Wastelander

Congratulations and many thanks, Danielle!

The thing about self-defense is that it more about mental skills and knowledge than anything else, and once you have been educated in the subject, that education can guide your physical training. You can also improve that physical training even further with exposure to contextually-appropriate pressure testing, which should not only be informed by the academic knowledge of the context, but also knowledge of effective pressure testing methods for other similar contexts. You can be an expert in self-defense training if you are an expert in these things, despite having never had to employ the skills in real life, because you're an expert in every aspect of self-defense that CAN be taught. There is no fully-accurate substitute for real life experience, and you can't teach it, so it doesn't really matter if the instructor has it, or not, so long as the information about real life experiences has been incorporated into the training. Now, all that said, I will say that I could simply be biased, since other than getting beaten up several times growing up, and only defending myself from one schoolyard bully, I've been able to avoid physical confrontations--which I do attribute to my self-defense knowledge, for what that's worth. My instructor had some real-life self-defense experience, and he also trained with a couple instructors who had been active field agents for federal agencies, who encountered their share of violence, plus his own research and reading the publications of others who shared their own experiences. I've done my best to get similar exposure, but I'm not planning to go out and purposely get attacked, either.

You'd have to ask a Matsubayashi-Ryu practitioner to get the stylistically-correct answer, but I can tell you that in the Kobayashi branch of Shorin-Ryu, the torso remains straight. That said, in KishimotoDi, you twist all the way to the side at the waist and then reset, and I have blended that into my Shorin-Ryu, at least some of the time. Kata don't have to be done the same way every time you practice, after all

I have been teaching private lessons out of my home for the past two years, although my training area is my carport, rather than indoors. I haven't been running group classes, because COVID is still not doing all that well, here, and my wife is immunocompromised, but I'm hoping to start that up this fall, and plan to limit it to 6 people at a time. It requires a bit of rotation, depending on what is being trained at the time, because a little over half the space is open, matted training area, and the rest has my bag/makiwara stand, but it's definitely doable. I always recommend DVR-connected security cameras for teaching, but ESPECIALLY for teaching out of your home. As for pricing, I use a tiered system. My late Sensei used a tiered pricing structure for group classes, and it worked quite well for him, so I carried it over into private lessons. The more lessons you pay for up front, the less they cost per lesson--$35 for a 30 minute lesson, by itself, but buying packages of 4, 8, or 12 gets you discounts. When I start the group classes, I'll be doing the same thing based on the number of classes they want to attend that month.

Personally, I don't think it will ever be left behind, entirely, but I do foresee the schism that currently exists between, broadly, three categories of karate, becoming more clearly defined, and possibly even resulting in the naming of distinct styles. Those being sport, budo, and practical karate. Sport karate is pretty broad, encompassing everything from point sparring, to knockdown and Karate Combat. The consistent feature is that success in competitive sparring is the goal, meaning that the competitive ruleset is what selects the techniques and training methods. This effectively removes the need for and importance of kata training, and honestly could just be called "kickboxing." Budo karate is all about preserving tradition and striving for the perfection of oneself. This is your typical 3-K approach to training, and typically doesn't involve much sparring, if any. There can be a competitive aspect to this, but you'll typically find that it is kata performance, because it requires the highest level of refinement. This would be the "traditional" approach. Practical karate is about the ability to use the kata as templates for techniques that are effective for self-defense, including grappling methods, and using training methods that will allow one to actually apply those techniques under pressure. Due to the context for which karate was developed, this can cross over pretty well to MMA--mainly for the clinch and cage-work--but not all that well to sport karate competition formats. This would incorporate the "classical" approach, but I could honestly see it ending up with a different name than "karate."

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with your new dojo!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

I feel it is necessary for me to jump in, here, and say that putting keys between your fingers as a self-defense weapon is a terrible idea, and should NOT be recommended to anyone. You will cut up your fingers quite badly if you try to hit something that way. You can pinch-grip a single large key, preferably with a bulky plastic section, and use that to dig into sensitive targets, but keys are generally just very bad for hitting. Belts are decent for people trained with flexible weapons, but not great, overall, and definitely not something your average person should try to use--they'll hit themselves. Fist loads aren't really all that beneficial--you're better off holding something that extends out of your hand, like the flashlight/torch you mentioned, or a metal pen, and using that to stab/hammerfist or hook with. This can also work with things like lipstick, mascara bottles, or vape pens. I'm fond of wooden or metal hair sticks for people with long hair for this, as well. You can use the edges of a smartphone to hit somebody in a similar fashion, and they'll hold up decently well, but you do run the risk of breaking the thing you need to call for help. You can also often find items around you to improvise with, depending on where you are. Restaurants have silverware, parks can have sticks and rocks, parking lots can have bottles, bricks, and rocks, homes have all manner of potentially dangerous items in them.

