CredoTe

IMHO, I'm not sure if any of the traditional kobudo weapons are practical for modern day carry. Maybe the tonfa (side-handled police night sticks; LEOs, do they still issue these, or has the tactical baton completely replaced them? ) We train in traditional kobudo weapons because they conceptually add to our karate, and because they're fun/cool, but I can't imagine myself actually carrying around a bo, sai, nunchaku, etc for personal protection. In that case, I prefer the art of gunfu (or gundo...)

Hmmm... Great question... IMHO, ensuring one's MA tree bears fruit is accomplished by understanding the concepts and applications transmitted by one's chosen MA, and being able to perform them under pressure. Essentially, a question a student can ask his/herself is, "does this make sense to me, or am I doing it simply because Sensei told me to?" Basically, do the techniques make fighting sense to you? If not, is your instructor able to explain and demonstrate the techniques so that they eventually do make sense? If not, do the techniques even make fighting sense to your instructor? If not, then you're doing them simply because your instructor told you to (whether you know it or not); because "that's how your instructor does it", and/or "that's how your instructor's instructor did it". If the MA training doesn't make fighting sense conceptually or applicatively, then it won't bear fruit. IMHO.

Great share, bushidoman... Great article, great video.

Exactly. That's why we don't issue "pushup punishment" or similar for someone having difficulty with a technique. We just work the technique over and over...

My initial "defensive stance", "block", and "counter" would all be as one. The "defensive stance" would be done in response to my assailant's initial attack, and would involve Tenshin (body positioning/movement/footwork) and Shime (to close, includes covering with arms/hands) with harai/barai to control assailant's attacks. The "defensive stance" would be an evasion, an arresting of the assailant's attacks (by deflecting with Shime with harai), and body movement to counterattack, all in one. The "block" would be a strike to the assailant's face or throat (depending on situation against me). The assailant's attacks are arrested/deflected and controlled during the "defensive stance" part, thus any "blocks" are strikes. The "counter" would be a reverse punch or hammer fist or the like to solar plexus, ribs, or groin. Again, all three would be done as one. After that, I would follow up with Irikumi (in-fighting) techniques like elbows, knees, Tuite, etc to ensure the situation is ended. Obviously, if the initial "defensive stance", "block", and "counter" stops the assailant and ends the situation, Irikumi is not needed (we train to always be ready to move into it, though).

This is a great approach. Leaving push-ups out and focusing on what the problem at hand is, is better reinforcement by a long shot. Push-ups are great, but they have their place, too. Agreed. I love pushups, but issuing them for every little infraction is counterproductive, IMHO. Precisely as you said, we would rather focus on the problem technique; work that particular technique over and over, rather than substituting it with pushups. If all we did was pushups for infractions, the students would probably get pretty good at pushups, but not so good at the techniques...lol "Look at our students! They can do 100 pushups! (But cannot hold a basic horse stance long enough to punch 10 times)." We mainly reserve "pushup punishments" for serious disrespect issues or similar infractions.

Indeed...

We're lucky indeed... And, yes, the "white belt" feeling is great. We just had a "white belt" class this past weekend (everyone wore their white belts, including instructors) to remind everyone what it's like to be a beginner and to always have a beginner's mind...

Ours being Okinawan in nature, we are much less militarized in our dojo training/etiquette/environment than one probably would expect in a Japanese MA style or Korean MA style. We do have certain etiquette, decorum, etc that we adhere to, but rigidity of Japanese militarized atmosphere is not what we do. The discipline, respect, etc are exemplified in our training; techniques, kata, kihon, etc are worked again and again until students understand that they must be self-disciplined enough to keep at it, to not give in, in order to improve their skills. For instance, instead of making students do pushups or the like for not being in a stance properly, we start the exercise over, beginning with Tachi kata to find their proper stance, then working the stance over and over several times, and finally performing the exercise involving that stance again. If they continually cheat their stance (or whatever technique), we explain that they're only cheating themselves. Once they begin to improve/develop their skills, and in turn better understand the concepts and movements, that in turn breeds mutual respect between students and instructors.

