Harkon72

I like that signature too, fear is the road to the Dark Side... Children are our Future, maybe with Martial Arts practice they may have one.

Yes, I agree, maybe this view is idealistic. My father for example was a training officer with the Malayan Scouts, he taught his recruits to kill with no mercy. I have been fortunate to have the place of peace in my life so that violence is hardly an option outside the Dojo. My spiritual belief in harmony and honor is a life path that has come naturally in a freedom that was bought by the lives of those warriors that went before. I have seen conflict, I have fought where my life was at risk, but I accept that my karma will provide me a way to obtain peace for my soul. I always look to the far mountain in this plain of energy that we call reality. We have a simple choice; fear or love. The fearful put stronger locks on their doors and buy guns to defend themselves from their own demons. The way of love and peace is to search within and without for the sake of one humanity. The Bunkai of my Karate holds Termination techniques at every turn, but I hold out my hand first in friendship even to those who oppose me. Any man can think me a fool and a coward until they try and prove it. Blessed Be.

My forward rolls tend to follow the pattern of putting my tricep to the floor with my head tucked in then having a contact between my lead shoulder and a line from there to the opposite hip. In my brief Ju Jitsu spell I was taught to raise up and face the way I had come, as if to be ready to counter an attack from the direction from which the roll was executed. I believe they do the opposite in Judo, they carry on in the same direction and do not turn and face. I suppose this is because the roll in Ju Jitsu has a direct self defense application.

This article is very relevant to me now, I was 41 on Saturday. What really challenges me in my martial arts is flexibility, I'm no Bill Wallace! I started to practice Yoga a few months ago, I find it helps. Thank you for submitting this information, I feel much better now.

Sparring with no contact can be difficult as the control needed to execute full technique to stop them short is considerable. The value of such sparring is an issue that the jury has not returned upon; some consider it to be the ultimate test of skill, other see it as an utter waste of time. I'm in the second camp myself; you must make contact with your partner to experience the effect of your technique; of course you don't bash their brains out, you must test your skill against a non compliant, moving target. This is only my opinion, I see the dedication needed to achieve the poise of non contact karate for example, but for me the way is to pad up and get stuck in. They say all kung fu is contact, even tai chi exponents thrive on feeling the energy of their partner; as the master said; "Don't think, Feel..."

Danielle, you can be proud of being one of the pillars that hold up this forum. I have learnt a great deal from you already, I look forward to learning more about TKD, as sadly it is quite rare here in North Wales. If you ever find your way past our road signs, you are always welcome here in our little valley.

MasterPain, you have been one of my favorite members, you have a sense of humor and a great no nonsense outlook on your martial arts. Thank you for your contribution!

Paradoxically, Martial Arts is the Way of Peace. You grow a reverence for all Life, Honor is what it's all about not Lethality. If you had understanding of any Martial Art; you would find no logic to this question.

Hi, it's great to have a fellow UK Karateka with us, keep up the good work here and in the Dojo! Osu!

It can be a lottery to which style you can practice, especially here in the UK. In Wales, Shotokan is popular, with some Wado Ryu too. There are two styles of Shukokai; Kimura Shukokai and Shito Ryu based Shukokai. To practice Kyokoshin or Goju Ryu you have to travel away to England or South Wales. It depends most on the Sensei, but all Karate has something to offer.

Congratulations! Well Deserved.

Shito Ryu, it has strong elements of Nahate and Shurite and has moved with the times.

I felt that the alignment of the stances were poor, there was no focus or poise in the stance. The best way I can describe a good stance is that there is a good ground to foot to leg to hip to spine to head energy transfer. Only then can there be an efficient transfer of force. At the point of impact, in my view, a ground to impact point transition of energy has to exist, even in jumping kicks, the torque of the spine and hips must have their root in strong posture. When I see "bouncing" stances and breath control that is timed into the kata and has no reflection on the true effort made in the technique, then alarm bells start to ring I'm afraid. Karate is all about energy transfer, we move it from the ground by good focus of breath and synchronized dynamics of our body. Okinawan Karate has few head height kicks, we believe the higher you kick, the more energy you waste. I would rather drop my opponent with a thigh kick than attempt to take off his head with my groin in the air. There is a clash of styles here, even a difference in culture; but as I always say - I Live and Learn.

Peace and Blessings to you, we call this sacred night Samhain or Calan Geaf in Welsh. We had our Mourning Tea and now it's time to honor the Dead.

Thank you for the kind words, I feel that being a member of this forum has been educational, inspiring and given me a focus for my martial arts career. If I can give advise, I will, maybe I need to listen more to various views in a more productive way but I learn more from this community every day. I hope to carry on and grow as a member for my development and the future of Karate Forums.

Yes, that Kata looks much stronger, I like the height of the kicks too. Here's a video of a Shukokai Kata. It's Ananku, a 2nd Kyu Brown Belt Kata. As you can see, the style is a world apart. [/url]

I know it's a different style to my own, and that I have almost no experience of Korean Karate; but they were the strangest Kata I have ever seen. Is this typical? Is it a good example of TKD forms? It's a strange exercise to me, a different focus altogether, but I am ignorant when it comes to this style. The stances for example would not pass an intermediate grading in our Shukokai.

We have no title but Sensei in our Dojos, from 1st Kyu to 7th Dan, they are all refered to as Sensei.

I wonder how Samurai reacted to Mongol chain-mail.

I did a similar transition from martial arts enthusiast to martial artist two years ago after a 6 year break. It's tough, but with the right Sensei, it's worth it. Good Luck!

Welsh to English is a challenge, Japanese to Welsh is quite Entertaining!

Congratulations and well done. Another step in your Journey.

I think they did, and still it was the better performance on the day.

"Ryu" is also the Japanese word for "Dragon". We are Dragon Martial Arts, in Japanese; Budo Ryu Kai. There is a shotokan club just down the Road from us, they are called the Seki Ryu Zan or Mountain of the Red Dragon. Language is a fascinating subject, at best lost in translation.

There's a famous (in my opinion bogus) Master in North Wales who was well known for grading a hundred students together at one time. Charging £30 each and not being able to make a fair assessment of any of them. But, if you payed; you passed - fries and chicken nuggets were optional. Please make real gradings guys; your students deserve it.