Wado Heretic

https://www.ikigaiway.com/making-sense-of-passai-an-exploration-of-origin-and-style/ This is the best article I have seen about the historicity and variations of Passai that is available on the web. Koryu Passai is usually a matter of lineage. In Kobayashi-Ryu, Itosu-no-Passai Dai has been displaced by Tawada ha Matsumura no Passai as the Passai Dai of said systems. In said systems, Tawada Passai is Passai Dai, and Itosu-no-Passai Dai is identified as Passai Sho. Some Kobayashi-Ryu schools have retained the original Itosu-no-Passai Sho as Koryu Passai or Passai Gwa. In Shi'to-Ryu, it is not unusual to hear Tomari Bassai (derived from Nagemine's version of Passai Dai) called Koryu Passai to distinguish it from the Bassai Dai and Sho of Itosu as practised in Shi'to-Ryu. It is undeniably older in origin than the Itosu-no-Passai but whether it deserves such a designation is debatable. Lastly, in the west I have heard people call the oldest known versions of Passai, Matsumura no Passai and Oyadomari no Passai, Koshiki or Koryu Passai. How accurate such a practice is to reality is debatable. There is no version older than the Matsumura or Oyadomari version. Any claim to the otherwise should be treated with profound scepticism without compelling evidence presented. My personal working hypothesis, for many of the older kata, is that they are abridgements of older Chinese Forms, or are collections of disparate techniques organised into a form on Okinawa by Okinawans even if the techniques may be of foreign origin. I believe that Passai has a significant Chinese influence, but the reason we cannot find a form alike to Passai in Chinese martial arts is that: 1. Its Chinese analogue went extinct. 2. It never existed in Chinese Martial Arts in the First Place. With Passai, I am inclined to believe the second is likely true, just because we cannot confirm a Chinese origin (In comparison to another old kata such as Seisan), the name has no clear meaning, and although it bears resemblance to Chinese Martial arts: it bears resemblance to several. I believe it is a collection of techniques of Chinese Origin worked into a Kata of Okinawan Origin. However, that is as far as I can get with my research.

Maturity in martial arts is a life-long process. Where you are, and the observations you have made, speak to the first phase of taking ownership of one's own martial education: realising what direction you wish to take your martial arts. Reviewing what you know with a critical eye, and reflecting on what you wish to know. Ultimately, there are only two paths in Karate: the Sincere path and the Confused path. Knowing why you are training in karate and having confidence in what you have studied to guide you towards your training goals. Striving for your path to be true to what you claim and to what you want. In contrast, there can be very confusing training: a failure for training to be holistic, and deeply entwined, where the training methods are disparate and teach disparate skills. Similarly, such training can claim to be effective at promoting health and well-being, effective for self-defence skills, but also minded towards competition success. Yet, all of these successes demand different types of training and skill development. Good and mature Karate is sincere. Bad and immature karate is confused at best, or insincere and deceptive at worst. Even a varied syllabus, so long as the goal remains effective self-defence, and the methods reference each other is a focused system. This is the beauty of Shorin-Ryu and why it remains my focus: The kata need little change for the movements to be adapted to self-defence. The mechanics of the basics lend themselves to adaptability and flexibility. I have never struggled to apply Shorin-Ryu to the concepts of self-defence. I trained alongside Shotokan, but it was when I was at university doing my Master's Degree, so I was only there for nine months. The instructor kindly let me join in, and just let me do my Shorin-Ryu kata, as long as I did everything else by the Shotokan book. On reflection, the training was good but would call it rather disconnected. In the sense that there was little connection between Kata and Kumite: the Kumite seemed grounded in the basics, with little reference to Kata movement. Yet, the Yakusoku Kumite never really practised Jiyu Kumite tactics either. I almost felt like we ere training for three different disciplines under the same name. I had a similar experience doing Wado-Ryu, which I trained into Shodan level, before transitioning to Shorin-Ryu along with my instructor. My instructor and the organisation were very much focused on Bunkai, as well as the traditional Kihon Kumite of Wado-Ryu, and I generally found the way the movements in Kata were performed did not lend themselves to applications. Similarly, Kihon Kumite taught certain ways to attack and defend, which were disimilar to how applications were done. We also did Sundome Jiyu-Kumite, and it lacked coherence with the fighting tactics of either Kumite or Bunkai. With hindsight, the application disconnect is why I embraced the Shorin-Ryu Kata. However, I have also come to reflect on the kihon kumite as a resource for principles, methods of moving, and ultimately something that introduces the spirit of attack and defence and repetition of motion sometimes lost when one embraces Bunkai whole heartedly as the lone type of partner work. Thus, I think, maturity comes from recognising the need for coherent training, but also taking ownership of your goals as a martial artist.

I believe, as Sensei8 has already stated, that it is a kata from the Shūdōkan Lineage. It is rather noted for practising a number of kata unique to its lineage. However, depending on when the individual trained with Tōyama Kanken, the content of their version of Shūdōkan will differ. I believe Shūdōkan is/was quite popular on the West Coast of the U.S.A at some point, so perhaps that is where it got picked up? That system does sound like a rather eclectic system if it identifies its version of Naihanchi by Tekki (The Shotokan designation) and also teaches the Yotsu no Kata. Yotsu no Kata was created by Mabuni Kenwa of Shi-To-Ryu fame, and is used as foundation kata in some branches of Shi-To-Ryu: others use the Juni-no-Kata series.

