Wastelander

To me, it sounds as though her kick to the groin was accidental, and caused you some discomfort. Your knee to the ribs was purposeful, and caused significant pain. Sparring is not a contest of toughness, nor is it a tournament--you are supposed to be learning and practicing techniques you have drilled in a more live setting. If you feel the need to "get her back" after an accidental kick to the groin, when you weren't even wearing the proper gear, then you aren't ready to spar, in my opinion. If you do spar, I think you should only be sparring with brown and black belts. People who are new to sparring are the most dangerous, and need to be taught how to spar by sparring with more experienced students. Letting beginners go at it is a recipe for disaster. As you said, you are afraid you can't control your power. That's because you can't, which is totally normal! It takes time to develop that control, and once you have, it will be safe for you to spar other beginners, and smaller people.

Welcome to the forum, Baldor!

Congratulations!

It's definitely an interesting project, although I agree that it's a bit too pricy. What I don't like is the premise, though. According to the video, the whole purpose of these gloves is to "learn how to punch without a coach." I think that they can be valuable for those with training and instructors, but their value is going to be severely limited for those without. As far as your comments about gloves analyzing form and bone alignment, I don't believe we currently have the technology to do that with a glove. 3D motion capture, sure, but not a glove. Who knows what the future holds, though!

Glad you're here, Jack, and I'm happy to share! I actually share every karate-related article you write with some martial artists I know. For what it's worth, Masaji Taira Sensei's top Western student had this to say, about this article: "It's great that there is serious discussion in the mma world regarding this type of topic. And the authors statement, "but if—like me—you don't believe in the performance of kata adding anything to your martial arts game, but rather in the kata as a historical document of ideas" is a point that needs to be brought out into the open and deserves serious consideration in my view." Also, one of the people I shared it with is in one of the clips you used I'm definitely looking forward to more articles like this from you. Your breakdowns are always interesting and thorough, and it's great to see karate--realistic, old-school karate--get some positive attention. Thanks!

We have a full set at the dojo, and it's excellent! It definitely builds explosiveness!

Thanks, and my pleasure! I definitely use this in sparring and randori with strikes, myself. The step-around throw entry works especially well for koshi-guruma (hip wheel) and kubi-wa (neck ring), but you have to be sure to take their balance, first. There is a variation of this where you can actually throw them with the step, itself, but it's too technical to show in such a short video. I'm interested to hear how it worked out for you in class!

http://fightland.vice.com/blog/fighting-motives-a-study-in-saifa--part-1 Jack Slack is arguably the most respected striking analyst in the MMA world, and he also happens to have a karate background. Over the years, he has quietly slipped comments about practical karate into his articles. Recently, he's been more open about it and, now, he has started a series that focuses entirely on the applications of a traditional kata--Saifa. I don't practice Saifa, but I am most definitely familiar with Taira Sensei's material, which he references frequently in this article. It's awesome to see practical karate getting publicity, and I can't wait for Part 2!

First off, I totally agree that we need to stop this use of "man up" as a way of saying that someone needs to be tougher and more stoic. That implies that one gender is "better" than the other, or that someone isn't "living up" to the expectations of their gender, which simply isn't true. Along with that, I've seen a few people in this thread say things along the lines of "what did she expect when she joined a martial arts class?" and "karate is for self defense and should be real." Considering how vocal I typically am about what I train for, and what karate is meant for, I'm going to argue against this line of thinking. Yes, karate was developed for self defense, and for practical, effective self defense, you must train with the appropriate contact/intensity. That said, there are other benefits of karate training, and the likelihood of needing the self defense skills is relatively low, these days. If someone joins your dojo for their health, or just the enjoyment of karate training, then what right do you have to tell them they shouldn't do so? I think the woman in this story should have told your son to lighten up during sparring, rather than afterward, but that's her right. If you can't adjust your level of intensity to work with your partner, then you are the problem. I will be honest, I have gone through phases with this, myself. Early in my training, I found it very easy to lower my intensity for my partners. Later, as I became more heavily focused on practicality and self defense, I found it very difficult to do so, and became frustrated. Now, it's gotten easier, again. As a senior student in the dojo, it's my responsibility to help my dojo-mates along their karate journey--whether they take the paved path to the scenic overlook, or they take the sheer cliff-face to the summit. They don't need me tripping them and beating them up along the way because I don't want to take the same path they do. That would be incredibly selfish! Now, you mentioned that your son is training for competition, and that's why he needs to hit hard in sparring. If he has a competition coming up rather soon, then this makes sense, and he should only spar with partners who can accommodate that. If the competition is a ways off--say, more than 6 weeks away--then he should be able to tone it down for a partner or two here and there. In fact, I would argue that it would be good for him. There are times to train for yourself, and times to train for others. He needs to learn the difference, someday, if he is planning to continue his training.

Glad to see some people using small-surface strikes! Mostly, I focus on keiko-ken (ippon-ken with the index finger knuckle), but I do work the others, as well. I just find keiko-ken to be the most effective, for me. Holding myself in a plank position on them (on a mat!) has really helped strengthen them, and I've been hitting the maize bag with them a lot, as well.

