Furinkazan

I've never been to Japan or Okinawa, but if what everyone is saying online is to be believed... Okinawan culture is significantly more relaxed and less formal than Japanese culture. And, as a result, Okinawan hombu dojos are probably far more likely to adopt a laizzes faire style of leadership than Japanese ones.

I’ve seen Wastelander’s videos on social media. He’s wearing a Shorinkan patch, but doesn’t teach the Pinans to adults. I could never see JKA, ISKF, or SKIF allowing any of its member dojos to not teach the Heians. So this definitely checks out.

Is there at least a syllabus, so that the students can practice on their own at home? I think a problem that can arise from this is the material they need not being covered on the day they show up. IMO, the very existence of tests already does that. The last BJJ school I trained at did belt promotions every quarter, but there were no tests. You were simply promoted based on how you were evaluated on regular training days. Unannounced or short notice? Because “unannounced” creates a “right place at the right time” scenario that leaves out guy that did movie night with wife and kids because he was unable to schedule that around the test. This is why I think the list of testable items need to be kept short. If the list is too long, there’ll be little to no time to do things that are not on the test.

I've never heard it broken down like that, but I think that most people develop a concept on their own that is similar to that by brown belt. Normally, from experience with ippon kumite. If I started karate at a much younger age and wanted to "go rogue" with Shotokan as you did with Shorin-ryu, I'd return the gedan shuto ukes to Heian Shodan and Bassai Dai (and the saguri-te to Bassai Dai). In Shorin-ryu and Shito-ryu, the gedan shuto uke is a valuable tool for intercepting kicks and we don't see it until Kanku Dai, which is normally taught at 2nd kyu.

To my knowledge, only Kobayashi Shorin-ryu lacks Seisan. Kobayashi Shorin-ryu is also strictly Shuri-te, in that most don't teach any Tomari-te katas. I know of one that teaches Rohai, and that's about it. So we can forget about Naha-te katas, such as Seisan. Except, Seisan isn't strictly Naha-te. If you pay close attention to how different styles do Seisan, you'll notice that the various branches of Shorin-ryu that do practice it have various things in common that separate it from the versions practiced in Goju-ryu, Shito-ryu, and Uechi-ryu. And, contrary to popular belief among most of my fellow Shotokan students... Hangetsu is based on the Shorin-ryu version of Seisan, not the Goju-ryu version. The slow turns at the end where you lift your knee and bring it down with the slow back fist and take two steps forward is only present in Shorin-ryu. I'm certain that Naha-te was the first in Okinawa to practice Seisan, but it eventually spread to Shuri and/or Tomari for it to develop its own distinct Shorin-ryu flavor before the development of modern karate styles.

Shuriedo and Tokyodo are baggier than Hirota, but I would definitely say that Hirota has a more relaxed fit than Tokaido. And, by extension, I'll also say Shobu - not by personal experience (I've never even seen a Shobu in person), but from what I've been reading online, Shobu has an even slimmer fit than Tokaido.

I believe it's to make your gi have a louder snap. If you get your gi custom made, you can actually request thicker and wider hems to make them even louder. You'll notice that judo gis don't have the same hem, as there's no need get a response from the gi. They have a simple one-line hem. I've taken gis to an alterations shops that couldn't duplicate the hem, despite their efforts. It might be because I didn't specifically ask them to, but it looked like they tried. And in one particular instance, it was two Kamikaze gis; and in the other, it was two Hirota lightweight gis. In the case of the Hirota gis, I should have paid for the hemming online but I was too lazy to do my own measurements. In both cases, perfectly good gis were ruined. It was after my experience here that I realized something: if you need anything hemmed on your gis, the only options that make sense are extremely cheap gis (ProForce, Century, etc) where you really couldn't care less about a one-line hem. That, or Japanese gis. Those mid-tier brands like Mugen and Kamikaze are strictly for people who don't need anything hemmed.

I live near a military base, and can confirm that not all alteration shops know how to duplicate the manufacturer's hem on a karate gi. Best thing to do is ask around the dojo for a shop that can. And the closest one to the military housing for the base I live near charges for $40 just for the pants OR sleeves. So if you have to get both hemmed, you're looking at $80 (I hope that's not considered cheap because if it is, people who live further away from miltary bases are in big trouble). That's why I recommend Shureido or Tokyodo (Tokyodo is the cheaper of the two) since they hem for free, and have baggier fit that's better for the big boys. Higher end non-Japanese gis like Mugen and Kamikaze are good deals IF you don't need anything hemmed. I'll admit I'm considering getting that Arawaza Black Diamond and having it hemmed anyway. Because by the time you spend $325 on it, what's another $80?

I think that's the WKF combo kit where you get both the red and blue trimmed tops. The single Black Diamond gi is $325 (and that's STILL alot).

