Shorin Ryuu

First of all, please keep the tone civil and don't go demeaning my instructor, who is very capable. Secondly, please bear in mind that when I said bigger, I meant more muscular. It is actually harder to find pressure points on fat people than it is on more toned people. Forgive me if I was not clear enough on this point. Therefore the more toned and muscular you are, the more sensitive your pressure points become due to simple anatomy and thus easier to manipulate. Thirdly, it is still taught with the idea that they are used to control people, not solely knockouts. Pressure point theory can be thought of as having two complimentary halves. One half, which is kyusho-jutsu is the striking of pressure points to set up grappling techniques, while the other half is tuite-jutsu, which is using grappling techniques to make vulnerable pressure points that you can strike.

I take Kobayashi Shorin Ryu. Our principles are: Natural stances Soft and Hard movements (I used to think it was a hard style till I got more advanced) Lower kicks Body Change Pressure points Technique and Tactics These principles are probably very similar to Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu since our styles are closely related. Our kata (in order and not including our 5 kihon kata and 3 fukyuugata) Naihanchi Shodan Naihanchi Nidan Naihanchi Sandan Pinan Shodan Pinan Nidan Pinan Sandan Pinan Yondan Pinan Godan Passai Sho Passai Dai Chinto Kusanku Sho Gorin Kusanku Dai Gojushiho I had the opportunity to attend a weekend seminar last month with Grandmaster Kise and Kyoshi Ader and...Kyoshi someoneelseiforget...It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it immensely.

Oh, crap, I'm a TAN dragon!! Honestly... What decent dragon is tan?? Blah. I should have made more of an effort to be evil, at least then I could be pretty. Anyways, I just changed my avatar and it's my club's logo. Original, I know. Hmm, I was a gold dragon. Guess I'm good and all.

Yeah, I have a lot of the same info with just a little extra random facts at this post: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2964&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50

Shoto-uke = Knife Hand Block. not elbow lock. and uchi-uke = Inside Block. not elbow lock. Make sure you realize the origin of the word "uke". The root "uke" (verb is ukeru) means simply to receive. Only in the most basic sense are these techniques blocks, but nowadays in many places "uke" is almost always synonymous with "block." I of course first explain "uke" as meaning block when I introduce people to the basics as well. However, this isn't so much as a "shame on you" post as it is a "here's an interesting tidbit of info" post.

I'd have to say that it'd depend on the competitors, but I might go with the martial artists. I used to be a boxer, but found it much too limited. Yes, we did learn how to take hits and we had extremely great conditioning, but boxing is still a sport. Size isn't the biggest thing either. I've fought people 30 pounds lighter than me and 30 pounds heavier than me and the hardest hitter was someone who boxed at 119 lbs. Bruce Lee was only 135 lbs. soaking wet. Yeah, I'm sure if I went into the ring again, I can't make any guarantees whether or not I'd win against another boxer, but a real fight isn't just about taking hits and giving them, that is only a basic layer of fighting. Plus, in a good karate system, a karateka should know how to grapple and take things to the ground. Sadly, most people do not realize this... All in all, my money is with the masters. Take the example of Motobu Choki. Some people may have heard this one, but when he was 52 years old, he took on a Russian boxer and knocked him out cold with his bare hands. 52 years old...Might I add, this was during a boxing vs. judo tournament in Kyoto, and the boxers were creaming the judo guys left and right... That being said, I still respect boxers and do not dismiss them out of hand (a lot of my friends are boxers). I'm just saying there is more to a fight than what boxers learn, and while they are no doubt powerful fighters, I'm going to stick with the martial arts masters.

I have sadly been in situations where I have been forced to fight and I must say it came in pretty handy.

There are many styles or teachers out there that do treat kata as simply a method of movement, relaxation, etc. However, as Kirves stated (and as usual, what I wanted to say...) is that kata should always be performed with bunkai, visualization, and partner-help is always a plus.

