KorroddyDude

Or eight hours (and every student is active the entire time), as is the case in some Kobayashi Shorin-ryu orgnanizations in the US. I'm fine with my 1.5 hour test, and it only being that long because each belt rank is called up one at a time for their kihon, kata, and kumite. I think the total time each student spends on the floor during a test is between 10 and 15 minutes.

I don't see a problem with time-in-grade requirements. If they're good enough for militaries who are tasked with defending entire nations, then it surely can't hurt anywhere else. Generally speaking, in Shotokan, the TIG requirements are for the dan grades - one year at ikkyu for shodan, two years at shodan for nidan, three years at nidan for sandan, and so forth. Tests are every three months; so a brand new white belt who signs up today could test for yellow belt next week if that's when the test is scheduled. Ultimately, they still have to pass the test in order to be promoted. Technically, as you noticed, this creates a de facto three month TIG for each kyu grade. Personally, I like it that way. I've heard of schools that simply surprise students at the end of class with their new belts rather than testing. I wouldn't be a fan of this. Students showing up to class hoping that today is gonna be their day, and they go home livid - and this continues on indefinitely. And the reason why a student did or did not get promoted in this case can't be "quantified" (for lack of a better term) the way it can in the case of testing.

I'd like to agree with Jesse Enkamp on this, but there's a problem with that: how do we know to use that word when addressing a particular person in the first place? There are two ways 1. We were told to address the instructor as "sensei." 2. We saw other deshi addressing the instructor as "sensei," and followed along. But even then, there had to be a point in time when the dojo first opened that there were no other deshi to observe using the term "sensei." So how did it start? See #1

Two things: 1. We all know why Wikipedia can't be used as a reference, and this is an example. Karate-do is "the way of the empty hand," not "tang hand. The character for Tang 唐 is pronounced "tō" in Japanese. The characters for karate-do are 空手道, which is pronounced "kong soo do" in Korean. It was "tang hand" in Okinawa before spreading to mainland Japan, but that was way before Koreans trained in it. 2. By the way, none of that matters. Even if they changed the name of it to "kong soo do," I still wouldn't consider it to be karate. If I walk into a TSD dojang, I'm going to see hangul everywhere, people using Korean words, uniforms with piping on the edges, etc. I should be able to walk into any karate dojo, regardless of style, and be able to follow along with their commands (with the exception of their kata). I can't do that in a TSD dojang. If karate is the French language, TSD would be Haitian Creole.

I can understand instructors feeling as though their toes were stepped on. But is this not common among the high dan grades? For example, Hirokazu Kanazawa left the JKA as a 7th dan. As the kaicho of SKIF, no one within the organization could promote him. He was eventually promoted to 8th, 9th, and 10th dan by IMAF. If Japanese and/or Okinawan cultures are not opposed to "do I as I say, no as I do" like we are in the West, I can understand the above being acceptable while not allowing it for lower dan grades. Otherwise, not.

Never, I repeat, never purchase a Tokaido that's not made in Japan ever again. Those made-in-Pakistan gis that are licensed to use the Tokaido name - the ones sold on Tokaido USA and Tokaido Europe - are only slightly cheaper than the ones made in Japan. Spend the extra $20-$30 and wait the extra two weeks for the Japanese made Tokaido. If you want a Japanese brand name at the best possible price, look into Tokyodo (that's the brand I use). Costs less than Tokaido (even the made-in-Pakistan models), Hirota, Shobu, and Shureido. The only caveat to Tokyodo is that the pants are baggy like Shureido (which is what I personally prefer anyway). Edit: I'm referring to Tokyodo International. There is another "Tokyodo" brand that uses the logo of the letter T with wings. Don't get that one.

I wouldn't believe that claim if I had heard it. Chuck Norris had more than enough clout to make a name for TSD in its own right if he wanted to do that. He even had the clout early enough for TSD to make a name for itself in the US before karate could. That is, if he wanted to do that. Even if no one has ever heard of the particular martial art for which you want to open a school, putting "martial arts" on the signage would work just as good as "karate" - maybe even better, in the case of people who are interested in martial arts but not karate. If they say "karate," it's because they probably believe that that's what it is.

What other characters are used for TSD? Because it actually translates to To-te (do). To get "karate," you would need the hancha for "kong soo" (do). A mountain lion can never simply be called a lion, a koala bear can never simply be called a bear, and Mongolian barbecue can never simply be called barbecue. So while I'll grant TSD "Korean karate," I won't grant simply "karate."

Size advantage is mitigated better by grappling than striking. That's the reason why BJJ has a reputation as being for people who are "scared to get punched in the face." Even if a 20-year-old Mike Tyson had never looked in the direction of a boxing gym in his life, you're going down if he lands one on you. Regardless of how much martial arts training you have. If you ever found yourself in that situation, you'd know that trading blows with him would be a stupid idea. So you grapple.

That would be Eizo Shimabukuro. Different person from Tatsuo Shimabuku.

Shorin-ryu is probably the least consistent of styles when it comes to what is taught and, if I recall correctly, the reason is that there was no "curriculum" before modern karate that had a specified set of kata that everyone had to know to make a particular rank. You were simply assigned kata based certain attributes, such as body type, etc. And that's reflected on how the different branches of Shorin-ryu (headed by the students of Itosu) differ so much from one another. I'm not sure if Chosin Chibana knew or taught Seisan, but I know that Nakazato didn't teach it. But Chotoku Kyan DID. On another note, I'm not sure of Kyan taught Naihanchi Nidan and Sandan, but Shimabuku didn't. So there's another example. Shotokan's Hangetsu is unique in that you don't kick in every direction like you do in Shorin-ryu, but it's definitely closer to Shorin-ryu's version than the Goju-ryu and Shito-ryu versions.