JR 137

The basics are pretty much the simplest and most fundamental techniques in the art. Just about everything afterwards is more or less a variation of the basics. Or depending on the art, the basics are the first things you learn and have a significant impact on the practicioner’s success/effectiveness down the road. Keeping it simple... Boxing’s basics are the stance and moving forward, backward, and side to side in it; and 4 punches - jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. If you can’t do those right, you’re not going to do anything right. Everything is a variation of those. Karate’s basics - 4 blocks - high, inside-out, outside-in, and low. Punches - lunge punch and reverse punch Open hand - look similar to the blocks in our system Kicks - Front, roundhouse, side, hook (although hook kick is a variation of side kick in a way), and crescent kicks Stance - forward leaning, backward leaning, horse stance, and Sanchin stance Everything is pretty much a variation of those. The better those are, the better everything else will be. If you can’t do a hook kick, a back spin kick (spinning hook kick) isn’t going to be very good. If you can’t crescent kick, a tornado kick (basically an outside in crescent kick - spinning inside out crescent kick) isn’t going to go very well. Wrestling’s basics get a bit tricky in that more advanced stuff isn’t just a variation. Wrestling’s basics are pretty much the simplest to learn and usually most reliable techniques - single and double leg takedown, sprawling, half-nelson, arm bar, cradle, switch, stand-up, back-heel trip, duck-under, and head and arm throw. Can someone learn other throws, pinning combinations, or the legs series without first learning what I called the basics? Absolutely. But they’re generally not going to be able to get into position to do them very well or they’re going to get countered by very simple stuff and have no clue what happened. I haven’t done BJJ a day in my life, so I have no clue what the basics are. I’d imagine they’re the simplest, easiest to learn and most reliable things to do from a few different positions - mount, guard, and standing.

I’d easily say to leave. Let’s just say you cave this time. It’s only a matter of time before the next series of impossible demands. If the dojo owner is afraid that the student is going to go over his head and report lies to the honbu, then sit down and have a conversation with him, while recording it unbeknownst to him. It’s not that difficult to do in this day and age of smartphones. “Ungentlemanly?” Sure. But remember that ungentlemanly behavior thread? I’m sure the higher up would like to hear him doing and saying these things in his own voice. I’d truly hate to go that far, but if I felt I absolutely needed to, I’d have that trump card in my pocket as a last resort. One other thought - I’d consult with the higher ups long before he did, explaining the entire situation. Once he went to them, they’d be fully knowledgeable about the situation. I do this whenever necessary at my job. I’ve gone to my boss many times explaining a situation long before it mushrooms into a bigger problem. It’s usually a “ok; keep me updated” type response. Sometimes it’s a “do this in the meantime” response. As a private school teacher, I deal with students and more often parents who think they can dictate how I do things. Quite often they think they should be the exception to the rule. People have a way of seeing what they view as “facts” differently than what the actual truth is.

Congratulations to everyone

Happy birthday, Brian. Hope it was fun!

Cobra Kai dojo kun: We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition. A man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy. :) As crazy as Kreese was, he’s got somewhat of a point.

That’s in line with what I’ve been taught too. In retrospect, I should’ve used kiba dachi there instead of zenkutsu dachi.

As sensei8 says, ask your teacher. Different schools have different naming schemes. With that said, the rule of thumb where I train is the foot that’s bearing the weight is typically the side it’s named for, ie right (migi) kokutsu dachi would be right leg back (and left forward) because the majority of the weight is on the right foot. What throws that off is stances where the weight is pretty equal in both feet - Sanchin dachi, zenkutsu dachi, etc.

There’s a time and a place for everything. Some times call for simply smacking someone and letting them run off crying. Other times call for stomping someone while they’re down with everything you have. And everything in between. Ungentlemanly behavior? Attacking me and anyone I care about (or even a random stranger in the right context) is “ungentlemanly” IMO. I’ll see there ungentlemanliness and raise them. Meet force with a little more than equal force IMO. There’s a saying I’ve heard a few times - if I’m going to die in a shootout, there’s definitely not going to be any bullets left in my gun. I’m not going to hold back using anything because some consider it “dirty” or “ungentlemanly.” I’m going to do whatever it takes to end the threat, be it peacefully or not if need be.