(A highlight of throws by Rafeal Agheav: widely considered a candidate for Greatest of All Time among WKF competitors) That rule was, thankfully, changed in 2017. It might have occurred earlier, but 2017 is, as far as I know, the last major change the rules regarding throws had and I recall the foot rule being extant in 2015 due to a controversial call. That it ever existed is a little silly, and if the concern was safety, generally speaking, you are better are barring slams and spiking. Common throws in karate competition, when speaking of the WKF, are usually grounded in a sweep. Either outside or inner reaping throw, or the occasional cross-buttock. Sweeps partnered with a leg-catch are a common sight. The "pulsing" common in such competition makes such throws quite effective, and so I doubt we shall see the types of throws diversify any further. Outside of the WKF it really depends on the competition format. Bogu Kumite some times allows take-downs, and other times it does not. Light or controlled contact varies from organisation to organisation: some allow sweeps but not throws. Some allow throws from catching the legs, but others will have any limb control be illegal. Some forbid clashes entirely, and so throwing is, in spirit, illegal. One of those things where there is not really a golden rule.

I just noticed I failed to carry over a couple of paragraphs from copy and paste in my original answer: Shotokan is characterised by strikes at the full-extension of the limbs, which is a result of their training methodology and the influence of competition. Generally speaking, they will aim for a decisive blow or throw a powerful barrage of techniques. Leading with a kick, or using counter-punches are other common sights in Shotokan Kumite. Kyokushin is generally characterised by exchanging punches in the pocket so as to be inside kicking range. Kicks, of course, being the only attack allowed to the head, and body shots being relatively easy to absorb if you know they are coming. Many innovative Kyokushin fighters have got around this by developing low kicks, allowing them to prevent their opponent to get inside kick-range, but also an unusual Mawashi-Geri designed to come around and behind the guard. Other innovations to get around this issue include sacrifice techniques such as the Do Mawashi Kaiten Geri which do not generally exist in other systems. Goju-Ryu ultimately depends on the type of Kumite and the organisation. The use of Neko-Ashi as a fighting stance, and keeping the front leg between oneself and one's opponent used to be a characteristic of Goju-Ryu in Sundome Kumite such as Irikumi Ju. Kicks to the body, in-fighting, and throws were also distinctive marks of Goju-Ryu Kumite. These days, however, you tend to see the influence of sport-specific training. Squared stances closer to seisan-dachi, and the use of high-kicks and hooks, though in looking and competing in Irikumi Go I would say they tend to stand and fight closer than Kick-Boxers and other karatekas, yet further than Kyokushin and knock-down fighters. Edit: To make sense of that point of comparison: If you watch Boxers, Kick-Boxers, Tae Kwon Do, or point-fighting Karate they tend to float around just outside of each other's reach until one decides to engage. This distance serves as a safety wall, giving one more time to react to your opponent's movement, and stops one getting clocked by a punch or kick you failed to see. In contrast, Knock-Down fighters tend to engage each other at arm's length and try to keep their opponent right in front of them. From watching Irikumi Go, and having competed in it, I find a lot of Goju-Ryu practitioners like to stick to his nebulous area where they can connect if they stick their limbs out, but stay far away enough they can see a strike coming. It is a little weird, and always goes against my kick-boxing instincts, but it has its advantages. Makes it harder to get away from a grab attempt and to set up combinations. Okinawan Karate is fairly homogeneous. At the turn of the century karate largely became divided into two broad forms: School, or town karate, and Village karate. School karate largely formed around Itosu Anko of Shuri-Te and Higoanna Kanryo of Naha-Te, and their respective students. It got the designation of school/town karate because Itosu famously pioneered karate being taught in schools, and Higoanna began teaching large, open classes in Naha, in contrast to the old way of teaching select students in privacy. The most famous students of these two also formed the nucleus of the Tode-Kenkyukai formed in 1918, and which lasted until 1929, where they collectively trained in karate and exchanged methods and ideas. As such, aside from kata, and some distinct characteristics, much became aligned between the two with regards to training and combative methods. As such, the Shorin-Ryu of Chosin Chibana (Itsou's most senior student who remained in Okinawa and survived Itosu by significant years) and the Goju-Ryu of Miyagi Chojun (The De Facto inheritor of Higoanna Kanryo) inherited the students and important work of their forebears. Most importantly, they also survived the Second World War in a credible state. As such Shorin-Ryu and Goju-Ryu can be considered the "Orthodox Okinawan Karate" due to their size and popularity, and they can be called sister systems in that they have much in common. In comparison, Village Karate, referred to those systems that followed the old way. Passing the art from father to son, and training in relative privacy and following the idealogy of one master. Village coming from the fact this training persisted in the villages whereas the teachings of Itosu and Higoanna came to dominate the towns of Shuri and Naha. Furthermore, both Shorin-Ryu and Goju-Ryu began to acknowledge the conceits of Japanese Karate-Do in the early 30s when Choshin Chibana and Miyagi Chojun registered their arts with the Dai Nippon Butokukai. The heterodox schools of Village Karate would not do so until the 1950s when Japanese Karate-Do and its conceits and traditions were actively exported to Okinawa.

