Wastelander

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of tameshiwari (breaking) videos in my Facebook feed. This inspired me to try breaking cinder block caps and a coconut for the first time, and it reminded me of an old video I recorded of the first time I broke four flat-stacked boards. In the spirit of sharing the fun, I present those videos to KF! (I had only been training for 9 months, and had the flu, so it took me a while to psych myself up for the break--loud kiai warning!) (a single cap, then two flat-stacked caps) (surprisingly easy--used relatively light dropping palm heel slaps)

Whichever one teaches you techniques that you can make work under pressure, and then pressure tests you. Some martial arts programs are best used for personal enjoyment and development, some are best used for fitness, and some are best used for self defense--it's up to you to decide which one you want, and evaluate your options. The unfortunate problem with most "self defense" courses is that they are often not consistent--usually a class or two a week for a few weeks, and then you're done. You have to keep up with your practice for the rest of your life if you want to be able to use what you've learned for the rest of your life. That's a definite edge that traditional martial arts classes have over the ones specifically labelled "self defense."

Happy New Year, and welcome to the forum!

Do you have any equipment? Without equipment, kata, kihon, shadow boxing, and calisthenics are going to be the biggest items on the menu!

Welcome to the forum!

The same injury recently happened in the NBA, I believe. Honestly, I think this is actually a GOOD thing for the sport--any publicity is good publicity, after all. You had an event that was considered by pretty much everyone to be a good, entertaining event, there was a high profile women's fight on it that brought with it some controversy, and then a very high profile fighter received a devastating injury that got spread around the internet. People I know who don't know anything about the UFC or MMA knew about Silva breaking his leg on Monday. That kind of exposure will only help them in the long run.

My Ikkyu and Nikkyu certificates from Okinawa are in this frame, which is displayed on a corner shelf in our dining room: http://s21.postimg.org/o22tsaxk7/Ikkyu_Certificate.jpg I've never framed any other certificate. My Shodan certificate will someday be put in the frame, above.

The filmmaker lives and trains here in the Phoenix, AZ area--I'm actually friends with him on Facebook . Between the content of the film and the fact that he's local, I pretty much had to support him! I'm hoping it gets funded, because I think it's a very worthy project!

To ShoriKid's point, I believe that Kano Jigoro founded judo at the ripe old age of 22.

I'm not aware of any formalized kata for the chi'ishi, but it's entirely possible that certain instructors teach specific sets of chi'ishi exercises in a particular order, and that could be considered a kata, of sorts. You can check out hojo undo videos that Jundokan instructors have put on YouTube to get some ideas.

My Sensei is 28 and a Yondan, but many people have assumed that he is a Godan or Rokudan based on how he moves and teaches--he is always sure to correct them. I suspect his Sensei will test him for Godan in the next year, or two, which gives him the possibility of reaching a "master" rank by the age of 30, but just barely. Judan rankings before the age of 50 baffle me, and even then I would expect some extreme circumstances to have occurred.

I'll talk to him and see what he can do--PM me your details!

My suggestion is a bitter pill to swallow, I'm afraid--you should go talk to your instructor and explain how you feel. This will have one of three effects: * He realizes how oversensitive he has been, and tones down his outrage, making it possible for students to peacefully engage with both schools. * He doesn't care about how you feel, and things stay the same. * He gets offended that you would feel that way, and kicks you out, too, or finds ways to make training unpleasant so you will quit. Out of those three options, I see only one that justifies staying where you are. Still, that's better than your current situation, because as it stands you are sitting at Option 2, and don't have any other options.

Congratulations! I actually know somebody from Sweden--he teaches Taido and KishimotoDi in Lund.

The man who started my karate journey (I trained with him for 6 months before he moved) actually lives in the Gurnee area. He is friendly, good at making class fun, and a good teacher. He used to teach out of a church community room, but I'm not 100% sure if he still does that. If you are interested, I could get the two of you in touch?

The semantics of "traditional" martial arts have been debated endlessly, and I'm sure they will continue to be debated for as long as I am alive. As far as I'm concerned, if you are teaching material that has been passed on from a previous generation, then it is traditional, because a "tradition" is defined as "the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc., from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice." Unfortunately, that makes just about all martial arts traditional .

A makiwara does, indeed, need to be flexible--that is how they function, after all. No flex, no progressive resistance. The solid makiwara, like that one, serve their purpose, but it isn't developing power and striking structure, which is what a real makiwara does.

I would expect working Kyokushin kihon and kata to mess you up--I know it really threw me off when I tried doing it with the group I work out with on occasion. Your best bet is probably to just ask them when they will be sparring, and stop by for that every now and then, while continuing with your regular judo training sessions for the most part.

I'm afraid they aren't kata that I am familiar with, and when I Googled them, the first thing that came up was actually your blog . I did notice that you practice Shudokan, which is interesting to me because I just started discussing Chibana no Kusanku with someone yesterday, and that seems to be a kata that is only passed down through Toyama Kanken. I can't watch videos while I am at work, so I can't comment on the videos you have of the kata you mention in your OP, at the moment. I can say I would definitely love to discuss Chibana no Kusanku with you, though! Sorry for the tangent!

You can try asking local martial arts instructors if they know any other teachers in the area--most of them do, even if you can't find them on Google. That said, the best advice I can give would be to visit all of the karate schools in your area, talk to the instructors, watch classes, and try classes, and attend the one you like best. Style is really less important than the environment and teacher, so you might find that any number of other karate styles actually give you more enjoyment. Just a thought

I have not been training long enough to participate in this survey (almost 8 years, currently), but I did pass it along to some people I know who do qualify. I hope the research goes well!

What part of AZ are you in?? I would love to stop in if I am nearby! Thanks Our dojo is in the Scottsdale Airpark.

Well, last year I set goals to compete in my first MMA fight, pass my Ikkyu test in Shorin-Ryu, and attend more seminars. I did compete in my first MMA fight, I did pass my Ikkyu test, and I attended one more seminar than the year before, so I guess I succeeded! In 2014, my goals are: 1. Attend more seminars (there were more I could have done and didn't) 2. Pass my Shodan test in Shorin-Ryu (scheduled for "summer" sometime ) 3. Compete in a couple grappling competitions

Welcome to the forum! It's interesting to get Chinese martial arts input. I'm actually in Arizona, as well, so let me know if you are interested in stopping into our dojo!

Wolff's Law I completely agree with you, and we don't typically do any tameshiwari at my dojo unless we are doing a demonstration. That said, I think that the schools that do not do any conditioning but require breaks usually either kiln-dry the boards/bricks/blocks/tiles/etc., cut them partially, or only hit them with kicks, which are relatively safe to do, even for people who haven't done any conditioning.