I just got a custom made one from my dentist too. After getting a hook kick in the jaw, and not hard at all, I realized my boil and bite mouth guards weren’t cutting it. I felt my back teeth hit an rub against each other. Not a good feeling, but it could’ve been so much worse if she actually put some power into it instead of pulling it back. The custom made one covers all of my teeth (top teeth) and it feels like it’s held on by a vacuum. I literally have to pull it off vs just opening my mouth and letting it fall off. $100 for that mouthpiece vs $35 for a store bought one was well worth it.

I just look at the New Year’s resolution thing as a way to look at things I haven’t paid enough attention to or things I’ve been meaning to do. Giving myself a specific date keeps me on track somewhat. It’s goal setting like any other day, but somehow the first day of the year is motivating to put the plan into action. I do the same thing at the end of the school year, giving myself a list of things I want to and need to accomplish before school starts again.

I actually forgot 2... 4. Take a class under Kaicho Nakamura 5. Compete in our annual tournament I wanted to compete this year and started training to compete, but the tournament date conflicted with important family stuff.

Since no one else started it, I figured I would... 1. Earn 1st kyu. 2. Minimum 2x per week with my BOB XL 3. Increase leg and hip flexibility

I’ll hold my congratulations until it’s all a done deal so I don’t jinx anything If the basement ceiling is low, make sure a hanging bag will work out before you buy one. You have to account for the chains. I could technically fit a 6ft Muay Thai bag in my basement, but I’d be punching about 2 inches below the very top of the bag. I found that out by calling Outslayer and getting exact measurements, them making a mock-up version with blankets and twine. Return shipping on a 150 lb bag wouldn’t have been cheap.

Yup. At 41, believe it or not, I’m one of the younger adults at the dojo. When I was in my 20s during my first stint in karate, I’d have looked down on the dojo in a sense. I’d think “how am I going to get good sparring with a bunch of broken down old guys?” Not exactly that way, but more or less. I’ve learned far more in my going on 3 years there then I did in my 7 years of sparring at my former dojo. In my former dojo, we were a bunch of college aged guys who used to go at each other. The guys I spar with now sit back and wait. They let me bring the fight to them, and punish my mistakes. They’re not trying to out muscle me, blind me with speed, out kick me, nor anything else; they just stand there and pick me apart. They move minimally, yet they’re harder to hit than anyone I’ve sparred with previously. When I do connect, it’s like they got hit with the lesser of all evils; they’ll block/evade the important stuff and take a minor hit in a calculated way. The faster and harder I go, the more I just end up wearing myself down. It was like playing soccer with my stepfather when I was younger. He played one level below their top pro level in Peru. He’d have the ball, and I’d chase him around, running in circles while he seemingly stood still and chuckling at my brothers and I. Even when we were in our 20s and 30s. He wasn’t old and out of shape, he was just so skilled and smart that he didn’t need to waste energy and was in constant control of the game. The guys I spar now are the same way. Looking at it all, I’m the same way when sparring lower ranks and kids. I let them come at me, blocking what’s necessary, and target practicing the openings. I’m not swarming them and overwhelming them. There’s a yondan at the dojo who’s one of my favorite sparring partners and one of my favorite people to just be around. He looks like the stereotypical broken down old man that I used to think would be a waste of time sparring with. He’s in his early 60s, has had a few accidents that’ve lead to several neck and back surgeries. He genuinely moves like Quasimodo. Nothing I do is very effective. I get close, and he makes me carry his weight and punishes me. I keep my distance and he just tags me every time I try anything. I try to get him with speed and movement, and all he does is let me tire myself out. And no matter where I am, we both know he could sweep me at any moment. I call him the custodian because of that fact alone It’s pretty humbling when we both know the broken down old man can take me out whenever he feels like it. And not to pat myself on the back, but I’m not slouch by any means. The best part of the people in the dojo is that they’re always positive and constructive. They’re always telling me how to improve. There’s always a smile on their face and a “try this or that.” No one’s trying to keep secrets so they can stay at the top of the pecking order. It’s like everyone wants me (and everyone else) to be better than them. Even the 3 or 4 guys who are a few years younger than me.

