Spartacus Maximus

When comparing the kicking technique of high level Okinawan stylists with high level Japanese Shotokan, both have very solid, fast and fierce basic kicks. Their method of teaching and training kicks clearly produces a similar result technically speaking. So then besides stylistics and esthetics, there must be a different point of emphasis versus the “Okinawan style” kicking drills. As for the Okinawan method described in previous posts, the explanation is that learning/practising basic kicks from a natural stance closed hands in a guard is that it is meant to emphasize all muscles involved in kicking. Most importantly the essential role of the core in the action. The other reason is that if one is attacked, one will most likely be in a natural standing or walking position, therefore it makes sense to train to execute techniques effectively from the position people are usually in when casually walking or standing.

A question to Shotokan karate students/instructors: After watching kihon waza drills of Shotokan groups in person and in media, many if not most drills for basic kicks start in the forward stance/zenkutsu. What exactly is the reasoning behind using that specific starting point? Is there some advantage to training/teaching basics that way? It is one of the first things noticeable when comparing how Okinawan schools train versus what is the norm in Japanese schools. The Okinawan schools have mostly the exact same drills used in Shotokan, except the most common starting stance is either natural standing(shizentai) or something that looks like a natural waking stance with a natural guard instead of closed fist with arms extended to sides like seen in the “Shotokan version” of drills. Anyone have insights?

In the original post the question was about the style taught by Chibana and his students who eventually started their own schools. My teacher’s teacher(Miyahira) was one of these and so was the late master Nakazato(founded Shorinkan). It is now almost certain that Seisan taught in my school didn’t come from Chibana, otherwise everyone trained by him would include it.

some of the best examples of good “kiai” isn’t even from martial arts. Tennis and baseball has great ones depending on the player. So does weightlifting.There was even some issue with certain athletes being given “warnings” because supposedly it isn’t sportsman like to do what they thought was just some over-agressive posturing.

Almost identical to my experience. The first thing to come to mind was that “kitae” was a key factor in effective technique. It explained much of the reason why it is possible for a human body to develop uncommon strength and resilience.

Anticipating difficulties and challenges involved can be tough. Its really easy to be overwhelmed because of unpredictable circumstances. Restrictions for evaluating progress are not a major issue, at least for now. The entire project of opening a dojo/teaching is just the best solution to support and facilitate my continued training under my teacher while at the same time sharing what little skills I learned. After realizing the non-existence of Okinawan karate dojo where I live, it seemed like the best thing to do was to start one. Luckily my sensei and CI of the hombu dojo made an exception to allow a 3dan to teach. Usually this isn’t allowed until 5dan.

genealogy is a pet hobby and research into it has been fairly easy thanks to elder relatives as well has the reliable record keeping of Europe’s clergy. With all this information collected from various archives, it was possible to trace all the way back to the mid 1500s . After that it becomes much harder to find anything significant. It is a personal challenge to try and see if DNA tests will make it possible to identify genetic origin much farther back. If most of these are reasonably accurate, it should be possible to go back a few centuries more…. This stuff only matters to nerds such as myself.

Question for anyone who has ever tried DNA tests such as “23 and me” and for those who know how these tests work: With what accuracy can these DNA/ancestry tests analyse background? Can any of these test actually find the specific geographical origin of someone’s DNA down to a specific region of the world? Can any of these say someone is 10(totally random number) percent Dutch or would they just show something generic like “European” instead of a precise country/region? Many of these DNA kits claim to be able to accurately identify a person’s ancestry with specific percentages for every “part” one might have in their blood. There are a lot of videos out there of people who have done these tests and found very unexpected results which they never would have thought of themselves.

