Ueshirokarate

Dropping into shiko-dachi/kiba-dachi definitely help you maintain your balance while grappling and I've used it to stop judo throws before, and shooting a leg back into a long, deep zenkutsu-dachi when they shoot for a double- or single-leg takedown sets you up nicely to roll them. Between that and general skills of deflecting an attacker it works fine for defending against unskilled attackers but it's a little limited for dealing with a skilled grappler--it's always best to train a grappling art to learn how to defend against a grappler. Funny, this is why I took up judo for a while as I wanted to understand a grappling style. I now train in my karate style and BJJ. I have given quite a bit of thought to this subject and I do believe it has given me much deeper insight into kata techniques. In fact, my first line of defense would be exactly what you said above. Although the bunkai for a down-block in zenkutsu-dachi is to block a kick, it is far more effective as a lunge strike or in this case a defense against a grappler trying for a takedown. My question was more directed to the idea of actually training to defend against these techniques, rather than just studying two arts. Do you drill against throws and other take downs?

Anyone spent some time playing with karate techniques for defending against Judo/BJJ take down techniques?

I agree with the two prior posters. I might add that the most effective martial art for any one person is greatly dependent on the availability and quality of training in that specific art. I am not a huge Tae Kwon Do fan. There is nothing wrong with it, it is just not an art that interests me at all. However, if I were in an area that had a crappy school in some style of fighting I liked and a great TKD school, I would most certainly take up Tae Kwon Do. The bottom line is that every style has a sufficient measure of effectiveness or it wouldn't be around anymore, but individual schools come and go all the time. It takes solid instruction, will and hard training to become an effective fighter in any style. Without these things you will be lost in any fight against anyone who has had decent training no matter which styles are matched up.

I echo my words in the other thread. However, would like to add this to this thread: One key to learning hand manipulation in such movements is feedback from a makiwara. You are fooling yourself if you think by posting questions like this and studying a video that you will learn an acceptable version of any style's kata. If there is no "shotokan" schools in your area, seek out another style that works better for you. It isn't about the style, it is about the student and their instructors.

Highly recommend you pay attention to JZ's post. I have studied my style of karate off and on for over twenty years. It is only recently that I have reached the point where I can learn kata from a book/video. This is only possible because I have a solid foundation of so many techniques and already know so many of them. That said, I still need to have someone of higher rank review what I am doing and fine tune things. There are so many subtleties to learn that are impossible to know of when you self-study. Even high ranking practitioners who have studied for over 40 years still seek instruction from others. Think of it this way, professional golfers who do nothing else but play golf and practice it as a full time career still seek out coaches to make sure they are ok.

The dogi was a more socially acceptable thing to wear than the traditional loincloth. I'll take a black one... Yeah loincloth . Thank God the gi was invented.

Found these: http://www.tracyskarate.com/Stories/Elvis%20black%20gi!.htm http://www.tracyskarate.com/FAQ%27S/blackgi.htm

I don't think any of my friends outside of the dojo would ask or care. Like your posts on this Masterpain and agree 100%. Don't think you were insulting at all.

You know, you're right. I hadn't thought about it in that sense. Probably one of the reasons I enjoy it so much right now. There is no pressure to perform up to your rank, no thinking of helping or correcting others, etc. It is just shut up and train. I found this to be true as well when I started up Aikido. Its nice to just set back and be a student again. Thank you!

I may lunge into a zenkutsu dachi in a fight, but I sure am not going to go too deep or stay in it more than a second or so. I personally wouldn't spend a moment thinking about a stance regarding this kind of stuff, for whichever low-probability of sweep stance you choose, a skilled opponent will find another door to open pretty quickly and if you are too committed to a stance you are going down some other way. In my view is while kata stances are for fighting, they aren't to be held for very long in a real world fight or kumite competition.

Your instinct took over for you. Your subconscious mind analyzed the situation and told you to walk away, that it just wasn't worth it. During this time, you had your fight or flight chemicals coursing through your veins so you probably felt nervous and on edge a bit. Had you been backed into a corner, you would have lashed out aggressively. You had nothing to prove to anyone and you weren't backed into a corner so instinct took over and you ignored it and walked away. I have had a few situations over the past year or two on the subways of NYC. I have not taken any physical action in them, as they never escalated to that point and while I was a bit nervous, I knew instinct would take over if need be. In short, you did the right thing, as others have told you.

Matsubayashi is a great style. You will come to appreciate it more and more as you study it.

I am sorry that this is all you got from my post. It was a very minor point within it. The point of the thread is not about dispelling the myth that weight training makes you slower. The point of the thread is about weight training for karate. Most important is the concept of neuromuscular integration/efficiency, how it relates to the concept of "koshi" and how weight training will improve your overall performance, hence the reason for my bolding a specific sentence within it, a sentence that has nothing to do with weight training making you slower.