If I had enough people who were interested in talking MA face to face, I probably wouldn’t post and check in here nearly as much I’m sure when I talk about karate, people feel the same way as I do when they’re talking about a hobby I don’t know much about nor care much for, like scrapbooking (a common hobby among my female coworkers) or poker (like several of my friends). How much I talk about it and how in-depth my conversation goes is dictated by the person I’m talking to. A former coworker I got along with pretty well asked my about it to the point where I showed her videos of my style. I got her seal of approval. Come to find out, her fiancé’s uncle runs a sport-karate McDojo. I guess she was making sure I wasn’t one of those or like Kramer beating up the kids in that episode of Seinfeld. That was pretty much the most meaningful MA conversation I’ve ever had with a non-MAist, which isn’t saying much at all. My idiot brother in law took about 3 weeks of karate and thinks he knows everything about every karate style out there. I’ve had a few interesting conversations with him about it. I don’t know, I just like to get him going sometimes. I’m a bit of an instigator. I like it when he doesn’t know what I’m messing with him, which doesn’t take much effort to be honest.

My sincere condolences to you, Noah, Poage sensei’s family, friends, and students. It sounds like you have a dedicated and highly competent group of instructors, and very good students. While things are completely up in the air right now, I’m sure once the dust settles everything will be fine with the dojo. It’ll never be the same, but that doesn’t mean it’ll stop being a great place.

To my Karate Forums family, Merry Christmas. Hope yours is as good as mine. Watching my daughters discover the presents under the tree, rip them open, and their eyes lighting up is a lot of fun. My 4 year old daughter had a great line in her school Christmas show... “I know Christmas is about Jesus, but I love getting presents!” Our school can get away with that, being a Catholic school and all.

I’ll reply about what I saw in the student I mentioned in my previous post. All relative to an absolute beginner... She knew how to actually punch and kick. She threw combinations instead of single techniques. Her combinations were controlled and not haymakers. She didn’t back up very much when blocking, vs the typical constantly moving straight back. She blocked punches wrist to wrist instead of slapping away at them and/or having her hands “glued” to her chest; kicks were blocked correctly too. She wasn’t holding her breath and tensing up. She punched and kicked in a fluid combo rather than kicks being an afterthought or being forced. All of that said, I’d place her somewhere around 4th-5th kyu in terms of sparring compared to the norm in our school. I have no idea what rank she left her former school at nor how long ago it was. She’s been at our school about 3 weeks, and a few days ago was the first time I’ve sparred with her. I haven’t watched her much outside of sparring with her because I’ve always been taking class too and focused on my training. Her kihon is a bit different than ours, she doesn’t know any of our kata outside of what she’s been taught by our teacher, and she doesn’t know our standardized stuff, so she’s appropriately a 10th kyu. I’m sure she’ll progress quicker than average with that stuff. Edit: She was at a Tang Soo Do school a few hours away, just moving to our area recently. Her sparring is in line with ours - continuous and not point fighting.

Competition or not, one of the things that stands out for me is posture. Especially during kiba dachi/horse stance. People tend to lean forward and/or to the side. And stick their butt out.

Yes. I restarted karate going on 3 years ago, after an almost 15 year break. New teacher and organization, very close syllabus (my previous organization was started by 2 former Seido senseis). I spoke at length to my current CI about my previous experience, reasons for leaving, and reasons for coming back. He knew many of the people I knew, as he occasionally under trained the people who founded my previous organization (they were all Kyokushin and later Seido back then). I only told him and his right-hand man about my previous experience without them asking me. All of the senior students at one point or another asked me where I trained previously, even though I was a white belt. Some of the questions/comments that stood out... Where’d you train before? You don’t move like a white belt. I don’t treat you like a white belt when I spar with you because you’re not really a white belt. What rank did you leave your last school at? We’ve got a student who just joined a few weeks ago. It took all of about 30 seconds of sparring with her for me to realize she’s trained somewhere previously. So after class I asked her “where did you train before?” What’s the easiest giveaway? They know how to punch, kick, and move. The basics are different between organizations, so you can be thrown off a bit during kihon. But once you spar, it’s easy to tell IMO. At least if they were any good previously.

