Wastelander

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!

Well, I can't see Flickr images while I'm at work, so I don't know what you look like. If you are in the dangerous range of body fat percentage, then I would say you need to gain some weight. Other than that, it's entirely up to you--don't worry too much about "bulk," though. It sounds like you want strength so, if I were you, I would focus on measurable results (how much weight lifted, how many times) and ignore how much I weigh or how bulky I look.

Welcome to the forum!

The shovel kick, or oblique kick, is probably my favorite traditional karate technique that has recently been used in MMA. It isn't a finishing technique unless you land it just right, but it is great for stopping forward movement and causing pain. So far, it's only being used by a couple fighters, but I think it is starting to catch on because it has been showing up in fights more often lately.

Don't worry about the age gap--you can learn something from every training partner. Enjoy your training!

They say that stepping on the mat for the first time is the hardest step in your martial arts journey. I would argue that stepping BACK on the mat after an extended absence can be even harder. The things holding you back are all in your head. You're afraid that you might be thought less of for your absence and current physical shape, or that you'll be called upon to perform in the same way you did before you left. You have to remember that you are not the first person to come back after a long time off, and you won't be the last. They will welcome you back with open arms, I'm sure, and they will help you get back to the level you should be at.

Welcome to the forum! You mention that you have some experience, and we would love to hear about it!

Sorry about that--he said "finalize," not "complete," but they mean the same thing, to me. If you "finalize" something, then you have completed it. Regardless, I do know that there used to be a Shorinkan dojo in Houston, but it has closed. I'm not sure whether the instructor moved, or if he is still in the area, but asking local martial artists may give you a lead. You can check with the Shorinkan, of course, but since they still show the dojo on their website, they may not know.

You could contact the Shorinkan (Nakazato Shugoro's organization) and ask about him. I'm part of that organization, but I've never heard of him. His biography is disconcerting to me because it talks about "completing" his training by studying Shorin-Ryu. There is no such thing as "completing" karate training, and it looks like he may have done all this bouncing around so he could found his own style. I would definitely check with the Shorinkan regarding his credentials and knowledge. Competition records are not really relevant, in my opinion, and neither are movie credits.

Judo is fantastic for staying on your feet, slamming your attacker on the ground if you get tangled up, and defending yourself on the ground if you end up there. Unfortunately for judoka, people don't just grab you and never throw a punch in the real world. The karate that most people learn is fantastic for defending against strikes and hitting people really hard/fast. Unfortunately for karateka, people don't just throw punches and never grab you in the real world. If self defense is your goal, you really need both a striking base and a grappling base that you can work together.

I generally recommend to anyone practicing a striking art to also do some cross-training in a grappling art of some kind. For me, it was judo, and it has worked out very well for me. You said you enjoy your art, your training, and your instructors, so I don't see why you would need to completely drop it. I do think that a grappling art would benefit you, though, because you will learn valuable self defense skills and pressure test them against resisting opponents. Cross-training, while keeping Tang Soo Do as your core art, sounds like the best option, to me.

You may have to ask around at the dojo you do have in your area to see if they know anyone teaching Shorin-Ryu, if you're that dead-set on a style, because they might be teaching out of their house. Then again, they may not be teaching anywhere, anymore, and you'll have to take a look at what you do have available in your area.

Beef jerky will work fine, but it's loaded with sodium, so be sure to drink extra water.

Congratulations and thanks, Heidi!

Welcome to the forum!

Last week I was sent to the Los Angeles area for work, and since it was going to interrupt my training I knew I had to do something other than hotel room kata. I looked around at the martial arts schools in the area, and ended up contacting a Japanese Goju-Ryu (Seiwakai) dojo in Santa Monica. The person running the website was a student of the instructor there, but no longer lives in the area himself, so he sent me his sensei's contact information and I was able to arrange to train with them. http://s22.postimg.org/pcosxp1i9/Noah_at_World_Budo_Arts.jpg Myself (white belt) with Vassie Naidoo, Shihan, and his students. I enjoyed working with Vassie Naidoo, Shihan, and all of his students--they train hard, they are friendly, and they have strong karate. They also share their dojo with a Kyokushin group (several of the Goju-Ryu students cross-train with the Kyokushin group, as well) and I was able to meet some of them, too. I left with an open invitation to return, and I gave them an invitation to train with us if they are ever in the Phoenix area. If anyone is interested in more details about the training session itself, I'm putting it up on my blog. I just wanted to share a good experience here about karate bringing people together

I eat something small before I start my weight training and don't eat again until after karate is over. That said, I don't have the gaps in between that you have. Maybe you could throw a protein bar in your bag to snack on?

I know Iain Abernethy has some videos of applications for Enpi/Wanshu, so those should be easy enough to find on his Practical Kata Bunkai channel on YouTube. John Titchen has this one for the opening sequence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAhe_yfjYbk This guy made a whole series of videos on his applications for Enpi, and there are definitely some interesting ideas and concepts explored in them--here is the playlist: