SamsIAmz

I think you need enough flexibility for the stance you are taking. If you are not flexible enough, you will not be comfortable in a deep stance and you won't be very mobile either. For most people this means a deep stance is not practical, but can be improved upon.

I absolutely believe Capoeira can be effective. Perhaps a better way of explaining my concerns about it's immediate practicality would be to say Capoeira has a larger learning curve. In the long run capoeira is probably comparable to any other martial art. However if you were to teach say jujutsu or some other stereotypical self-defense art to somebody for half a year, and teach capoeira to somebody for half a year, I would be willing to bet the individual with the self defense art could defend themself better. I love capoeira, and I would not want to be kicked with a full on meia lua de compasso, but I do not feel confident I could use it (yet) in a self defense situation. I find distance is a large constraint, at least for unskilled capoeiristas. Alot of the kicks take a lot of space (to the sides), and I couldn't see myself using a large number of them in confined spaces. Again, perhaps this is something that improves with time. I have found the dodges to be one of the more effective techniques I have learned, and most translatable to my karate practice. Alot of the dodges have the arms high in a fashion somewhat similar to elbow blocks you would see in MMA. I also find the take downs very effective in capoeira. From the little judo I have done, I have found that doing a vingativa is very easy to do as a counter to someone (somewhat unskilled) trying to throw you.

Somebody came up with the bunkai for the kata. Even if its "lost", you can find it again. Perhaps it won't be exactly the same, but it will work for you.

Could you elaborate on this as I'm unsure what you mean? Do you mean the student collecting more kata that their instructor? Or just delving into the kata more than their instructor? IMO, skipping Kata is like taking a university class and not buying the textbook. When taking a university class, the professor takes from the text book the things that he finds the most useful based on his most current personal experience. He explains it to you, assigns homework and provides examinations on what he lectures on - but just the things he finds to be the most useful, and skips the rest which is roughly 1/2 of the textbook. But if a student wants to have a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter, he needs to spend the time and dig into the textbook, look at opinions of people other than the teaching professor. Great thanks for explaining I like the analogy. But continuing the analogy, the professor may disregard parts of the textbook because he knows it to be an outdated idea or that there are better ways (other textbooks, practicals, his own material etc.) to teach it. The textbook is supplementary but it isn't the core of what he's teaching. Also, would this analogy be relying on the fact that those learning the kata would be exploring bunkai? If so not all forms of Karate look at bunkai in the same way. For example Kyokushin don't really look at bunkai as much as other forms of training (someone correct me if I'm wrong). In your opinion would those that don't do the practise be practising soulless Karate? I also think the analogy that BrickShooter used is quite apt. I personally feel that the kata are lifeless if you do not have intention. Kata are not a simply a dance where you learn the movements and thats it. You must at least have some concept of bunkai if you want to have the emotions and feelings that go into kata. If a person practices kata, and doesn't practice at least some bunkai, or have their own ideas on bunkai, then their kata is lifeless or "soulless".

You are absolutely right. Capoeira does seem a bit under-represented on this forum. I'm relatively new at Capoeira. I started at my school (Rutgers University, located in New Brunswick NJ) and this is my third semester doing capoeira. I train under Professor Maranhao, and the grupo is called Capoeira Maranhao. I really enjoy it. Perhaps its not the most immediately practical art, but its definitely one of the most fun and its a great workout. It has helped my karate improve as well, as I've gotten more comfortable with a variety of kicks, and also with dodging attacks.

I definitely see your point, but I have to argue that there is value to students teaching themselves. However, I believe this works best when there is trust in the effectiveness of kata, even if one doesn't know the applications. Trust in the effectiveness will keep the student searching, as I continue to do myself. In the school where I learned karate, my teachers were strong proponents of self discovery, and kata was a means for this. I was never told any of the complex bunkai for kata. This was up to me to discover through repetition and taking a critical look at the kata, and the movements/mindset within. The only way a student can effectively teach his or herself is if they have faith in the underlying principles. I didn't (and still don't) really know 100% what the movements of the kata are, but because these were the kata which have been passed down for generation I had faith in them. I feel that kata require trust, and this trust is gained by knowing they were created by great masters and teacher of karate. The really neat thing is that the forms will adapt to the practitioner. You will over time come to adapt the form and the application to what is best for you, and not a different practitioner. Of course its a much slower learning process though.... I personally have spent many days with other students just brainstorming ideas for movements. Only in the past year or two have I started taking such a critical view of kata, but I absolutely love it and its incredibly fascinating!

