Ueshirokarate

It's not like they do that stuff in every dojo of any style. True, however, his dojo's instructor and I both come from pretty much the same lineage.

I am a bit surprised you haven't experienced any of that training where you go now. While Goju Ryu is more into this than Shorin Ryu, you will certainly find chishis and other implements of hojo undo in the style. Don't dismiss the value of this sort of training.

Have you spoken to your sensei about your concerns?

You are studying in a very traditional system (Matsubayashi Shorin Ryu), which was originally brought to Long Island directly from Okinawa in the 1960s. The style's focus is upon very dangerous techniques that are in the katas you are training. You aren't going to change the system, so you either learn to appreciate that you are learning real karate, in the same way they learn it on Okinawa, or you need to find another school. Your style has very deep roots in Long Island NY and you will find it in many areas throughout Nassau and Suffolk. It was brought there by the founder of my system, who was an unbelievably talented martial artist who did nothing but eat, sleep and train for decades. He (Ansei Ueshiro) and his direct student (James Wax) trained Tournament superstars like Parker Shelton and Robert Yarnall, (who was ranked equally with Chuck Norris and Mike Stone (Elvis Presley's teacher)). These guys learned exactly the way you are being taught, so you either need to understand where you are, have a little patience with the way you are being taught and do your best to learn all you can, or just move on to another place. And yes, karate is kata. You may not think it is, but go to Okinawa (where karate is actually from) and you will find out that kata and karate are the same.

Here are two good ones:

I would recommend a book by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder, both Goju Shihans and written many books on Martial Arts including 1 on how to run a martial arts school The Way to Black Belt: A Comprehensive Guide to Rapid, Rock-Solid Results Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: YMAA Publication Center (1 Nov 2007) Language English ISBN-10: 1594390851 ISBN-13: 978-1594390852 Funny, deep in his book about martial arts instruction. I do recommend his work.

You can train lightly at home. Only you know your body and how you feel. Last thing you want to do is get your buddies sick.

From my experience, quitting smoking is no different than doing anything else that is hard/requires significant effort. It is no different than training hard when you don't feel like it, or cutting back on eating despite the fact that there is a chocolate cake staring in your face. In short, you just have to make the decision to do it. I am not talking the verbal affirmation to do it, or even the mental self-talk saying that you want to. What you need to do is actually do it. You can't go back, hesitate, make excuses for cheating, think about how hard it is, use crutches, etc. You just need to decide you are no longer going to smoke and from that moment no longer smoke. I have had to quite twice. The second time, I had a time of severe stress in my life and was not actively training. Both times, it took me to make the decision and I mean really make the decision to give it up. I had plenty of half hearted attempts to "quit" the first time I smoked. These are times when I tried nicotine gum, etc. Each one of these times, I really hadn't fully committed myself to quitting and the crutches were the first clue. There is martial arts philosophy in this somewhere. But really, it is just me sharing my actual life experience.

You can't judge kata difficulty on the length of time it takes to perform it. I assure you that Naihanchi Sho is far more difficult that Fukyugata Ichi and it takes me less time to do. Moreover, what I said was the katas that are very similar come in the same sequence. I did not state that we had all the same katas in exactly the same order. i.e.: Incidentally, every Matsubayashi school in the world, whether it is connected to the Nagamine Hombu, the Ueshiro lineage and/or most others not directly related to either, perform kata exactly the same way that Nagamine did 50 years ago. Matsubayashi karate is not about flash for tournment in "the era of pauses and numerous slow movements", it is about practicing Okinawan Karate the way it was created to use only in the event of absolute necessity. That is our tradition and it is at the core of the style.

Enjoy and savor your classes. Your physical conditioning will improve in time. You may wish to consider dropping calories and using a calorie calculator to figure out how to enter a 500 calorie per day deficit from your maintenance level (you can google a few good ones online). The last thing you want to do is lose the weight too fast or burn yourself out from working out. That is what the vast majority of people do. So while it is admirable that you wish to carry your conditioning training outside the dojo, remember your muscles and nervous system do need time to recover from what are probably very intense workouts. Given time, your body will adapt and these workouts will be easier to recover from and much less intense for you. You can then start really increasing the training outside the dojo. I like the suggestion of riding a bike or even some hiking.

Just throw a chi ball at the guy. Who needs bare hands? Nt srs.

Ueshirokarate Ohgami details the Wado version as "Itosu" Rohai Shodan. I dont think that the Shito version is Shodan. Sojobo I know that there is only one Rohai in Matsubayashi and believe there is only one in Shito and to me they look like the same kata with slight stylistic variance. I can't speak for Wado.

If you haven't seen it, how can you judge it? I have trained this way using kata for decades. To me, it is like you are saying a ball peen hammer has no value, because you haven't seen it drive a nail. If you string together techniques in some logical sequence and repeat them over and over again until you do them without thinking, is this not a drill? If you take 20 offensive and defensive karate techniques you presently know, string them together in a logical sequence, have you not just created a kata? Most MMA fighters will string together four or five techniques and drill them over and over again by his or herself: They are doing kata. While they are doing one of their own design and not a classical kata, it is still kata. Don't agree with me? Show me exactly how it is different. Method of learning has not changed one bit: Fighters and martial artists in every style drill sequential techniques solo.