I have to agree with some of the other posters here. Mugen is a good deal only if you don't need anything altered. Depending on the size of the gi and how much alteration you need, you could end up spending roughly $200 before that Mugen is ready to be worn on the floor. Even with international shipping, you'll end up spending a similar amount or less on a Shureido or Tokyodo (both companies hem pants and sleeves for free). The cut of both Shureido and Tokyodo are known to be big-boy friendly. The lack of in-house alterations doesn't make Mugen the worst deal, though. The title of "worst deal" goes to Arawaza. That Black Diamond is nice, but by the time I'd get one altered at the local shop, the overall cost would be ridiculous.

I think it’s important to note that the meaning of kiai as it pertains to karate isn’t a deep one. The kiai was not practiced in Okinawa until it was added by the Japanese. The kiai actually came from kendo practitioners who brought it to karate when cross training under Funakoshi. It’s entirely possible that the Koreans may have been practicing the kiai (or “kihap,” as they call it) just as long as, if not longer than, the Okinawans. If we are to search for a deeper meaning of the kiai, then the answer is best found in kendo rather than karate.

What the instructor said makes sense if omitting things is for a purpose other than reducing or eliminating redundancy. And I’m all for that, though not to the same extent as Wastelander. I’m a bit of a traditionalist, so I’d limit the elimination of kata to only the ones developed after karate was introduced to mainland Japan. In my opinion, the Pinans are defining katas of Shorin-ryu. Tatsuo Shimabuku didn’t teach the Pinans, so it would make sense that he would differentiate his style by calling it Isshin-ryu.

I've always heard the same thing, only difference is that the stagehands were in kabuki shows. This explains why, in ninja anime, high ranking members of ninja clans are dressed as kabuki as a reference to that.

If someone wants satiate the dreams of their inner eight year old, I could see the appeal. But ninjas haven't been cool since waning of the popularity of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. So I can't imagine that there'd be many people in ninjutsu/bujinkan schools under the age of 40.

I would never consider myself a Jake Paul fan, but I have a lot of respect for what he does. In this case, he fought six rounds with Anthony Joshua. How many of us could do the same thing? How many of Jake Paul's haters could do it? Everyone seems to forget that Francis Ngannou got knocked out by Anthony Joshua in the second round, so Jake Paul did far better than Ngannou. And Ngannou is no pushover: he went the distance with Tyson Fury before that.

I wouldn’t put much, if at all. I think the “becoming a better person” part of martial arts works the same way the PSA’s at the end of 80’s cartoons (G.I. Joe, especially) worked: children are more willing and eager to heed advice from people that they look up to. And also back in the 80’s during the “karate boom,” children were more likely to look up to a karate instructor. After reaching a certain age, I think the “becoming a better person” part of karate only come to those who actively seek it, and that age is probably sometime during or right before middle school.

Is this in your dojo, or the MA community at large? If it's happening in the dojo, then that's on your instructor(s) for failing to maintain a positive training environment. If it's in the MA community at large, then I would just limit my MA fellowship with my classmates. Before you quit martial arts, I suggest checking out some other schools in your area if there are any. You'll find that no two schools have the same environment. My school has a very peaceful atmosphere, while I've seen others that are run like a military boot camp. However, this is assuming that your issue is with your school and not the MA community at large.

While an argument could be made that hikite could be used to grab, I don't think the use for power can be dismissed. Even outside of karate where the word "hikite" isn't used, pulling one hand is indeed crucial for increasing the power of the other hand that's punching. Without pulling that hand back, the punch is just another jab or cross. A punch that's designed to wear your opponent down, and not knock them out. In karate, we're always going for the knockout. End the fight quickly and get out of there. If we're just trying to wear the other guy down, that's not self-defense. Here's why I don't think it's the grab that most people think when they say it is: if someone is standing one foot away from you, you're not going to land a very powerful punch. If you look at viral videos of fights on the internet, even untrained people know this: you have two egotistical guys in each other's faces, and the guy who swings first always either takes a big step back or pushes the other guy away before throwing that haymaker. Your fist needs to travel a certain distance and your arm needs to be extended out by a certain amount before your punch can have much effect. So if you grab the other guy and pull him towards you into the punch with the other hand, you're reducing the effectiveness of your own punch.

