Spartacus Maximus

Knowing how Okinawan karate was practised and taught earlier in it’s recent history, it is highly likely that several techniques have been adopted and shared from one “system” to another. If one goes back even further, there are some techniques that have been directly from Chinese systems and still very much recognizable as such when compared. Even within a single system, every instructor will have unique influences that depend on how, when and from by who they were taught. Practically every single head of each style of Okinawan karate on Okinawa has has experience in another style besides the one they teach. The longer they have been active, the more this is likely. Many consider that the instructor is more important than the style and may change from one to another for this reason. In the end it matters little if something is from another system. If it works, is useful and goes well with everything else, why not?

Contact definatly has its purpose. However before defining how much contact should be acceptable it is a good idea to clearly define why there should be any contact. For a drill or training bout meant to practise a set techniques, full hard contact is not necessary. In this case the point is not to knock each other out, but to correctly apply a move. Contact without some level of risk is not possible there will always be a certain level of risk.The question is how much risk is reasonably acceptable by everyone involved. Obviously contact along with the level of risk must be adapted to fit the skill level of the participants. Protective gear is worn to protect against accidents, not to replace common sense for safety in the ring or the gym.

Besides conflicts of interest, parting ways can happen without any intention to do it. It can be the result of uncontrollable circumstances affecting the student or the instructor’s life. Unexpected change which make it impossible to continue regularly training. In cases like this a student has few choices. Find another instructor, start learning another system or quit. The choice is not hard to make if practising martial art has been part of one’s life since childhood. Having only one instructor over decades of training is not the norm or at least not as common as it might have been before. Considering only Okinawan karate, most of the reknowned masters of the 19th and early 20th centuries each had at least two if not three different teachers who taught them long enough to leave a strong influence in the way these experts taught their own students.

Nothing described in the OP is found in Okinawan karate schools. Power generation comes from the core area and short direct movements are stressed. Sine-wave and knee spring seems to be something exclusive to modern Taekwondo and similar Korean arts. Perhaps the change might have been at least in part to make TKD different from Shotokan.

It depends what “breaking away” really means. There are really only two, fundamental reasons why someone might leave. It is either a matter of ego or “politics”. As for the traditional and cultural aspect, in many Asian martial arts as well as in general culture one’s teacher is always one’s teacher. “Sensei” or “sifu” means much, much more than just”teacher”.

It is a good idea to be open and forward about what one does, but only when a genuinely interested person comes ready to learn. Other than that it would be wasted effort. Why spend time and energy try to show or explain something to people who are uninterested beyond a superficial level? The majority of “regular folk” have no need to be exposed to martial arts because information is already readily and easily accessible for whoever is interested enough to look. The internet, books, magazines and countless other media more than thoroughly cover the subject.

If flashiness and impressing an audience with a performance are what define one’s ideal of skill in karate, what one does has become a performing art, a dance show to dazzle and entertain.

Thinking in terms of function and practicality, the reason for the jump seems to be more significant than how high one jumps when doing a jump-kick. Just as with regular kicking techniques, one should seek to develop the correct mechanics and form. Once this is achieved, increasing power and height will not be difficult. In addition to this, it is a good idea to train just jumping by doing squat-jumps or similar excercises.

if reputable quality is what matters, it will be very hard to find a gi that is not made in Japan. There are quite a few Japanese brands and they all have one thing in common:quality! Shureido is a prime example and their products are made to last for years. Pakistan made gi are known to be cheap, but as the pictures clearly show, there is a reason. Poor quality and shoddy craftsmanship from mass-production under questionable conditions.

There are several reasons why an instructor might hold back on teaching something. One is that teaching must follow a progression and attempting to teach everything at once is not a very effective or practical way to teach. It is a much better strategy to focus on what the student’s level of skill and understanding allows. Some instructors only teach the most fundamental and basic principles and expect their students to discover variations and details through training. Others will cover these concepts in depth whenever they judge the student has the level required.

The answer to the question is that it depends on two things:a personal interest on the part of the martikal artist and motivation by how often that martial artist is in contact with people, especially martial artist who are of the native region and are native speakers of wherever the martial art originated. An American who learned a Chinese system from Americans in America and has never met or trained with Chinese practicionners is very unlikely to use any Chinese except perhaps some terminology. Personally my own experience mirrors that of Sensei8. Okinawan karate system, learned and trained mostly in Okinawa and elsewhere in Japan. In cases like this, understanding and speaking the instructor’s language and that of dojo mates is essential. Pursuing fluency beyond dojo talk was a choice that came with necessity.

The primary purpose of a school is a place to learn and the role of an instructor is to teach. The “pageantry” only becomes an issue when it is done without rhyme or reason and when it starts to disrupt, impede or distract from effectively teaching and learning martial arts.

