Wastelander

Solid post!! Another meaning is Dai means "Big" and Sho means "Small" Looking a swords, you've got DAIto meaning long sword and SHOto meaning short sword. Hence the word Daisho means big/little. Bassai Dai consists of 42 movements Bassai Sho consists of 26 movements Kanku Dai consists of 65 movements Kanku Sho consists of 20 movements Gojushiho-Dai & Gojushiho-Sho both consist of 54 movements This brings me to the amount of the movements aren't indicative of why one's small and the other's big. Applications/techniques/etc within said kata's might be the main reason as to why one's dai and the other's sho. Styles differ across the board in many, many things, and the reason(s) one's called Dai and the other Sho will be determined by ones governing body. If you would like yet another reason for sho being small and dai being large, in my branch of Shorin-Ryu our Passai Sho is very compact, utilizing tight pivots, dropping body weight and small forward motions, whereas our Passai Dai utilizes long lunging forward motions and sliding steps forward, generally taking up more space.

I feel that even if you don't, personally, find much value in photographs, you should still take pictures and record video in your dojo. Just because you don't find value in them doesn't mean you won't change your mind later in life, and who knows how many of your students might find value in them? I see martial arts instructors on Facebook posting old photos, video clips and magazine articles that people thought were lost, only to spark up conversations and reminiscent thoughts associated with those things. It's definitely terrible that you lost all of those photographs! I hope some of the other members of your style have copies so that you can at least partially rebuild the collection, and I would definitely scan all of the photos you have so they can be saved digitally. I think that bushido_man96's suggestion is also spot-on! Start taking photos and recording videos now so that you can add to your style's history through images that will last longer than memories.

If you want to be as effective a martial artist as possible, you need to be able to fight at all ranges. Definitely hit up the BJJ gym, and look around for judo or sambo as well in case there might be a smaller gym for one of them nearby and you can get a feel for which art you would prefer. Good on you for branching out!

I would never expect rank to be negotiated! As you said, it is standard business practice to provide incentives to promote your business, but those incentives must have some value to the person you are marketing to: A free uniform means they do not have to spend extra money to buy one. A discount on tuition because they bring in a friend saves them money and means they can keep learning. A free rank doesn't really save them anything--they will probably still pay some sort of testing fee if there was going to be one to begin with--and it doesn't come with anything useful to them (knowledge). Rank has no value in and of itself, because the value of rank is the experience and knowledge that lead to it, not the rank itself. The only time someone will want rank as an incentive is when it has been offered to them in the first place, because that offer is implying that the rank has value in and of itself.

Generally there is nothing wrong with that--many karate masters of old cross-trained in Chinese martial arts to complement their karate, after all. Whether it will be okay with the instructor is another matter entirely, so be sure to ask. I know of a karate instructor in my area that will let you come and cross-train at their dojo, but they will make a point of "correcting" everything that you do. When you talk to the instructor, just be clear about what your goals are and where your primary focus in the martial arts lies and hopefully they will be willing to adapt their training to your goals, rather than trying to fight with the skills you are building in those other styles.

I can't stand that wax they use at the dentist! I actually had my custom mouthguard made by Gladiator Guards, and they did a fantastic job--plus, the impression media is basically like modeling clay, so it isn't as nasty to bite into.

We do the crossing arms for our blocks as well, and there are a couple reasons for it. One is, as you've described, to use one hand to deflect and the other to trap. Another is to utilize hikite, the pulling hand, to grasp and pull some part of our attacker so we can utilize the "block" as a strike or joint lock (usually). A third reason is because bringing up both hands is a natural reaction to being attacked for most people, so by training them to come up crossed we develop the ability to trap and counter an attack by utilizing a natural response that would otherwise simply provide cover.