First Tip: Practice. Second Tip: Practice. I understand they are technically the same tip, but being so very important, I felt the need to mention it twice. Joking aside, Sensei8's advice is excellent, and I wholeheartedly endorse it. All I would add is strengthening and conditioning for the legs is the other way to improve your kicks in general. Hindu Squats, backward lunges, and burpees are all great exercises you can do without equipment and in a small space. They will build explosive power, and strengthen the muscle groups involved in a front kick. Additionally, dynamic stretching, and isometric stretches, before and after training respectively will improve flexibility. Front leg lifts, a split lunge, a forward fold, and a hamstring stretch are what will most directly work the range of motion for front kick. Good luck.

As JR 137 has pointed out, with regards to Kumite, it ultimately depends on the instructor of a particular Dojo. However, the organisation they belong too will have some influence as certain organisations expect to see competency in certain sorts of Kumite. Furthermore, it depends on whether that dojo, in particular, bothers with competition and what sort of competition they engage in: their approach to Kumite is likely to, if they engage in sport-specific training, be very much based around the competition format they participate in. With that said, there are trends that can be discussed: Okinawan Goju-Ryu has a number of free-sparring exercises called Kakei-Kumite, which on the surface look like pushing hands (tui shou) or sticking hands (chi sao) from Tai Chi Quen and Wing Chun respectively. These are not unique to Goju-Ryu and Naha-Te, being found in Shorin-Ryu and Shuri-Te derivatives as well, but the more recent Chinese influence on Naha-te seems to have made it more prevalent in Goju-Ryu. Such Kumite is designed for developing close-quarter fighting skills, and proprioception. There are a number of partner exercises which look like Yakusoku Kumite on the surface, called Ude Tanren, but they are conditioning exercises. There is also a lot of two-man kata training in Okinawan Goju-Ryu, which generally takes the place of pre-arranged Kumite. Japanese Goju-Ryu generally speaking has followed the trends of Nippon Karate-Do. You have the practice of Yakusoku Kumite, or promise sparring, which is the commonly seen pre-arranged two-person exercises. You then have Jiyu Kumite, or Free-Sparring, in the style as developed in Japan amongst the University clubs. With that said, those are broad trends, and to return to the initial point: it always depends on the Dojo in question. You will find Jiyu-Kumite practised in Okinawan Goju-Ryu, and you will Japanese Goju-Ryu has inherited many exercises from its Okinawan forebear. It should also be mentioned that there is a Kumite rule-set called Irikumi. It is conducted in a Go (Hard) variation which is a form of hard-contact free fighting allowing throws and limited ground-fighting, and also a Ju (Soft) which is a form of continuous sparring restricted to light and controlled contact. These are popular internationally, and in Japan, especially after the MMA boom of the late 90s/early Millenium but WKF rules and knock-down competition are equally popular. To explain why I differentiate between Okinawan and Japanese Goju-Ryu: Goju-Ryu on Okinawa is quite diverse as Miyagi Chojun never declared a successor, and he was constantly evolving his expression of Karate and his teachings. After he died, Goju-Ryu became rather disparate on Okinawa, and his students tended to teach a slightly different version of Goju-Ryu based on the period they spent their most intense training under Miyagi and their other influences unique to them. In contrast, Japanese Goju-Ryu spread largely under the vision of one man, Yamaguchi Gogen, and he adopted a number of the conventions of Nippon Karate-Do into his version of Goju-Ryu. Such as Yakusoku and Jiyu Kumite, and rudimentary beginner kata such as the Taikyokugata. As it could be said that Shotokan and Wado-Ryu are distinctly Japanese interpretations of Shuri-Te, the Goju-Ryu of Yamaguchi and the Goju Kai can be said to be a distinctly Japanese interpretation of Naha Te.

First, welcome to Karate Forums. The first text that springs to mind is Goju Ryu Karate: Karate Do Kyohan as written by Yamaguchi Gogen himself. Giles Hopkins has done some good work on the applications of Goju-Ryu kata. I always highly recommend the works of Michael Clarke, and translations of old texts as done by Patrick McCarthy such as the Bubishi.

They can be interesting to experiment with, and there are exercises you can do with them very effectively. Such as squats for example. They do not work well for punching in my experience. You are better attaching a band to a post, rather than yourself, when it comes to resistance bands and punching. It better alligns with the muscle groups you are working.

I personally favour leather, because it is easier to keep clean, and I find it less incidentally injurious. I also find it is easier to add additional padding to a leather-bound design, if and when I need to. It is a poor craftsman that blames the tool, but my experience with rope wrap has always been a matter that it is not if but when will I break the skin. When I do my cross-country endurance training, I stop and hit trees, so I am not afraid of pain. However, it is a pain to have to stop training to clean everything and wrap my hands up. I will add I do have a skin condition that makes my skin more fragile over bony protrusions such as my knuckles, so I a little biased. A bit of an aside because I feel that makiwara training is often approached with a masochistic ideal of making the hands impervious to pain and breaking. I believe that Makiwara training should be about training posture and conditioning the tendons and shoulders to resistance. Brutalising the hands is redundant training. You cannot magically make the hands unbreakable, no matter the amount of conditioning done. The bones will never become denser than the skull and other larger bones in the body. Most muscle movement of the hands start further up in the tendons of the forearm. If you can punch with all your force and not experience some discomfort, you either cannot punch that hard or you have no sense of pain. There is a reason professional fighters wear gloves, despite all the time they put in training to hit things. If the makiwara was the magical ingredient for preventing broken hands: all professionals would be using them. A weight routine with Indian Clubs or Kettlebells and improving your technique on the heavy-bag or speed bag, will generally be of more benefit over a more challenging Makiwara. I am saying all this as a believer in Makiwara training, as I do it daily, but it does have a roof of diminishing returns. It is great for posture training, because posture will cover up a multitude of sins with regards to body-movement, however, the path to your best punch is: Getting stronger, improving your technique, and maximising your accuracy and timing.