Prearranged sequential patterns of movement appear in every martial art and are still employed in the most modern martial arts training known to man, as is the push-up which is even older than Chinto and Kusanku. Traditional katas are sequential fighting technique from the yoi position to the return. They are absolutely no different than stringing a punch, kick, body turn and sweep together and practicing it over and over and over again. Techniques have multiple functions, just as they do in drills you string together. Drills, kata, etc will never train you to respond to random attacks, they aren't designed to do so. You may think that drills you are learning are some great modern invention, but they are no different than kata forms hundreds of years old.

By this definition, I do a lot of kata. Agreed. However, I'm not sure that it fits the connotative definition, or even the more official ones, of "kata". If we say that any movement related to martial endeavors constitutes kata then it's about all we do and I'm even pretty sure I do it every night when I load my duty weapon. I think the original question probably related to the definition everyone actually thinks of when someone says "kata"-the pre-arranged floor movements one. Kata is nothing but a sequence of movement one practices by his or herself. How is a traditional kata such as Chinto any different from a three move combination drill done over and over again?

SCARS training is based on repetitive two person drills, so in effect the exact same thing as yakosuko kumite and bunkai. We are talking about a method to train full time combat soldiers who live their life as such, surrounded by others with the same training. There is in effect no need for solo kata practice for these individual, as they can always grab a buddy and train. Most of us do not have this luxury. If they were to train these drills without a partner, they are performing kata.

I pretty much agree with you. However, you can't do bunkai alone.

The modern training methodology you put forth is really no different from the training I have experienced in a very traditional Okinawan system with its foundation being kata. Kata is not training in a vacuum and if you believe this and the fact that you believe application isn't immediately recognizable, you have not experienced proper instruction in its use. Every move, from a strike to a turning from one technique to another and even the movements in between and from the side that isn't apparently attacking or blocking has a direct application to fighting. The deeper you go in studying kata (especially advanced ones), the more brilliant you discover them to be. Think about it, kata has been used for hundreds of years. Do you really think the thousands of martial artists who spent decades upon decades of training for real combat (on a level you and I can fortunately only imagine) would waste their time with a superfluous dance? Their very lives depended on their empty hand training, as they could be literally be attacked by a sword wielding opponent at anytime and we are no smarter today than they were in 1700.

It may also be helpful to look at Rohai: Shito: Matsubayashi: Wado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=_53Dd3f8NBk It comes after Wankan in both Shito and Matsubayashi styles.

The order of kata in Matsubayashi is identical in every Matsubayashi dojo in every part of the world and has been since the system was founded. You can google it in a second if you really want to find out, as I did with Shito Ryu's Are there differences between Shito and Matsubayashi ryu? Of course there are. However, the differences between our "shared" katas is much less than with other styles. Consider our Wankan kata to Shito Ryu's Wankan (Matsukaze): SR's Matsukaze: MR's Wankan: Now compare those two to Shotokan's Wankan: Or this version which is closer to Shito or Matsubayashi, but lacks nekoashi dachi, which makes it slightly more approachable to a beginner: The katas in Matsubayashi that are close to those in Shito (like Wankan and Matsukaze), are almost in exactly the same order. Shito has many more katas that Matsubayashi, but that doesn't change the sequence of those that we share.

Out of curiosity, what style have you trained "kata" in?

Good luck with your training.

If you want explosiveness, there is no substitute for Olympic lifting. I suggest you find a credentialed Olympic lifting coach to teach you how to properly do these lifts. These lifts can also be done with sandbags, dumbbells, kettlebells, etc., but proper technique is essential. I would never design a program or give my seal of approval to anyone online or even in person without assessing my client first and having a detailed discussion regarding their goals, background and other training. Program design should be very individualized based upon the client current level of fitness, goals and events they may be training for. well, i actually just wanted an opinion. but thanks.And I gave it to you, I can't help it if you didn't like what I said. There are a million different combinations of routines that would work well for one person, but not fit another or be in conflict with their current goals.

If you want explosiveness, there is no substitute for Olympic lifting. I suggest you find a credentialed Olympic lifting coach to teach you how to properly do these lifts. These lifts can also be done with sandbags, dumbbells, kettlebells, etc., but proper technique is essential. I have used these lifts with great results. We train exactly the same style by the way and I believe they are the best thing since sliced bread to teach your neuro-muscular system to move with explosiveness. I would never design a program or give my seal of approval to anyone online or even in person without assessing my client first and having a detailed discussion regarding their goals, background and other training. Program design should be very individualized based upon the client current level of fitness, goals and events they may be training for.

Point was that two styles with very similar katas ordered them in pretty much the same way. Other styles may have katas named the same and with some similarities, but they are very different in many ways so you can't really compare them to prove the arbitrary nature of kata order. For one style's Kusanku can be far more difficult and intricate than another style's. The only way to really order a sequence of kata is to do so in order of difficulty and I do believe that the founders of each style did just that based upon the individual katas of their respective style. Read Sojobo's notes, that is exactly what Wado's founder did. I also believed they selected their katas based upon their philosophical view of karate and how the katas they knew fit this. I can also confidently state that there is no denying the progressive nature of Matsubayashi's katas, as well as their stylistic congruence.