Spartacus Maximus

As someone whose interest and beginnings in karate came a few years time after the original trilogy was released I thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons. The nostalgic feel of remembering watching the movies over and over again when I was myself just slightly younger than the main characters made it instantly awesome to me. It is with great impatience that I await the release of season 3.

In my particular dojo, those who come in fresh with no martial arts experience whatsoever are a minority. Coincidence, maybe. Personally I was already at sandan in the same style. There are many others who held dan grades with years of experience in different karate styles and various other martial arts systems. What brings everyone together is the instructor’s great personality and attitude. He welcomes anyone and puts his all his heart and energy into bringing out the best in every student. The only condition for students is to be ready to be taught and set aside whatever they may have learned before. The point is he will gladly teach everything he knows, if a student is ready and willing to learn in good faith. Most of my peers and seniors held at least a shodan grade or equivalent in something else when they started. Maybe this previous experience impeded progress as many notions and to be unlearned or at least set aside to learn what is being taught.

Following the expectations of my instructor and my sandan grading early next year, it seems like starting a branch dojo is the only way to continue personal improvement. It has recently become inevitable that my future will make it impossible to travel more than once a year. At the present, everyone without exception and regardless of previous training starts at white belt, then three kyu grades(green, blue, brown) and shodan etc. There are no precise requirements or minimum time in grade. Except for the kihon kata, each student’s test is personal to them. Each grading is evaluated by the 9th dan instructor(headmaster and hombu dojo CI) and everyone holding the grade being tested for or higher. Each grading consists of all kata learned so far plus the oyo kumite and kata applications for one random kihon kata out of five, one Naihanchi out of three and two Pinan kata out of the five. Each grading also includes a breaking test of a certain number of one inch thick boards with a technique chosen by the instructor. For second dan and higher the test is breaking a standard baseball bat at the handle with a instep kick. I realize this is a lot of details but I know that students outside of Asia, particularly the West and especially youth and teenagers may find it easier to see their own progress if the material is divided into more milestones. I also know that one reason my instructor works the way he does is that it is probably better suited for our small group of less than 40. Most of his dojo directors use a different belt scheme and organization. Each dan also has a kata to demonstrate which is usually the most recently learned. I would appreciate suggestions on how to break down the curriculum. Basically dividing the material and maybe adding kyu grades. There are 5 kihon kata, 3 Naihanchi, 5 Pinan 2 Passai, 2 kusanku and Gojushiho plus the applications sequences for each. This includes basic bunkai and one or two variations. It’s quite a lot material to take in.

The world over a fight simply put involves staying and trying to “ beat” or “defeat” the other person. One cannot ever be faulted for trying to escape. Escape is always the ultimate aim of self defense. The best strategy is to get away as quickly as possible.

Here are two personal experiences with what the OP’s questions. The first was training under a different instructor within the same shorin ryu association. It took at least three months, perhaps more before the new instructor recognized the shodan grade I had earned under my first instructor. To be fair, it had been at least two years since I had trained regularly in any dojo. Later, under the guidance of that new teacher I received nidan and then sandan directly from the grandmaster at the main dojo. It would be a good guess to assume that dan grades are easier to carry over if one stays with the same association or governing body. The next situation is entirely different. When forced to leave because of unforeseen life circumstances, I joined a different shorin ryu association. Same style, but different lineage. The kata were the same but taught differently. I started back at beginning and went through all the technical exams required for all the levels required by the standards of the new sensei and his association. It was quicker than a true beginner, but not by much. Technically I now have three dan grades in two lineages of the exact same shorin ryu. It’s just as complicated as it sounds. This is why I have stopped thinking about grades and ranks. The only thing that matters to me now is that I enjoy training and trust the instructor’s skills and judgement. Perhaps more than my own opinion of whatever progress I may have made since I joined his dojo. If one is truly serious about pursuing and improving martial arts skills, it might be more productive and worthwhile to just focus on learning instead of grades or ranks. The only thing that ought to matter is the quality of what one is learning and how much one gets out of training. This is one reason why the instructor is more important than the style. I matter what the style/subject is, a student will learn more and retain more if the instructor is effective at teaching.

The first and foremost requirement to teach martial arts or anything else is knowledge. One cannot teach what one doesn’t know. Teaching experience is great, but it is it necessary. Many teachers began teaching and improved their teaching skills over time. As far as martial arts are concerned, the instructor is more important than the style. A good instructor must have a thorough understanding of the style, and most importantly of how to get other people to develop skills and retain knowledge. To do that, the instructor must be able to put themselves in their students place. To see things from their point of view and remember what they themselves went through when they were a student. As far as age, there can be no definitive answer; except maybe a reasonable degree of life experience and maturity are certainly required. Said maturity doesn’t depend on age.

One thing often overlooked about defending against more than one attacker is that it isn’t even necessary to go through all of them. It is much more important to get through the nearest threat and leave the rest behind to pick up the pieces while getting out of there before the attackers have a chance to attack again. Becoming skilled in a hit-and-run strategy is vital. There’s no sense in standing toe to toe with a group and risk attracting more trouble or making the situation worse.

