Wado Heretic

The best thing you can do prior is getting into a daily routine of strength and conditioning training. Especially, doing sport-specific training. Jesse Enkamp, of Karate by Jesse, has posted a number of karate specific exercises one can do at home: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=DyDxha9KZWA&list=PLnepTzrhzuB_GuacNc8YMT9KnQ25WscW1 Not all of those exercises will be suitable for a beginner but they are a good resource. Generally speaking for strength training you will want to work on core-exercises and postural exercises: Press-Ups, Crunches, Leg Lifts, Squats, and Lunges are all good exercises you can do at home without equipment which target muscle groups important to karate practice. They are also families of exercises with many variations you can use to increase the challenge, or target problem areas when needed. Cardio training is also important but doing the right cardio training: I suggest alternating between jogging and sprints. I would also advise a daily stretching routine. I found this blog a few years ago, and it was a good foundation for building my own stretching routine: https://oracle-base.com/flexibility/articles/weekly-stretching-routine/ In terms of learning the actual techniques at home: this can be very difficult. However, I saw you are interested in studying Kyokushin. The Taikyokugata are fairly simple, and there are plenty of videos online of them. There would be no harm in learning the general shape of Taikyoku Sono Ichi in your own time:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCS6QB3ODnM I would also advise studying the terminology as well in advance. Learn the terms of the basic techniques, and the formal etiquette, in advance and it will help you. Lastly, practice Humility. Approach the process with an open mind and a willingness to listen and learn.

For Jiyu-Kumite or Free-Sparring: Kakedameshi. A form of wrestling not unlike Tai Chi Chuan Tuishou (Pushing Hands) where you start with your limbs connected to your partner and always return to that position. The goal is to protect your centerline while simultaneously attacking your opponent's centerline, attack their base to potentially knock them down, or take control of their limbs. I consider this an excellent way to work on skills and techniques relating to kata because I am increasingly convinced that most kata movements do deal with this extreme close range. It allows you to also work on the limb control and takedowns common to almost all forms of kata application. Drilling in general: Flow-drills, though, I admittedly favour fewer flow drills which work on positions and where you can add active resistance in. There are a number of shapes that occur and reoccur through kata, so I try to isolate those shapes and drill them. Semi-Free Sparring with kata-informed restrictions: Have Seme be restricted to shapes from a specific kata, and have Uke be restricted to attacking relevant areas; they can only attack specific targets off of a specific limb for example. This way you introduce the stress of not knowing what specific attack will be coming for Seme, and you have them work on kata shapes under said stress. However, you still keep it relatively safe by keeping it to attacks you are confident those shapes will work against. I also like to remind people we are rarely attacked in a nice open space, so I like to do what I call wall drills, and the clue is in the name: we start the drill near to a wall so it is restricting our movement. Similarly, we will often be trying to reclaim the initiative after an attacker has gained some degree of control of the situation. Thus, the Uke will initiate a random grip before the Seme is allowed to initiate their defence. Add stressors to Kata practice itself: When students have some confidence in getting through their first kata I will then test their technique by getting out a striking stick and pad; I force them to have to block and strike strongly by giving them something to block and something strike. As students progress I will then make the attacks random, so instead of an attack on each block, it could be on any block so they need to do each correctly because it could be any of them. I also start adding attacks to when they move to reinforce that it needs to be done with that sense of speed and evasion. Some times we forget the arms entirely, and just do the footwork, with kettle-bells in hand, to maximise the work of the legs. I'll still have someone go around with the striking stick, or partner people up, to force that need to move. Last note: I put myself through all the drills as well so I know what it is like, and can adjust as needed. I also try to stay mindful that what is stressful to me after twenty years of practice and having a fighting career, is very different from someone without those experiences. Thus, the need to cater to how to add stressors to training to each individual. This can be very difficult if you have a large classroom. I rarely teach more than ten people at a time out of choice so I can do this kind of catered training. Edit: Just so I am not casting aspersions inadvertently. I cannot speak to most people's practice because I have not been and trained with them on their Dojo/Dojang/Kwoon/Gym floor. Thus, when I speak in broad terms, I am speaking to my personal witness. I have trained in Dojo in the Republic of Ireland, in Norway, in Japan, in Okinawa, and the East coast of the U.S.A, and all over the U.K. Few do what I consider kata based training: they do training including kata. Okinawa is about the lone place I have encountered traditional Kata based training. I have encountered the British strain of Practical karate which does but it is a reinvention of the wheel. I always go back to context-specific training in my thinking: If my Kata is not connected to my Kumite and Kihon in a logical, rational, and scaled manner, why do kata? Why train different skill sets under the same name, especially when there are kata traditions that suit kick-boxing style Kumite: Ashihara Kaiken, Enshin, Nippon Kempo, and Shorinji Kempo all come to mind. If your kata do not suit what you are doing, but you want to do kata training, find the suitable kata training.

The aphorism: You fight how you train comes to mind. More specifically, however, you will move in the manner you have conditioned and practised to move under stress through stress-inducing training. Very few people do kata in a manner that is stress-inducing. Either they will not practice it with sufficient intensity to do it is a credible aerobic routine, and there is an element of diminishing returns for kata and their effectiveness as exercise. Otherwise, their Kiso Kumite (Kata based sparring) is insufficient to induce actual stress: it is done in an overtly rehearsed and safe manner. As such. when you enter the stressful situation of Jiyu Kumite, your Kata training will have no bearing: because you have not conditioned and practised the movement through stress-inducing training. You will instead resort to what you can do under stress. Furthermore, as appealed to by others, modern Jiyu Kumite is rarely Kata based and might be better considered a Kick-Boxing training exercise than a self-defence exercise. The Kata are descended from pragmatic self-defence and thus a disconnect emerges. Without the stress training, you will unlikely be able to pull off sophisticated applications, and when the rules do not allow you cannot practice them anyway. With that said, kata does teach body mechanics and they are habit creating. If you practice them enough, you will develop habits through them which will appear during Jiyu Kumite. Under stress, you will fall back on habit. How you perform your techniques that emerge in Jiyu Kumite will be affected by how you rehearse them, and that includes through kata practice: thus your strikes and deflections. Maybe your posture and how you stand will also be affected. In that sense, if you go from one kata tradition you practised for a long time, and then went to another school where there are different nuances and practised there for a long time: you could expect to see some subtle changes. Now, if you do kata based sparring, and stress-based training with your kata, then how you perform kata will have a significant impact on your Kumite. Otherwise, under other circumstances, not very much.