Good for you. I hope to start lifting again soon, but BJJ seems to knock the crap out of me enough right now. Buy some more plates. People are selling stuff used all the time. You need the weight and a 45lb plate is a 45lb plate if it is brand new or rusty (easy enough to clean and re-paint).

Thought it would be good to post this in the light of some misconceptions I have read in various threads. I hope it helps others understand weight training as it relates specifically to karate, but many of what is said will obviously translate to other arts. Just something to think about. Gaining muscle size and strength will not slow you down. Think of it this way, if you put a eight cylinder engine with 400 horsepower into a car that currently only has only a four cylinder with 110 horsepower, the car will move much faster despite a heavier motor simply because its engine delivers much more power. The same is true for muscle mass gained the right way. Back in the early 1990s when I began training it was much more commonly believed that strength training would slow you down in martial arts circles. This was despite all the evidence to the contrary in all other sports at the time. We know better today. I certainly do from my own experience. That said, you don't want to train like a bodybuilder. You DO want to concentrate on compound/multi-joint movements especially like the Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, etc. These lifts will help you in all of your kicks, stances and overall performance from head to toe. Lifting trains not only your muscles and their strength, it also trains how your nervous system fires these muscles and this is critical to understand. As a martial artist, you want your muscles to work in concert. In fact, all of your physical training for martial arts should be to fine tune this concept. This concept is the very core reason of how "koshi" (closest western science concept is the serape effect) is so important. The fastest karatekas are the ones who can most efficiently transfer power from one part of their body to another, just as someone striking a whip doesn't do so from its tip. Weight training teaches one's neuromuscluar system to fire more efficiently. This is why you can gain strength rapidly when you first begin weight training, as you train your body to become more efficient in transmitting signals from your brain to your muscles. In other words, your initial gains in strength from weight training are not all hypertrophically based. This is also why Olympic lifting is SO great for karate, for no other form of weight training will teach your whole body to manipulate itself to generate EXPLOSIVE power as much or as efficiently. You just can't lift heavy weight in a snatch, unless you can fire your muscles efficiently in concert and the more you train the better you get at this. In my opinion, all other types of weight training pale in comparison to Olympic lifting for developing explosive strikes for this reason. * Don't hesitate to weight train * Do learn proper form and technique (such a new concept for a karateka ) * Don't forget that nutrition plays a huge role in gaining muscle mass (you need enough protein and other macro and micro nutrients along with a surplus of calories to do so)

Congrats. But yeah, what kyu level is blue belt and which version of Shorin Ryu do you practice.

I would agree. The only thing I think is more important is water.

This makes sense. I guess true belt levels are only known on the mat. I thought there had to be some standard for all the competitions, for what would stop a blue belt from putting on a white belt to compete?

While true, I do believe that our bodies are capable of much more than we think. The OP is 16 and he has a hormone soup that will give him a great recovery advantage over the next few years. Now is the time he should be lifting, eating and training as much as he can.

Shotokan is most definitely a "Japanese" style. While Shotokan is of Shuri-te lineage, it has been heavily influenced by mainland Japan and as such is distinctly different from Okinawan styles in both kata and focus. Moreover, Gichin Funikoshi has had no influence over any of the Okinawan Karate styles and there are many, many styles on Okinawa.

Funny, I now train BJJ mostly because it is fun. I think I have said this before on here, training judo for a short time really helped me understand the Matsubayashi Ryu katas on a whole different level. There has been no such further revelation in studying BJJ, as takedowns aren't all that different than Judo. But BJJ has made me much less fearful of what if I am on the ground and the dude knows how to wrestle. (The ground work training at the Judo school I trained in consisted of you being a uke for someone who knew what they were doing all with little direction.) I have really studied karate in some depth over the past year or so and I am not talking about traditional Matsubayashi dojo stuff, but more researching other styles of karate and combat in general for further insight into kata application, as well as books like the Bubishi and (can't recommend it enough) Lawrence Kane's "The Way of Kata." I like to think I know more than most, but there are so many out there who know so much more than I do. I do wish to figure out each and every move in each and every kata I know. Too bad there is so much bad bunkai out there to sort through.

Now this is quite interesting. One of the reasons I got into BJJ was that it was one of the most popular styles of martial arts these days and I was curious as to how to defend against it as a practitioner of Matsubayashi Ryu.

Yes, they have tremendous flexibility and that is why I asked. That said, they are better than heavy bags for this kind of stuff.

I can't imagine the fights you guys had as kids.

Says the guy who came in with a new stripe today! Good work yourself bro. You guys train together??? Congrats back to you pittbull...