Wastelander

I just finished making myself some tai tanren kigu (body conditioning tools)--a tetsutaba (iron bundle) and a taketaba (cane bundle). The tetsutaba is made with a length of 3/4" PVC pipe and 50 heavy-gauge steel wires, although normally they are made with 108. Since this is a new tool for me, I'm starting with a lighter one than normal, and I'll make a heavier one later on. After taking this photo I put a coat of black spray paint on the PVC handle, and I'm going to wrap it with twine to give it a little nicer look and feel. The taketaba is made of 25 3' long bamboo stalks, approximately 3/8" in thickness, tied together with jute twine. http://s22.postimg.org/6pfjxri9d/tai_tanren_brushes.jpg

That's definitely a much better spinning hook kick than I can throw! Very cool!

I prefer not to bounce most of the time--it is more mobile, but it uses up energy you could be saving and leaves you susceptible to sweeps and leg kicks.

We don't always teach everything in this exact order, but this is generally how we progress people through the kata: Kihon Ippon Kihon Nihon Kihon Sanbon Naihanchi Shodan Naihanchi Nidan Naihanchi Sandan Pinan Shodan Fukyu no Kata (I'm honestly not sure why this is taught between Pinan kata) Pinan Nidan Pinan Sandan Pinan Yondan Pinan Godan Passai Sho Passai Dai Kusanku Sho Chinto (I'm also not sure why this is taught between Kusanku kata) Kusanku Dai Gojushiho Gorin All-in-all, I feel that we have too many kata, but that's another discussion, entirely!

Congratulations, indeed! Well deserved!

Well, my answer applies to both questions, quite honestly: There will be days when you feel like you are a terrible martial artist, and nothing is clicking. Don't let those days stop you, because working through those moments will enrich your life. Those are the days that help you build your discipline and determination, and when you finally start feeling like you're making progress again you will be better for the experience.

That sounds like a very intense experience, and I'm sure it is a moment you'll remember for years to come.

Good luck!

Well deserved, Heidi! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication!

It sounds like you have already done some research. Unfortunately, no one can seem to agree on this particular issue. My personal opinion is that you need to train with contact against a resisting opponent if you want to be effective at self defense. I believe that "scenario drills" are probably the best way of doing this, but contact sparring works, as well. That said, I don't think "full contact" is really all that reasonable--MMA fighters and kickboxers certainly don't spar full contact, because they would be injured all the time if they did. A medium level of contact--something that would knock the wind out of you, or bloody your nose, if you were hit--is sufficient for daily practice. To test yourself, the best you can do is compete in some sort of full contact combat sport. I did an MMA fight, because it put me in a situation where I would have to deal with full contact strikes and grappling against an opponent who truly wanted to take me out.

Congratulations, muttley!

Thank you, everyone!

We have gotten a few complains like this, which my Sensei typically responds to with "karate requires effort and contact to learn, and sometimes that hurts." Sometimes they stay, and sometimes they don't, but it works out better for us in the long run, in my opinion.

I also agree with AdamKralic's advise. Defensive side kicks are a fantastic tool against opponents who rush in, and they will quickly learn not to do that. The bonus side-effect of this is that not only are you learning to intercept an attack, but they are learning to more safely close the gap between them and an opponent. AdamE3, you must remember that you can be aggressive and offensive in sparring without losing control of yourself. In a self defense situation, you need to be able to flip the switch from defensive to offensive the second you are in danger. That should come out in sparring, to some degree. With regard to a "full contact street fight," I have to say that you should never end up in one of those. A "fight" is something that two or more people agree to participate in, and you should always be leaving that type of situation. If you end up being attacked, then yes, you will be at a bit of a disadvantage from not having done any full-contact training. That said, I don't personally believe that you need to train full-contact on a regular basis, so long as you do spar with some medium level of contact regularly. If you get the chance, I highly recommend competing in some form of full-contact combat sport at least once--that will help a lot when it comes to dealing with the stress of fighting, being hit full-power, and being grappled at maximum resistance.

Well, I suspect pretty much everyone will be picking the art they currently practice . Of the karate styles I have personally experienced, I like Shorin-Ryu the best, which makes sense since it is my primary area of study. The focus on speed and technique over strength, and the practical approach to self defense through kata application and cross-training have really had a huge impact on me. Outside of that, though, I find Uechi-Ryu and old, semi-obscure family systems to be quite interesting.

Thank you for sharing, and for the kind words!

I have heard of Mr. Carbone, and I am actually friends with him on Facebook, somehow or another. There really is no way I can confirm what he says about who taught him how to make sai--all I know is that everyone that has bought sai from him love the balance and quality. I can't tell for certain without handling a pair, but they don't look hand forged to me, which would be the truly traditional method for making them.

Welcome to the forum, welcome back to karate, and congratulations!

It's definitely amazing how wide our "audience" is for KarateForums!

It's always great to learn about our fellow martial artists, and I'm always happy to meet another Baldur's Gate fan . Thank you for the kind words, and I look forward to our future discussions!

The judging system currently used in MMA is definitely bad. The way they say it works is that each fighter goes into each round and earns points (up to 10) for being the better striker/grappler, for pushing the pace, and for controlling where the fight ends up. If it actually worked that way, it might not be so bad. The way it actually works is each fighter starts each round with 10 points, and gets them taken away. If the judge feels one fighter is outclassed in the category that judge feels is most important (striking, grappling, aggression, or cage control) then that fighter gets a point taken away. If there is a drastic difference in ability, that fighter may lose an additional point. The scoring system technically allows for more outcomes than this, but this is what typically happens. Because the scoring is done by taking away points for what the judge feels is important, everyone has a different opinion on the outcome. I would much rather see a weighted categorical rating system used to judge MMA. By that, I mean that each judge should have a list of categories--a direct carry-over could be a striking category, a grappling category, an aggression category, and a cage control category. The judges would then have specific criteria for rating those categories as "Effective," "Neutral," or "Ineffective." Those ratings would correspond to point values, and each successive round would be worth more points. This would result in scores that reflect actual results, in my opinion.

Thank you for the forum, Patrick, as well as the well-deserved celebration!

I've never gone all the way out, but I've gotten pretty close--vision going dark and sparkly, and starting to close in. As far as I'm aware, healthy people do not generally have any problems unless the choke is held for an extended period of time (15 seconds or more is what I've always heard) after they lose consciousness. I have heard of people having strokes caused by built-up and released pressure to the neck, which dislodged plaque or a clot in their blood vessels, but I don't believe it is a common issue.

This is a good article on the subject--thank you for sharing!

There is Sensei Wah's Kyokushin dojo in Pleasant Hill--a friend of mine trains there. It isn't Shotokan, but it's similar and they seem like a dedicated group of karateka. This is their website: http://www.wahdojo.com/