It depends very much on the School and how decentralised that particular organisation is. Being JKA, generally speaking, it will depend on the school with regards to the Kyu Grades, and the branch with regard to Dan Grades. I know of people who have failed JKA gradings, yes, but I must admit I do believe one should not be submitted for grading unless one is ready. A failure on grading is very much a failure of the teacher. One should not fail a grading unless one absolutely falls apart under the pressure, because the pressure is a factor in life and in combat. If you fail the stress test that is one thing, but from a technical perspective one should be ready before the grading. However, it is indeed nonsensical to have a grading as a mere formality. Ultimately, it will depend on the school. I mean, I know of people failing ITF Tae Kwon Do gradings. Indeed, a student of mine did, but for all the wrong reasons. It was what drove them away from Tae Kwon Do. Gradings can be very damaging things for martial arts and martial artists. It is hard to find a balance.

This is an important factor to consider when discussing old kata from Okinawa. During the late 19th and early 20th century, a division did emerge between what has retroactively become known as Village Karate and School/Town Karate. School Karate is the ancestor of what might be considered Orthodox Okinawan Karate: Shorin-Ryu Kobayashi and Matsubayashi, and Goju-Ryu. In the Ryukyu Kingdom, and well into the 1800s on Okinawa, many exponents and experts of Chinese Martial Arts gathered on a regular basis in Matsuyama Park and exchanged knowledge. This is why we see a significant recurrence of various patterns of movement appear in the kata of distinct geographical origin and association. During the early 20th century the famed Itosu Anko introduced a version of Karate to the Okinawan School System. Hioganna Kanryo, the most prolific teacher of Tode-Jutsu in Naha, also started teaching publically around the same time. Many of their students also came together to form organisations such as the Tode Kenkyukai and engage in significant cross-training. Members of the aforementioned groups were also among the first teachers on Okinawa to accept the conceits of Nippon Karate-Do in the 1930s before said conceits were largely enforced in the 1950s by their export to Okinawa by the JKA. Through this long process, we have the existence of Orthodox Okinawan Karate, which is the most widely practised interpretation and most easily accessed. However, while the students of Itosu and Higoanna are those that most widely spread their karate, there were many who persevered in the "Old Way" and passed down a distinct lineage. There were also many who travelled to China and studied the Chinese Arts directly, and brought back with them a distinct art, and preserved said art as a family-style: Ryuei-Ryu being a famous example. Thus, there are many schools of Heterodox systems, and each would be worthy of an article themselves. As many kata originate in Chinese Kempo one can expect to see many versions of Kata with the same name, but with a different substance. In each generation, you have those who see their responsibility as preservation, and those who see their responsibility as rejuvenation. This is true now, and it was true in the past. There will always be those that follow the trend of the day to remain relevant, and there will be those who set the trend of the day and those who refuse to follow it. Some will change their Kata for the purpose of competition success. Others will undo such changes and try to reinvent the wheel and restore the Kata to its roots. Keeping in mind how this influences change from generation to generation is important for understanding change and deviation.

All styles are subject to the assumptions, conceits, and preferences of the founder. This is true of how kata is performed, and why they undergo changes. Some teachers make a number of global changes to their approach: by adding more stances or reducing the number of stances, for example, and thus all the kata they teach change according to this global change. These are usually quite easy and can be traced to an individual more often than not. Then there are are more subtle changes made to individual kata, usually because someone in the lineage felt there was a better way to perform a particular movement in a kata, and implemented said change. These are harder to trace as it could have been the senior student or assistant of the named instructor at the time, so credit is not awarded. This might sound strange, but I have seen teachers adopt useful innovations and ideas off of students. Some are gracious and give credit, but others, not so much. Age, as mentioned, can impact how a martial art is taught by an instructor. Experience may have given them new insights and so they have made changes as time has gone by. Age may have stopped them performing the kata as they once did. Thus, the version of the kata their student learnt will have depended greatly on when they trained with the teacher. With the above said, I have seen the kick done several ways in the same dojo. I have seen it done with the leaping front kick, two front kicks, or with a half-step to kick off the front leg. The important thing to the instructor seemed to be that there was a left kick and you ended with your left foot forward. Age and injury seemed to be the only justifications given: nothing to do with the intended application. Chinto, being so widespread, has been subject to both significant subtle changes and global changes as it as has been transplanted from system to system. In terms of disparity in the same lineage, I would give the example of a modern system such as Ed Parker's Kempo Karate: which has a much shorter history of six decades, and whose founder has only been dead thirty years. If one looks between his Kempo Karate as it was brought to the UK in the 1960s, his Chinese Kempo, the version propagated by the Tracy Brothers, and the last version he outlined in Infinite Insights they have numerous differences in the performance of Forms one through four. I give this example as the resources to see the differences are readily available, but it is not uncharacteristic of the way even one teacher can have students take profoundly different paths because of their differing perspective of the teachings.

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.