Wastelander

Embroidering your name on your gi is commonplace in MANY martial arts--it's extremely common in Judo, for example, and I've seen it in many karate styles. There's nothing wrong with putting your name on your gi--if you guys take off your gi periodically while training, or if you all have one dressing room, it's a very practical thing to do. I would just stay away from belt embroidery unless your instructor gets it for you as a gift.

Definitely watch how people throw it in competition and have your sparring partners emulate it and ask your instructor what to do about it. I have found that a lot of people are open for ridge hands and spinning backfists, actually. I love doing both of them off of a duck-cover-and-turn so they rush in at me and right into either of those strikes, and I know a guy who is really good at catching you with them off of a step back while my instructor knows somebody who loves to step in with them and do a sweep at the same time. There are lots of ways to land a ridge hand, so you'll have to find out what ways are landing on you so your instructor can help you with those.

In my dojo we tend to do semi-contact (continuous) unless the kids who compete in tournaments are practicing for a tournament, and then we do more light-contact (continuous) and some point matches. We hit hard enough to let our partner know they were hit, but not hard enough to cause too many injuries (although it still happens on occasion).

No apologies necessary. It was me who made you believe that the way I wrote it, so I apologize to you. I don't really consider rough-housing, joking, etc "karate". My point about "blocks" is that they are not designed by the karate gods to be "blocks". These are techniques that are either striking at something, deflecting the opponent's hit out of the way to allow you to hit a soft target, or give you the opportunity to grab your opponent. A chest block can easily trap your opponents arm, strike the inside of it or worse. A head block can deliver a strike with your fist or elbow, or merely open the door for you to grab an arm. It is a big mistake to think of these techniques as "blocks" (as opposed to "uke" techniques) and many people do. No problem--that sort of thing can happen pretty easily over the internet. I would agree that rough-housing/joking aren't really "karate" but the blocking response still comes from my training. I agree that what are generally called "blocks" are actually techniques for receiving an attack in some way, as you describe, but I suppose I'm one of those weird people who isn't that concerned with the semantics--deflecting or brushing an attack aside, jamming an attack or covering up are all still "blocking" to me even though they technically aren't . I also don't care too much if you call it a middle block or high block even when you are using it to strike or apply a joint lock or choke. We needed to have something to call a motion that does a large number of things, so we had to pick something and it ended up being "block", probably because people learned block-punch-kick omote bunkai for so long and didn't know it as anything other than a block and when ura bunkai opened up we just kept the name. It would be kind of awkward to start calling them something like "middle receiving technique" and it seems like too much work to specifically name them differently for every application when the motion is the same.

Since you quoted me it seemed like you were directing it me, so I apologize for the misinterpretation. I agree that you can't just know what a person behind you is doing and spin around to block them, but I do have to slightly disagree with you on the idea that there is no such thing as a "block" in karate--I think that there can be, but it's not usually the most effective thing you can do. When coworkers/friends/family/my wife jokingly punch at me I will usually block it, and that's all--either a palm block, a swim block or a backhand block, typically--which works out just fine because I don't get hit and they don't get hurt. If someone were attacking me, those reactions would probably save me from getting hit once or twice, but blocking is not the most efficient use of my energy when it comes to self defense because it does nothing to end the threat unless I manage to block so hard that they hurt themselves and give up, lol. I would much rather deflect an attack while countering than simply block and wait my turn to attack the attacker.

Oyata Sensei used to have my instructor run Naihanchi with turns back when he did Ryukyu Kempo--every time he did a step over his own foot he pivoted all the way around--which I think works great for working techniques against attacks/grabs from the rear. I tend to agree with you that turns all the way around can be for defending against attackers that come up behind you, but sometimes they can also be throws or joint locks--there's just all kinds of fun stuff in kata! Like all aspects of kata, they are techniques of body movement put in there to give your body muscle memory of fighting techniques that work in given situations. Try this out, do a body turn while you are holding an uke from the front. Kata is not designed to illustrate fighting against multiple opponents. To think multiple opponents in bunkai, is Mickey Mouse bunkai stuff in my opinion. I never said bunkai was for fighting multiple opponents, I said "attacks/grabs from the rear". People have most certainly been documented to come up and hit you in the head from behind, or grab your shoulder to turn you around and punch you, or grab your arms to isolate them if there DOES happen to be another person that they are working with to attack you. Sure, you will probably get hit before you know they are there if you are attacked from behind, but at least if you have built some muscle memory for responding to being attacked from behind you might be able to initiate some sort of defensive response other than freezing up and letting yourself get beat on. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about, not the "kata is for fighting eight guys at a time" thing.

Oyata Sensei used to have my instructor run Naihanchi with turns back when he did Ryukyu Kempo--every time he did a step over his own foot he pivoted all the way around--which I think works great for working techniques against attacks/grabs from the rear. I tend to agree with you that turns all the way around can be for defending against attackers that come up behind you, but sometimes they can also be throws or joint locks--there's just all kinds of fun stuff in kata!