Despite not being a Kyokushin stylist, I'm going to come to the defense of Kyokushin here and point out that not all Kyokushin schools train only for knockdown rules, which is what you were referring to when you talk about not punching to the head. I would also mention that the idea of ending a fight in one blow is great, but also highly unlikely--if it were that easy, do you not think that full contact arts would be doing it? After all, they certainly have more incentive to end the fight quickly than someone doing no-contact sparring. Them trading lots of blows is the result of how difficult it is to achieve a one-strike finish. In any case, back to the topic at hand. I think that it's great that you want to get back to your Shotokan training, although I would still try to make it to a BJJ class once or twice a week just to keep your skills from degrading. If there is not a Shotokan dojo near you then you may have to just train solo and visit the nearest dojo every now and then, or you can try another style of karate. Check out other styles in your area and you may find that they provide what you are looking for, even if you have to modify your kihon or learn new kata along the way.

People are generally surprised to find out that I train in martial arts--I'm rather shy, friendly and polite, combined with being rather lanky and a nerd, and most people don't seem to associate those traits with martial arts. I discovered that a guy at work who is in my department (but in California) and is an aspiring actor trains in some form of bare knuckle kickboxing. He and I haven't had a chance to really sit down and discuss it, but it definitely surprised me. Also, now everyone wants to see us spar

I can do snapping kicks to the knee and lower that I suspect could break boards and, in theory, bones. I haven't quite worked up the nerve to try kicking through a pool cue (though I think I could do it) or a baseball bat (I get visions of breaking my shin on that one) as Dobbersky suggests. I have broken plenty of boards and tree branches with stomps from various angles, though. As far as how I view the application of kicks, it depends. For self defense I am confident that the snapping kicks to the lower legs that I can do would be effective, although it is difficult to know for certain until I go ahead and start breaking baseball bats or people's legs, and I won't have many training partners left if I choose the most "realistic" option . For combat sport applications I mostly use my kicks to maintain distance (thrust kicks) or deal soft-tissue damage to the legs and body (roundhouse and hook kicks). Very rarely do I kick to the head and I try not to take the Muay Thai approach of kicking through people's arms, so I'm not generally intending to do any damage to bones. I will admit, however, that for the past 9 months, or so, I have been using a low oblique heel kick to the shin in sparring, so I guess that's kind of doing damage to bones, in a way.

The way that I kick hard isn't conducive to breaking boards either way--I can't pull my toes back far enough to kick boards with the ball of my foot, my instep/shin is not an ideal striking surface for hitting boards with, and my side kick is too slow

Good on you for your first break! I enjoy breaking boards, although I do not do it very often--maybe once every couple of years. My biggest problem is that I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain, so I can elbow, punch or chop through two boards, but I can hammerfist through three or palm heel through four, and I feel like I could probably palm heel through five if I really tried. Bony parts hitting wood doesn't feel terribly pleasant . Interestingly enough, I've never been able to break a board with a kick, unless you count stomps, despite being a hard kicker.

I saw that one a couple weeks ago on my Facebook, as well, and I thought it was very cool! I also saw this version, with is the Bushi Tachimura version, uploaded a few days ago, and it is very unique:

From my own training, I have definitely utilized low stances while grappling in order to lower my center of gravity and stabilize my base in order to defend against throws. That is something that has already been mentioned by others, as it is a fairly common use for low stances. I have also used them in my striking-only sparring to re-establish my base if I have stumbled or been knocked off balance, which is a similar concept. In regards to mobility in low stances, I have had success with covering long distances quickly in low stances, but it is very difficult (at least, for me) to change directions quickly because you have to be committed to your movements over a larger distance. The higher stances that I use in Shorin-Ryu allow me to change directions more quickly/frequently, while I can utilize the longer stances to cover greater distances, faster. It isn't that the long, low stances aren't mobile, just that they are not mobile in the same way that higher, more "natural" stances are mobile. I will admit that I am not very knowledgeable about Capoeira, but in regards to the video that JZ posted, Capoeiristas do not seem use stances the way that most martial artist use stances, so while they are certainly very mobile they are moving in a completely different way--if you are going to use the ground to pivot on and push your body off of in the way that they do, then of course being lower to the ground is going to benefit your speed and mobility.

