Spartacus Maximus

One thing I realized with my new teacher's help was that what I was doing was a little more sport/competition oriented than I thought. Essentially I was doing mostly kata without any explanations of technique meanings or the body mechanics involved. All the elements required to really know what I was doing. Also a nearly nonexistent and very foggy idea of some kata applications. This continued until I reached third degree black belt. That is what made me embarrassed. Accepting I knew next to nothing was easier to do than trying to forget what I learned. I had learn to perform all the shorin ryu kata up to gojushiho. One thing that has helped me is that no kata is completely new to me. The sequences and moves are identical so this familiarity is useful when relearning

Yes it is very humbling and frustrating to come to grips with the fact I did not know what I thought I did. I am now back with a vengeance and I have begun to do things the correct way. I am still unsure as to what use my previous training is to me now. I followed my new teachers advice and have succeeded in litteraly forgetting parts of it. It took 8 months of training to earn a 3rd kyu (sensei does not seem to care for belts or the ranks. There are only 3 kyu levels and 3 colours before shodan). I am glad I found him and only regret not having a teacher of his caliber from the beginning of my karate training. He teaches exactly what I need to know and is willing to explain and demonstrate anything anytime asked.

I find it frustrating that there are still karate people out there who think mokuso has anything to do with religious or spiritual practices. Mokuso is not a ritual. It is part of training and an exercise in focus and awareness. Both are essential for quick response to an imminent threat. If you are less than 100 percent aware of your surroundings and ready to move when you are doing mokuso, then you are doing it wrong and without purpose. This is my okinawan sensei explanation and to emphasize his point he will randomly test us in mokuso by suddenly grabbing our neck and pulling forward. Woe be he who does not immedialty break away and counter. In karate everything has a defense /counter application. Even if it does not appear that way. People who think it is religious/spiritual ascribe it that meaning because they are ignorant or were taught without explanation of the true purpose.

I have been active in shorin ryu karate since around 1996. Except for a period of 2 years where I was on my own and practised alone. Until last year I was following the same association and graded to 3 Dan. Last year I found a new sensei who teaches the same style but from another association. His sensei and the actual head of the association I belonged to were senior students of Chibana Chosin. Despite being the same style, I have had to start over completely and relearn because I was severely lacking. I am totally overwhelmed by what I was never taught. I felt I did not have anywhere near the standard of my former rank. It was as if all my time training was for nothing...I made the choice to accept starting over but it is still difficult to actually do it while training. Does anyone have the same experience? How did you deal with it?

Thanks Goju. Most of the guys I met in Okinawa were from uechi ryu. My sensei also practise this style before settling finally on shorin ryu. He is over sixty years old and when he was in his teens and twenties all Okinawa ryuha trained toe kicks. The way I am being taught is to always have the toes together in everything so that eventually it becomes the natural position. Pushing the toes into a soft target like a hard foam gym mat is the next step. After that he recommends gradually hitting the toes with the same type of board used for breaking. I have seen uechi ryu people use a training tool that looks like a cricket bat and know of special kicking types of makiwara

I first heard of it online in an article but can't remember what site as it was years ago. Was always interested and wished I was taught how to do it. Never tried on my own because I was afraid to stupidly injure myself. I saw videos of it and witnessed it in Okinawa before finding my current teacher who teaches it as the standard method. I saw a man kick a hole in can with that toe kick. Scary stuff if you imagine being on the receiving end! Both front kicks and roundhouse kicks are done with toes. Feels like getting jabbed with a sharp stick. Common targets are the solar plexus(highest target), liver and bladder area. Also many points on the thigh and legs

If you do your homework 2hours a week with guidance is not insufficient. For example in my case due to distance from the dojo I get only 2hours per week with my teacher. Outside the dojo I practise at least an hour at least 5 days a week. I'll do it 7 days a week when I can. Perhaps the better question is how you use the time you have efficiently. I take advantage of dojo time to ask questions and fix bad habits. At my dojo the teacher gives homework. He tells us what to fix and how to fix it so when I can't attend training I know what to do. For new stuff we are expected to pick up whatever we can remember and keep repeating that until ready to add other things. The pace is very slow and everything is devided into parts learned separately. Only at the end is it put together. Kata are introduced litteraly one step at a time.

Any age below 15 is too young for a regular lesson. If started at a slow pace and with a training time based on the individual child's attention span then about 5 is ok. The thing I don't believe in is putting children in large groups and with a teaching structure identical to what teenagers and adults have. I base my opinion on history and my experience. About 14-15 is the age when most of the older okinawans started and it goes back to Matsumura Sokon perhaps further. Also kids under 15 are still learning to control their own bodies and too young for serious training. It is better to teach them general movements in small groups.

My sensei is an okinawan who started in his early teens. He told me that method was the only way taught regardless of style. That was his answer to my question if it was a specialty of uechi ryu. He also said that using the ball of the foot is a relatively recent way adapted for sparring (sport karate) Hardening any body part is painful at first but even more for a sensitive one like the big toe. I have been lightly poked by sensei's kick and it left a mark! There is no doubt in my mind that feet like his a fearsome weapons. I hope I can get more replies to get an idea of how many others learn this old style of kicking. From what I could gather online it is shared by some Chinese styles. I wonder which ones

In my dojo kicks are done with the toes squeezed together and the big toe as the weapon of impact. We are taught this way from the start and expected to use it to break a single board to be granted shodan. Just training to hold the toes properly took me over seven months! Hardening my toes enough to kick is another thing. How many here practise or teach this? Uechi ryu is the only one to still teach this method as well as some Chinese styles. According to my sensei it used to be the way on Okinawa but is now rare.