There does not seem to be any unanimous agreement on what is or is not included in “pageantry”. For some it might include any and every aspect of school/dojo protocol, ranks. For others the defenition extends to everything that is “foreign” such as terminology or concepts tied to the cultural view point of where or when the martial art came from. It might also include everything that is not strictly physical, such as martial arts ethics and moral thinking with regards to when or why one must or must not use the techniques learned. Doing away with pageantry is a well and good, but it makes little sense if one replaces it with another kind of something similar.

This is a question mainly for those who have been training or teaching for at least a decade. How are students different and how are they similar to when you first began teaching or training?

A good question to ask students of all levels and ages before testing them is “What is more important to you? Getting your XYZ belt or getting better at you already know?” Whatever the answer, it will be surprising and also give a good idea of how much a student understands about progress in martial arts.

Each and every dojo or school has its own set of “customs” and “traditions”. Regardless of a given instructor’s background, some or all of these will be continued by the next generation. It is very difficult to completely avoid because people do this out of the need to be connected to whatever system they teach and train. People also have widely different personalities, which is the reason why some will have a tendency to go overboard to the point of appearing pompous or rediculous.

From an Okinawan karaté point of view, it can indeed be said that maximum efficiency is a key principle. However, this most certainly is not unique to karate. For example, many techniques stress striking the same target more than once to increase the chance of hitting it. An emphasis on using the shortest, most direct technique and short but explovise movements. Effiency through economy of movement. Simulataneous and intergrated attack and defense and many other principles emphasize moving and using ones body in the most efficient way as well as exploiting attackers reactions for maximum effect.

One of the many reasons why seeing past grades and belts is so difficult is that, the majority of people think in terms of end goals instead of the process. Giving a grade or belt to someone who has not taken adequate time to go through the process is like passing a class without having completed any assignments or doing any reading. In the same way, the skills learn and knowledge gained until graduation are what makes graduation meaningful. Understanding this is the most important step in knowing how far one has come and how much further one has to go. A blackbelt or any other end goal is irrelevant because one is never really “done” unless one quits.

There are countless ways to show respect of another’s space. The best way is just to show one's willingness and interest in the way things are to be done. Be open and ask questions. There is nothing wrong or contemptible with trying to understand. Not knowing something is not anything to be embarrassed or shy about.

Your moderation will certainly differ from another person’s defenition. To put it as simply as possible would be this: use your own best judgement as to what and how much you are able to do at this point in your life. Experience should be the best measure of what constitutes moderation for you.

Trying to «win » is definitely not the way to approach kumite. The original purpose of sparring is that of a study in application. Ideally sparring should be practised with someone who is more capable so that one may learn from that person’s experience. It should be no different than other training drills. Feedback is also a very important part of kumite. It serves not purpose to try to beat the other person.

It could reasonably be suspected that the reason for three “pageantry” is that instructors rarely stray very far from the way they were taught themselves. If one was taught by an Okinawan sensei for decades, then it would obviously follow that one’s teaching methods would at least in some way be heavily influenced by whatever methods one is most familiar with . Consider the phenomenon of Martial Arts instruction in North America. Most if not all first generation American instructors were military men who learned in the Far East within a military context. Slight differences due to personality and individual character are present, but in general one tends to teach in a very similar way one was taught. Instructors whose teaching methods are radically different from how they were taught are not the norm.

It makes more sense to consider principles rather than techniques. The reason for the tendency to limit applications is that by nature the mind must attach a label or a name to each movement. Just because a technique is called a “block”, it doesn’t mean that “block” is the only correct way to use it. A beginner may understand it better that way, but as one progresses one must try to look for the “principle” or main idea. From a single principle come many different techniques. Nothing is without meaning. The hand on the hip is never just “a hand on the hip”. It is there for a reason, on of which is that there is probably something in it. Could be a grabbing pull. Another reason why is is done is to train using both limbs to strike. It makes use of the push-pull(antagonist muscles). It increases the energy put into the strike instead of using only the strength of one hand or arm. Another important principle meant by this hand-on- the hip or “chambering” is that in all hand techniques the elbows must stay close to the sides leaving no gaps. This makes strikes more direct and much quicker and powerful than swinging. It also makes blocking and parrying easier while leaving less openings for the attacker to get through.

In all the dojos and schools visited the key to proper protocol has always been preparation in advance. This is where a good sense of observation is important. Most of the habits and rules of the dojo can usually be guessed by watching and imitating the regular students who have been there a while. Details and precisions can be explained before starting, which is why making sure to arrive earlier is a good idea. A perfect understanding of all the protocol is not usually expected from a visitor, but any instructor will certainly appreciate the efforts and the fact that the visitor shows an interest in them. It goes a long way to show that the visitor is open to learn things which maybe different than whatever said visitor practises.

This issue is a simple question of mutual respect. When one is a guest in another person’s space, it should follow that one behaves according to that places rules or conventions. When these are not clear or unknown, asking about what is expected is the right thing to do.