Ueshirokarate

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, there are people out there. I have heard some stories from some of the BJJ guys I started to train with. Gi rash is a problem in many grappling places. It can be great eliminated by some proper hygiene.

Trust me, some martial artists of old trained day and night. It is all they did for decades straight. I have done a lot of research on the early years of my style in this country and know this for a fact. They pretty much did everything they knew how to do and while scientific training has advanced, many of the old ways of training have actually been brought BACK to the gym (sandbags are but one example.) Training and fighting is all these guys did and I have no doubt that some of them would be at the top of the heap in the UFC or other MMA competition. You may think things are very different today. They are not. Once again it comes back to the individual and their training.

And so many today think that MMA is a new concept. I think mma as we view it today is more that just putting two arts together. It's about integration of the aspects of each that flow into a single workable format directed towards a specific goal with anything from either art that doesn't help achieve that goal discarded. Sure, guys have been doing multiple arts for years. However; prior to the modern emergence of mma, you didn't see it very much or very well integrated. If you did, you'd have had a lot higher level of competition in early UFC's. To say that mma has been done for years, I feel, really downplays the evolution that it's driven over the past decade or so. You don't think that studying karate and judo together accomplish this?

And so many today think that MMA is a new concept.

Wastelander, I think the only trouble that you run into, and I think what Ueshiro is pointing out, is when people get fixed on it being a block because it's called a "block". And when you give it that name people's minds tend to get stuck on that term and fixate on just making it do one thing. Ever try to explain to someone that stepping into zenkutsu and throwing a reverse punch with the formal chamber is a very nice throwing technique? Their mind is stuck on a punch. Exactly right. By the way, there is so much grappling and throwing in our system of katas, that goes ignored by so many Matsubayashi practitioners. Lastly, I thought I had watched all of Iain's videos. Obviously I missed some and I appreciate your linking it. Hey what happened to that other thread with short poles and Chinese influence?

Nagamine was a Judoka.

Congrats and good luck.

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.

I actually like your instructor's approach. It shows great respect and humility. Your instructor must be an awesome teacher. I also like Dobbersky's idea with the black stripe.

From my view, Judo would be a better fit if your karate style doesn't spend time teaching throws. If I hadn't had some Judo experience before, I would certainly feel I was missing something with BJJ. At the end of the day they are really, really close to one another. To me, it is kind of like comparing Shorin Ryu to Shotokan.

I think some Judo experience is invaluable to karateka, as the throwing and grappling techniques can give one some great insight into kata forums. We had good mats at the school I trained at. It still beat me up pretty good back then. While it is great fun to roll, it is also very humbling to be a clueless white belt again too.

No, this isn't another which is better for fighting thread. I just want to say that I am really enjoying BJJ much more than when I took Judo years ago. Don't get me wrong, I loved Judo. However, the throws were really taking a beating on me all those years ago. They are invaluable to learn, but the place I trained focused a lot on the throws and we did many each class. I am now about twenty years older and very pleasantly surprised that BJJ focuses much more on ground work. Another good thing for me, is that we do some throws and sweeps in karate but almost no ground work. Seems that BJJ is the perfect fit for me to compliment my karate, especially at my age.

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. I was making a general comment, not directed at you. There are many, many karateka who mistakenly think multiple opponents. Please check out the video Shorikid posted, you'll see what I am talking about: You can't do a reverse turn "down block" into someone just behind you or in front of you for that matter. Such a move is totally ineffective for "blocking" a kick. But do try such a move when you hold onto the guy in front of you. Also please remember that "uke" means to receive. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "block" in karate.

Excellent find! Good video too (one of the best from him I have seen, as they are usually just teases for his DVDs). Thanks

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 would suggest that you read the book "The Way of Kata" by Lawrence Kane. It is just excellent. Probably the best book on form based karate ever written.

I knew that was true when I was suspended in middle school because some kid punched me in the face. I didn't even hit back, but if i had... I would love to encourage my students to fight back when someone's picking on them, but I would be so fired. I noticed a kid doing his homework at the gym yesterday. In the health class book there was a chapter on violence. I asked to read it. The words self defense did not exist, but zero tolerance does. In other words we will punish you for defending yourself. Yep. This is happening, and its bad. The punishment for bullying isn't severe enough to deter those who do it. Suspend them from school? They don't care, because they likely don't want to be there anyway. I tell my kids to not put up with it, and if they have to fight, go for it. I'll take care of the teachers. They may get in trouble at school, but they won't with me, if they are in the right. I agree here, when it comes down to property. In this sue-happy world of people who lack accountability, this will happen. Possessions, unless they are yours, from your home, aren't really worth it. I'm sure WalMart has some clause in their insurance to cover loss like that. I do remember while I was in the academy watching a video not of a theft, but of a domestic battery in progress, and the convenience store attendants just stood by and watched. I think they did call the cops, but they did not intervene with the beating. The reason was because this store branch has a policy that states that its employees will not intervene in fights like this. Property, I can understand. But, watching this video really got to me. If it meant my job, I'd probably be willing to give it up to stop a physical beating. But, I'm sure they had the policy in place for much the same reason WalMart has this policy above. A sane man. Thank you for this, I was beginning to lose all hope for humanity.

I am pretty sure that Itosu and his peers knew every aspect of the katas they worked, inside and out and could fight with them.

Mostly, there are no bad "applications" in other forms of martial arts on youtube. Bad bunkai in my opinion is purely due to the history of karate. Think about it. GIs from the Allies who just beat Japan in a war were being taught karate by those they just defeated. They were shown Mickey Mouse karate in many cases, intermediate karate at best. They took this incomplete understanding of karate back to the US, the UK and other countries and then their students opened schools, etc. It is only in recent years that most have started to understand true applications of karate. That doesn't mean I can't laugh at absurd applications I see, especially when they are being shown by obviously physically unfit instructors.

I encourage you to pick up the book "Shotokan Secret". Ignore the obvious pro-Shotokan/anti-Kyan bias. All you need to disprove his theory regarding Kyan "changing" our katas, is to look at Shito-ryu's forms. That said, the book gives a good background in the history of karate and some food for thought regarding kata techniques. No need to apologize by the way.

Heck, I would bet a white belt with a month of practice.

Anyone else tired of the plethora of poor, impractical and completely unrealistic bunkai on youtube? I think it really makes karate look somewhat ridiculous.

OP is in very dire need of professional help. He really needs to find a good school pronto, or one of his friends or himself are going to get very hurt or worse.

Heck, I don't want to discourage discussion at all. However, I do want a new student or a long term veteran know exactly what they are talking about. Okinawa was a "sovereign" nation for centuries. That said, it was heavily controlled by both Japan and China. Many Okinawans traveled back and forth to both countries (many of whom went just to study martial arts). While there is a distinct difference between Japanese Karate and Okinawan Karate, there is just as much differences between styles on Okinawa. Furthermore, when we think of Japanese flavor of karate, we are typically thinking of either Shotokan or Kyokushin. However, these styles are both very different from one another, as is Wado from the two and yet it is another mainland Japanese style heavily influenced by two very large names in "Okinawan" karate and the founder of Shotokan who was a direct student of Anko Itosu and from Okinawa himself. The branches of Shorin-ryu are probably the closest existing to what Anko Itosu and the other Shuri-castle staff practiced day in and day out. However, they were not martial artists in isolation from Japanese or Chinese influence.