andym

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Hello sliverback and welcome to the forum.

Best of luck and have fun.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I agree on all counts. Where I train, it's a twelve month gap between first kyu and first dan. Plus the rules should be posted up etc. Perhaps it should have been mentioned at the first kyu grading, so as not to lead to this disappointing ?

Tanto Jutsu - the martial arts dirty little secret. First rule , know you're up against a knife. A scar on my leg reminds me of this.

Hello Jeff and welcome to the forum.

He did know what he was talking about, the history with in his writings is still valid, but will anyone buy them now ? That's my point. Because his evil behavior totally invalidates his writings on the philosophy of Karate. But that's enough on him.

In relation to Shotokan, I've posted this here already on a topic dealing with 'Shototkan folk dance' . My view is Shotokan, Kyukushinkai etc went down the road of free fighting / Jiyu Kumite. Believing that was the answer and the future. In the 1980's , coming from Goju Ryu, I was mocked for still doing 'out of date' training - bunkai ! By almost all the styles (and some of the people !) who now make a big deal of Bunkai training. Lets not beat about the bush - very few styles maintained Bunkai training through the 1960's and beyond. Shorin Ryu , Goju Ryu, Uechi Ryu and some Shito Ryu, that is all that I know of. It doesn't mean either is wrong, I just wish a truth was acknowledged and credit given.

Yes it's an interesting point. At what point does someones evil behavior , undermine their work in another area ?

This is fairly old material, internet wise. The following are what I wrote in 2008 on another forum. It will only really make sense after the articles have been read. " An honest view of Shotokan pre 1990's,prior to the introduction of Bunkai to the style. And Bunkai was only introduced to shotokan in the 1990's. Remember that the introduction of both long stances and free-sparring/ Ji-Yu Kumite , as this is what he means when talking of sparring are all developments of the mid-20th century. These fundamentally altered the way Karate was and is practiced , and the source of these changes ; SHOTOKAN . N.B. I studied Shotokan from 1973 to '76 with Billy Higgins and left to do J.K.D. and kickboxing because I thought the same and abandoned Kata. 1979 I came to realize that sparring was as flawed as any other training method . I then ended up doing Goju Ryu with Tony Christian. Still with him to this day as a 5th dan student, so I have an interesting prospective on this , and also some information form Shotokan Master M. HARADA , when I've more time. In the late 1990's I took the opportunity to train with Master Harada , a truly great,master teacher of Karate-do. Over the weekend I was with him he told me the following tale as to how Shotokan developed and expanded it's syllabus of Kata either side of w.w.2. ; During the summer break from university, he set off for Okinawa by ferry with a letter of introduction to an old teacher on the island. It took almost a week to get there . He then spent a month learning the Kata that he'd been sent to collect. He then returned to the the J.K.A. , again another weeks travel . The next few weeks were spent demonstrating , teaching and "changing the Kata to conform". (This term sticks in my memory .) With all this to be done before he went back to university. Most importantly though, due to the demands of precision in learning the Kata , in such a limited time, it was impossible to learn any Bunkai. Thus post war Shotokan DID NOT practise or study Bunkai . Something Harada readily admitted."

This is why there's so much more than just kicks and punches. Sadly interest in martial arts philosophy seems to be fading, but then again, everything is cyclical. Can I recommend anther book in a similar vane. Taisen Deshimaru's 'The Zen Way to The Martial Arts'. I found a useful stepping stone. All the best.

It must totally depend on the student, IMHO.

Hello and welcome to the forum/

Hell Vengeance and welcome to the forum.

Welcome back AikiGuy.

Hello nightingale and welcome to the forum

I'm forth or fifth, depending on how you count Goju Ryu's lineage. Do you start, as most do with Chojun Miyagi or with his teacher, Kanryo Higaonna, as some do ? Anyway - Myself, taught by Tony Christain : Taught by Teruo Chinen, among others : Ei'ichi Miyazato : Chojun Miyagi : Kanryo Higaonna.

IMAGE VERSES ABILITY / CONTENT. “We are unique, gentleman, in that we create ourselves. Through long years of rigorous training, sacrifice, denial, pain. We forge our bodies in the fire of our will.” Han (Shih Kien) , ‘Enter The Dragon’ (1973) written by Michael Allin. Two perfect examples of the problem I have with view point - Anna Kournikova and Audley Harrison. Anna Kournikova was for a time the best known and best paid female tennis player in the world. She was fit and active, and looked the part. During this time, how successful was she ? She hardly won anything ! All the money and publicity was based solely on her looks : there’s no deigning she was beautiful. Between 1997 and 2003, she won only 3 second string events ! So none of the money and publicity was based on success and ability (content) - just looks (image). The records show Martina Hingis won 7 majors and over 20 second string events . And, Lindsay Davenport won 6 majors and over 20 second string events, during the same time period. When this era of tennis is looked back on, it is these players that are the talking point, not Kournikova . Now looking back, it is the ability, content, that is remembered, the image is forgotten ! Anna Kournikova looked the part, but the truth is , she was not. Audley Harrison, sometimes known as ‘Fraudly’ Harrison ; need I say more. Talked the talk, but when it came down to it, couldn’t do the walk ! All image, no content. So, in Martial Arts terms, you want some ‘Dolly Bird’ teaching self-defence, that is either ineffective of itself. Looks good, but doesn’t work. Or , we’re too busy looking at how pretty she is, to notice she has no technical skill. It doesn’t matter that she’s inaccurate , badly co-ordinated, mistiming her stuff, no ability - has no content - so long as she has the image. A triumph of image over content. The problem is ,we have this already - The McDojo ! Where the image of Martial Arts training has replaced the Martial Arts content , within the McDojo. “We are unique, gentleman, in that we create ourselves. Through long years of rigorous training, sacrifice, denial, pain. We forge our bodies in the fire of our will.” This is how we create CONTENT. It is this content that has created the IMAGE of the Martial Artist - that so many wish to have, but so few are willing to put in the work. We are now in a time where this hollow, contentless image, is taking over. AT THIS POINT I WOULD ADD A PHOTO OF MYSELF, IF I KNEW HOW ! Just to show I’m not being defensive So lets go to subject that started this off. A thread on ’fat’ instructors. Link Nobody within the martial arts chooses to be fat ! I believe that body type / Somatotypes (link= brianmac) have a far more import influence on this issue than is generally acknowledged. Why is a group, Endomorphs, being stigmatised ? Is it not better for the Martial Arts, to have a good instructor, rather than an instructor that looks good ? ( irrespective of body type)

A sad loss to the martial arts.

The cynic in me say's : is the instructor after the money ? Another question would be, how old is the instructor. You have to balance life, work and training. As Chunmonchek points out Miyagi's saying "Family first, work second, then Karate". I've gone through school, work, loosing jobs, moving around the country, marriage, shift work, kids, the works. I've always maintained my training, with the balance of commitment and priorities. Are they excuses or reasons ?

Hello all, here's the Dojo where I train : Academy of Goju Ryu Karate-Do. Wigan , Lancashire , Great Britain. Sensei Tony Christian 8 th Dan

Can't be done. I've never liked 'Hell's Kitchen', because of Ramsey's uncontrolled and abusive behavior. Respect and control are central to the Martial Arts and it's practice. I think the term - bad example, covers both.

oooh painful ! Someones been upsetting someone else.

Hello and welcome to the forum.