CredoTe

That's a lot of things going on... "Life happens", as they say... All you can do is make time where you can to train.

Welcome to KF! Glad that you're making us a part of your MA journey!

Absolutely... That's a great idea; I may have to borrow it...

In short, nothing directly. There will always be those who abuse their positions of authority, and cut corners for the sake of their egos (to obtain more authority). As for the governing body caring two bits, probably not because the Sandan is someone else to help spread the administration/overhead work around to. The only case I see the governing body caring is whether their reputation will be damaged by having said Sandan or Godan do what they're doing, and only if irrefutable proof can be shown. How much sacrifice are you willing to go through to obtain said proof? And, in the end, is it worth it? The way we handle these situations is to ignore those folks, and let the art prove itself. No arguing with them, no reasoning with them, just letting the art prove itself through the training/teaching. Those students that are more interested in trophies, belts, and egos will tend to go the way of the folks you mentioned above. However, those students that are in it for the training, learning, and the art, will eventually see through those guys and seek better training/learning.

Are you sure you don't need a few more "teacher's teacher's" in there? Thank you Choki Motobu...

Even if you are able to train your roundhouse enough to kick with the ball of your foot, instep is still the recommended method for competition/tournaments. Not for toe reasons, but for the safety of your partner, and not just because the bottoms of your feet are un-padded in tournaments. This is one of the reasons the instep kick was developed, IMHO. If done with equal power, I guarantee you that a roundhouse with ball of foot will cause much more damage to your partner than an instep roundhouse (and would possibly disqualify you from the match, depending on the tournament rules). As for what I said about the bones in your instep, in most tournaments, competitors must wear pads on their feet, which covers the instep and sides (most pads, anyways). This padding does alleviate some of the impact to your own instep, as it was designed to, as well as being part of your partner's protection.

In Matsubayashi-Ryu, we train primarily with the ball of the foot as the striking area in a roundhouse kick. It is a much stronger striking surface than the instep, and if trained correctly, isn't really a danger to your toes or ankle. It can be used against hard or soft targets, alike, and can be done with shoes on. IME, striking with the instep is more of a danger to the toes and ankle at the same time, even with shoes on; the instep is made up of tiny bones and not much else, and too much impact (which is not much) can damage them and the toes and the ankle, all in one. We also train with the shin as a striking area for fighting at closer range, or done as a transition move to enter Irikumi (in-fighting). In this case, the toes/foot are pointed similar to an instep kick, but again in this case, the striking surface is the shin, not the instep. So, when casual observers see us performing "instep roundhouse kicks", we're actually performing them with the shin as the weapon.

I don't know, Bob. I'll take 11-5 next year, for sure. There are some tough games in there, especially with playing Denver twice (Super Bowl team), Seatle (Super Bowl champ), San Franscisco (NFC Champ appearance), and New England (AFC Champ appearance). Then there is San Diego twice, who was much improved and made the playoffs, as well. I'm ready for a challenging season. I did say "hands free", didn't I? Man I'm a dope!! I meant to say hands FULL!! Your Chiefs WILL have their hands full all year; not a schedule I'd want for the Cowboys. My 'Boys will choke in the end, as usual, history speaks that. GO COWBOYS!! Psshhh.... I'm still waiting for my Brownies to actually wake up, get outa bed, and put a uniform on...

Absolutely

Don't worry about it. Differences of opinion are ok. In case you haven't figured out who I am yet I've told you in the past, keep doing what you're doing. You're head above shoulders then what most people are doing in karate. Just don't discount the pinan kata. Sorry for the thread drift everyone. Never The Pinan kata hold great instructional / training value. While I'm not as "inflammatory" as Wastelander regarding practicing other kata instead of the Pinan (all kata in one's curriculum should be practiced regularly, IMHO), they should be trained with proper purpose and context in mind (as with any kata). Part of the original purpose was to train mass numbers of beginners basic / foundational movements in a context that "sort of" simulated fight sequences. I say "sort of" because each Pinan kata is like several sequences of kihon movements strung together in different ways that "sort of" mimics how a fight against one or multiple opponents may occur. I know this may sound like I just described all kata, but the Pinan are a special case because the movements are much more basic than the other Shorin-Ryu/Shuri-te kata, and there are no implied techniques (at least in Matsubayashi-Ryu); "implied techniques" meaning, techniques / movements not actually physically performed in the kata, but implied through bunkai/oyo (Naihanchi and more advanced kata are full of them).

