Wastelander

Our system includes tsumasaki-geri (toe-tip kick), but we don't emphasize it much. Chibana Chosin, the founder of our style, actually cracked a wall in his dojo with it, at one point. As has been mentioned, it used to be the primary method of kicking with front kicks and roundhouse kicks. My Sensei can use them pretty effectively to the body--it feels like you're being stabbed. In addition to the Uechi-Ryu method, and the Shorin-Ryu method, I have seen some Goju-Ryu karateka working it. Garry Lever Sensei has a video, somewhere, showing him toe-kicking a medicine ball propped against a wall. Of course, Chinese arts, and Savate, wear shoes and make liberal use of toe-tip kicks. Outside of that, UFC fighters Katsunori Kikuno and Erick Silva have been known to use toe-tip kicks to the body pretty effectively. I have a hard time with them, so as much as I would like to be able to use them, I can't make much progress. I've damaged the big toes on both my feet so severely that even kicking with the ball of the foot hurts quite a bit. This damage also makes it very difficult to bend my toes properly for the Uechi method of toe kicking. My second toe is also long enough that crossing it over my big toe for support for the Shorin method causes the nail of my big toe to cut open the bottom of my second toe.

Having only been practicing for a fraction of the time that you have, I can't really relate. My own "awakening" occurred after two years of training, when I moved and had to start training solely on my own. My new Sensei had me keep wearing my brown belt from my previous style, since my basics were solid enough, and just had me train in his material up to that level so I could test in my new system. It sounds, to me, like you have found something truly worthwhile! I'm sure that your previous training gave you basics, reaction speed, and timing that will carry over. Other than that, though, it can be helpful to try to forget what is no longer useful. Best of luck, and enjoy your training!

Congratulations!

Class-time is for learning new material, refining material that you've been working on, and doing partner work. Repetitions of everything but partner work can (and should) be done at home. Two hours of class per week isn't ideal, but it's sufficient if you are doing a lot of training at home. Whenever you have a chance to get more class-time, though, you should take it--seminars, private sessions, special classes, etc. For what it's worth, I attended 13-14 hours of classes every week for the first two years of my training. After that, I moved to another state and had nowhere to take karate classes, so I started attending 4 hours of judo classes every week for about 2 years, while practicing my karate solely at home. Now, I teach 3-5 hours of class a week, attend 2-3 hours of classes for myself to learn, and practice every day at home. I found that to be a good balance, for me, but everyone has to find their own way.

The medical clearance is already handled by the state athletic commissions, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to double-check. I do think the background checks are a good idea, since the UFC has already had to release fighters after criminal or racist activity has come to light. They would save themselves the trouble if they just didn't sign them to begin with. It makes good business sense.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum!

I'm far from a master of KishimotoDi, but I'll do my best to answer your questions! 1. This system traces back to "Tode" Sakugawa Kanga, so we know that Naihanchi has existed at least since his lifetime. Unfortunately, we have no written documentation that explains where the material came from before that. It is most certainly possible that Sakugawa, in his capacity as a Satunushi, would have traveled to China and been influenced by the martial arts he saw there. I am aware of several theories about the origins of Naihanchi, but none of them actually fit very well, in my experience. Lately, there have been many claims that Naihanchi came directly from a Chinese form called Daipochin, but I don't see a connection between them. Honestly, the closest I have seen is some Northern Long Fist material, and even then I have never seen a form that looks like it would have been an ancestor to Naihanchi. More likely, it was a combination of Okinawan and Chinese methods, and never came directly from a Chinese form, to begin with. 2. No--all power generation in KishimotoDi is done by twisting at the waist, dropping at the knees, or stepping into your attack. Unlike what we consider "traditional karate" today, there is no "koshi" used to drive techniques. While this runs counter to what we have always been taught, it is quite clearly stated in old writings by Motobu and Mabuni that twisting at the waist is the method Naihanchi is intended to use. It takes some getting used to! The system is much "softer" than modern karate. 3. The one-knuckle strike, to the best of my knowledge, was the favorite striking method of Kishimoto Soko, whom the system is named for. For application, it doesn't actually matter what striking tool you use, because they look at it like the tip of an arrow or spear--what tip you use is dependent on what your target it and how it is being protected by your opponent. As far as the applications I have been taught, so far, the ones that utilize the one-knuckle strike are almost always following sticky-hands-type limb control, and they are almost always targeted at the pressure point on the upper-lip below the nose, or at the eye. I hope that helps!

