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Everything posted by Wastelander
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I help teach the Youth and Family classes and keep the kids in line as much as possible and I help with miscellaneous other stuff like planning events, updating the Facebook page, taking pictures and recording video.
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Well, I did say I wanted people's opinions! I understand that you are addressing the application from your own perspective and that it differs from mine, but I'll do what I can to explain my thought process I understand your concern with techniques being reliant upon the previous techniques, but I also feel like there is some aspect of that present in just about anything you could possibly do to a person. To me, the possibilities found in kata are not certainties, but simply scenarios and techniques that may be applied in those scenarios. A kata (and therefore an application for techniques in it) can't predict exactly what will happen, only what may happen and so you could provide much the same argument for any application to anything--"that would work if they did this, but not if they did this." The only way to avoid this in bunkai, that I can think of, is to successfully apply the "one hit kill" concept by rendering the attacker incapable of attacking from the very first movement, and even then that very concept is just as unlikely to be successful. I, personally, feel that the grab is actually fairly easy to attain--I have never really had a problem getting grips on people, in general--but even if you can't grab onto anything, the contact still provides a reference point for your striking. Generally, if you are striking an untrained person in the face they either cover their face or strike you back, but either way should not interfere much with clinching and kneeing if you practice those things. The shove down does only work if you have doubled them over with the knees, I will grant that, but I also have plenty of techniques from Naihanchi to work from in a clinch if they protect themselves against the knees and that is where things stay. I agree that once they are forced to the ground there are better things to do than hook their arm and bring them up to punch them--in the video I did say that the kata assumes you can figure out what to do (kicking someone in the face when they are right in front of your shin isn't terribly complicated) but I suppose I could have gone into it more in depth. The reason I mentioned the arm hook (although it could also hook the head or opposite arm) and punches to the spleen was to scoop their arm up to defend against them trying to tackle you or grab your leg if you don't manage to kick them in time or they absorb the kick well enough to continue. Again, this was just a possible scenario that could be planned for, but certainly not the only one by any means, and if you successfully drop them with a kick while they are down then there is no reason to do it. I will mention that I was actually never taught ANY application for this kata outside of block-kick-punch omote application, so exploring this kata for bunkai is entirely new to me and I am still playing with it I have used that same drop into the low stance to defend against throws in judo randori, including against suplex attempts, and it has worked quite well for me (although every now and then I have had to hook a leg). From that stance I can stomp on feet and when I bring the hands back I can elbow the bicep or the ribs (depending on how they stand) either of which could help loosen the grip. If I can't break the grip of your two hands with the use of my two arms then you are pretty darn strong and there would be no point in me even attempting to break the grip or lock your arm, but most people's instinctive reaction to being grabbed is to grab the arms and so that is the position I started my application from. If I stopped the initial throw but couldn't break your grip it would be time for me to do a lot of backward elbows along with leg hooks and clinching to try and turn myself in your grip so I could apply more direct techniques. As far as the reverse elbow goes, I wasn't saying that it was a sure thing--I think in the video I said something like "if it hits his head, that's great" (I can't watch it again at work, but I remember saying something like that) but mostly the "elbow back" is to get your arm between you and the attacker in order to wrap him up and perform the subsequent throw, which is very similar to throws I have done in judo and so it feels natural to me. Thanks for all the input, sensei8--I really do appreciate getting feedback from those more experienced than I am! These are applications I only recently developed and haven't had much chance to work, in their entirety, against fully resisting opponents, so I will readily admit that I may very well not be able to get them to work in those situations, but I have been able to make parts of them work (the crash, the clinch/knees, and the throw, for example) against resisting opponents. As with anything, I will be continuing to practice them and develop them, and I may even change them entirely if they don't work for me. I would also like to, at some point, record video of me practicing them against a resisting opponent so I can share my failure or success and make tweaks and changes based on my experiences and the feedback I receive. P.S. I would like to add, since you said things like "wouldn't work on me", that I would never presume to be able to make anything work on you! You've been training longer than I've been alive, haven't you?
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Thanks to both of you! The Chinto application is one that I'm pretty proud of because it seems so simple and natural to me. Lately I have been thinking about ude gatame, which I had learned in judo but had been finding applications for in karate. In the process of doing some research on the Indo-Chinese influence on Okinawan te I came across this carving. I instantly recognized the lock, although applied from a different position, and I recognized the hand position from Chinto. That started me thinking about why that lock might be used at the beginning of that kata, and I realized that it is the only kata I know that steps backwards, and it does so into a low horse stance which indicates (to me) a grappling scenario. Being pulled backward and dropping your weight to make it harder to be thrown, then drawing the hands back to one side and breaking their grip seemed a natural start. It also occurred to me that, according to legend, Bushi Matsumura developed this kata after attempting to arrest a shipwrecked Chinese man who had been stealing from Okinawan people and being defeated (or possibly fought to a draw) by the man. I decided that, as a law enforcement officer of sorts, it would make sense for Matsumura to try and put Chinto on the ground and a suplex would have been a technique he knew to do so. Furthermore, if that had been what occurred then the defense against such a takedown would have been the first thing he learned from his encounter and it would make sense for it to be the first thing in the kata. This is, of course, all merely speculation and theory, but that was my thought process in any case.