Congratulations, and welcome back. Good luck as you continue on your path.

During the sparring he looks surprisingly good in the distant shots showing the whole body-movement. It is very telling, however, that the choreography is very back and forth. He throws a bunch of attacks at a human punch bag, and they throw single telegraphed attacks, he covers up to absorb and then go back on the offense. This is very telling of a lack of experience in choreography, but with that said, he hits his targets and it looks convincing enough. With regards to the “Form” I will be honest and admit his kicks are better than mine now with my ACL injury. They are a good standard for a Black Belt in Karate and Karate descended arts. I would only really critique the hip movement, or lack thereof, and the quality of his posture and stances. However, being a free form exercise he was putting on for the camera I would argue it is unlikely a representation of his actual ability at forms. The final confrontation is a classic example of the actor has good form but does not know how to do choreography. It is hard to see because of excellent camera work (which has oddly disappeared from western fight films.) but Miyagi has already moved out of danger before Silver completes his movements, and Silver is aiming wide each time he throws a strike. Again, it is very back and forth: Silver throws a bunch of attacks, and Miyagi stays out of the way, and the final punch is a classic Hollywood/Pro-wrestling trick. Punch off the back leg while keeping your base wide so when you get grabbed you can basically throw yourself as your partner directs. It is really easy to teach even a very fresh stuntman/worker. Overall, Thomas Ian Griffith was/is a legitimate martial artist who knows his way around Tae Kwon Do/Kempo. He shows the conditioning and the quality of technique you would expect of someone with a few years of training. However, he was obviously inexperienced in choreography work at the time, and this limited what they could ask him to do on screen. Excessive Force is a much better representation of his abilities on screen, because he had more experience by then, and it was an action film. I cannot say I personally recommend it, it is a 90s action film so make of that what you will. It is very easy to get a Black belt off of eBay Sensei. Not so easy if you study with someone that will make you earn it. You can expect to put in at least 4-7 years of your life to reach Shodan in most disciplines that employ the KyuDan system. Whether that will make you a competent martial artist or simply good at adhering to a syllabus is the philosophical question. Yet, if it were so easy, why do most people who enter a dojo fail to reach even Shodan?

Good luck and God speed.

I would probably do a few of the trips I have been thinking of but not had the chance to do yet. - Train at the Shaolin Monastary for three months. - Visit Fujian Province on a research trip. - Go for an extended stay in Okinawa. A couple of years at the least. Build a dojo for myself but also as a community space for my town and for other activites. Ultimately, go full time with my karate teaching and training.

Thank you all. It is most appreciated. I apologise for being rather sporadic in my appearances and posts. It is always good to know they are appreciated. Thank you all again.

Historically, an argument can be made for Naha Te being the strongest school for Bunkai as a practice. This is reflected in the existence of the Kaisai no Genri in Goju-Ryu, but it is a body of knowledge older than Goju-Ryu itself. Shi-To Ryu can be said to have a similarly strong heritage, with its founder, Mabuni Kenwa, being the source of significant insight into the application of kata movement. Mabuni also wrote several works on applications for Naha Te no gata. Uechi Ryu has sets of application for its fundamental kata which are part of its core curriculum. Outside of Naha Te descendent schools, Wado-Ryu has the Kata Kumite sets, but they are rarely taught and are largely Ohtsuka Meijin's interpretations of recurring movements in the kata. Not unlike Motobu Choki's Kumite exercises if one compares them side by side. Yet, the Kihon Kumite do teach broad ideas about fighting, and one can apply the insights they give to the Kata of Wado-Ryu very easily. American Kempo has a strong application format: its forms evolved from its self-defence techniques, so if you learn the techniques you will have learnt the form applications. Most modern karateka, or martial artists with a background in forms, are moving towards the application camp. You really have to travel far or be stuck in the middle of nowhere to find anyone who does not know about the concept. Generally speaking, however, any school that does teach applications will not teach them from day one because of what you need to learn to make such training safe. You will need to learn how to fall properly (Ukemi Waza) and you will need to develop some fundamental technique and conditioning to make such training safe and useful.