It isn’t surprising at all for schools belonging to the same lineage and governing body to have different evaluation criteria and grading structures. Everything depends on how the instructor decided to organize the curriculum. Some of the larger and more widespread martial arts organizations have a general curriculum from which regional directors decide the requirements for each grade or belt.

It is an interesting concept that most of the time, these moves that don’t seem to make any sense can be understood by carefully analyzing and studying what is done before or after. Oftentimes what is seen and demonstrated in the kata is the “ending position” or “beginning position” of a technique. “kanku” is Funakoshi’s rendering and renaming of the original Okinawan kata “Kusanku” or “Kushanku“. The original kata is said to have been named after a Chinese boxing expert whose name was Kwang Shang Fu. Other sources say this was the mans title and that he was an official sent to Ryukyu from Imperial China. The kata was supposedly a synthesis of what this Chinese instructor passed on to Okinawan martial arts experts during his time of business in the RyuKyu kingdom. There are many possible explanations for the initial move in the kata. One of the most common is that it is breaking a two handed shoulder grab and preparing to catch a kick and take the attacker down for a finishing move. It might be useful to comparatively study shotokan’s “kanku” with the shorin ryu renderings called “kusanku dai”. There are many bunkai videos to compare with on YouTube and also kata bunkai DVDs. The best way to get a good idea, is still whenever possible to directly ask a knowledgeable instructor. There will certainly be surprises and the answer is much more simple than any esoteric, obscure or occult meaning.

Nowadays the student is usually paying money for being taught and therefore, more likely to consider cost as a deciding factor. The school, style and instructor’s reputation will not be of any importance if a potential student knows the price is too high. Before martial arts schools as businesses became the norm, potential students sought out or were referred to instructors based students on mostly skill and reputation of said teachers. If the teacher/school was reputed to train the skills the student wanted to gain, then testing would be more readily accepted. Now that most people pay for their training, the mere notion of being tested before being allowed to train is enough to make a large number of potential students look elsewhere. This is in part because of the consumer mentality people have developed. Especially in our most modern societies. People have grown up being told constantly that the right amount of cash can get you anything almost instantaneously with a guarantee; and most of all the least amount of hassle or effort. Personally, there was always some sort of character, skill or willingness to learn test for every dojo joined. Only the first one, which was neither in Japan/Okinawa had no “entry test”. Even though students in Okinawa and elsewhere pay dojo and training fees, instructors, especially if it is the main dojo (hombu) still want to have a good idea of what kind of people they will be sharing their skills with. None of them would ever be happy to learn later on that they have trained a thug or troublemaker. You can’t blame them for discriminating and being carful who they teach, even if they are paid.

Karate was developed and intended as a martial art. It’s purpose and application absolutely do not or have they every been any sort of religious, esoteric or occult practice. What has happened is that over the generations of instructors, each one integrated the karate they taught with their own views reflecting their philosophy or whatever beliefs they held. That’s just human nature and the same thing can be seen in other martial arts. It isn’t specific to karate and continues to this day. As far as kata is concerned, there are no actions that are without applications to self-defense. Nothing is merely symbolic or for meaningless posturing. It’s all supposed to fit together. Each and every move is meant to either create and opening or a counterattack against and a single attacker directly in front.

Tests of character, endurance and perseverance like the one mentioned in the OP are less common than they used to be. Depending on the instructor and the style the test can anything and continue as long as the instructor sees fit. This used to be the way a teacher would select the kind of people who make good students, but mostly people who would not use the skills they learned to cause trouble or give their teacher and school a bad reputation for thuggery. Testing potential students in any way, especially physical efforts have become a rarity since paying for instruction has become the norm. As one would expect, the student is paying and each student represents additional income. Therefore the instructor/school must always consider whether or not rejecting someone is an affordable loss. Students can also decide if they really and truly are willing to invest their time, effort and money learning from said instructor. If yes, then by all means go ahead and practise until you get it or close enough . More often than not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that one has shown that one has the patience and mettle to train and the will to continue even if the hurdles get higher. In Western (Euro American) thought, people often focus more on specific goals. Sitting in a stance, for instance. They don’t are how, just that it is the goal and it must be reached. Eastern thought(China, Korea and Japan), people usually try to see what can be gained or learned(one’s strengths, weaknesses or endurance limits) from training towards the goal. These benefits and lessons are seen as much more important than how well or if the goal is achieved. In short, it doesn’t matter if you can’t do it or not, what matters is what you learn each time you try as long as you keep trying. The desired result will come eventually and much along with it.

When living in Naha and the surrounding areas, it was a common sight to see groups of karate students running/jogging around. Before moving there it was also the first thing done before practise and of course the Shodan and above tests required the candidates to do an endurance run of a few km/miles before anything else. Same for the beginning of all PE classes in school from kindergarten to high school. Everyone had to run.

