Shorin Ryuu

Thanks for the arguments, everyone. Keep 'em coming! For the record, I do own an M-9 pistol.

いいな。ちょっと羨ましいけど。。。日本でどこに住んでいるか？ For the benefit of other readers, I'm asking where in Japan does JEM618 live, as JEM618 went to Japan to study Aikido. Lucky... edit: You would think that the location on the post profile would have tipped me off, but I never noticed it until now...

日本語が分かるか？

Well, in terms of sheer power, there is a difference between a properly executed hook and the haymaker they are talking about. These wild haymakers have much less power then a properly executed hook. The damage from the hook comes from proper torque and the angle of the strike placed on the head, which causes it to move to the side rather than back. This movement to the side is harder to recover from in most people, as the body is designed to take on head-on strikes better than others.

Try some Okinawan Shorin Ryu as it is pretty soft. Or maybe you can try some jujutsu or maybe Tai Chi? I think adding some softness can only help.

Nor was I implying that. But there is a distinct difference between schools training specifically for tournaments, schools training specifically to steal your money, and schools training specifically to help you in a self-defense situation. All I'm saying is that sometimes schools will inflate the student's perception of being able to handle themselves in a defense situation, should that ever occur.

It's usually my experience that the people that have been there are probably closer due to shared experiences. However (in the places I have been, however), that does not mean in anyway that they are "cold" or treat anyone as an outsider. If anything, the effort to reach out to the newer members is large indeed. In martial arts training, you are sharing something very special with eachother, and that promotes a closeness. But this closeness isn't something to be hoarded, it is enhanced by having more people involved. Sure there is a worry that the beginner might leave, but it certainly won't be because you didn't try hard enough to keep them as part of "the family". Bottom line: No, not in my experience.

This is a serious question, not meant to be inflammatory, but I am simply wondering about this: "Gun Culture" is seen as negative by some people, because it places enormous power in the hands of other people. Is it viewed as negative because of that power itself? If so, then shouldn't martial arts be banned as well, since that gives someone lethal power? Or, is it simply because that power is indiscriminate in that it is given to people regardless of what they are like? If so, then should martial arts that do not teach a philosophy of using it only as a last resort be banned? Isn't this simply the same as ensuring that gun buyers are responsible?

I meant the schools that ncole91 is considering going to.

Mu Ryuk: I didn't know you were from Monterey. Maybe we can get together and train every once in a while? I'd love to learn from you and maybe share anything that I've learned as well.

Darn...I was going to put a post of "Shorin Ryu" for everything, but I was a little slow in reading this topic... I would argue that it doesn't take a real long time to learn all the aspects you mentioned (striking, grappling, trapping, etc.). At least not in anyway significantly longer than training in a myriad of styles. As far as teaching weapons, some dojo that I have been to teach weapons after a month or so, others wait maybe a year or later. The focus is an integrated approach, not just covering everything at the superficial level. And if that takes time, then so does learning 4 or 5 different arts at the same time. Does my style teach all aspect of combat from the very beginning? Yes and No. Yes, because it does, and no, because the beginner may not be able to process it all completely. Every technique, no matter how basic, holds within it the advanced understanding that goes with it to cover all the aspects of combat. That is why there is more rigidity in placements and positions in the earlier levels within the beginning stages. Not because they are only teaching you the beginning concepts. On the contrary, they are teaching you the advanced concepts, but your understanding of it is only basic. Like my post about jazz earlier, you have to know how to play music in order to jam. You were being taught how to jam all along, but you have to reach a point before you can start. I feel Shorin Ryu encompasses a full system of fighting. Does that stop me from learning others? No. That is merely to enhance my understanding of the principles already within Shorin Ryu, not because they are lacking. As usual, I start out at home plate and end up way out in left field eating a ham sandwich. Oh well.

I just said "dangerous" because some schools are run by professionals. They may not necessarily be teaching you martial arts that you can use to defend yourself on the street, but it will be done in a professional manner. This tricks people into thinking they are highly competent on the street, when they may not be. Thus the element of danger. I haven't been to those schools so I don't know for sure 100%, but the most successful McDojos are the ones that are clean, well-organized and well-presented. They get you in shape and have a respectable philosophy on life (discipline, mutual respect, healthy values, etc.). It is more difficult for the uncritical eye to distinguish between those and practical schools. Anyone can identify the immediately ridiculous. You have to have some experience in order to identify that which only "seems good". And using a different approach to this, some of these can be very dangerous to your wallet.