My sentiment with contact training is that it must be sport-specific or context-specific. For example, there is little reason in doing bare-knuckle if your goal is Kick-Boxing, where gloves are a universal staple, in the same sense doing MMA style sparring, is not efficient if you are participating in stand-up exclusive rules. As a Kata and Self-defence focused teacher I thus favour a type of sparring already brought up by Mr Legel (Wastelander) which is Kakedameshi. Admittedly, I introduced it to my teaching via my experience in Tai Chi Quen and tuishou (Pushing Hands), American Kempo's lock-flow drills, and a brief experience of Goju-Ryu Kake-Kumite. Then I ventured to Okinawa and discovered the real deal, and never looked back. Thus, it is the sort I prefer, and it is the one I was using on a session to session basis, and plan to get back to when rules allow. With that said, for Jiyu-Kumite or Free-Sparring, I do prefer Bogu Kumite. We would put the Bogu on every couple of months, and free-spar in a free-fighting format. Full-contact to the body, but controlled contact to the legs and head. If it went to the ground, simulated ground and pound only, and "catch" rules on submissions: meaning if a hold was secured it was an automatic end to the sparring, no tapping or finishing holds, just for safety reasons. When striking is involved the adrenalin is running and accidents are more likely to happen. We also use Bogu for self-defend orientated Kumite such as wall sparring. For ground-fighting I tend to prefer what is called isolation sparring or positional rolling in Brazillian Jujutsu circles. Have students work on position or specific techniques relevant to self-defence. For grading, however, I do use the bare-knuckle knock-down format as well as Kudo style rules. I have a student fight a full-time Kudo Match against a student of similar weight and experience as a test of skill. They then face a line up of students in under knock-down rules more as a test of spirit than anything else. Point being, variety is a good thing, and whatever you do use needs to be relevant to your end goals.

As some know, Karate Combat is a Full-Contact Combat Sports promotion that first premiered in 2018, and has an emphasis on show-casing Karate in a full-contact and professional context. A critique I often read in the Youtube comment section of Karate Combat Broadcast Replays and Highlight videos is that Shotokan is over-represented. I have been doing an event by event analysis and had hoped for some more events before presenting my analysis. However, again, as observers know the last event was in 2019 and since then further events have been scuppered first by the build-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games, and now Covid-Sars-2. Yet, with another event unlikely in the near future, I thought I would present my analysis thus far. Please note that the representation by karateka in a division is based upon the Karate Combat website as it existed on the 17th May 2020. Furthermore, the percentages in the representation by bouts fought will not add up to 100: the numbers based on how many fights contained a fighter of a style. Take for example the middle-weight division: 80% just means in 8 of the 10 fights, one of the fighters was a Shotokan Karateka. Lightweight Division: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 21 Shotokan: 10 (47.6%) Shito-Ryu: 8 (38.09%) Goju-Ryu: 1 (4.67%) Kyokushin (Kenbukai): 1 (4.67%) Shuri-Ryu: 1 (4.67%) Representation by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 9 Shotokan: 7 (77.77%) Shito-Ryu: 3 (33.33%) American Karate (Unspecified 1): 1 (11.11%) Note: Kevin Kowalczik, the American Karate Practitioner, no longer appears to be registered as a fighter for Karate Combat at the time of 17th May 2020. Thus, his bout is registered, but he is not as a karateka in the division. Welterweight: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 19 Shotokan: 11 (57.89%) Shito-Ryu: 6 (31.57%) Kyo Do Kai (American Karate): 1 (5.26%) Wado-Ryu: 1 (5.26%) Representation by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 12 Shotokan: 10 (83.33%) Shito-Ryu: 4 (33.33%) Kyo Do Kai (American Karate): 3 (25%) Wado-Ryu: 1 (8.3%) Middleweight Division: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 24 Shotokan: 17 (70.83%) Goju-Ryu: 2 (8.33%) Shito-Ryu: 2 (8.33%) Wado-Ryu: 2 (8.33%) American Karate (Unspecified 2): 1 (4.16%) Representation by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 10 Shotokan: 8 (80%) Wado-Ryu: 3 (30%) Shito-Ryu: 2 (20%) American Karate (Unspecified 2): 1 (10%) Goju-Ryu: 1 (10%) Note: Current Middleweight fighter, Igor De Castañeda, is stated to be a Shotokan and Shito-Ryu Practitioner. I have decided to consider him a Shotokan Karateke in my analysis due to his competition background, and his training history at the elite level. Heavyweight Division: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 15 Shotokan: 13 (86.66%) Shito-Ryu: 1 (6.66%) Wado-Ryu: 1 (6.66%) Representation by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 8 Shotokan: 8 (100%) Wado-Ryu: 1 (12.5%) Woman’s Flyweight Division: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 7 Shito-Ryu: 5 (71.42%) Shotokan: 2 (28.57%) Woman’s Bantamweight Division: Representation by Karateka in Division – Total Karateka: 8 Shotokan: 4 (50%) Goju-Ryu: 1 (12.5%) Kan Zen-Ryu: 1 (12.5%) Shito-Ryu: 1 (12.5%) Wado-Ryu: 1 (12.5%) Representation by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 2 Shito-Ryu: 2 (100%) Shotokan: 1 (50%) Organisation Total Representation by Karateka – Organisation Total: 94 Shotokan: 57 (60.63%) Shito-Ryu: 23 (24.46%) Wado-Ryu: 5 (5.31%) Goju-Ryu: 4 (4.25%) American Karate (Unspecified 2): 1 (1.06%) Kan Zen-Ryu: 1 (1.06%) Kyo Do Kai (American Karate): 1 (1.06%) Kyokushin (Kenbokai): 1 (1.06%) Shuri-Ryu: 1 (1.06%) Representations by bouts fought – Total Bouts: 43 Shotokan: 36 (83.72%) Shito-Ryu: 10 (23.25%) Wado-Ryu: 5 (11.62%) Kyo Do Kai (American Karate): 3 (6.97%) American Karate (Unspecified 1): 1 (2.32%) American Karate (Unspecified 2): 1 (2.32%) Goju-Ryu: 1 (2.32%) Note: These figures include two catch-weight bouts by Shotokan Karateka not included in the division break-down. Thoughts By proportion of Karateka that are Shotokan fighters, to the number of bouts in which Shotokan fighters are present, the statistics do show it is disproportional. Though only 60.63% of fighters are Shotokan Karateka, a Shotokan Karateka has been present in 80.72% of fights hosted by Karate Combat. However, other styles are disproportionately represented: the lone Kyo Do Kai fighter in the organisation has been in three bouts, whereas Goju-Ryu has four representatives in the organisations but only one has been given the opportunity to fight. Admittedly, the bout numbers do not scale to the number of fighters in the organisation, however, we can argue Shotokan remains over-represented. Ultimately, I believe, with time the other styles will become better represented. All combat leagues deal with the issue of having to use who is available, and willing to fight, wherever you are holding your event. Due to the league having a majority of Shotokan fighters in its roster, inevitably, Shotokan will be best represented at this time. With that said, I would like to make this point: Sport-Specific Training. As we have seen with the evolution of Kick-Boxing and Free-Fighting, the conceits and assumptions that define styles and give them individual character tend to evaporate in the face of the need to be effective at the sport you are entering. Shotokan is renowned for its dynamic attacks, and these have come to define Shobu Kumite as the world knows it: no matter a competitor's background, they have had to adapt to the Miai dictated by the dynamic, long-range techniques introduced by Shotokan. Karate Combat does not yet allow elbows or knees, nor kicks between the hip and the knee, and so the Miai is like shobu kumite and American Kick-Boxing: we will see the dynamic techniques people generally associate with Shotokan dominate until rule changes or innovation start to force new approaches.[/u]

