fireka

are there any other isshinryu students here that i could maybe email back and forth? id like to have a friend in the art online outside my dojo that i could discuss training, kata, techniques ect. with.

just out of curiosity SMR, what rank are you? (not trying to up you, because i cant! when i switched from Shotokan to isshinryu i dropped my yellowbelt and have started back with white again)

okay, im gonna get pummled for this, but... in regards to the last post what your doing is not nessaciarily wrong i dont think. i mean, if the fight is fair and you relise the skill level of your opponets. the fact of the matter is street fighting DOES have its own rythm, style, and almost a sort of art to it. though it is very uneffective against a well trained fighter, you do need that kind of practice i think and therefore if you make the fight fair and protected (i would supply both fighters with if nothing else gloves and a mouthpiece) than there should be a good way to do this, however the question of staying within the bounds of the law is also a problem. dont pick fights though, theres a diffrence between picking a fight and requesting a bout. and when youy do request a bout, do it in such a way that the opponet will not feel embarassed to say no (i.e. not in front of your schools intire cheerleading squad!)

yes, but certain forms of karate and alot of the chinese style artist (mainly wu-shu, hope i spelled that right) could knock a boxer flat. But back to the mcdojo thing. I agree with karate womans concept completely, i just wonder what my sensai would think of me starting a school were i was getting paid to teach. of course, i wonder make sure i was properly qualified first, and of course i would treat my student like students and not like little Rocky Balboas that we have to trap in a contract and exploit. But i keep thinking of what he said his sensai told him ' do not comercialize this art'. of course, i wouldnt start my own dojo for sometime yet, and probably not in the region im in now.

Goju, how did you recive the victory. its not uncommon for such a thing to happen. a number of things could effect your opponet and its foolish to judge skill level based on one bout. also please rephrase the question, im not sure i understand the question.

i used to box. there are many open comps now that allow boxers to compete, being knocked over by the kick of a karateka is what really got me intrested in the martial arts. i was never all that good. but have yet to be defeated by a tae-kwon-do artist. However, i do apologize for a statement that it might have offended some ppl. but i stand by my hatred for korean arts, as it roots from a persoanl experinse i am not aloud to discuss.

hobbit bob, one thing in response to your post. your right! i hate korean arts to! the one joy i get out of open competetion is knocking a tae-kwon-do artist on his !@*&^#

i would like to keep this post going a little longer as it now as much more relevence for me. the new dojo i joined, all the sensais are volunteer. the head sensai was told by his sensai at one time not to commericalise this art. this is why we have a nice dojo and excellent training for only 35 dollars a month (all of it goes to maintaining the dojo) however, i am puresueing the martial arts as a careear goal. and while there are many careers in the martial arts, the easiest to get into is definitly instruction. How then can i do this as a career, and is it even right to, without being called a Mcdojo. i dont want to get rich, i just want to live comfrobly and more than anything teach the martial arts. i dont plan on telling my sensai this is what i plan on doing because it will likely offend him.

actually it does come from a japnese language family, and in that since im having no trouble at all. i have at least a little knoladge in most of the asian languages but am best at Japanese.

yea, actually thats what i thought, stance and punches was really going to screw me up. i caught onto punches and blocks actually pretty quick though. stances gave me a little troble but you know what really did me in? the kicks! there not that diffrent from shotokan but when i tried to preform my side snap from a stand still position my toes keep coming out, i leaned to much, and i keep hoping with the balance foot on kick recovery. My sensai says its probably because ive been training my body but havent harnesesed flexibility of the hips yet. Probably right, because im really sore today!

would you like to?....(lol, that probably sounded like a threat!) no seriously, ive seen a video clip of a one inch punch that resulted in the opponet landing boo-tang on the floor sevral feet from the karateka executing the technique. ill try and find it and post it here.

SMR, you mis understand me. the point i make can best be shown through a phrase often used by priest "it does not matter weather or not you belive in ki, it belives in you!" Of course, the ki is replaced with god, but wither you think of ki as a biological phenomanon or something abit more is irrelavent. you belive it not by choice but because you use it everyday without knowing it. to since someone in a room when they make no sound. to feel an object falling behind you and catch it just in time. to look into someones eyes and scense a lie, all these things are part of ki to.

wow! what a great school! the sensai is both strict and obviously consierned for his students. its very traditional, which is what i was seeking. i watched the kids/adult class and then talked to the sensai who said if i had my gi with me i could start tonight. it was great! im finding however the little bit of shotokan training i did to be getting in the way. not to say either s bad, but within karate it seems isshinryu and shotokan are complete oppisites! i learned a lot though for one night.

i meant to respond to another post by SMR. your confusing this with religion. unlike religion you do not have to belive in a 'diety' to feel its effects in ki. there is no diety, and it does not contridict ANY religious belives other than perhaps atheism (as it deals with a power higher than us, whatever power that may be) because of this, yoga does not require the mention of ki or chi for your ki or chi to be effected by the practice of it. there are also diffrences in ki or chi belives as one travells between japan, okinawa, china, vietnam, laous, korea (spits on the floor) and the philipenes. I prefer the japnese/okinawan concept whiuch includes nature and the seven elements (wind water fire earth metal wood and lightning) this is also were my screen name here comes from.