Welcome to KF! Thank you for making us part of your journey...

Solid post!! Absolutely!

Stole that from Bruce Lee's "Lost Interview". Ah.... I see Is it OK if I still continue to disagree with it? Lol...

First, I commend you for the courage it takes to create a video of yourself in efforts to open yourself to critique from others. There's two main things that I see that would improve your technique. One, work on getting your stances more solid. You want your stances so you have total, complete control of your center of gravity. Solid stances are the foundation of good MA, whether you're empty handed or swinging a weapon. Also, solid stances/control of your center are key for the next thing I see... Two, work on being able to move the bo/bong with the core of your body, not your arms. The core of your body (where your center is) moves the weapon and gives you power; your arms simply hold on and guide it to the target. Learn to turn your hips to move the bo/bong; your hip turns will engage your whole body, which will move the bo/bong around your center with your arms guiding it. Again, solid stances are key; they enable control of your center, which is crucial for whole-body movement/power generation.

We allow our shodans to be on the judging panel for tests, but only because my CI and I are on the panel, too. Indeed, if we weren't there, our shodans wouldn't be able to run the panel on their own. Our nidans could run kyu tests on their own, it's just that a situation hasn't come up yet where either myself or my CI aren't present. Additionally, for a kyu student testing for shodan, current shodans are allowed to take notes to add their observations, but do not factor in to the results/grade. For the same shodan test, current nidans are allowed to be on the judging panel and provide grades/results, but only because we're on the panel (similar to above for shodans grading kyu tests).

Both the MMA and TMA have their bad apples and unsung heroes. I can't stand it when an "MMA meathead", with his cliche' shaved head and trimmed goatee, visits my dojo and every other word out of his mouth is "TAP OUT!". Guys like these are bad apples and not representative of the MMA community as a whole. I equally can't stand TMA "Masters" that claim they and their style can beat anyone at anytime; that their method is guaranteed to work in any self-defense situation, yet their "sparring" (if they practice kumite at all) is a form of playing tag that even tournament arts would shame. This is another bad apple that does not represent the true nature of traditional martial arts. MMA vs TMA and issues of inferiority are not the fault of MMA. Rather, the issue is the result of serious practitioners getting fed up with watered down, useless "tradition martial arts" being taught by the plethora McDojos/Belt Factories. The resulting rise in MMA is partly due to this. When people figure out that they're being sold a bill of goods, they're naturally going to look elsewhere for what they want. Don't get me wrong; I'm a traditional martial artist. The MMA method is simply not what I'm looking for in my MA journey. However, the issues within the TMA are internal. Those of us within the TMA have the power and control to fix/improve things within our own community. We cannot control what happens in MMA, so we need to focus on ourselves and that which we can control. IMHO, don't let the bad apple "MMA meatheads" bother you so much. When they come into my dojo (which is not very often), I respectfully and politely engage them with a smile, say to them, "Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. You're welcome to try it out anytime." They've never come back, so why do I need to let myself be bothered? If one day one of them ever did come back, then great, I get an opportunity to plant a seed and instruct them in a great martial art.

Wow... Thanks for the lesson!

Precisely... We have a policy in place in which students are only to wear their gis at the dojo during normal class times. Exceptions to this policy are seminars and tournaments. As for wearing gis outdoors, we only allow that if we have class outside, or if we're attending an outdoor seminar. The reasoning is that, IME with students that do this, wearing a gi to train at any time other than class or the exceptions above borders on disrespect because it introduces an element of ego, especially if they do it alone outside. It's the, "Hey! Look at me! Look at what I'm doing!" complex. The fact that it invites the wrong elements from passersby is only a natural reaction; humans tend to naturally reject unnecessary, unwarranted displays of ego. Most people just ignore these displays and keep walking; but, some people (with ego complexes themselves), feel they need to go over and meddle with the person on display. In my case, where I live (rural community), rather than gangs or thugs, we have rednecks, but the reaction is similar. While I don't think the rednecks would kill or maim a person practicing in public, they would certainly make that person's life a living you-know-what for a short time...