Thinking further on the original question: Shotokan-Ryu: One could argue Sochin is a distinct and representative kata of Shotokan. It is the kata which introduces and has the highest use of Shotokan's distinct Fudodachi, a stance I have yet to see in another branch of the Karate tree. As with Kanku Dai, Shotokan's version of Sochin is distinct to it. Fudodachi is also used as a transitional stance in several advanced Shotokan katas. Wado-Ryu: Arguably, Chinto: another former shi-tei Kata, but again one of the nine core kata of Wado-Ryu that Ohtsuka taught. As we Seisan, he made a number of subtle but important changes. Chinto is also a kata which can be interpreted as having many sophisticated techniques to be used against sophisticated martial arts: rare amongst the generally pragmatic kata of Okinawa, and allows one to explore the Koryu Jujutsu ideas inherent in Wado-Ryu with the Bunkai. Now, with regards to the plans you have outlined, I must echo Sensei8's sentiment there regarding having the experience to create meaningful kata. There is a reason I retain the Shorin-Ryu kata at the heart of my approach: it is a body of knowledge I cannot hope to replicate in my single, and at this point, comparatively short life. I have developed two kata, as mentioned prior, but I have the experiences that informed my design: I have been a Semi-Professional Kick-Boxer, and have Shoot-Fighting experience. I also worked as a Nightclub door security man, and have experience dealing with physical confrontation in the context of civilian self-defence. I am a Brown Belt in Judo and a Technical Blue-Belt in BJJ. That is by no way an elite level of grappling experience and knowledge, but I have experience in grappling and sufficient knowledge to inform me what is an informed idea at grappling range versus what is ignorant. With this knowledge, I was able to create my two kata, but I did not rely on my knowledge alone. I studied how others had created their Kata, and I used that to refine my ideas. Going back to a point I made before: my two kata fulfil needs my other kata do not. If I had forms, or could find forms, that did the job I would use other forms. The advantage of using forms others use is that it widens the knowledge base. The number of people studying, researching, and sharing their discoveries about the form is naturally larger than one person working on a kata they alone know. It is why my kata designs borrow ideas from other forms I know people are working on: so I can borrow from that knowledge base. Now, none of this is to dissuade you from your ambitions but to hopefully place the advice I am giving in context. Figure out what you already have kata for, as there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Contextualise what you already know about fighting, what does your experience, with reflection, reveal to you to be important factors in physical combat. Research physical violence and find out what are high percentile means of engagement, and techniques that appear time after time. Finally, research how others have transferred their ideas regarding fighting to the movements of kata. From the world of Okinawan Karate, there is Kanshiwa from Uechi-Ryu as devised by Uechi Kanei. Most importantly, its creator also created a series of applications fully disclosing what the movements of the kata mean. Ed Parker famously created the Technique Forms, Short Form 3 and Long Forms 3-6, of American Kenpo from the techniques of Kenpo Karate. He mapped what techniques went into the forms in his works, and it is very easy to find sources for the techniques. The practicality of said techniques is debatable, but they are mostly rationale. The Kata of Ashihara Kaikan are the invention of Ashihara Hideyuki. Thankfully, as with Kanshiwa, Ashihara left in-depth explanations of his kata and their application. A prodigal talent in Knock-Down Karate, who trained several champions, the kata are grounded in the very sensible concept of Sabaki and are very applicable. The Kata of Nippon Kempo mostly have Futari, or two-man versions, and are based on knowledge gained from the competitive Bogu Free-Fighting Nippon Kempo is famed for. The two-man versions reveal the intent and purpose of the movements effectively. Ajarn Marco De Cesaris has done significant work on the Mae Mai of Muay Thai, and their relationship to Muay Boran. Personally, I do find his conclusions debatable, from a historic perspective, however, the movement drills he has developed are sound. More importantly, grounded in the tested and practical techniques of Muay Thai. A video posted by Jesse Enkamp a few days ago is also very relevant to this discussion: I would advise looking at the process the Enkamp brothers used in your own: application first, movement second. Overall, I would advise taking a broad look of the kata that are out there, and you might discover what you want already exists. Yet if you do persevere, I will just give some advice based on my own experience, and pitfalls I have witnessed in others attempts at Kata development: - Blocking Forms: Do not create these. There is no point to them. A receiving technique is nothing without something to conclude the conflict. Practice receiving techniques as Kihon-Waza. - Tension Forms: Forms which are slow and tense on a superficial level like Sanchin. They serve no purpose, and if one wants as form like Sanchin: use Sanchin. It is a simple enough kata, however, there is a depth to Sanchin practice. If one does not know Sanchin back to front, then do not do Sanchin based practice. Uninformed Sanchin practice is at best wasteful, and at its worst bad for your health. - Standing and waving arms: You do not stand still in a fight thus do not do so in Kata. Every movement of the feet should correlate with the movement of the arms, and vice versa. There are exceptions to this principle in traditional kata, but they are demonstrable through the application of the motion. More often than not, just standing and waving the arms is an empty exercise. - Kicking or striking Kata: As with blocking forms, these do not serve a useful purposeful. Basic techniques are best practised as basic techniques, or against pads and partners, not through kata. If you wish to create kata with modern kicks, make sure you represent setups and combinations. If you want a kata to focus on attacks, make sure the principles of effective attacking a represented: Feints, cutting the angles and so forth. - Hand positions: Closed fist, Palm-Heel, knife hand, or a grasping hand. Anything else is artistic licence. Do not get taken in by Animal forms or funky Kempo style hand shapes. They look interesting but unless you have a specific reason to use a specific shape: it is superfluous. - Define what is for exercise, and what is for application: There is no harm in adding movements in that are challenging for the purpose of your own development, or students. Just make sure such movements are an extension of an application, and you clarify what is a challenging movement for the sake of challenge, and what is intended as a pragmatic defence. This is a barrier with analysing the old kata, and it is a pitfall I have seen in a lot of Modern Forms: difficult movement because it looks good in competition, not because it serves a training purpose. Anyway, hope those are sources are of use to you, and the advice to. Good luck, and Good Fortune. Edit: A couple of other things to consider: the theoretical base you are working on. In devising my kata I used two theories. The Habitual Acts of Personal Violence as devised by Patrick McCarthy, and the Kaisai no Genri. These helped ground my designs in reality, but also in the tradition of kata developers before me. For the combat sport aspects inherent in the kata of my making, I also looked to combat sports statistics to determine what high percentile techniques I needed to accommodate. There are police reports, and so forth, where one can do the same for self-defence.