ki, first off, is not only used by martial artist. this is a big misconseption. in fact, and its almost funny, the most recent trend in 'belivers' has been among home decoraders! seen the rcent fade in 'Feung-shai?' it also has other purposes. in my book i discuss the seven elements of ki, they can be used to determain personality and relation with nature.

i do when training at home...okay! fine! so i sleep in it!...and wear it to school! and work! and on dates...okay! you got me! i dont go on dates...because im always in a gi....j/k

smr, you know i respect you very much as a martial artist. but i belive in this you have been blinded by what society chosses to think of reality, because it fears what it does not understand. but you do belive in it, and weather you relize it or not you use it every day. i am currently on page 234 of a book im wrighting about ki. i would ask that you read it when im done, if nothing else you will find it intresting.

im with the author 100%, the guys an idiot and has obviously never trained seriously in anything. i to am a student of ki.

thanks for the sites. karatethejapaneseway ive already visited before, and karate woman lol. that is the exact site i started conducting my research from! its very useful. I leave today at 6:15 to observe a class. they told me that i should bring my gi with me, in cass i wanted to join in latter this evening. ill most likely be signing in tonight. i love this art from what ive seen simply because of the attitude not only my dojo, but the intire isshin-ryu community takes towards there study. for example: its only $35 dollars a month, none of the instructors are paid they do it for the love of the art and that 35 dollars goes to maintaining the dojo and its equipment. (but karate woman, i am not against someone making a DESENT living off of karate, i plan to do it my self, hopefuly more in the ring than by teaching at first) also, the isshin-ryu world feels that (and some may disagree) there is no reason for rank rules such as "one must study for x number of hours to make kyu/dan x' simply its based on skill. everyone learns at diffrent levels and speeds, so when your ready, you test, you promote! Anyways im just really glad i took you guys advice instead of acting stupid, and im really excited about tonight! i feel like its my first day at collage or something (not that id know, but i suppose, if i follow one of the carear paths i want, it is like my first day at collage!) thanks again everyone, id better change my profile now, im no longer a student of shotokan! (not to say theres anything wrong with being one, you students of the ainchient tiger) keep it real! Fireka

get the asian world of martial arts catolog

yame: a japanese noun meaning attention or show respect. i like it! thats one i havent heard before. i havent taken or watch a class yet but based on the assistant instructors attitude towards me and the dojo itself i am very impressed. its by far the best most un-mcdojoish dojo ive ever been in.

Hi everyone, its been a while! i guess i kinda owe an apology. about amonth ago i said i was training myself in shotokan karate with a private instructor only testing me. i said this was the best way to learn. i said no art could beat shotokan, and i would never do another art. i said these things, and you all gave good rebutals, and i at least acted like i ignored them. im sorry, because i kinda took your advice anyways, and it paid off. i remebr specifically one guy that really ticked me off saying "im not saying you should give up. just stop---you need to look harder for an instructor" will, once my pride had been swalowed, i did, and i found a perfect dojo for me! its not shotokan, its isshinryu (hope im spelling that right) its really traditional (yes!) great equipment (yes!0 good instructors (Yes!) ONLY 35 DOLLARS A MONTH (yes) weapon arts, flexible schdeules tournaments, everything i want it has! if mcdojos are the crappy ones than this is a dojo bell! (i work at taco bell, gotta support my company):<) Anyways, im sorry for being ignorant to all of you. and i wondered now if you could help me? see i studed alot about japanese culure and im still intrested in that. i hope okinawain is very similar, i find i know little to nothing about it. im researching it now, so any information or websites helpful to me reguarding okinawa history, culure, language (still Japanese?) and the basic ettiqute of a isshinryu dojo would be very helpful. thank you all for knocking some scince into me!

belts are made of cloth and can get stinky and sweaty just like anything else. some belts may shrink, if so get them dry cleaned or use a home dry clean kit or maybe even do it by hand. but dont be stupid. look, the japanese are a very picky and obsessively clean people, do you really think they dont wash there stinky belts? if it needs cleaning, clean it.

okay, ive never seen or heard about these videos but just from the description i can register this: tombstone...dude, you must be some kind of freak! anyways i agree, its dumb, though im not sure how napster really plays into it, i mean im pissed about napster to but i think theres some seriously more crucial arguments we can make about these tapes. i am a law enforcement student, would you like me to research and see exactly what it is there doing that illegal if anything?

im in a situation wear im only going in to a 'dojo' (its actually just my instructors house) maybe twice to three times a month, just to make sure im not screwing up, to learn some new techniques that are harder to find, and to test when im ready. im mostly self trained besides that and i do train often. so if im not going to a tournament, im not going to my 'dojo' and my gi is still standable to me, ill just train in it and not worry about it. I do wash my gi often though, and when i do i usally wash it alone and then wash my belt with the colors. you probably already know this, but theres an old wives tale about not washing the belt 'with it you will wash away your accomplishments.' this is BS, washing the belt is not a sign of disrespect, just wash it with your colors whenever you wash you gi.