I would, if the situation warranted it.

Yuck...I don't eat junk food...Hey! Stop giving me all those wierd looks! *Backs away slowly*

Well, I'm still in college, but I'm at the college I want to be. After I graduate I join the Air Force, but I don't find out what I do until next February (maybe I should reanswer this then?). My childhood dream job has changed so often, I don't really know what that would be. But what I really want to do is work in Air Force OSI (Office of Special Investigations) which is kind of like a mix of the FBI and CIA. Its kind of a result of a cheesy sense of justice I have...but until then... Have I made millions? That would be nice one day... Martial arts isn't my life and work, but it does take up a lot of my life (I try and practice about 2-3 hours 5-7 times a week). It would be nice one day to open up my own school and teach though (Once I amass more experience and I would love to give back to my art).

The sai was always a police weapon that was imported from China. Don't let people convince you it was an agricutural tool, as it is one of the few weapons in Okinawa that was not. <===no metal on Okinawa, by the way... The tonfa originated from the handle of a grindstone. One interesting one was the "e", which is a handheld weapon coming from a device that fishermen used to pull in fishnets. There was always some indigenous weapons arts in Okinawa and they were simply developed further when the weapons ban was placed on the Okinawans.

I wear contacts. When I don't have those, I just take my glasses off. Of course, I wore my contacts when I used to be a boxer too, I just tried not to get hit in the eye...

There are a lot of double punches that can be used to varying parts of the body to devestating effect. I didn't really think about using them until I started learning pressure point theory.

Hmmm....not a big fan of the heian/pinan series, since they are kind of just watered down advanced kata. I like Chinto, Gojushiho, Passai Sho and Dai, and Kusanku Sho and Dai....oh wait...I guess I don 't really have a favorite one.

I've learned all the empty hand kata for my system, so now I'm going back and making sure my layers of interpretation are getting increasingly advanced. The newest one was gojushiho though.

As usual, I go to respond to something and Kirves says pretty much what I was going to say

When captured by those who do not follow the Geneva Convention and do not care about the treatment of prisoners, women may face an extremely horrific ordeal. I think we all know what I mean by that. There is also the fear that although men may not talk under torture of themselves or male comrades, they may feel inclined to do so if a women is threatened.

Haha....cheaper than most places though (unless you buy in Japan). I saw the set in Japan in a used manga store (all 28 volumes) for like 5000 yen, which is like 40 US dollars...

Anyone seen Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi? (Known as Spirited Away here in the States) I thought it was good, and I'm not ashamed to like it even if it was geared for children. Miyazaki is great!

For the rurouni kenshin manga set (and really for a good deal on most all Japanese manga) go to this website. It is a little slow sometimes. Its where I get a lot of mine... http://www.sasugabooks.com

I take Kobayashi Shorin Ryu, so I got that name. It is actually a sort of pun, as the proper romanization of the Japanese word meaning style is Ryuu. The proper romanization of the Japanese word meaning dragon is also Ryuu. And dragons are cool, right?

Late wishes everyone (I was being a survival instructor out in the field on the 4th of July).

As a member of the military, I believe that for every job in the armed forces, there should be a minimum physical level that is the same for both men and women and for more strenuous jobs like infantry, there should be a single test regardless of gender. And regardless of gender, if you fail that test, you should not be allowed to do it and if you pass it, you should likewise be able to do it. Defending your country isn't about being politically correct, it is about defending your country. That all being said, I'm all in favor of women in the military, I just think there should be a physical standard that everyone should conform to, regardless of gender and it should be the skill and ability that determines it all.

In the manga, where they have the entire Jinchuu Arc where Kenshin has to fight Enishi and his cronies, beats everything, hands down. The newest OVA that goes over it a little bit leaves out like 95% of everything and while it was cool, it wasn't really how the fight with Enishi went. If you can find the original Japanese comics or maybe some scans on the web, it is the best.