Wastelander

When I dislocated my knee, I used an adjustable ACE brand brace with steel spring supports on the sides. After a while, I switched to a plain neoprene sleeve until I could get back to training without one.

With the turning back kick, I find that people have a tendency to try to spin (hence many calling it a "spinning back kicK". When someone who is good at it executes the technique, it looks as though they are simply spinning in place and snapping out the kick. When you break it down, though, what is typically happening is that they turn to face the opposite direction, then fire the kick, then complete the turn so they face the front again. A good way to break it down is this: from your fighting stance pivot 180 degrees into a cat stance facing away from your target, then fire your now-leading leg behind you with a back kick, then turn your body the rest of the way around so you are facing the front again. If you try to go straight into a spin, it's very difficult, but I have found that breaking it down like this is very helpful. Once you have a feel for it, you can build up speed.

Welcome to the forums! In addition to searching "tuite" as sensei8 suggests, you can also search "tuidi" which is the Okinawan pronunciation of the same word, or "torite" which is the Japanese pronunciation of the same word. "Karamidi" refers to some very similar concepts. "Kansetsu-waza" is the Japanese word for joint locks and is commonly used to describe joint locks in jujutsu and judo. Unfortunately, since there are so many types and ways of joint locking, it would be impossible for us (or anyone else, really) to list and diagram them all!

First of all, welcome to the forum! As far as your question goes, I have never used that gi, but I have seen it at a tournament or two. In my opinion, it isn't worth the money. It's only a 10oz. gi, which is considered a "middleweight" uniform, but it costs over $100 because it has two tops. The tops are nothing special, except they have a pocket for an MP3 player, and the pants tie like sweat pants do. They are meant for demonstrations and kata. A middleweight uniform from just about any manufacturer will be just as good, and cost less.

Good video Wastelander... BTW, so I take it your branch of Shorin-ryu is Shobayashi-ryu (the term used to designate between the line from Matsumura and the line continued by Chosin Chibana and his decendents)? Kobayashi-Ryu, actually--Nakazato Sensei was a student of Chibana Sensei, and carried on his teachings. As far as pacing goes, our "standard" pace is relatively slow, and I often have to force myself to slow down because I tend to move at application speed. Here is a video I recorded of myself running Naihanchi Shodan at our standard pace--it's much less impressive than Nakazato Sensei's demonstration, and I have a lot to fix, but it gives you the idea of how our count typically goes:

Young people think speed is impressive, therefore they run kata very quickly. The pace should be natural for you and for the applications you practice. The head of my system doesn't do his kata all that quickly, and it works out fine for him: Could slower kata mean lower scores in competition? Possibly, if you have younger judges, or people who just like to see speed. If your body mechanics are correct, your technique is clean, and your focus is strong, you should be fine.

I can still train with my instructor every time I go to the dojo, but I also take the time to learn from the other students at the dojo, and I cross-train with others whenever I can. My sensei's instructor is about 2000 miles away, though, so they do not get to train together very often. This means that he does what he can to make the most of their training time, but he also tries to get time training with other students of his instructor. In addition, he is constantly researching, practicing on his own, and learning from his students as a good sensei should

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are getting some good, hard training! The more you work your impact conditioning, the less you will bruise over time, but severe bruising is pretty normal at first. If you search for "kote kitae," "ude tanren," or "tai tanren" you will get some good information on impact conditioning. Some people also find that liniments like Dit Da Jow or Namman Muay can help speed up the healing process of bruises. If you have any specific questions, feel free to pop into the General or Karate subforums and ask away!

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your training! Yamesu has given you some solid advice with regard to training at home--right now, you haven't trained enough to self-correct, so it's best to focus on just one or two specific things you worked on in class that day, or the day before if you remember it. If you want to hit things at home, which I encourage, you should make sure you have received proper instruction on how to hit things at the dojo. You can practice the proper movements in the air, but until you start actually hitting things, you won't be very good at hitting things, if that makes sense? Once you are comfortable with impact training on bags or pads at the dojo, you should be able to do it at home. You can sometimes find bags or pads for very cheap on craigslist, or you can make your own. If those aren't options for you, then you can always ask one of your senpai (senior students) at the dojo if you can borrow pads from them for a few days at a time. I have, at one time or another, loaned out gear to kohai (junior students), and borrowed gear from my sensei--it's usually something we martial artists are readily willing to do for each other, if we know the person borrowing the gear is dedicated and responsible.

That's great! Tai Chi is wonderful for maintaining the body and mind

Thanks for sharing!

Arnica gel is something that has been recommended to me, along with Witch Hazel and various Dit Da Jow formulas, but I have never tried them. I hate Tiger Balm--it burns, stinks, and doesn't help me at all! What I currently use is a liniment called Fighter Fix that comes from Thailand, and I find that it works well for clearing up most bruising and speeding the healing process of lumps. The massaging is definitely beneficial, since it breaks up the pooling of blood that is the bruise, but I feel that massaging alone has not been as beneficial to me as massaging with liniment.

There isn't really anything to add--everyone has covered it pretty well! Beginners cannot learn basics from a book or videos, and not all schools that have "McDojo" tendencies have bad instruction. I will say that more advanced practitioners can actually pick up new skills from books and videos, provided they have a skill base to work from and a partner to work with. These should be used as extra resources for exploring new ideas, or variations on things you currently do.