Many martial arts have "kata" but not the typical karate view of kata. In judo and jujutsu, there are kata but rather than being a sequence of predetermined moves, it is a sort of list of techniques. One could make the argument that karate without the formal patterns, still has kata if series of techniques and partner exercises are taught. Under this definition of kata though, most martial arts would be classified as having kata.

I personally love kata. However, karate means empty hand, and signifies the void of the martial arts. That all martial arts are really one, all come from the same void and emptiness. Additionally, in older times karate was essentially whatever worked. They found use for kata as a means of transmission of what works. But if nowadays someone finds a way that works that differs from kata, then who is to say it's not karate? I personally wouldn't want to train without kata. I find it one of the most useful tools, but everyone has their own goals and feelings regarding martial arts practice.

I have used both, and will typically practice both. If I'm doing a kata such as heian shodan, then I will typically do "hips on". But in other situations where I am not rotating my whole body I tend to use the "hips off". I find hips off to be a quicker movement and I don't need to push the attack as far. The movement of "hips off" for me turns my body in a way so that I am almost dodging the attack as well. I had to do a few down blocks in a few different situations to figure out which one I do more often I definitely prefer "hips off". It's a bit different but I like the counterbalance it has or the yin and yang of the motion. I find it to be a very balance movement. However "hips on" has an interesting aspect that it definitely lends itself to simultaneous defense and attack with the other hand. Additionally the defending hand can also move in a circular motion back to the hip which re-instates the yin-yang of the movement.

I originally practiced horiztonal for several years. Then more recently I have started doing 45 degrees. I find it a more natural feel, but you won't have the snap of a horizontal punch unless you have practiced horizontal for a substantial amount of time. I still go back and practice horiztonal sometimes.

You started to touch upon something I think is intriguing: It is very rare you will find a karateka with the motivation to compete in MMA type matches. Traditional karate, in my opinion, is a largely spiritual practice. Many of the founding fathers/masters of the art extol the spiritual benefits. Even the name (being "empty hand") signifies the spirit component--that being the emptiness, or the letting go. Compared to other martial arts which arguably have less of a spiritual component such as BJJ or muay thai, you aren't as likely to get as much individuals starting karate with the goals of competing. An exception might be kyokushin, however even then there is little motivation to participate in MMA. Afterall Kyokushin is already a respectable competitive sport. If a person wants to excel in kyokushin, they will likely train for kyokushin and not focus as much on the techniques neccesary to excel in MMA. While there is some cross over between the two sports, they do have some differences and if you want to excel on a highly competitive level, you have to train specifically for that sport.

That is interesting to see such a distinct transition. There are many different views on the development of martial arts throughout a lifetime, but I feel that generally you either start circular and progress to linear, or you start linear and progress to more circular so I definitely see what you mean by it being a natural progression. Perhaps one of the coolest experiences I've had as a martial artist: One time I met this exchange student at college from China. He had grown up doing tai-chi and was at the point that it was being performed faster and more linear. I grew up doing karate and my karate has always naturally been more fluid/circular. So we got to talking and comparing a large number of techniques. Turns out, we started on opposite ends of the spectrum but we were meeting somewhere in the middle between the stereotypical definition of Chinese martial arts and japanese martial arts. It really is fascinating the fine balance between hard and soft, circular and linear, expanding and contracting. Thanks for the post, its really cool to hear about!

It might be a similar situation to Shureido. You can't really get to their website, but you can get to the official website of the retailer for Shureido in the U.S., that being Ryu Kyu Enterprises, Inc. I'm not sure on the actual logistical details of what that is, but something to do with these companies being the sole authorized importers for companies based elsewhere.

Just to emphasize the point, dynamic tension absolutely required breathing. Fortunately you are only doing one motion with dynamic tension, but those who do katas with dynamic tension and don't breath deeply can end up hurting themselves. I've heard many a story about individuals passing out by doing dynamic tension katas (such as Sanchin) without breathing deeply and ending up passing out. Tension like that can raise blood pressure in a mechanism similar to the valsalva maneuver. The simplest (and perhaps grossest) example of the valsalva maneuver is while defecating. Its easy to feel like you get more force if you stop breathing, however this raises blood pressure greatly. That's why a number of people have died from heart attacks while on the toilet. It's the internal energy (chi/ki/qi) that creates the movement. The movement can only be initiated by the breath since the breath moves the chi. The tension in the muscles is an outward representation of inner energy. An imagery I find useful, and at the least intriguing is that rather than trying to tense your muscles, try to tense your bones. Of course you can't do this, but it's all about what the imagery does to your body and energy.

It looks a lot like an armada from capoeira. The biggest difference is he is jumping. The momentum comes from the step and the body twist. The leg just kinda follows along. An armada: I've never seen that kick in karate before though.