In one of the karate study groups I am a part of, we recently had a discussion about applications for the nami-gaeshi (returning wave) movement found in Naihanchi, as well as some versions of Passai, Kusanku, Seisan, and more. I decided to set up my camera and quickly run through the first 10 applications I could think of. There were more, but they were too subtle to show in such a short video. 1. Ko-Soto-Gari (Minor Outer Reap) 2. Ko-Uchi-Gari (Minor Inner Reap) 3. Step-Around Throw Entry 4. Kick/Sweep Avoidance 5. Hagi-Uke (Shin Block/Kick Check) 6. Fumikomi-Geri (Stomping Kick) 7. Kansetsu/Yoko-Geri (Joint/Side Kick) 8. Mae-Geri (Front Kick) 9. Suki-Geri (Shovel Kick) 10. Hiza-Geri (Knee Strike)

We have recently been discussing toe kicks (a small-surface strike) here at KF, and then someone asked me, on YouTube, about another small-surface strike (the extended-single-knuckle fist). It seems to be the in-thing right now! I'm curious as to what types of small-surface strikes you all practice/use, outside of the toe kick, and how to train them? For a bit of clarity, a "small-surface strike" is pretty much any strike that utilizes a very small striking area. Some examples, other than the ones above, would be oyayubi-uchi (thumb knuckle strike), washide-uchi (beak hand strike), and nukite-tsuki (spear hand thrust). Ryan Parker Sensei wrote a great blog post about small-surface strikes, if you're unfamiliar with them: http://ryukyuma.blogspot.com/2013/04/small-surface-strikes-structurally.html

My state is so much easier than all of yours' . I can own and carry any weapon that isn't restricted by Federal law, and I can own and carry those, too, if I have the licenses to do so.

I am in the dojo 2-3 days a week, for 3-4 hours at a time. I always go through at least one or two kata every day, and watch videos or study reading material every day. Periodically, I will do more intense workouts on the days I'm not at the dojo.

In my experience, yes, it hurts significantly more to be kicked with the toes than with the ball of the foot. I've had it done to me twice, and it felt like being stabbed--and he doesn't dedicate a ton of time to conditioning them! With shoes on, you make the kick that much easier to do, and that much more painful.

It's a very interesting article--thanks for sharing! I've actually heard of the same type of thing occurring with karate on Okinawa, and in Japan. People are forgoing karate practice in favor of a number of other activities, including MMA. I think it's a very sad cultural loss. At the same time, I think that those who study traditional arts can learn from the pressure testing of MMA and re-energize their teaching/training methods.

This gets a bit into martial arts politics, which certainly isn't my area of expertise. I would say that if your student signed a waiver at this other dojo, then there probably isn't anything that can be done, from a legal/insurance standpoint. Pain from a kick to the ribs isn't exactly an unusual injury in martial arts. That said, I do think the instructor was out of line, regardless of whose student he kicked--a light or slow kick would have illustrated the same thing, and not taken the student out of training. In the end, I think it's really up to the student. If he wants to keep training there, then you should probably talk to the instructor. If he doesn't, then he should just stop going and let that do the talking.

I will train with a mild cold, but I'll excuse myself from partner work. Anything more serious, though, and I will rest, instead. Exercise can actually make you feel a bit better if you're a little sick, but there is a point where you're just wearing down your body's immune system too far. Listen to your body!

I know that there is a Shorinkan dojo (the organization I'm a part of) over in Shelby, but that's not very close to you. It looks like the York Branch of the YMCA has a Shorin-Ryu program, which might be a little more reasonable, but it still isn't all that close. Since she has done Shotokan, Shorin-Ryu will be fairly similar, and might be easier for her to transition into. It looks like you have a Hayastan MMA gym in your area, and the instructors there also teach karate--looks like Kyokushin, which is based on Shotokan mixed with Goju-Ryu. There is also a school called Toma Dojo, which teaches a solid traditional style called Uechi-Ryu, but that will be very different from her Shotokan experience.

Welcome aboard, officially!

Congratulations!

Kyokushin karateka will be quick to tell you that "osu" (sometimes spelled "oss") is a contraction of the words "oshi" and "shinobu," making it translate as "to push and endure." From what I understand, though, the phrase existed in the Japanese military prior to that, and it was considered very rude outside of the military. As far as I know, it was just a crude affirmative grunt. It stands to reason that Mas Oyama put a "meaning" to the word to try to make it more acceptable, but I could certainly be wrong. We don't use it in Okinawan karate, but every now and then you'll hear someone use it because they picked it up from someone who doesn't know better.

I'm a fan of communication whenever possible. I would talk to him and explain that you'd like to keep a low profile, for now.

There is a long-standing misconception that muscle "bulk" causes slowness and inflexibility. Fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are the muscles you need to be explosive and strong, are the largest type of muscle fibers in the body, and therefore the bulkiest. What causes slowness and inflexibility is lifting slow and not doing enough/any stretching. After adding barbell squats and deadlifts to my training, as well as working with a heavier (150lbs) heavy bag, my kicks definitely got stronger.

Welcome to the forum!