Going to the dojo 3 days a week, in addition to practicing on your own every day, will be enough for you to see improvement over time. If you want to improve faster, then you will need to do additional work. For conditioning your shins and forearms, you should start with hitting a heavy bag--the more you hit it, the more your limbs will become accustomed to it. Over time you can also work kote kitae (forearm smashing partner drills) and use a maki-stick or dowel rod to tap or roll on your shins. For strength, I tend to stick with pushups (there are a lot of variations you can do), squats, and situps (again, lots of variations), but there are many other ones that are effective and useful. For cardiovascular fitness, sparring more, running your kata with high intensity, shadowboxing are great, and practicing your techniques underwater is a fantastic supplemental exercise as well.

I would say either Seiunchin or Naihanchi Shodan for me, but I hadn't really thought about it too much. I am used to the idea of tokui waza from judo (mine is harai goshi) but never thought to really apply that to kata until I read Mr. Redmond's book a while back. Seiunchin I thoroughly enjoy simply by performing it, and it is one I have only just scratched the surface of in regards to bunkai, while Naihanchi Shodan is something that I perform without thinking of the movements because I am constantly focused on the applications.

I heard about this story on the radio this morning, and I was glad to hear some good news. From what I heard, she did exactly what she should have done--get the gun, hide, call the police and shoot the intruder if necessary. I agree completely that she will need counseling, but I suspect she will be okay. From what I understand she shot him through the closet door as he was opening it, so she may not have been face-to-face with what she did.

Glad to hear your daughter is getting back on the mat! I definitely hope that her reintroduction to karate is beneficial to her, and helps her cope with the past, the present and the future in the best ways possible!

I use both--it depends on what the technique is being used for. As an example, I would use the "hips off" method if applying gedan uke/barrai as an arm lock, but I would use the "hips on" method if using it to strike the groin.

It depends who you consider a "grandmaster", really--in Shorin-Ryu we don't actually call anyone in our lineage by that title. If I had to pick, I suppose I would say that it was Chibana Chosin since he officially founded Shorin-Ryu, but he always said that Itosu, his sensei, was the founder of his style, so you could argue that Itosu would be the grandmaster. Itosu Yasutsune-->Chibana Chosin-->Nakazato Shuguro-->Eddie Bethea-->Richard Poage-->Me In Shuri-Ryu, we did have someone we called by that title because he founded the style, and I would be three steps from him: Robert Trias-->Joseph Walker-->Joseph Johnston-->Me

If you want to get yourself very confused by conflicting body mechanics, movements, methodologies and standards then yes, you can train in two styles of karate. It is one thing to develop a base in one style and then cross train with other styles, but to try to conform to the curriculum of two separate karate styles is going to severely hamper your ability to learn and grow.

I think Shizentai is referring to more circular strikes, such as shuto-uchi and tetsui-uchi. When executing those techniques you can either torque the hips into the technique as you describe, causing a whipping action, or you can torque the other way to pull the technique across in more of a swinging action. The difference is sort of like cracking a whip and swinging a bat (but not really) and I can understand where Shizentai is coming from on that. I actually do both, depending on the application I am looking for in my kata at any given moment. I have also had to relearn simple things like my neko-ashi-dachi and shuto-uke, but I switched from one style to another so that is to be expected.

Honestly, I can't even find evidence that such a book was ever written--I only ever see references to one book that he wrote and its later re-print. I do know that this site has photos and snippets of Egami's writings, but I don't think it's what you're looking for: http://www.shotokai.com/ingles/gallery/index.html There are also several pages of Shotokan-related images on this page, including several of Egami:

What is more important than your rank is how long and how often you have been training. I am guessing you have probably been training for about a year, which would mean you have likely built up some muscle memory that will take time to change in order to modify your techniques to fit Kyokushin. You may be able to understand concepts more quickly than other white belts that are just starting, but it will most likely take you longer to get your form correct because you have to override what you have already learned. Karate is a life-long journey, so don't worry about the grade. The bottom line is this; if you want to train in a style that utilizes full contact sparring and you feel that Kyokushin is a good fit, then just start training in Kyokushin and enjoy it.

In addition to everything else that has been said so far, I like these drills: Basically, anything that allows you to work combinations of blocks/deflections/checks, grabbing/controlling and strikes on a moving target. Your pad holder should move like they are sparring you--if you are working sparring combinations--or they should move like they are attacking you--if you are working self defense combinations.