Thank you very much for the feedback, and I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

So people tell me, but I feel a lot older than I am--I've dislocated my right knee twice and it aches fairly often, I throw my back out just by standing up out of bed (or sleeping, in some cases), I grew up with asthma and my lung capacity has never seemed to improve even though I'm in better shape, I'm tired all the time because it takes me several hours to fall asleep at night (if I'm lucky), and it turns out that I have to have surgery in a few weeks to repair two hernias. For being 24 years old, this month, I certainly seem to be falling apart . I've been in better shape for the past 6 years I've been training than I've ever been before (currently ~175lbs and 15% body fat and training regularly) but there has never been a point in my life when I could keep up with your average 13 year old. In other words, I've BEEN working on it and haven't really gained much ground . Thanks, though!

It has nothing to do with being competitive and everything to do with being effective. A body scissors can potentially crack ribs, yes, or it could possibly rupture a person's liver, spleen or pancreas and cause them to DIE. That may not be a common problem, but it has happened in the past, as I recall, which is what got it banned in Judo. Aside from that, though, it really isn't a very effective way to submit someone unless you do have very strong legs, and even then they could lock your ankle, slam you onto the mat or simply turn sideways and throw your legs over their head and pass to side control or mount (which is what I have always done on people who do body scissors because they don't know how to use guard). You all need to find a legitimate place to actually learn how to grapple. As for telling you things to look up online, that would be like aiding you in hurting another person by doing something you don't know how to properly and safely do, so I won't do it.

Really? You make people tap out with a body scissors and full nelson? You need to find a BJJ, Judo, Sambo or any other proper submission grappling school. I can tell you to Google how to do armbars, keylocks and heel hooks all day, but without someone who knows how to do them properly teaching you it is pretty unlikely that you will be able to do them very effectively.

I am well aware of where Shorin Ryu comes from. I suggest that you do some research on the men I mention before going further on this thread. More importantly, it would be ridiculous to think that there was no Japanese influence on the development of karate, even when Okinawa was a sovereign nation pre-Meiji Restoration. Heck, it is well known that Anko Itosu went to Japan to study at one of the premiere iaido schools of the day. Are you going to tell us that he never had any Japanese Ju Jitsu lessons? Now, now, Ueshirokarate--we don't want to discourage newer students from participating in conversations about karate, and scohen.mma is still an orange belt, I believe . He is relating what his Sensei said, and it isn't technically incorrect, either. Shorin-Ryu practitioners of the past DID incorporate training from Japan, but that still does not make Shorin-Ryu Japanese any more than learning Shogi and applying concepts from it to chess makes chess Japanese (forgive me, because I am bad at analogies and that's the best one I could think of ). I think that all he meant was that Shorin-Ryu, for the most part, remained based in Okinawa and continued to be practiced in the manner in which it had been taught in the past and was not transplanted from Okinawa to Japan and modified to suit the Japanese like Shotokan was over time.

What do you mean? How can it be harmful? If you overstretch in such a way that you increase your flexibility more than your muscular strength can resist to maintain a safe range of motion you are more likely to have joint dislocations. The way that I was able to build up to high side kicks and roundhouse kicks was actually by working a LOT out of a low horse stance--it's a combination stretch and strengthening exercise.

Hanshi Nakazato of the Shorinkan still moves pretty fluidly and swiftly for a person in his 90's, and Hanshi Perry is very smooth, very powerful and very fast and he is in his 70's. That said, I do believe that kata like Sanchin and Tensho, which are not part of the Shorinkan curriculum (although I can't speak for other branches of Shorin-Ryu) but are part of Goju-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu, certainly contribute to fluidity over time as they require the practitioner to utilize fluid motions while under tension. I don't really buy into the idea that different styles make people age better or worse, however, because I think that it really comes down to how you train more than what you train. Sure, things like Sanchin and Tensho may help you keep fluid movement as you age, but that doesn't necessarily mean that other kata or exercises couldn't accomplish the same thing.

Thanks! I know my Sensei wouldn't have passed me if I didn't deserve it, but I still feel like my form suffered because I felt miserable and, according to everyone in attendance, I looked about like I felt, so I think the fact that I refused to give up, pass out or throw up may have helped

So you're learning from DVD's and having someone double-check it for you, without any partner work or sparring? What credentials does your "Sensei" have, because it doesn't sound like any training program I have ever heard of from any reputable martial arts instructors. That said, Kenpo is very effective when taught correctly, so it can most certainly prepare you to defend yourself.

