running a commercial dojo is that it's easy for the "less fun" aspects of martial arts to fall by the wayside to keep students coming back. Not all instructors have done that, of course, and you can find many instructors running dojo as their sole source of income and keeping up high standards at the same time. As I briefly mentioned, many Okinawan styles of karate have a more relaxed, friendly approach to "respect" than the formal, almost militaristic approach that you may be more familiar with. It's important to remember that, as a dojo can be very good while using either approach, but if you are expecting one and get the other, you may be disappointed. If you are looking for more of a "club" atmosphere, you're going to have a harder time of finding it, but it does exist. The trouble is that they aren't going to be advertising. If you check out your local YMCA, community centers, parks, and churches, you can sometimes find low-cost or non-profit clubs that aren't being run as businesses. You can also ask around at the commercial schools, because they will often know other instructors in the area, who might otherwise be difficult to find. Regardless of which route you choose to take, you will need to visit any schools you are interested in--websites aren't necessarily accurate representations of what goes on at the dojo. Make a list of the schools you are interested in, contact them to come in and watch a class that you would potentially be in, and talk to the instructor about your expectations. You'll be able to make a better decision if you've done this at several schools, and can compare them.

You feel slower because, most likely, you ARE slower. You're trying to move in a way that doesn't feel natural, so your body takes longer to do it. With practice, it will become more natural, relaxed, and fast. You are most likely holding your breath because you are trying to hit hard, and it's making you tense. A lot of people end up holding their breath when they try to hit hard. I have good news for you--these things can be overcome! As my Sensei says, "if you want to be good at hitting things, you have to hit things." Spend lots of time with the makiwara, the heavy bag, and hand-held pads. When you do, take it slow and stop worrying about power. Instead, focus on the timing of your breath and muscular engagement. Once everything is in sync, you'll be able to hit harder and faster.

First of all, welcome to the forum, Nick! When it comes to "tradition," I'm afraid it depends on what you think of as "traditional." From what you describe, it sounds like you want traditional Japanese karate, as Okinawan traditions are much more relaxed. That would mean you will want to find styles like Shotokan, Shito-Ryu, or Goju-Kai. That said, you will be VERY hard-pressed to find a dojo that doesn't have youth classes. Despite how you may feel about it, the only way for a dojo to make enough money to stay open, these days, is to teach children. It's also very difficult to get American children to follow Japanese traditions . As far as finding a dojo in your area, I'm afraid "NYC" is very vague, considering the size of the city. A quick Google search shows hundreds of martial arts schools in the metro area.

Welcome back to training! To the best of my knowledge, there are no real "seasons" in karate competition. Some organizations will have "seasons" or "point years," but those are just ways for them to organize rankings, and have no bearing on the frequency of competitions. What you are talking about is "periodization"--a training strategy designed to achieve maximum results in the shortest amount of time in order to prepare for a competition. This is something that a lot of trainers like to keep to themselves, but there is information out there. MMA or kickboxing periodization is going to be closest to what you need for karate, so something like the website below can get you started: http://mmatrainingbible.com/periodization/