hanshi9

todays dojo & the students are concerned with tournament sparring and not " street defense" on the street there are no sinbons & corner judges. when sparring you have two jobs #1 hit the other guy #2 DON"T get hit. if you hit your opponent with a STRONG CONTROLLED !!! technique , stop and ask your self if that kick or punch would have dropped him. there are no do overs on the street , point fighting has destroyed the art in more ways than one. if a student continues to point fight and concentrates on winning a trophy , when and if the fight is real he or she will pull the punch or kick out of habit and will get their brains beaten out of them. "hito tsuki / hito geri" one punch or one kick should do enough damage to the oppenent to render him incapable to continue.

i agree with all the suggestions in that i would start with wado ryu. if taught properly wado is a strong style with good fighting technique. don't concern your self about keeping your rank. consider this , if you change systems from one to the other, you may give up your rank but you can't give up the knowledge that you gained.

one of the problems with knife defense is that the defender is waiting for the attack. why are you waiting ?? the last thing a knife attacker is expecting is for you to attack him. does anyone realize the shock value of you attacking ?? he expects you to be fearful of the knife when your not you broke his will. a good strong kiai followed be your powerful kicks should do the job. if however, you wish to wait for his attack then stick to your basics , strong blocks followed by powerful attacks. apply your katas to your knife defense. a knife is no different than a club or a hand comming at you.karate is a simple art and your defense should be simple and decisive.

dobersky , sparring with your students or having your yudansha spar with them is the only way they learn. it's the traditional way. your quote at the bottom of your post is EXACTLY what a dojo should be. every student should make a conscious effort to assist a student of lower rank. it's the spirit of brotherhood that keeps the dojo strong. domo arigato

bushido...man96 ; kumite should be fun at times. i love it when my black belts do kumite and one thumps the other with a solid technique. they both laugh then discuss how the technique got "IN" . the other thing is when they are sparring i will hear one say to the other"your dropping your guard or your telegraphing your next move or here comes your back kick " each one working so hard to help the other improve. this applies not only in kumite but kata , weapons , self defense etc etc as well. they strive to help knowing that one day they may be alone and will have to call on their training in order to survive.

dear wastelander, my reason for mentioning the stop action during kumite is that in the 51 years of teaching and visiting various dojo on the east coast is that i've seen many , many students participate in kumite in and the "instructors" only coments were " you have to block more " it seems that todays martial art dojo have lost the true essence of the art. IE; to teach the student to defend his life if necesary and to become a real martial artist. too many dojo are concerned with tournaments & trophies. in the 70's i ran a tournament and the final match for black belt champion lasted 20 minutes. we had to change all referees 3 times !! the quality of black belt was outstanding. i feel , that quality has been lost in todays world due to the fact that people open a dojo without all the necessary teaching qualifications. they jump from system to system in order to gain rank and hang a certificate on their wall. i hate to use the saying "back in the day" but here goes at tournaments there was reserved seating for 4th. and 5th. dans. today everyone is carrying 8th. 9th. 10th. dans . sorry to vent. this was to be a short response.be well

i've read all the comments on this topic and agree with all of you , except , the one factor that everyone has not mentioned is , what is the dojo? it's a place for learning how to defend your self. it's the sensei of the dojo who must guide each student along the path of sparring. the normal progression for kumite regardless of style or system is one step sparring into 3 step sparring increasing the power and speed as the student gains timing , strength , courage etc etc into free style kumite. it's now the responsibility of the SENSEI to stop each kumite match regardless of the level of the two students , instruct , correct and repeat the technique again so that the student understands where he or she is making mistakes.too often two students do kumite , beat the hell out of each other then sit down. if one student knocks down his fellow student , everyone laughs has a great time and they are ready for the next match. the dojo is a place where each student helps his brother in arms to be more proficient and not a place for competition it's a place of learning. we fight very hard to help each other prepare for the street.if a student keeps getting hit with , lets say a face punch and no one shows him why he is getting hit , where his weakness is , or where he drops his guard , he will continue to get hit. he's learned nothing. a good sensei will correct the students stance , kata , etc etc so doesn't stand to reason that the same should be done with kumite??so, all of the above falls back on the sensei and his yudansha to help you to become proficient in sparring.

sir , kata is the backbone of karate. contained in every kata is both offensive & defensive techniques. your teacher must be able to show you what your doing when learning kata. as you perform each kata you must visualize the movements of the attacker once you can see the attack mentally your kata will improve. it's not you thats having difficulty it's your teachers job to assist you in your process. the kata is a series of movements that allow you to reack automatically to any given situation. to show you the importance of kata , master shimabuku of the shorin system practiced two (2) katas for 5 years ie: sanchin & seienchin. i've been studying & teaching karate for 51 years and found that without kata your learning "tricks" i've conducted seminars across the U S A and found that most students including black belts really don't understand the importance of kata. once you understand and perform the kata your reaction to a situation will be the same as stepping on the break when driving. if you notice while driving your car you dont think about stepping on the break you just do it. self defence is the same you react automatically. so i would suggest you go back to your teacher and discuss your problem. if he can't help you, find a teacher who will. karate is a defensive art and is ment to help you defend yourself on the street. there is a moral contract between you and your teacher. your contrack states that you promise to pay a fee and for that fee your teacher will teach you how to protect your life if necessary. so unless your life has no value don't practice kata , don't train seriously both in the dojo & at home save your money & time. i'm sorry to be harsh , but thats the reality of the martial arts.

dear sir , contact shihan chester holubecki 9th. dan isshin ryu karate. his e-mail address is c.holubecki@verizon.net. sensei is a traditional isshinryu karate instructor with certification from grand master don nagle & okinawa .who resides in conn. and has contacts all along the eastern seaboard including S C. i'm sure he will be more than happy to assist you in your quest. thank you , shihan tom defelice , karate no hanshi , goshin do karate do.