Hello everyone, This is an article that I originally wrote for Mr. Kruczek's OKI Blog website that I have since fleshed out and reworded in order to better clarify my ideas. I understand that, as a mudansha who has only been training for 6 years, I am nowhere near a point in my life and training where I understand everything about the art that I practice. This is merely my own personal philosophy on martial arts training, so I don't want anyone to feel as though I am preaching to the choir for the sake of hearing my own voice/reading my own words, or explaining something that I have no right to explain. This is how I currently envision training when I think about it, and I am curious to hear what others with more experience have to say about my thought process and personal philosophy. Thanks for checking it out! The Karate Tree

On Saturday, March 24th my dojo held a belt test for all of the brown belts--four of us were testing for Nikyu and three were testing for Jun-Shodan (pre/junior/probationary black belt). We all managed to pass, but I suspect that me passing was more from determination than the form I demonstrated! I'm only 23 (the only adult brown belt at the moment) but it's really hard to keep up with those teenagers, and I did this immediately after that 3 hour open sparring event I posted about (http://www.karateforums.com/open-sparring-event-vt42707.html) where I managed to collect a few minor injuries and dehydrate myself. The test was about 4.5 hours long and were run through all of the kihon, kata, bunkai/self defense applications, and yakusoku kumite we needed for the ranks we were testing for, and we were run through them several times in several different ways (running all 5 Pinan kata but stopping to do a pushup every three moves was interesting). During the test we also each had a short essay question assigned to us that we had to write our answer for on the big whiteboard at the front of the dojo. We also ended with sparring 5 black belts from Shodan through Godan and Sensei made sure we fought until we couldn't go on and then we had to go on anyway. I was on the verge of throwing up for more than half of the test, and nearly passed out a few times, but I made it. I'm sure my form looked pretty sad by the end of the test, though, and I couldn't sit in seiza anymore, I was limping and so tired I didn't want to move. Somehow all the kids still had the energy to play basketball for hours after the test If anyone is curious, here are photos from the test (with the exception of the sparring): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.362333173812089.84841.121994281179314&type=3&l=a8ecc09d64

I have worked out with some Wado-Ryu practitioners in Hawaii that were plenty tough, but because of the Jujutsu aspects of their art they didn't do bunkai like we did. I don't think that it's watered down, but it is certainly different than Shotokan and Kyokushin (which, to me, aren't exactly "real karate" either since I practice an Okinawan style and those are Japanese ). Different dojo will also train differently--I've seen Shotokan people who don't do any body conditioning, so you really can't say that because the Wado-Ryu dojo you are trying out doesn't do it that the style as a whole doesn't do it.

When you click Submit to post your replies, this forum takes a very, very long time to process it and if you click it again it will post it again as many times as you click the button. I write my replies, click the Submit button and leave the tab open as I browse other things for a while. To respond to the OP, I believe you will actually find that it is quite different. 3 years is really not that long to be training in a style, but it's long enough to build muscle memory and you're probably going to have to overcome that. I have not done Shotokan, but Shuri-Ryu has some similarities. The stances in Shotokan tend to be long and low. I suspect your legs will probably be able to handle the stances if you've done training in horse stance, but some of them will be different and you will have to adjust. You will also have to develop koshi (hip rotation) as well as hip thrust to generate power instead of using whipping motions (I'm just assuming your Shaolin style used whipping motions based on videos I have seen of people practicing what they call Shaolin kung fu). Kime (the moment of focus and tension that causes your technique to instantly stop at the point where you want it to stop) might also be a difficult concept if you are used to flowing and whipping. All that said, some Shotokan practitioners do not practice the very rigid, hard, deep-stance karate that has become typical of Shotokan and may be more fluid. Also, the longer you train in it, the more you will see how it is fluid in its own way, even when it appears rigid.

It definitely helps to know how to throw from both sides, because there may come a time when using a throw is appropriate but there are obstacles that prevent you from throwing from your comfortable side. The way you've worded your question is a bit confusing to me, though, because it doesn't matter what hand is forward when you throw, it only matters where you grab them and what direction you turn.

Cool can see the photos now. Looks like it was a good event with a pretty decent turnout. What did you guys do? Just go for it or decide before each match whether you'd be just striking, just grappling or anything goes? Nobody showed up besides our dojo and one White Crane guy who wrestles really had enough grappling experience to really roll, so we either did striking only or MMA style sparring depending on who we were with. We all kept the contact fairly light, really, with the exception of a couple rounds with some of the more experienced people, and it was a lot of fun.

They may or may not teach bunkai. I know some schools don't teach it until you are a more advanced rank (more advanced than orange belt, too). You really need to ask your instructor if they teach any bunkai. Maybe they don't, or maybe they do but only to the higher ranks in the dojo. Also, what are you doing karate for? If it's just for competition or fitness or fun then you don't really need bunkai anyway, unless you want to learn it.

I'm sorry you couldn't view the photos--you do have to have a Facebook account to see them since that is where they were hosted. I will try to upload them somewhere else when I get home. I think you've got the settings on private as I couldn't view them and was logged into facebook at the time. Did you take the link from the bottom of the page when viewing the album, where it says:"Want to share your album? You can give friends or relatives this link" rather than taking the one out of the address bar of your browser? That lets people see them even if they don't have facebook or aren't your friend on facebook. If your friend managed to see them, it was probably because they are friends with you so your security settings allow them to see. Sounds like a pretty good event. I had been sharing the URL from the address bar, but it was the album on my dojo's Facebook page which is completely public. Here is the link you asked for from my version of the album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2890659032687.2113238.1446572428&type=3&l=d5e4b8f5cc

I do some--stance training, for example, is an Isometric exercise that is applicable to karate. I think that Plyometric exercises are better for striking skills, in general, though.