The definition I like for "technique" is "to apply procedures or methods so as to effect a desired result." By that definition, a technique is most likely not going to be a singular movement. Every technique is made up of many parts, but because they are all working together to achieve a specific goal, they are one.

Have someone watch you kick and make sure that you aren't pointing your foot down when you chamber it. No matter how far back you pull your toes, if your foot is extended you are going to hit with your toes. If you have your foot correctly positioned (about a 90 degree angle to your shin) and still hit with your toes, then you may need to work on your toe flexibility. This will require stretches and static holds over a long period of time. While I can hit with the ball of my foot just fine on front kicks, I still have a hard time on roundhouse kicks, and I'm 7 years into my training. Don't expect massive leaps in progress--everything takes time

My experience with JKD is limited, but as far as I am aware, JKD is not a style. JKD is Bruce Lee's philosophy on martial arts training, with regard to how it should be approached, but it was never a system of techniques and concepts meant to be passed on and preserved. I believe he even specifically requested that people not teach anything he taught them under the name "Jeet Kune Do" for that reason.

I'm familiar with the sequence of movements in the kata, I'm just having a hard time figuring out how you're applying them. What is the attack you are defending against, what do you do with that attack when you receive it, what is the target you are striking with the hammer fist, and what is a "stepping arm smash"? It almost sounds like a Naihanchi application If you're not comfortable sharing more details, that's perfectly fine--I'm just perpetually curious when it comes to kata application

Since my Sensei goes over kata applications all the time, I'm rarely surprised when he shows us something new. Sometimes, they are very straight forward and practical, and sometimes they are more advanced (take more skill to do under pressure), and sometimes they are just fun . What was the application, out of curiosity?

I understand that--for us, the numbers I listed are general guidelines for how long it takes the average student to get to the level of skill required for the next rank. We certainly do have students who test before they have reached these numbers, and students who do not test until they have far passed these numbers.

Here is a list of our ranks, with the time you need to have been training between each one. So the amount of time/training I have next to "Yellow" is the amount of time/training you need to have done as a white belt in order to test for yellow belt. The time I listed next to "Orange" is the amount of time/training you need to have done as a yellow belt in order to test for orange belt. Etc. This is all approximate, though--people who are fast learners and dedicated to their training tend to move through the ranks more quickly up through blue belt. White Yellow - 4 months or 80 class hours Orange - 4 months or 80 class hours Purple - 6 months or 80 class hours Blue - 6 months or 120 class hours Green - 8 months or 180 class hours 3rd Degree Brown - 8 months or 180 class hours, plus 20 teaching hours 2nd Degree Brown - 8 months or 180 class hours, plus 20 teaching hours 1st Degree Brown - 8 months or 180 class hours, plus 20 teaching hours Shodan - 1 year or 240 class hours, plus 30 teaching hours Nidan - 2 years or 400 class hours, plus 50 teaching hours Sandan - 3 years or 600 class hours, plus 70 teaching hours

Samantha is a very interesting martial artist, and a great role model for young women. Personally, I think she has a great attitude when it comes to facing superior size/strength! As someone who is fairly large, but not very strong, I can appreciate both sides of this particular subject. On the one hand, it is definitely an advantage to be bigger and stronger than your opponent. That said, having to constantly face bigger and stronger opponents does force you to improve your technique to compensate for your disadvantage. That improvement gives you an advantage.

By "blood bubble" do you mean a bruise/contusion? The word "bubble" makes me think of a blood blister, which would be quite a different thing, and I'm not sure how you would get it from karate training. At my dojo, and at home, we always have band-aids, ice packs, athletic tape, and ACE compression bandages. I also have a bottle of liniment from Thailand called Fighter Fix that I use to clear up bruising and promote the healing of muscles. Other than that, there isn't much else you should need, I don't think. A set of popsicle sticks to make finger splints might be good, though.

when you say sport-style grappling what do you mean exactly? Whenever we do groundwork we do learn how to escape from having someone on mount (i knew prior how to do it due to my BJJ training) and how defend from guard. Takedowns we do a fair bit of in the higher grades when it comes to Kyogi, otherwise i'm left in charge of teaching it (even when i'm meant to be training). and locks & holds i also have to teach with my sensei When I say "sport-style grappling," I am referring to groundwork where you are working to set up transitions and submissions as you would in a grappling competition, with no striking allowed and without the goal of regaining a standing position. In our karate training, takedowns/sweeps/throws are very commonly practiced, as are standing limb controls, joint destruction techniques, and chokes. The actual "groundwork" portions are typically limited to defending takedowns and working on sweeps/transitions to get back to your feet, with striking included.

so you have made some slight variations between the styles to create your current version of it? Correct--after working both the version I originally learned, and the version that my Goju-Ryu friends do, I decided that there were some things I liked better about their version and included them. I haven't actually settled on doing the same thing every time, though, so it's still a bit experimental. My instructor is planning to ask Hanshi Perry about learning his version of Seiunchin, which is from an old Okinawan family style. If I get the chance to work that, I will probably tweak what I do some more. I'm a terrible traditionalist

We have two classes a week specifically for working grappling. Outside of that, it is pretty much up to Sensei's discretion. Sometimes we will go a month without working any groundwork of any kind, and sometimes we will do it two or three times a week for a month. The groundwork we practice in karate is always focused on takedown defense or fighting off an attacker from the ground so you can get back to your feet as quickly as possible. In the grappling classes, it is more sport-style grappling.