Trevelyan

Hello all. I have changed over to this forum, as my last forum has grown undesirable. I have studied Shudokan Karate and Krav Maga for ten years now. I am a Sho Dan in Shudokan, and have no rank in Krav Maga as it was taught as a self defense component of my Karate over those years at my Dojo. My martial art philosophy is mostly derived from the Hagakure and Bushido in general, although I am trying to become better acquainted with the Zen No-Mind principle. I take interest in all martial arts and martial art philosophies. I look forward to interacting with this community and hope to cultivate mutually beneficial discussions.

I was 61 kilos when I was 18 and a black belt. I find that the opponents size is not really a determinant of their skill. What I did find as a determinant was their speed. I recommend training for fast twitch muscles. Power comes from form, I would recommend perfecting the timing, balance, weight shift, foot work ect. for the jab and cross from your sparing stance. Confidence in your techniques will give you a mental boost. While getting beaten can be frustrating, I welcome sparing superior fighters as you learn the quickest against them. Coal becomes diamond only under extreme heat and pressure.

For conditioning my shins and forearms, I lightly tap them with a glass jar over the surface. This works well for bony areas only covered by skin. I never thought to condition my elbows. I agree with the others that a heavy bag is good conditioning. I don't know if your style contains a reverse punch, but if it does you can train your chambering as well if you stand with your back the bag and strike it with the retraction of your punches. I've done this just to work on retraction and chambering.

Kanken Toyama developed seven Kyoku katas for his style called Shudokan. This series progresses from very basic to very complex. The first few kata are taught only when a karateka has reached the brown belt level, the remainder are taught as the karateka advances through the dan ranks. These kata show Toyama's amalgamation of the Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese styles he had learned in his time. The first two videos seem passable, however as they progress I am seeing movements being abridged, substituted, or omitted. These forms contain the fighting techniques of Toyama's style which include stances and strikes not in other styles of Karate. One would not be able to learn these katas properly without an instructor in the style.