Wastelander

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.

Yeah, that would do it--I had somebody else test it out after you said you couldn't get to it and they got an error when they weren't logged in, but as soon as they logged in the photos came up

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, personally, learned that I am very susceptible to being stomp-kicked in the shin--it's too low for me to see coming and even when I did I was too slow to prevent that guy from doing it to me. That fact makes me want to start working that technique a lot more, because it was extremely painful and is still hampering my ability to walk today and that seems like a useful technique. It also was evident that I need to keep working on my sprawl (one of the White Crane guys is also a wrestler) but I did already know that . The White Crane folks definitely attacked at odd angles and times--they didn't hit all that hard with a lot of them, but they were set up to do so with follow-up strikes. I got to fight someone taller than me, which isn't terribly common, and he pushed straight forward and we covered so much distance being as tall as we are that I kept running up against a wall before I circled away, so I need to work on having tighter footwork. As for good things--my spinning backfist, side kick, leg kick and Naihanchi-style arm trapping/striking all worked well for me that day.

Hello everyone, Last Saturday my dojo hosted an open sparring event and invited people from martial arts schools and gyms in the area to come in and get some contact (not full contact, but not tippy-tappy either) sparring in with people of different styles. This is the first event of its kind that we have done and turnout was somewhat small but still enough to have a good time and learn a few things! In attendance, along with myself (Shorin-Ryu, Shuri-Ryu and Judo), were my Sensei (Shorin-Ryu and eclectic Jujutsu), his girlfriend (Kensho-Do), Jason (one of our white belts who is a powerlifter and has boxing experience), Steven (one of our black belts who also has experience with Aikido, Judo, TKD and Muay Thai), Danny (one of our black belts), Shihan Allred (a Godan in Shorin-Ryu who goes to all kinds of seminars for all kinds of styles), a gentleman who recently moved here who has been doing American Kenpo for 20 years or so, and several people from a White Crane kung fu school. We had scheduled three hours for people to come in and spar when they wanted and have time to take breaks or work on techniques with each other. A boxing timer was set up for us to have 3 minute rounds with 1 minute breaks in between and we switched off sparring partners every round. I did a full write-up of my experiences during this event on my blog, so I won't delve into it here because you can take a look at it if you're interested. I just thought I would share that we did this and that I feel like it was a great experience--we shared techniques, had some laughs and hit each other, so it was a good day overall! We did have one person have his jaw slightly dislocated (put back in place on-site, though) and I got my right shin and left instep pretty messed up, but those were the most serious injuries of the day. Here is a gallery of photos from the event.

That's hojo undo, and a lot of styles do it but chief among them is probably Goju-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu. Google that term and you'll find a lot of information on it.

It depends on your local laws but, generally, a group attacking a single person would usually be considered a situation where you would be justified in defending yourself until you were no longer in danger. I am not a lawyer and I am not giving you any legal advice! You should check with local law enforcement or a lawyer.

You won't find one that will do what you want for "around 100" unless it's used and a friend is selling it to you. My Panasonic HDC-SD90 does a pretty darn good job recording movements in martial arts and records at 60fps in high definition 1080p, but it cost around $500.

In Shuri-Ryu we normally used a Shuri fist (fist with the index finger laid flat on the meat of the thumb) but we also used the vertical fist as a technique to slip through someone's guard or sometimes for striking the solar plexus. After training longer and trying out different things, I use it almost exclusively for backfists and hammerfists because it keeps the thumb from putting pressure on my index finger during backfists and it keeps my thumb tucked out of the way for hammerfists.

I notice that you replied to an old article that Shorin-Ryuu wrote. I can't say that he will respond to that because it hasn't been replied to for 4 years. You would really be better off sending him a PM through the link I provided you to his profile.

I had to do some searching but I'm pretty sure their dojo closed. From what I could find, Shorin Ryuu (http://www.karateforums.com/member1917.html) and P.A.L (http://www.karateforums.com/member3353.html) on this forum may know them more personally, so you could try asking them.

Honestly, the final confrontation was completely unnecessary--the police had been called (and arrived almost immediately after he had been choked out, from the looks of the video) and the man had not made any credible threat of imminent bodily harm to anyone. It is good that people who were ready to act were present, but in looking at it I don't feel that his actions were necessary at the time that he performed them. That's just my opinion, though.

I don't have personal experience with either brand, but I have met several people (including my instructors) who swear by the Shureido gi (which are embroidered where you want, by the way). I have heard that they come a little big and as long as you wash in cold water and line dry it shouldn't shrink much, so I would think you should pick the 165cm one.

I understand where this point of view comes from, but have you ever broken boards before? I find it to be fun and a great stress relief to hit something and have it break, so I do it for the fun of it. We really hardly ever do board breaking at my dojo--maybe once a year--and it's usually just for fun/demonstrations or if a group of students is having a particularly hard time with the idea of striking through a target.

If you look down the board you should see that the board is not perfectly flat, but is ever so slightly bowed in one direction--that is called the "crown" of the board. Hold it so that the board curves toward you. If you can't tell, or the board turns out to actually be flat, then what DWx explained is also a good way to determine how to hold it.

If those are good schools then either one of them should fulfill that list of things you want out of karate. As far as kumite being softer, that's hard to say--if they only do point sparring then yes, but some karate schools do have hard contact or full contact sparring. You really need to visit both school and watch a class or two and participate in a trial class or two before you make your decision. You, personally, will need to make the determination of whether the instructor and the training methods at each school work well with you.

Montana and bushido_man96, you two would be very good judges and I wish there were more like you, but I must have missed those competitions--the competitions I have been to tend to have kata judged on speed, control, flashiness and exaggerated stances. I'd gladly run my kata the way I want instead of trying to make it look like a "competition kata" but the only times I've won are when I am in my lowest stances, doing my highest kicks, doing a loud kiai on the strongest-looking techniques and doing the occasional tension technique.

Judging in kata competition is always completely subjective--one day with one set of judges you might win 1st place and the next day with different judges and the exact same performance you could be in last place. Long, low stances and exaggerated techniques do tend to bump up your score, and so does throwing in the occasional slow motion or tension technique or loud kiai. I will admit that I have done all of these things in kata competition, by the way . It can be fun to see all kinds of different kata being run in all kinds of different ways, and sometimes you can even pick up on useful bits as long as the people running them aren't exaggerating to the point of losing the kata completely (although I have definitely seen that happen).

There was a Kudo/Daido Juku dojo opened in Portugal back in 2000, according to the organization's website. What they do is basically Kyokushin and Judo put together. Maybe you can contact them for help finding somewhere to train? http://www.ku-do.com/eng/index.html