There isn’t anything complicated about the concept of kiai in Japanese/Okinawan martial arts. This is one of those things where knowing/understanding the Japanese terminology. Ki=breath, ai=to gather or to bring together. So a kiai is not ever one of those ridiculous over drawn out screams. It’s a short sound that comes from the diaphragm. It isn’t even a thing specific to martial arts. In Japanese people refer to it all the time when describing the sound one makes when exerting a burst of physical effort such as when pushing or lifting a heavy object. Try and observe people doing this kind of action and it is everywhere. Batters in baseball do it, tennis players or any job where one needs to put maximum effort and power. Imagine lifting a heavy box off the floor or better still hammering in a large fencepost with a sledgehammer. All those often are done with some sort of sound with the effort. That is kiai and people do this without even thinking about it. The Japanese just have a name for it, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist across all human cultures. One of the primary functions seldom mentioned is that it trains the body to breathe through properly while exerting effort. It teaches the karate adept to synchronize their breathing with their movements and avoiding gassing out. Compare as an experiment doing a series of movements without breathing out as you move to the same with maximum effort, coordinated breathing AND kiai. There is a clear difference as to which is more energy efficient and naturally comfortable.

The main utility of using a martial art’s native language terminology and common phrases is that it becomes a lingua franca, or universal language if/when training with others who may not share a common language. Very much like English for international relations or business. It is a great thing to be able to train and share with anyone in spite of not speaking the other’s language. It is already quite an advantage to know and use the native language terms. With only that plus maybe a few commonly used phrases (yes, no, please, thank you etc) one can give/follow instructions anywhere. Any karate person understands what to do if asked to do “chudan tsuki”, but may not understand if told the same thing in English or any other language they don’t know.

The purpose and motivation for running a branch school is to create an opportunity to further personal progress in karate while sharing it with others who like training as much as myself. It is also a very good way to show appreciation and thanks for a highly respected teacher’s time and energy spent passing on years of experience. Secondly, there isn’t a better way to create the means to support personal progress by providing more opportunities to continue training with my teacher and hombu dojo peers by going there or hosting them so that I and my potential students may enjoy training with Okinawan/Japanese or others with karate in common. The association headed by my teacher has many dojos in the Americas and a few in Europe and the opportunity to exchange with some of these people who often visited would be truly awesome. Following the association’s model, it would be non-profit and 100% of my dojo income will be used for the benefit and purpose of promoting karate the way it is taught by my teacher/mentor. With the dojo’s income I intend to make regular intensive training trips to train at the main dojo alone or with small groups. Some may also be used to host/organize seminars as mentioned before. Most of it will be used to maintain a facility and essential supplies for everyone to use. Basically a self-sufficient dojo. I do not want or need any personal income from it .

Looking for suggestion of a brand/model for a man-shaped, free-standing striking dummy. Does anyone know of alternative models/designs similar to the BOB dummy made(sold?) by Century Martial Arts out of USA?

Personally learning my martial art’ s native language has become a lifelong pursuit. Learning it was practical and vital to communicate with teachers and peers who knew no other language. It was the key to training as well as living in their country for many years. The second reason and motivation to learn is when your MA’s language is also native to your spouse and children. There aren’t many truer signs of dedication and passion for whatever one practises. It goes so much above and beyond what the average regular folk are capable, willing or able to do. The same can be said about martial artists who are deeply interested in everything about the history of a particular art, going as far as studying the general history of whatever region their MA came from. As an amateur hobbyist historian with a keen interest in learning about human language/culture, this something I also do and enjoy discussing in depth. On the other hand, it would not be fair to expect the average MA person to share the same level of depth.

In martial arts and other activities that require strength, precision and contact injuries and accidents caused by jewelry or worsened by it are very common. its very easy, for instance, to badly injure hands and fingers with a ring. Especially the ones that have a stone or any other feature that sticks out. Just imagining how it must feel getting hit with a face full of hardware is enough motivation to remove all jewelry for training. Seeing the results of torn off piercings, ring gashes and nasty cuts or broken fingers is also reason enough. Any one of those injuries is enough to immediately stop a sparring match or most ´real’ situations.

Looking for some effective and challenging exercises to train the correct pivot /rotation of the supporting leg/hip/foot for maximum power in side and round kicks. Perhaps something slightly more focused than just doing the kicks over and over. This is something quite basic, but there are so many people who seem to have some sort of muscular/joint stiffness that makes it difficult to do this movement more than half of where it should be. They can’t seem to pivot/rotate enough and quite a few others feel discomfort and mild pain when trying to kick with speed/power.