When I've done them, before, awareness was nearly half the session, but as you mention, that doesn't really fit into the fitness focus, here. For the physical components, we usually also taught what you listed, as well as a basic mount escape, a basic guard sweep, and improvised weapons (too many people still think the keys between the fingers thing is a good idea).

Welcome back to karate, and to the forum!

The school Bob mentions, here, is run by Salvatore Cirincione, who is a student of Nabil Noujaim down in El Centro. The Shorinkan tends to be pretty particular about its instructors being Shorinkan-trained, and I'm not sure which branch of Shorin-Ryu you have trained in, but it's worth asking if you're really wanting to teach. I'd be happy to discuss my experiences with those folks privately, if you'd like more information.

Admittedly, I may not be explaining my questions properly, myself. I'm a bit confused, because--and this is just my interpretation--you've essentially stated that the movements of kata are not combatively applicable, but you're saying that you see kata as developing the ability to flow between martial arts techniques, like shadowboxing with pre-defined combinations. Shadowboxing, though, is intended to be directly combatively applicable, and if the techniques of kata are not, then I'm not sure how they can be likened to shadowboxing in a meaningful way, nor do I see how they even qualify as being "martial" techniques, at all. Additionally, what value is there in practicing combinations of techniques that don't have combative applications in the first place? And we agree that practicing kihon is important for learning to perform techniques properly, but what is "proper?" I would argue that, if the techniques are martial in nature, then combative functionality should be the measure of what is "proper," but if the techniques aren't combatively applicable, what, then, is the metric by which you judge a technique to be "properly" performed? Am I making sense, or just muddling things further? Sometimes, I can't tell, lol!

This may be getting a bit off-topic, and I'm not trying to be inflammatory or confrontational, but I can't help but ask the question; what do you think kata were designed for, and why were they built the way they were? If it was just for body control, awareness, and coordination, then why would they bother to design the kata the way they did? Gymnastics/acrobatics accomplish the same things--arguably far better--so why not simply do that? Weightlifting, too, has proven to have the same benefits. Seems like a waste of time to do kata if they have no other purpose, especially given the fact that the Okinawans who developed karate had plenty of access to both gymnastics/acrobatics and weightlifting, and many actually did those in addition to their kata. Kihon training also accomplish the same things, but the basics are essentially just movements already used in the kata, which you've already said aren't useful for application, which then brings the practice of basics into question, entirely. What, then, makes karate a "martial" art, exactly? Sparring? The only sparring most karateka do, nowadays, was invented in the 1940's/50's, more-or-less, so that certainly doesn't get back to the intent of the art. I have seen it argued that the kata and kihon improve your sparring, but really, the skillsets used in the vast majority of modern kumite are completely different than the movements, postures, and mechanics you use in kata and kihon. That, again, begs the question of why not just do gymnastics/acrobatics or weightlifting while training sparring, if they essentially serve the same purpose as the kata and kihon, but more effectively? That's what modern competitive fighters tend to do, already, in fact.

You'll get the benefits of improved fitness, balance, and coordination, regardless, but that comes from pretty much any exercise. The benefits beyond that are really going to be determined by the mindset with which you train--you get out what you put in, essentially. If all you practice them for is because they're required for your next belt, then you aren't really going to get anything out of them besides the basic benefits of exercise. If you train them for enjoyment, then you'll get some stress relief, as well, and maybe some moving meditation. If you train them for their use as structural and combative templates, then the benefits go a LOT further, in my opinion. The way that I teach kata training, I have had students who didn't enjoy solo kata, certainly, but I have never had a student who felt it was useless, or not beneficial. From conversations I've had with them, and with other martial artists, this seems to stem from the fact that I provide purpose and context for the kata, without mysticism, symbolism, or romanticism--just practical reasons for doing what you are doing. It's easy to hate something and say that it is useless when you are never really told why you are doing it, or how you will benefit from it, after all.

Sounds like a fun time! I haven't been to a martial arts event like that since the "Before-Times," but I would love to get back to them. I struggle with a lot of health issues, myself, so I know how that can be--glad you still enjoyed the event, though!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum!