I think how many kata a school/organization often requires reflects what they feel the purpose of kata is. Schools that do many kata seem to me to view them more as movement patterns rather than training the moves individually and together as actual self defense/fighting moves. Kind of hard to put that into words for me here. If you’re required to know 30 kata before shodan, I’m willing to bet that each kata is done for aesthetic purposes and training motor movement, rather than pulling it apart and learning and exploring deeper intent of each part. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, if that approach aligns with the student’s interests. Simply performing the kata many times over can lead to better coordination, flexibility, speed, endurance, etc., all of which will make one more effective. Looking at TKD forms that aren’t carry-overs from karate seem like a good example of this to me. There’s plenty of stance changes, kicks that come from or lead to odd angles and directions, etc. When I see those particular forms, I view them as building athleticism more so than developing direct “fighting moves.” Push-up, squat thrusts, etc. aren’t fighting moves, yet it’s stupid to think they’re not great for improving fighting attributes. Traditional karate kata can be used the same way. I think the camps that do fewer kata delve far deeper into the applications of the movements and aren’t concerned with how the practitioner looks, so long as he/she throughly understands why he/she’s doing each movement.

My unrelenting desire to be better than I thought I can be. Being better at the little things and the overall picture. I’ve never once not wanted to go train. There’s been some no-brainer times when I needed to be somewhere else during my regular class time. I still go back and forth in my head of should I go to class, can I do both if if things go right, or how can I juggle my schedule the next day to make up for it. Then in the appropriate circumstances tell myself to get my priorities in order, as there are things way more important than in life than an hour and a half karate class. I’ve never lacked motivation to get to the dojo. I can’t say the same for most other things in life though.

To quote a great Rage Against The Machine song... I’m calm like a bomb. I try to wait until it’s time. The older I get, and the more experienced I get, the better I get at wait for that right moment.

I’ve read it a few times. I’ve got to admit, most of it makes me feel stupid. I always feel like I’m genuinely missing something that everyone else sees that I don’t. I’m not very good with interpreting literature at a deep level. I guess I’m too much of a face value guy when it comes to this stuff. I need a version that spells it out for me, but then everyone disagrees with that author’s interpretation and I feel like I wasted my time with it. Kinda explains my C in my essentials of literature class in college. The professor was kind to me with that grade. The only reason why she gave me that vs the one I actually earned was because I showed up, genuinely tried, and participated in class. Had she gave me the grade I actually earned, I would’ve had to repeat the class, probably a few times. It was a required gen ed class. I was a bio/sports medicine major, so it wasn’t like I was going to make my living interpreting Shakespeare.

There was a thread on this not too long ago in the karate section. I view the hand on the hip as an obvious example of the “art” in martial arts. The hand on the hip can be many things; it all depends on the practitioner’s interpretation(s)... It can be a great way to drop your guard and leave yourself open for a clean headshot It can be used as a push/pull method to generate power It can represent pulling your opponent’s arm or any other body part It can represent holding said body part It can be used to teach and/or practice basic textbook punching Any great work of art has multiple interpretations and meanings on many levels, ranging from simple to highly complex. Some interpretations are half baked and pretty much flat-out wrong, others are simple yet highly practical, some are way too imaginative and impractical, and most fall somewhere in several of those camps. Karate and the like are great works of art and fall easily under this line of thinking. The hand on the hip has literal fighting applications AND strictly training (non-fighting) applications. Note I’m not saying spiritual applications when I say non-fighting. It’s no different than asking why traditional karate (and related arts) use two-handed blocks. During a traditional low block, why does the non-blocking arm arm go straight down the middle with a closed fist during the “wind-up” phase (for a lack of a better phrase), and go to the chambered position during the execution phase of the block? I’ve seen several interpretations/applications. Most make very good sense to me.