As strange is it may sound: it depends on the season. I tend to avoid Makiwara training during the winter months, because of the cold weather and its impact on recovery. However, with the more temperate seasons at hand: Warm-up with some Hindu Push-ups or Squats, depending on whether it is arm or leg day, until the point of feeling the effort. No more than that: just enough to get the muscles to wake up. Then I do a light-weight routine of 5-8 exercises, depending again on the day it is, which approximate the standing basics as they are done in Shikodachi in Shorin-Ryu. Generally, do between 1000-1200 repetitions over five to six sets of 200. Then striking object training, Makiwara te Cetera. Generally 4 or 5 exercises of 20/25 repetitions to a total of 100 each side and 200 in total. I then do adjusted versions of those exercises to the same amount on a heavy bag, and then adjusted again to be done on a speed bag again to the same amount. Generally, during the warmer months, I will do this without gloves, but with due caution. Being drills, the risk of injury through error is low, however, during the winter I do not touch the hard-striking surfaces and use gloves for the bags. Safety comes first after all. Then I go through Kihon Waza in Shikodachi, and then in stepping form with body weights on. Leg day it is wrist and waists, and arm day leg and waist. At least 200 on the spot, and then 10-20 each side for each technique stepping. I then do movement drills for the Uke-Waza, or practice kick-set ups, and do each drill about 10-20 time each side. Then I do five-rounds of free-style striking against my heavy bag or work a selection of position drills and locks with my grappling dummy. I generally alternate between arm day and leg day, so on arm day I focus on Te Waza, and Leg day Keri Waza. Throughout the day, because I spend most of my day at a desk or in a chair, I try to get up every 90 minutes or 2 hours and do some standing basics and run a kata.

I cannot add anything to what has already been advised. I just wanted to wish you luck on your return to training. Hope your report back is positive news.