There were two events in Okinawan history that tend to be referred to as "weapons bans," and used to support the "karate/kobudo was developed by farmers" story. The first is when the Okinawan king ordered that all military weapons be stored in centralized armories for distribution. This was done to prevent lesser warlords from easily raising armies against the king, in conjunction with a decree that required them to live in Shuri. This specifically excluded weapons that indicated your station, or family heirlooms, as well, IIRC. The seconds is when the Satsuma Clan, after invading Okinawa, banned firearms, specifically. They weren't too worried about an uprising, because they already conquered Okinawa, but firearms would shift the balance of power too much, so those had to be stopped from coming in. I believe there were still a handful of exceptions, to that. Neither of those two edicts actually has the effect of banning all--or even most--weaponry. Additionally, weapons would be specifically issued to those in the military, police, and guards, the majority of whom were nobility, and would likely also have had family weapons of their station. Many of them also ended up guarding royal gardens, and there would have been farming implements lying around--bored martial artists would definitely pick those up. Admittedly, that really only applies to the kama and kuwa. The eku and nunti would have been prevalent on boats, like the ones that those same nobles were sent to China on. Sai are definitively Chinese weapons, but the Okinawans traded with many Indo-Chinese peoples, and would have incorporated fighting arts and weapons from other places, as well. Tonfa, for example, are based on the mae sun sawk of Cambodia and Siam/Thailand. Then, we get into weapons like nunchaku, which were based on horse bridles (again, available to nobles), and tekko, which were based on stirrups. We also have plenty of art and written accounts depicting Okinawans training with and using weapons of many difference kinds, even after both of these edicts.

Used can be a bit tricky--your best bet is still going to be eBay, as Zaine mentions. New is easier, of course. I was going to suggest the DVDs I made with my late Sensei, but it appears the folks running his dojo, now, have removed them from Amazon so you can't buy them, anymore. If you search YouTube for "Waza Wednesday," you'll find a lot of the freely-available stuff that we made, though. Someone has also put the entirety of Nakazato Shugoro's karate kata video on YouTube, so you can watch the kata being performed, if nothing else.

Welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure if it helps, now, but I did get a bit of clarification on the kyusho/chibudi component. The way it was approached with me seems to be the way it's always been done in KishimotoDi--according to one of Kishimoto Soko's students, the idea of specific points and meridians was "preserved in Japanese jujutsu systems," and that particular student brought them into his teaching. Prior to that, it was just a "hit here and it hurts more" kind of approach.

In my old organization, when visiting the honbu dojo on Okinawa, it was standard practice for the highest ranking member of the visiting group to pass an envelope of money to the head of the organization. As far as I know, that was to pay membership dues and rank certification fees since the last visit, but it's possible there was more--it was above my pay grade to have more info than that. Everyone else just gave omiyage that were unique or indicative of where they came from.

Well, for clarity, I'll say that I don't technically have a connection to Motobu-Ryu, aside from the fact that I practice Motobu Udundi's Shuri Sanchin, which is part of the Bugeikan curriculum. I have done a lot of research, however, and definitely learned kakedameshi in my training, although not necessarily by that name. Kakedameshi is, without a doubt, my favorite way to spar. I definitely see value in other forms of sparring, though, and I do have students engage in them, as my late Sensei did; kickboxing-style, MMA-style, striker vs grappler, puncher vs kicker, grappling-only, grappling with strikes, clinch sparring, "kata randori," "Bully Sparring," scenario exercises, etc. Personally, I think all of these types of sparring have value, but they all have more value when they are approached as training methods, rather than as end goals, which is how most modern karate schools treat sparring. In my experience, kakedameshi can be approached in (essentially) two ways. One method is more-or-less what you see Bruce Lee do in Enter The Dragon--two people crossing the arms at the wrist and trying to attack each other from that position before the other can react or counter. This is, by all accounts, how Motobu Choki challenged Funakoshi Gichin in Tokyo, when he said that "to strike him would be too much," and instead threw Funakoshi to the ground with wrist locks several times. That isn't to say that Motobu didn't engage in other forms of kakedameshi, though, and we know that he engaged in other types of sparring, such as when he sparred with Matsumora Kosaku, and bloodied his teeth. Nagamine Shoshin, who trained with Motobu, described kakedameshi is being more like "very aggressive" Chinese tuishou (pushing hands) competitions, which included striking and locking. For those who don't know how tuishou is done, the competitors start with either both hands crossed at the wrists, or one hand crossed (as in kakie) with the other on their opponent's elbow, and they begin by moving their arms around, staying connected, before attempting to throw each other. Maeshiro Morinobu, who is still actively teaching on Okinawa, approaches it this way. This second approach is my preference, personally, as well. The benefits of this sort of sparring, over others, would be the enforcement of close-range engagement and the development of tactile sensitivity and muchimidi. It is, IMO, the best format for exploring and pressure-testing kata applications before putting them into context through things like "kata randori," "Bully Sparring," and scenario exercises.

The only times that I consider live blade work to be reasonable are solo practice, cutting practice, and careful partnered training in armor (eg. HEMA). In solo practice, it forces you to be very aware of the blade, and really cements the seriousness of blade work. In cutting, you obviously need a sharp edge to be able to cut your targets, but this also ties into solo practice. In HEMA, there are a number of techniques that are intended to be worked from "the bind," which is when two blades are physically crossed with each other (sort of like kakie), but blunt weapons don't "stick" to each other the way sharp ones do, because the edges can't bite into each other, so it simply isn't possible to effectively train those methods with blunt blades. The use of armor is pretty standard, though, and care is still taken to avoid accidents.