cross

Lightweight: Limit - 135 pounds Junior Lightweight/Super Featherweight: Limit - 130 pounds Featherweight: Limit - 126 pounds

Welcome to the forum. One question, What are you going to do about your sign-in name once you grade again and are no longer a 1st kyu ?

$8 Australian, per 1hour 30min class.

You need to talk to Treebranch.

I do the same as some of the other guys said: kick the heavy bag with your shin, and if you get the bag at the right height you can swing it so it comes in at your leg and you can practice shin blocks, i know its not the same as blocking a leg coming at you but it works your shin.

Do you exhale through the nose or the mouth?

When performing a technique what method of breathing do you use? I exhale through the mouth and inhale through the nose.

Like i said, karate works in what it was designed for, and thats not ring fighting.

You might be thinking of "STRIVE for perfection of character" which means its a constant process, and to be honest with you I havnt met anyone who has perfected his or her character.

Saying that shotokan is just for sport is obviously incorrecting considering UFC is a sport and shotokan fights as you say "got the living crap kicked out of them". Shotokan was designed for personal protection, not battlefield combat. I dont know of any martial arts other than military combatives that are designed to work in the "jungle". Incase you didnt notice, UFC isnt faught in the jungle either.

I dont study isshin ryu but here are some of the main things that the training emphasizes: 1. Below the waist kicks 2. Short natural stances 3. 50% hand techniques 50% foot techniques 4. Close range techniques for self defence 5. Hard and soft blocking and one that i think you will be happy with (if im correct in saying you used to study wing chun) 6. Use of the vertical fist in punching. Those are some of the main points. Hope it helps.

Well as a karate-ka I would say there are alot of martial arts effective at what they are designed for, just like karate can be effective for what it is designed for. Karate wasnt made to be used in a sports event(although some styles have adapted to this which in most cases waters them down). Karate was originally created for personal defence against civilian attackers. If the student takes what he learns in class and practises effective ways to apply it then karate can work, but some people will never be very good at defending themselves no matter what you teach them.

Basically your arms will become conditioned to taking hits over time and to easy the bruises until that time you should try Arnica or another bruise repairing lotion.

It did, and still does. All the grappling and pressure points are in the bunkai, but many schools neglect this part of training.

I dont carry anything, if i thought a weapon was needed i would just grab something that was lying around.

Those statments are generalisations about shotokan, what im trying to say is not all schools are like that.

It depends on the school, each school you go to will have a different focus, some being as a sport, some as self-defence, some for self-improvment and some mix all three of these. To say shotokan is "only for sport" is selling it short.

I agree with what everyone has said about the offensive nature of the kata, in saying that, it really depends on your mind-set. You may perform the kata in a defensive manner and see the techniques as blocks and counters, or you may perform it in an offensive way and see the techniques as different types of attacks. I personally view all techniques as attacks, both directly and indirectly. This may seem to contradict one of the shotokan kun "no first strikes" but if someone is threatening you that is a form of attack in my opinion and the appropriate 'defensive' action needs to be taken, weather it be walking away etc, or striking. Just some thoughts...

What do you have planned for the demonstration? At our club when we do a demo (very rare) we only do things that we normally do in class, that way people only see what they will be getting if they join up.

Are you talking about in the ring?

Mart, im almost certain that a looping, wide, circular technique would be alot easier to counter than a linear one. A straight blast is not just a flurry of punches, if you put your arms up to try and cover up your arms will be smashed back into your face. But it doesnt stop there, if the constant forward pressure isnt enough the straight blast can lead into close quarters where elbows, knees and takedowns come into play. All this ofcoarse can happen if the straight blast is applied effectively, im thinking that you havnt seen a proper straight blast before.

I think that the straight blast has its uses, one being in a multiple opponent situation. Probably the best chance you will have of escaping is constantly straight blasting until you have a chance to escape. Also in sparring etc the constant forward pressure applied during a straight blast can be hard for an opponent to deal with. While on the topic of straight blasts i think its appropriate to talk about how to defend against them also. some simple defences include: shooting for the legs and stepping to the side and then attacking with either single techniques or a straight blast of your own.

I disagree, the shortest and quickest route to a target is a straight line.

That depends on the style.

I assume the person who said that kyokushin is a complete art ment complete in what it was designed for, that is, stand up striking. A martial art CAN be complete if its aim is to perfect a certain facet of combat.