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Hello everyone, I thought I would share two short videos of two examples of my own personal bunkai--one from the kata Anaku, and one from the kata Chinto. No one taught me these applications, so if they are terrible the only person to blame is me, but I feel that they are relatively straight-forward, they work off of harnessed natural reactions and they work for me. Of course, these are simply examples of possibilities since bunkai is not set in stone and people will find different ways to apply kata based on their training backgrounds, their methodologies and their personal preferences. My training partner in these videos had never seen the applications before, and doesn't know either kata, so I was teaching him at the same time I was recording which makes it a bit clunky, and for that I apologize. Usually when I am explaining things to a group I have planned out everything I am going to say and the explanation is clear, but when working one-on-one I tend to get a little informal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3ojBE7DVw&feature=youtu.be Let me know what you think! Thanks!
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Hello, and welcome to the forum! First of all, you should not be trying to "win" in sparring--sparring is a live practice drill for you and your partner to both improve, not a competition. As for getting discouraged, don't be! I have been training for 6 years, so far, and I still feel terrible at sparring! Without seeing video of you sparring, it is very difficult for us to provide any feedback that might help you improve. Your sensei would be a much better person to ask. That said, if I had to guess, you are probably hesitating and that is why your sparring partners are scoring their points before you. This is common in people who are relatively new to point sparring (well, sparring in general, really), and especially when they are sparring against more experienced students. For now, don't worry so much about whether you will get hit or not, and just focus on trying to hit your partner--as I said, it's not a competition so you don't need to worry about "losing", just improving--by bursting forward (forward and at an angle is preferable to straight forward) with your attack, and try using combinations that will tend to draw their hands away from an area that you can strike to later in the combination.
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On occasion I make student run kata in reverse, or spin around every time they step over in Naihanchi. I also like marking off a small space (usually about 3ft square) and make them run an entire kata without leaving that space. My sensei also likes having people do a kick every time they are in a cat stance in kata, or have them drop and do a pushup every two, three or four movements. In my old dojo we had many types of sparring that you could do, such as mawate (you have to spin before every strike in order for it to count), seiza (sparring from the knees), hands-only vs. feet-only, etc.
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I actually have a hard time sleeping every single night--it doesn't matter whether I train or not, I just get to lay there for at least an hour (usually more) before I finally fall asleep.
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Honestly, I'm just a karateka, because that's what I decided to call myself. I currently train in Shorin-Ryu, and have been training in it nearly as long as I trained in Shuri-Ryu, so aspects of both are present in my karate. In addition, I actively trained in judo for 4 years and now incorporate that into my karate. Every now and then I have also done seminars for things like escrima, Krav Maga, and Muay Thai and I have taken aspects of those that I have learned and incorporated them into my karate. Periodically I train with people from other arts, and the things I learn from them I also incorporate into my karate. Because of these things, I can't call my self a "Shorin-Ryu stylist" because if I demonstrated my karate next to someone who had only done Shorin-Ryu, I would look quite different. I can't call my self a "Shuri-Ryu stylist" or even a "judoka" for the same reason. In all actuality, unless you are training specifically for style purity, you will most likely develop your own style of whatever martial art you practice. If I were to pass along my personal method of practicing karate, I could call it Shorin-Ryu since that it what I hold the highest rank in, but it isn't REALLY Shorin-Ryu, in the strictest sense.
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We have two patches--a dojo patch and a style patch. Some people just do one or the other, but if you want to have both then you are supposed to put the style patch on the left breast and the dojo patch on the left upper sleeve. In Shuri-Ryu, however, the dojo patch went on the left breast and the style patch went on the left lower sleeve, and in that dojo we also got patches for passing tests in weapons and the instructors and assistant instructors had patches designating them as such, and those patches went on the right upper sleeve. Oh, and if you passed the tests for all 6 weapons in the system you earned the "Tasshi" title in kobudo, which got you an additional patch for the right lower sleeve. Everybody has different ways of doing things with their uniforms. Personally, I have been going toward the "less is more" side of things lately, but I don't fault people who use a lot of patches as long as they actually designate something. I don't like the BJJ uniforms covered in all kinds of patches that serve no purpose, for example.