Besides the size of the bike, which is quite easy to find out in person when you visit a store, it is also important to know exactly how much riding you will be doing. Your bike must be built for what you intend to put it through and it’s main use. Road bikes are usually light weight with tyres that are almost smooth. They’re built for speed and riding on cycling tracks or very even surfaces. Mountain bikes, as you might have guessed are built for riding on rough surfaces. Their tyres are usually thicker/fatter than road bikes and have deep treads. They also have either front, rear or both suspensions. The best possible advice is to go to a store in the area where you live.(and plan to ride) Even if you can’t find the bike you want there, you are more likely to find someone who can help you narrow your choice.

There wouldn’t be much sense or use in running if so many karate big cheeses didn’t do it even well into their old age. Higa Yuchoku of Shorin ryu was known to run for 5km every single morning at sunrise. Higaonna Morio of Goju ryu also goes for a run a few km before starting his own daily practise. The former lived a long healthy life, and was extremely fit and strong until his death. The latter(Higaonna) is in his mid to late seventies and still running. Personally, warming up has always been something to be done before any kind of stretching. The most recent sports medicine journals and literature show that it is safer and more beneficial on the long term for muscles and the entire body to be warmed up thoroughly before any kind of stretching.

Does anyone have any insight on the origins of the kata Passai? The most well known and practised versions are the dai and sho version from Matsumura and his student Itosu. However there is an older version that is included in only a few lineages called Koryu(old style) Passai. It supposedly Predates both Matsumura’s ans Itosu’s versions. All sources clearly define it as being Chinese in origin, but nothing more specific. Any theories or leads would be helpful

Chinto is one of the oldest kata in Shorin ryu and is included in all styles stemming from the teachings of Matsumura Sokon and his students. Obviously it can be expected that the kata will vary from one style to another, but it has become apparent the there are variations of the kata within the same lineage. Why would students of the same instructor do a kata differently? Personal adaptations? Within the same lineage ie: Students of Miyahira Katsuya(senior student of Chibana Chosin), the kata has either two front kicks or one leaping forward front kick. If your lineage includes Chinto, what kicking technique do you have in the first half of the kata after pulling back your hands with crossed hands? For a better idea and visuals please look at this link

Why not integrate it with what the youngest students in the main curriculum? It could be structured as an introduction to the children curriculum the same way children’s(school age) or junior lessons are for the general/main curriculum.

Whatever it is, at that age martial arts skills are not a reasonable goal. The best thing that can be done is anything that will prepare and develop physical abilities in a general sense. Things like basic coordination, balance and dexterity. In other words, everything that a child might be expected to train for general physical education and sports. Above all, whatever it is, it must be fun and the children must enjoy it otherwise nothing will work.

It is just as important if not more to be confident in one’s ability to avoid conflict, potentially violent situation and dangerous places before needing to defend oneself.

Open hand and closed hand strikes are best compared to tools. Both are effective when applied effectively to appropriate target. A hammer is effective and so is a screwdriver. Yet, a hammer would be quite ineffective for inserting screws. It is a question of adapting one’s technique to the situation.

It is more a question of respect than reverence or hierarchy. Titles, grades and terms of address mean nothing without respect and recognition of the accomplishments and dedication of others in the martial art one is learning. One shows respect to seniors not just because they are seniors, but because they have been where one wants to go.

For the sake of sharing, how many have ever seen another person use martial arts as a direct witness? If you have, were you able to tell to a reasonable degree from what martial art the techniques used by the defender came? Here is mine to start. It happened in a large park in Tokyo, Japan. A very belligerent, possibly intoxicated and irate man was being aggressive with a few passers by. Luckily, nowhere near where our paths would have met, but close enough to everything unfold. The disturbance quickly got the attention of a patrolman from the near by police booth. The angry man immediately started to argue with the officer who was doing his damnedest to calm him down and get him to stop being a nuisance or leave the park. The man just got angrier and in seconds began to shove the cop, but nosedived to the pavement as the policeman sidestepped and directed his attacker downwards using his own momentum. It was almost comical and this further enraged the man whose final bad judgment was to attempt to hit the cop with a haymaker punch. This was blocked/jammed and twisted down to the ground. Classic hard-style aikido is very likely, but perhaps other forms of jujutsu. The entire police force in Tokyo are well-known to have a minimum working knowledge of this and other martial arts. A few units even have a certain degree of proficiency as a prerequisite for rank promotions.

Personally never heard of, seen or experienced anyone being penalized or otherwise punished in any way for failing to use proper titles. An instructor can rightly be offended by rudeness or obvious impolite attitudes and behaviour, but not knowing how/what to address them? It does indeed seem strange. After all, who would want to train with people who are so unapproachable?

As a general rule, be the most polite you possibly can and listen to and follow whatever the lower/less experienced people do. One also cannot be faulted for just asking everyone what they prefer to be called while training at the school. As for everything else within whatever system one chooses, asking is always the quickest way to learn.