The core of my karate is the Kata of Shorin-Ryu, specifically of the Kobayashi branch, and even more specifically the Kodokan as founded by Aragaki Isamu: senior student of Higa Yuchoku. The foundation of the approach is, as with most Itosu ha systems, the Naihanchigata with emphasis on Naihanchi Shodan. The fundamental ideas are all contained within Naihanchi regarding posture and power generation. An argument can be made that Seisan is the most representative kata of this family of Shorin-Ryu. Higa Yuchoku's version of Seisan was evidently influenced by his studies of Naha Te under Shinzato Jinan, and though it largely follows the model of Matsumura no Seisan, it differs in the way it is performed in other schools of Shorin-Ryu. I, however, would argue Naihanchi Shodan is the definitive kata though. I think it would be difficult to argue that one kata can be considered most representative of a system. Especially when many modern systems have more than a handful of kata before one reaches Yudansha standing. However, to assist you in your venture, if I was to venture educated assertions: Shotokan: Kanku Dai. The supposed favourite of Funakoshi Gichin, and the lone "advanced" kata demonstrated in full in Funakoshi's first book. The other Shi-Tei Kata aside from Jion as proscribed by the WKF under their old rules for kata competition. Beside that it is very distinct: you are not going to mistake Kanku Dai for any other version of Kusanku Dai. Goju-Ryu: Kururunfa and/or Tensho. Created by Miyagi Chojun and unique to Goju-Ryu. Shito-Ryu: Aoiyagi and/or Juroku. Aoiyagi was created by Mabuni Kenwa and Konishi Yasuhiro as a kata for women's self-defence. It is practised in both Shi-to-Ryu and Shindo-Jinen-Ryu. A stronger argument can be made for Juroku, as it was created by Mabuni alone, is one of the first advanced kata taught in Shi-To-Ryu, and is the most widely practised of Mabuni's creations in contrast to Shinpa, Shinsei, or Myojo. Wado-Ryu: Seisan. Seisan was a Shi-Tei kata for Wado-Ryu as was Chinto. Ohtsuka placed great emphasis on the proper learning of the mechanics of Seisan, and it remained one of the nine kata he continued to teach until his death. It is one of the first advanced kata learnt as well. As a version of Seisan it has a number of characteristic nuances which make it distinctly the Wado-Ryu version. Aside from the Pinangata I would argue it is the kata that Ohtsuka made into a kata of his own. I am not going to warn against the creation of kata. I have created a couple of kata myself: Hakuma (White Bear): A significant modification of a Kata my Shorei Kenpo instructor, a heterodox system, taught me called Bear Kata. I largely based it upon movements from the Tai-Sabaki Kata of Shindo-Jinen-Ryu, the retreating motions of the aforementioned Aoiyagi Kata, the Nage no Kata of Ashihara Karate, and sequences from Kusanku and Unsu where you go to the ground. Ultimately, the logic is applications against an attacker who has successfully grappled with you. The other kata I developed is Kimari. It is based on 12 "high-percentile" combinations I based on the Kihon Kumite of Wado-Ryu, the Futari No Gata of Nippon Kempo, the Kumite no Gata of Ashihara Kaikan, the Mae Mai of Muay Thai, and the basic combinations of Shukokai. I devised it so it can be performed in a basic I Embusen or a straight line, and it has an "Ura" variation. Going forward the techniques are designed for taking the initiative, and going back they are designed to set up counters. It is also designed to be practiced in a two-man form with or without Bogu and Target pads. As can hopefully be gathered, I developed it for working on striking distance explicitly. I will note that my research leads me to believe that most kata movements assume the attacker has already engaged you physically, and you are working to recapture the initiative. However, I believe most presume some degree of freedom of movement. I developed Hakuma kata for those instances where freedom of movement has been eliminated and you have to create it. From a self-defence perspective, Kimari was designed for when you are facing an evident threat but you are yet to come into contact. Mostly, I designed it for competition training that few of the traditional kata help with. Point being, I think the development of Kata from one's own perspective and knowledgebase can be useful. Especially if it is to fulfil a need the kata one has do not necessarily fulfil. However, I have outlined my reasoning because I think it is important to have just that: reasoning. The creation of kata for the sake of creativity behind closed doors can be fun, but, if the interest is in furthering your own training or creating an aide for students: I advise the creative process be guided by research and goal-orientation. Please note: I consider the kata I have created closed-door kata. I do not teach them to people that are not my direct students, and neither do I have videos of them.

For students in a mixed training session, the general rules of thumb: 1. Is that senior the primary or secondary instructor to you in any other context: If yes, Sensei. 2. Are they simply a senior to you with no other connection: Sempai. 3. Are they assisting in teaching: Sensei. If your system has sensei awarded as a title at Sandan, then the title remains sensei regardless. As one would use Shihan or Kyoshi if those have been awarded.

I am looking forward to it. I must admit Season 2 was not as enjoyable for myself as the first season. I have to admit I found the level of violence between Teenagers rather uncomfortable viewing, although, very well executed from a choreography perspective. I like how they are adding modern touches but remain focused on telling a story with the fighting, instead of making an outstanding fight scene. Not to say the fight scenes are not of a high standard, rather, the focus seems to be on the storytelling as in the films and it is to the benefit of the show. I just do not need that level of violence to believe in the interpersonal conflict between these characters. I am excited to see how they proceed forward with all the story hooks told. I like both Johnny and Daniel, but they are both flawed and what likeability they have does not change that they both have problematic qualities. Johnny wants to put a lot of things right and comes across as a person who just needs to be given a sincere chance by the right people. Daniel has an immature streak and has a lack of personal fortitude when he feels his success is challenged. Time has not taught him humility. I am just hoping for a good outcome for Miguel at this point. The kid has been put through the wringer and deserves better from the people around him

Congratulations, RW.