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Jiu Jitsu Gis
Wastelander replied to Ueshirokarate's topic in BJJ, Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido, and Grappling Martial Arts
I like my hemp gi from Datsusara (dsgear.com) and before I got that I just used a cheap Chinese judogi I found on eBay. Mizuno is extremely popular in judo, and many BJJ people also use them, and I know that Atama is a popular brand as well. -
We work both thigh kicks and shin blocks, and to answer Dobbersky's question we train the shin block toes up, but I usually end up with my foot at an angle rather than up or down when I actually do them. I LOVE thigh kicks--they work really well in combinations and drop people who don't train for them pretty quickly. Ev mentioned doing a hook kick to the sciatic nerve, which is actually something I've been playing with but haven't done to anybody in sparring yet. It's kind of amusing how people who do not train for leg kicks (or at all) have no idea how effective they can be. My previous instructor actually told a story once about when he and a group of other American karateka were traveling around Asia to train and spar, and they ended up sparring with some guys in Thailand who smashed their legs. The story went that the karateka had never trained for thigh kicks and didn't really think anything of it when they started getting kicked there so they never bothered to block them because, "hey, they're just kicking me in the legs." When they sat down between rounds, though, they discovered that after a while they couldn't stand back up from their seat because the muscles in their legs knotted so badly. After hearing that story, though, it always made me wonder why we hardly ever worked thigh kicks at that dojo
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I have found that this tends to be the case for MANY high level judo coaches--one of my instructors used it to win almost every competition he ever entered (he calls it the "big gun"). In any case, I trained in judo regularly for about 4 years, although now I just integrate it into my karate training. For self defense, I like deashi barrai, osoto gari, koshi guruma (although I tend to turn this into harai goshi if I need an extra boost of power), and a side-step uchi-mata. That's like four-and-a-half throws for self defense
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It depends on how you normally train, what you will be competing in and how tough the competition will be. I generally try to practice my kata and spar enough on a regular basis that I do not really do anything special to prepare for tournaments, but competition also isn't really important to me. We have the kids on our Tournament Team meet up once a week (in addition to their normal classes) for 6 weeks to prepare for tournaments, generally, just so they can get extra practice in and also practice how to bow in, announce, get scores, etc.
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I would like to help you, but I've never heard of shiho-empi-uchi. It means "four corners elbow strike", so perhaps it is an elbow striking drill for working a variety of strikes rather than a specific technique? I did a quick search on both YouTube and Google and came up with nothing definitive, so I suspect you will most likely need to ask your instructor what it is (which is always the best course of action, anyway). I'm a little concerned you are being graded without being conversant with YOUR syllabus! I know that some schools grade on a schedule and everyone tests together, ready or not--that was the way my previous dojo was. It really isn't so bad, so long as you understand that you definitely stand the chance of not passing.
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I would like to help you, but I've never heard of shiho-empi-uchi. It means "four corners elbow strike", so perhaps it is an elbow striking drill for working a variety of strikes rather than a specific technique? I did a quick search on both YouTube and Google and came up with nothing definitive, so I suspect you will most likely need to ask your instructor what it is (which is always the best course of action, anyway).
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No problem, I'm glad I could be of assistance!
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The stances are quite different as they tend to be higher and more natural. You will also have to relearn some kata--the Pinan/Heian series are done differently, in particular, but I don't know what kata you know beyond those. Overall, I think you will also find Shorin-Ryu to be a bit more fluid and circular than you are used to, as well. We actually had a Shotokan black belt visit our dojo last night and these were the things he found difficult to adjust to.
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Looks like everybody had a good time and the tournament went well! Thanks for sharing, Ev!
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Do you want to train a second martial art for effectiveness or for art? If effectiveness, then judo or jujutsu. If art then I would say probably aikido.
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I go to the dojo 3 days a week for about 3 hours at a time, but I do at least some kihon or kata practice on my own every day, as well as doing research and writing out my own thoughts on karate.
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That is yama-uke (mountain receiving technique--it looks like the shape of a mountain, so it's easy to remember) and I do a slightly different version of Seiunchin ( ) but it does have that in it after a push. I use it to break down someone's grips on my neck, shirt or arms and pull them down into hiza-geri (I know there isn't a hiza-geri in the kata, but I am of the school of thought that neko-ashi-dachi signifies that you should be using the lead leg for something). The motion does not necessarily have to be done with both hands, at least not for my application for it since how you use it depends on how they grab you. Since that version goes straight into fist-to-palm yoi, you can always grab their face and smash it with your fist in case smashing it with your knee didn't work.
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Basically, karate camps are intended to give you long periods of serious training where you are away from all of your normal distractions--how the camps are run depends upon the person running them. Shorin-Ryu karate camps tend to be a little less hardcore than that --Hanshi Perry's camp, for example, is in the woods down South and everyone stays in cabins overnight and more-or-less trains from sunrise to dinner time. Lots of kata, bunkai and kihon! My sensei loves that camp but I haven't gotten the chance to attend, myself.
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What he meant was, did you tell the Kyokushin people that you have a background in Go-Kan-Ryu? The reason that he asked was because most people who do not do GKR believe that GKR is not good, and if you had told the Kyokushin folks that you are a GKR student they may have decided that you were also not good, which might be why you had the experience that you did. It is a little harsh, but it is certainly a possibility.
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Would You Like to Train Via Skype?
Wastelander replied to sensei8's topic in General Martial Arts Discussion
I'm out of state without my webcam at the moment, but I'm hoping to be on around 3pm PST periodically once I return.