A heavyweight karate gi will stand up to fairly regular light grappling for a while, but it will eventually start to tear. Mine seem to last about 2-3 years. If you're being cost-conscious, I would go for a single-weave judo gi. They tend to be cheaper than karate or BJJ uniforms, and will last quite a bit longer. They just don't look/feel as nice when you're doing kata.

Welcome to the forum!

My Sensei has actually caught some grief for teaching things that are "too deadly" to children--specifically, an elbow to the face. MMA and Muay Thai coaches don't get the same backlash for teaching the same thing to their youth students. One person's "deadly" technique is another person's "basic" technique. In reality, any strike can be potentially deadly. If I remember the statistic correctly, the majority of people who die during (unarmed) physical altercations die from one punch knocking them out and their head hitting pavement. After that, I think it was death caused by internal injuries from strikes to the body. How many martial arts teach punches to the head and strikes to the body? On top of that, many arts teach choking techniques, which are also known to be capable of killing. With that in mind, I think it's important to teach ALL of our students how to effectively handle a physical attack. If we don't teach them effective techniques--which are, by their nature, capable of being deadly--then what good will any of their training do them when they are attacked?

I am on the anti-Olympic-karate side of the discussion, and we have covered this topic a few times here on KF, already: http://www.karateforums.com/karate-in-olympics-vt46576.html?highlight=karate+olympics http://www.karateforums.com/olympic-karatedo-vt44652.html?highlight=karate+olympics In general, the pro-Olympic-karate folks tend to support it because they feel it will increase interest in karate and provide incentive for new athletes to participate in it. Conversely, the anti-Olympic-karate folks tend to believe it will water down karate and promote the sport/aesthetic aspects of it too much. As for the reason it isn't in the Olympics, already, I believe it is because it is too similar to Taekwondo and the average viewer won't be able to tell the difference.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Jaypo - I actually showed my uke in those videos how to use the same movements from Naihanchi Nidan as a takedown, interestingly enough! I meant to record it, too, but didn't have time.

Hello everyone, This weekend, I recorded a few kata application videos. The first one is an application for the last few movements in our Passai Sho kata, also called Itosu Passai. In the kata, you perform a yama-tsuki (mountain thrust), followed by a turn and a sukui-uke (scooping receiver). This movement almost perfectly matches a variation of tai otoshi (body drop throw) that I was taught by my second judo instructor as a way to compensate for my bad shoulder. You can enter into the throw the same way you would enter into a standard tai otoshi, but instead of maintaining your grip on the lapel, you brace your forearm against the inside of your opponent's elbow and "draw a circle in the air" with it. I did the throw slowly in the video so it is easier to see what I'm doing, but it makes it look a bit clunky. The second application I recorded was for the opening movements of Naihanchi Nidan, where you step into kosa-dachi (cross stance) and lift the hands, projecting the elbows outward, and then step into Naihanchi-dachi and execute a simultaneous forearm/hammerfist strike and punch. In application, the step into kosa-dachi becomes a twist into kosa-dachi, with the lifting hands trapping the attacker's punching arm. From there, you step into the strikes, bracing your lead knee against the inside of your attacker's knee to disrupt his balance. In the video, I show both the forearm/hammerfist strike and the punch being used, but instead of punching, you can simply maintain control of your attacker's punching arm with that hand, and the movement is the same. You can also do this while moving to the outside of the punch, and the strikes are still available, or you can place the elbow of the lead arm against the opponent's shoulder and drop them backward wit hit. I didn't record that variation, but I might record it sometime in the future. The third application I recorded was for the opening movements of Naihanchi Sandan, where you step out to naname-zenkutsu-dachi (diagonal front stance) and execute a chudan-ude-uke (middle forearm receiver), then shift back to Naihanchi-dachi and execute a morote-uke (double receiver--middle and low, in this case), then move the hands into meotode-gamae (married hands posture), which then moves across the body, then back, and then strikes out. This is a long sequence of movements, and so I actually throw three applications strung together, following a "if that fails, do this" formula. The first movement is used to avoid/control the attack, and then the morote-uke can be used to dislocate the elbow. If the dislocation fails, you can roll the arm over into an armbar, and if that fails, you can defend against a strike and strike back. I also show the same movements used from inside a punch, instead of from the outside. The initial technique is the same--avoid/control the attack, and then use morote-uke to dislocate the elbow. If that fails, you can transition to hiji-dori (elbow press) and strike.

