Wastelander

Welcome to the forum!

Well, the time has come for me to test again--this Saturday I will be testing for Ikkyu (1st degree brown belt) in Shorin-Ryu. There is only one other person testing, and he is testing for Sandan, so I really have no idea what to expect. Wish me luck!

ps1, is that by any chance the video of Bill Hayes Sensei demonstrating an application for shuto? I'm at work and can't watch it, but I know it's been going around lately. That is one of our most common way to use that technique. We don't typically use the knife/sword hand as a hard block, but when we do we aren't terribly picky about the impact area--anywhere from the bottom half of the edge of the hand to the elbow is generally okay. It gives you a wider margin of error that way.

In my organization, kata application is taught differently from instructor to instructor. We do not have standards in place for it, so everyone is free to structure and teach it as they see fit. In my dojo, we do not teach application in strict levels, but we do typically limit younger and/or less experienced students to very simple applications, and work up from there on an individual basis. My instructor's sensei does structure his kata application in levels, though. I prefer the more fluid, individualized approach.

My sensei washes his gi with hydrogen peroxide to help them stay whiter, longer, but that is really a preventative measure. Bleach does weaken the fabric, and can ruin any patches you have on the gi, so it's not the best solution. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything that can get the sweat, oil, and blood out of my daily use gi. I know a couple people who have had their gi dry cleaned with great success though, so that may be something you can check out. If the dry cleaning works, you can use the hydrogen peroxide wash to try to keep it looking nice. Honestly, though, I don't think a pristine white gi is an important part of training. Sure, it's nice for formal events, like tournaments, seminars, and rank exams, but for everyday training I just don't see the point. The gi is a set of heavy duty workout clothes, and that's what mine looks like . That's when you cough up the money for a second gi, and have an "everyday use gi" and a "formal event gi".

I would highly recommend that you see a doctor--after 2 years there should not be any lingering effects from your shin colliding with a knee. If I had to guess (and I am not a medical professional) you probably caused a stress fracture and it has either never healed, or has healed incorrectly due to never being treated.

I have no problem with women wearing just a sports bra under the gi--female MMA fighters and BJJ competitors train in sports bras without causing problems, so why can't karateka? It does seem a bit silly. If they want to wear more layers, that's fine, but I don't think it's necessary.

I believe that martial arts should--and, to some degree, must--evolve. Traditions are all well and good when they don't interfere with that evolution. Unfortunately, in every generation you end up getting people who take the evolution of their teachers and turn that into tradition, refusing to change it. That's when things stagnate, and that's how you get the "you're doing it wrong" arguments between styles, branches, and organizations.

Was there something in particular that you wanted to discuss in regards to this video?

Well, I have some sort of undiagnosed condition with my knees that leaves them prone to dislocation. I have actually dislocated my right knee twice--once in each direction--and it still causes me pain when the weather changes or if I put too much lateral or twisting pressure on it. My left knee will sometimes hurt, as well, but I've never dislocated it, although I've come close on a few occasions. I've never seen a doctor to diagnose why my knees are having issues, but my mother (a nurse) has told me that I'll probably need knee surgery someday. I actually found that the deep stances of Shuri-Ryu (similar to Shotokan) helped strengthen my knee and reduced my pain. I can't say that the same would be true for you, but that was my experience. Since I now practice a style that uses higher, more natural stances, I actually have to incorporate extra exercises to make sure my knees stay strong. In the end, every person's body is a little different, and you need to listen to it. If you enjoy the Shotokan training and it doesn't bother your knees, then keep it up! If it does bother your knees, see if your sensei can help you adjust it to fit you better. If that doesn't help, you'll have to look for something else if you want to keep your knees healthy.

Shiroma Sensei did give me some pointers on my technique, but nothing terribly major--pulling my foot back further on my push kicks, chambering the kick more, throwing my overhand left more often, etc. I didn't feel outmatched in sparring, so from that perspective I feel pretty good. I have been invited to come back any time, and I was told that yesterday was sort of a trial run for me, and that my "real training" will start the next time I visit, so we'll see how that goes! I actually started up doing high intensity interval training again the week before last, but I haven't done it enough to build my endurance back up just yet. I typically go between bagwork, kettlebells, and medicine balls for those circuits.

Sounds like a great time!

I am currently preparing for my first amateur MMA fight, which will be on August 10th, so lately I have tried to gear my training toward that goal. A local martial artist that I know through Facebook, recommended that I go do some cross-training with his instructor, Jiro Shiroma Shihan. I already knew about Shiroma Sensei through my instructor, who has done a little cross-training with him, but had never gone myself. This morning I went down to Shiroma Sensei's dojo for a class on Muay Thai--his style is a blend of Shorin-Ryu, Muay Thai, and jujutsu, and he is an "old school" Okinawan instructor, so I expected it to be tough. I discovered that my endurance has suffered while I have been improving my strength/power, so I will have to work on that . I had a great time, and picked up a few tweaks to work on in the process. Shiroma Sensei is also a fun guy to talk to--very knowledgeable and humorous! http://s24.postimg.org/jzw1z6dqd/Noah_with_Jiro_Shiroma.jpg