I'm not sure at the moment... Those ranks are so far in the future for me, I haven't really thought about it...

I think that said white belt is here to learn, so I'll do my best to help said student to make that "first" step, and we'll make each and every "first" step together. I'm no better than that while belt!! I think that said while belt is a beginner. Nothing more, nothing less! Again, I'm no better than that white belt!! Gi's have drawstrings or elastic waistbands, now a days. I've never thought that the belt was a way of holding up ones pants, never. A quick look at any belt tells me what level of experience said student is. Now, I can proceed forward in teaching said student what's appropriate for that rank. While a white belt and I aren't the same rank, we're the same; martial artists, and I'm excited that we're able to share the floor together!! Likewise! ...

I think this answers the heart of the question at hand. Waza might only be performed by one side of the body in certain kata, but the bunkai/oyo are to be practiced with a partner using both sides. As a fellow Matsubayashi-Ryu practitioner, the waza for the nukite (spear hand) in Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) varies from what is shown in the video. For instance, we perform it in Shizentai dachi (natural walking stance), not zenkutsu dachi, and the opposite hand draws hikite (as opposed to across the chest for the nukite to rest on). Also, the nukite in Pinan Shodan in Matsubayashi-Ryu never extends all the way like shown in that video; the elbow stays bent and near the ribs. There are several conceptual and bunkai/oyo reasons for the way we do it in Matsubayashi-Ryu. Conceptually, the primary reason for nukite performed like we do in Pinan Shodan (elbow bent, near bottom ribs) is to show proper, natural hand positioning and distancing during the transition of a tsuki (punch). This is to help beginner students (remember, the Pinan kata were originally targeted at school children) understand and experience the reasons why our hands turn over (twist) in a punch. Our hands naturally turn over from palms up in chamber to palms down when fully extended; that's how the body naturally works. This is also why all full extension hand waza in Matsubayashi-Ryu are performed palms down, and why many partial extension waza are performed vertically with palms facing inwards (like nukite in Pinan Shodan (Heian Nidan) or the kentsui uchi (hammer fists) in Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan)). In Matsubayashi-Ryu, because the waza in Pinan Shodan is performed slightly different, bunkai/oyo is different. The basic bunkai for beginners follows the main conceptual explanation; that it is actually a punch. Once they understand the concepts more, bunkai/oyo for the nukite is, that after parrying and counter striking with the shuto uke's that immediately precede it (to one or multiple opponents), that 1) it's an open hand strike to the eyes, throat, or groin while elbow striking another opponent behind you (hikite) , or 2) it's a lead-in to a takedown similar to a judo one arm shoulder throw (ippon seoinage I think it's called in judo). Bunkai/oyo are almost limitless, but those are the 2 best that I've learned. In the case of the takedown, the nukite represents the movement of your hand going under your opponent's arm/shoulder (another reason why we don't extend fully for that particular nukite waza).

And from: Absolutely! Great posts And finally: To really foul up...requires a computer!

Precisely. That's why the emphasis is on "complimentary", not whether an MA is "radically different" or highly similar. IMHO, a great example of this would be Okinawan karate vs. Japanese/Korean karate/TKD. If someone were considering cross training in one MA from Okinawan karate and one MA from TKD (or Japanese karate), I would say those MAs would clash. As similar as MAs under those two groups are, the concepts of body mechanics/dynamics, how and why techniques are performed, etc are so distinct that they would most likely confuse and hinder a beginner student attempting to cross train in these MAs. I could say the same thing about karate (any) and Western boxing, except that these two MA groups are very different. As such, cross training in MAs that are complimentary of each other, like JJ and karate, would be okay for most beginner students (assuming they have the training time to put into both). The concepts of body mechanics/dynamics and use/performance of techniques do not clash when MAs of these groups are joined. Indeed, many of the great karate masters of old were also expert JJ/Judo practitioners, as well.

Absolutely... Great advice... Also, it's great that you point out finding an art that is complimentary to whatever one's first/base art is. That is critically important. If one would choose two arts that clash with each other, then disaster awaits...

Solid post!! Agreed!

Happy Birthday!

Mine would be one that empties his/her cup at the door every time s/he comes to class, and then proceeds to give everything s/he has every class. That's about it for me...

And you, as well...

Congrats!

Welcome to KF! Thanks for making us a part of your journey!

Absolutely great post...

Yeah, Chuck Norris has been one of my favs, too... The more you share his stuff, the more I will watch...

Welcome to KF!