What you put in parentheses is why I don't think these two factors should be considered. Because it makes the false assumption that the "good" kids are more likely progress faster than the "bad" kids, and that it's more likely turn "bad" kids lives around while there's a risk of making the "good" kids more violent. Again, the moral alignment of people has nothing to do with how well they progress in any form of training or instruction. This reminds me of the scene in The Breakfast Club where Bender was responding to Brian talking about why he failed shop class. Let us not forget that there are plenty of "bad" people that know how to play the long game. Even children. With Christmas being ten days away, the most common way we see it is that when children finally reveal that they no longer believe in Santa Claus, they also reveal that they haven't believed in years. They hid their skepticism out of fear that they wouldn't get anything for Christmas. If children can do it for that, they can do the same thing to remain in martial arts training. If the reason they're teaching a martial art is for self-defense, I'm assuming karate. The reason is because they already have wrestling as part of normal physical education (at least when I was in high school), but you learn according the rules of the sport, making it rather useless for self-defense. I'll admit to having very little exposure to judo, but in that limited exposure, it appears to be similar: the focus appears to be competition and sport, rather than self-defense.

There's potential for injury in all physical activity, not just martial arts. I'd assume that schools just use whatever coverage they already have for their current physical education programs.

If you're not free-sparring, sure. If you are free-sparring, you're trained on the techniques to get around the defenses. True, but I think this particular factor is best left unconsidered. The reason I say that is because moral alignment has nothing to do with dedication to martial arts training. You're going to have the same percentage of go-getters and slackers among the good kids as you will the bad kids, so it evens out. These things can be taught outside of martial arts and even more effectively so, because then those things would be the sole focus. No, because the conversation is based on the claim that everyone needs to know how to defend themselves. And that's the claim that my argument is based on. If a different reason had been given as an argument as to why martial arts should be taught in public schools, it would be a totally different conversation. I'm kind of looking at what I gave as falling in both categories. But for the sake of argument, if that's not the case, then they could have at least pointed out how they believed my reasoning is faulty. I really hate when they do that, because it puts you on the spot while denying you the ability to defend what you said. It depends on the end goal. If the end goal is self-defense, then no. Remember, if a > b, then a(x) > b(x). What this means is that, since everyone - both good and bad - is trained in martial arts, victims will still be as equally vulnerable to bullying as they would have been if none of them had trained. If everyone is trained, and the victim is being bullied, then what's he gonna do? Train in martial arts? He's already covered that. So what now? And that's the scenario that I believe would be created if "everyone" is trained in martial arts.

There was a public post on facebook that asked the question on whether or not martial arts should be part of the curriculum in public schools. I'm very anti-groupthink, but I don't dissent for it's own sake. I'm a free thinker. Just about everyone in the comments agreed that it should be. The consensus is that "everyone should know how to defend themselves." I thought that this was a horrible reason. Why? Because if two opposing people have the same advantage, then neither of them do. That puts everything back at square one, and the advantage goes right back to the bully. Basically, if a > b, then a(x) > b(x) the scenario you want is a < b(x), or at minimum, a = b(x) But you ruin that if you require everyone to train in martial arts. Of course, the responses I get are things like "that's not how it works," etc. Basically, disagreements with my reasoning, but with no attempt at an opposing argument. What are your takes on this?

I think there's one important question that you need to know the answer to: what, exactly, is this particular student's end of goal offering an unsolicited demonstration of what he can do? Because the answer to that will determine whether or not it's offensive or a waste of time.

To my knowledge, most Shotokan organizations cap automatic transferability at yondan and will then review and evaluate the transferee for promotion to grades above that after transfer. I can agree with that. We're a culture of having to prove oneself and earn every little thing, even in situations where it's completely unwarranted. On the flip side, I can't see this happening in Shotokan unless you were transferring to or from an independent school. ISKF is the largest organization in the US, and I really can't see them making you start over - or making you to take a demotion at all, especially considering that you're of Enoeda sensei's lineage. I think that some of the smaller independant schools may require all black belts to teach, and having a new black belt just waltz in like that might "upset the order."

The argument isn't for them to "transfer rank." The argument is to evaluate the new student where they are and place them accordingly. Sure, you weren't a nidan or shodan in Shobayashi-ryu. But were you really a white belt, either? Even by Shobayashi-ryu standards? Well, they did something for you. I actually happen to be in that scenario. I'm an ISKF shodan and I'm also a white belt in BJJ. I know of no one in BJJ with a black belt in karate or taekwondo who thought they were going start at anything higher than white belt. What I have seen is people with prior wrestling background get promoted to blue belt after a short time of being evaluated by the instructor. Someone else mentioned earlier in the thread that some BJJ schools will automatically place a judo black belt at blue belt. It all makes sense now, as I thought we were speaking in the context of representing schools. However, I never said anything about "transferring rank." There's a huge difference between that and evaluating new students with prior training to determine placement. I was discussing the latter. The motive for what I was saying was not to satiate egos, but to create an environment that fosters training that is both safe and productive. If you're a nidan from one branch of Shorin-ryu, and you're wearing a white belt in another branch, it's really not helping you for a brown belt to go easy on you when sparring because you're a "white belt."