Yep

Kihon Ido (fundamental techniques in motion) allow for turns and so do partner exercises. Especially, because the turns in Taikyuko are wrong from the Goju Ryu perspective, as I explained before. Punching over long distance is not included in any of the other Katas (that contain the core concepts of Goju Ryu). Neither is Oi Zuki. I just did all Katas and checked. Really. There are only 5 Oi Zukis, one in Sanchin and two in each of the Geckisai forms, which are fairly new themselves. Oi Zuki in Zenkutsu Dachi is a Shotokan concept (appears for example in the Heian Katas, and sporadically in advanced Katas like Jion, Gankaku etc..). But not nearly as often as time is spent on practicing it in Kihon. Based on this my question is: Why should Goju Ryu Karate-ka spend much time on a concept that wasn't important enough for the founder(s) of our art to be included in our core Katas? (I play the devils advocate here; for my Nidan in Shotokan I have done a lot of Zukis in Zenkutsu Dachi) Like Zaine, I am not a Goju Ryu practitioner, but I think the path to the answer lies in your question: concepts. What is the Goju Ryu concept behind Oi Tsuki? In Matsubayashi-Ryu (Shorin-Ryu), we do not prescribe to the notion of a "long distance" punch, either; we are not "long fist", if you will. However, we do have Oi Tsuki; our concept is that it is to be used in conjunction with Tenshin (body positioning/movement/footwork) as a counter from a distance of arm's length or slightly more in order to engage in Iri kumi (in-fighting). It is not a reaching punch; the Tenshin is absolutely necessary or it will fail. We practice Oi Tsuki in both Shiko dachi and Zenkutsu dachi...

I rarely train outside by myself where people can see me. The only time I do train outside at all is during the warmer months when we train outside as a class. There's an open field beyond our parking lot that faces the road, and we'll go out there and train together as a class from time to time. Other than that, I definitely don't go around trumpeting my MA. In fact, the only time complete strangers have a chance to see me do anything is if they're walking by the dojo during class time. As for my job, my employer knows what I do more for scheduling purposes than anything else. Also, he happens to be a TKD guy. We engage in friendly banter occasionally, but I have no need to prove myself to him. Actually, he's the one that does all the puff talking and gesticulating in effort to "prove" how good he his or how high he can kick...and I just smile and nod...(while thinking to myself, 'geez, he's leaving himself open enough for me to drive a Mac truck through...')

Great videos! Thanks for sharing! I know the videos are somewhat old, but I would like to clarify on a point that one of the guys (Lawrence Tan I think?) was making about Kung Fu/Tai Chi vs. Karate. He was talking about how his art (Chinese kung fu) strikes like an iron ball on the end of a chain and karate strikes like an iron bar. In Matsubayashi-Ryu/Shorin-Ryu/Ti (Okinawan karate), gamaku (power generation) is indeed developed with the idea of striking like an iron ball on a chain, not an iron rod or bar. In my experience, all Okinawan karate styles develop power with this idea in mind.

Congrats! Journey on!

I am certainly no doctor, so I cannot advise you on medical conditions. But, what I can tell you, is that I, too, have arthritis in my "spine". Mine is located in my lower neck vertebrae and in my right shoulder blade. The way I deal with it is I gently stretch my neck as much as possible using various stretching exercises (these were approved by my doctor). I do this before going to the dojo so I have no interruptions. I also stretch my shoulder very well as I would any other part of my body during warm-ups. If my arthritis flares up during or after class, then I medicate with OTC naproxen. If the flare up is severe (rarely), then I medicate with prescription naproxen. This was all approved by my doctor. Again, I cannot say what your doctor will advise, recommend, prescribe, etc. But, the good thing is, it doesn't necessarily mean an end to your training. You just have to learn to live with it, most likely.

Very cool. Welcome to the MA journey; I hope you stay on it! Also, welcome to KF!!!

Congrats!