Great job, Fang! And good luck on your test!

Most of the time, when Sanchin-dachi bothers the knees, it's because the person is allowing their knees to collapse inward. In any stance where your knees bend, your knees should track over your toes. Allowing them to collapse inward or outward from that track puts too much strain on your knees. Record video of yourself running Sanchin and see if this is what you are doing.

My pleasure! We practice Kobayashi-Ryu, through the Shorinkan.

I can't speak to Uechi-Ryu, specifically, but Shorin-Ryu uses the same/similar techniques. This is a good write-up on several of them, courtesy of Ryan Parker Sensei: http://ryukyuma.blogspot.com/2013/04/small-surface-strikes-structurally.html

Most often, we are deflecting, but sometimes we do actually "block" an attack. Deflecting is the preference, though, as it is more practical, because it doesn't tell your attacker that their strike is finished, which would signal for them to throw another strike. It's also quicker and requires less effort!

I completely agree with GojuRyu Bahrain, but only if we're talking about someone who knows that they are going to be a long-term karateka! Beginners typically don't know that, for sure, so it doesn't make sense for them to invest in a good gi. Since karatefreak91 is asking about a gi for a beginner, I would recommend something cheap, but workable. 6oz is probably a bit too thin, but 8oz will do just fine, and isn't too costly for someone just starting their training. Once you've been training for a year, or so, you should have a better idea of whether you want to stick with it long-term or not. If you do, then definitely shell out the money for a good, heavyweight gi.

Welcome to the forum!

Honestly, the vast majority of people that I've met who say "I used to train..." stopped at the lower ranks. That said, I have definitely met some who stopped at brown belt, and usually they say that they couldn't make it work with their schedule anymore. That may be true, or it may be that the fear of testing for black belt drove them to overtrain and burn out, and they started to find excuses not to train. It's hard to say, really. I've been a brown belt for about 6 years, and it's impossible to imagine stopping.

A couple of years ago, I was told that I was mentioned in the local newspaper back home. It turns out that a young karate student from my old dojo had been interviewed because he was a very promising student and active member of the community. They asked him who his role model was, and he said that it was me! I trained with him for a little over a year and, as one of the senior students at the dojo, I taught many of his classes and helped him through techniques and kata on many occasions. I never expected that I would have made such a big impact on him that, several years later, he would say that I was still his role model! I admit that it still gets me a little choked up, but I'm kind of a sap . I have to say, I'm VERY proud of him! He's a great young man, and destined for great things! ETA: I found the article, here (http://www.pjstar.com/x459327375/Tyler-Peifer)

I was a bit of a nerd, and very interested in Japanese culture. I actually wanted to learn kendo, but it wasn't available in my area, and was very expensive if I wanted to drive the hour it took to get to the nearest dojo. Karate was available, though, and that's how I started. My reasons for training have certainly changed, and I've matured as a martial artist since then, but I still have a long way to go.

Congratulations!