We do practice kata, and it is very important to how we teach, but it isn't always part of class because kata practice is really for when you don't have a partner, so if you are in class and have partners you should be spending time working with them. The application of kata is very important to our karate, and we explore it often. Everyone starts off with simple applications the can be learned and applied quickly, and over time we work into more difficult applications. My instructor likes to start off working the movements in the air (extracted from the kata) first, then we move on to non-resistant partner drills with it, then we include padwork, and then move onto resistant drills or sparring. If I'm perfectly honest, I wish we would do more resistant drills than we do, but it gets a bit difficult to do it safely with beginners and teens. Scenario training along the lines of what John Titchen does with his DART program is something I would really love to do. As it is, I can make most applications work against a resistant partner, and my instructor can make all of the ones he teaches work against a resistant partner, but every technique doesn't fit every student so we are open to adaptation and cross-training. We do practice 7 yakusoku kumite sets, because they are required curriculum in our organization. They have a couple good techniques scattered in them, but I find practicing them in their entirety to be a waste of time. Our sparring for adults/teens is medium-contact, all targets legal and grappling allowed, but we have our younger students stick to point sparring. Supplemental drills like kakie, ude tanren, hubud, lop sau, etc., are thrown in on occasion, but not all that often. Hikite is definitely an important technique in our applications, though, so I would like to do more live trapping practice and kakie-type drills.

Congratulations!

Welcome to the forum! We have members from a wide variety of disciplines, so this is a great place for discussing all sorts of things. Feel free to jump into the subforums and solicit advice with regards to your breathing and kime, and throw in your input wherever you feel comfortable!

Weighted lunges and full ROM barbell squats would be my go-to strengthening exercises, and then be sure to stretch after each workout. I found that my kicking height increased as my hip flexibility increased by holding a low horse stance as a combination stretch/isometric workout, so that may help as well.

While I tend to agree with you, what you have written will probably upset a lot of people. Hakutsuru/Bai He Quan has been flaunted as the exotic, mysterious root of Okinawan karate for quite some time, and it has gotten to the point where people will grasp at any connection between it and what they do. I will say that Okinawan karate DOES contain Whooping Crane influences that were introduced by Wu Xiangui\Gokenki in the early 1900's, but that's as close to White Crane as it gets, as far as I can tell. To me, Shuri-Te based karate bears more resemblance to Northern systems than the Southern ones we are always told about. There are influences from both, of course, but I think the Northern influence is stronger.

Welcome to the forum! While those goals aren't necessarily impossible, I think they are a little too specific, and you will probably change your goals as you get older. You may get tired of karate before Sandan, or you may reach Sandan and decide you want to stick with karate for the rest of your life. You may try out MMA/BJJ and decide you actually hate it, or you may like the training but hate actually fighting. All that said, I think that if your ultimate goal is to compete in MMA at a high level, you would be better served by starting your MMA training now. I love karate, and it's a fantastic martial art, but it really isn't geared toward MMA competition.

The closest kata I have to a Shotokan kata is the Shuri-Ryu version of Empi. I used to compete with that kata, with decent success, so I'll say that is my preferred "Shotokan" kata. Outside of that, Naihanchi is my favorite, followed by Seiunchin.

Thanks! I've been using a makiwara with a Shureido leather pad on it up until now, as well as doing my bagwork without gloves/wraps and doing knuckle pushups on various surfaces. I gave this pad a try with light taps while it was on the floor, and it didn't feel too bad, so I figured I would try it out. On Wednesday I took it to the dojo with me, tied it to the makiwara and gave it a try, and it wasn't a problem. I could actually get in a couple more punches on each hand with this pad than I can on the leather ones, even though this one is a rougher texture. I think it's because the thing that really slows down my makiwara training is the bruising I get from my knuckles penetrating through the thin leather pad and smacking the wood every time I punch. The rope pad is thick enough that, even though it's plenty firm, I'm not hitting such a hard surface. I'll definitely be checking my knuckles often while using it, though, so I don't overdo it.

MMA stands for "mixed martial arts." It is a competition format where competitors are trained in more than one martial art, and they fight each other with full-contact strikes combined with grappling. If you search YouTube for "MMA fights" or "UFC fights" you can find some examples. Interestingly, the spinning heel hook kick that you mention has been used a few times recently in the UFC, which is the premier organization when it comes to producing MMA events. You can see them performed at the links below by Edson Barboza and Vitor Belfort, respectively: http://www.themmanews.com/edson-barboza-lands-the-first-wheel-kick-ko-in-ufc-history-gifs/ http://allfightnews.com/2013/05/19/gif-vitor-belfort-kos-luke-rockhold-at-ufc-on-fx-8/

I don't know about those from personal experience, but Hirota does have a good reputation. Tokaido has a pretty good reputation, and it seems to be more popular than Hirota. Shureido is typically the "gold standard" of karate gi.

Since I moved into a house, I've been working on getting things set up in my garage for at-home training. One of those projects is a wall-mounted makiwara, which is still in progress because I'm working out a way to angle it away from the wall. I did get the makiwara pad made, however! Instead of buying or making a leather pad (I do leatherwork on the side, so it would be easy to do) I decided to go old-school and make a rope one. I was wondering what you all use for a makiwara pad, because I've seen a wide variety of creative options! Mine is made with 50ft of 3/8in manilla rope that I soaked, bundled, wrapped, flattened out with a mallet, and singed off the stray fibers. http://s13.postimg.org/isarr68x3/Homemade_Makiwara_Pad.jpg

Welcome to the forum!