I am currently in the middle of reading Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan by Cheng Man Ch'ing. One of his treatises is on the cycles of destruction and creation. While I had seen the pressure point cycle of destruction and creation, I had never seen it specifically in movement before. Earlier in the treatise he writes that step forward, step back, look left, look right and central equilibrium refer to metal, wood, fire, water and earth, respectively. Later, he states that stepping forward is a fierce action (fire), but requires stability (earth), so that is fire creating earth. Looking left has the nature of hardness (metal) and refers to stepping to the left while the right fist follows with stability (earth), so that is earth creating metal. And so on... Yet this is in contrast (which movement refers to which elemenet) to what he said earlier in the treatise. Is this just an error in the translation? Or was what he saying later merely an example? I was wondering if anyone who was knowledgeable about this could comment either way.

Interesting...is there a picture of this anywhere?

No, and that's what makes them so dangerous...

Well, to continue in from the other topic... If you understand about naihanchi, then you'll probably understand this next point. Now, I'm talking about energy right now rather than application. When you bring your leg up, you must be careful not to fully balance yourself in your new position. I say this, but let me explain it a little further. Just like in Naihanchi, when your leg kicks upwards toward your center, you don't do it by shifting your weight completely on the remaining leg. That would deadlock your energy. Instead, you keep everything still centered, which is why you should hear a more significant stomping sound when the leg comes back down. In the crane stance (once again, you have to give me more details on how Isshin Ryu does it), you want to have this same feeling where you are not in total balance. That doesn't mean you are falling over, but it means that you (to put it in elementary science terms) created an area of higher and lower potential energy. Your energy wants to flow to the area of lower potential energy. This doesn't mean that you have to let it flow right away, but that difference in potential is there. If you are totally in muscular balance, there is no potential energy. You should still have stability, but not deadlock your energy. Same with your arms (and you can experiment). In the crane position (not sure if this refers to both arms in front of you like in Hakutsuru, perhaps, or maybe one up to the side and another down, like in Chinto), the position of the arms also determine how your energy is situated. You can place your arms in varying positions and see how "full" or "powerful" your kicks feel. Anyone these are just some thoughts.

This probably should go in the other topic...but let me ask you a question first. Do you understand how the energy flows in the naihanchi kata? More specifically, when you rapidly bring the foot in from one side and back down (you can see this as an inward kick, block, whatever)? If so, it'll make the discussion a little easier.

Unless a kid is a martial arts genius (and I really do mean a prodigy), it is probably very difficult for a kid to get away from a true grab without real regard for the kid. That being said, techniques are supposed to rely more on skill rather than strength, so I suppose if a kid was trained properly and had the necessary fine motor control, then maybe. But as for the average kid, no. That is why I think that kids should not be black belts. All thoughts on just the belt system aside, I think that anyone with a black belt should be able to readily defeat a full grown man.

I haven't seen the Isshin Ryu crane stance, so I'm not sure exactly what it looks like. I've seen and done a few, and all parts of the body are important. Just something to think about...when you are in crane stance (really, all stances) you should be balanced but not static (balance in imbalance). If your energy is deadlocked, you can not flow from technique to technique. Tai Chi calls it movement with stability. Anyway, apart from my ramblings...if you describe it to us, maybe we can help? Or at least point in the right direction. A lot of this has to be felt individually.

Do you mean grappling on the ground or grappling in general? We don't necessarily always do grappling starting on the ground (we do sometimes), but we usually start standing and take it from there. Besides, any grappling techniques you learn from standing up can be modified to fit a ground setting. It won't be the same, but the principles should be. It doesn't hurt to train on the ground (you seem to do this to some degree anyway), but it doesn't need to be the number one focus, in my opinion. I prefer to keep it standing (or at least me standing and the opponent disabled or otherwise on the ground) because if you ever end up in a fight against more than one person, you don't want to be on the ground. Okay, so that rambled, but oh well.

I've only recently taken up the latter two. I find the Shorin Ryu to be most effective because it blends a hard and a soft approach, but mostly a soft approach. The iaido was merely out of curiousity. In addition, I like Shorin Ryu because in my opinion, it does an excellent job of balancing striking and grappling and really focuses on proper body mechanics rather than pure strength.

Another reason for the taper is that in non-competition bo, it is actually meant to strike with the very end of the bo with less surface area. Either a thrust with the tip or a "slice" using rotation to "cut" with the outer circumference of the tip, if that makes sense.

I currently study Kobayashi Shorin Ryu, Japanese Jujutsu and Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido.

I've met people that have trained in Taiwan in the 60s and 70s who told me that over there (back then at least), they used wushu to refer to Chinese martial arts in general in the manner that kung fu is used to refer to them today.

Yes, that is what I was aiming for, only with a more technical explanation.