GrrrArg

Have a good'un Aefibird!!

Couple things happened since I posted that.. Went to Physio, im a biomechanical nightmare and he cant quite understand how I can train with no pain (I can). Hes given me strict orders to take it easy for at least a month just in case its just a fare up of the same old problems. Meanwhile hes gonna try and find someone more experienced/specialised to look at the problem for me. Second thing, went for a drink with a mate last night. Hes currently teaching my old class. Ie the one where I "grew up" and eventually taught for a bit. I was just watching and waiting till the end of class but being back in a dojo again made me realise I cant stop training. Going on 7 years now (im only 20 next month) and im still hooked! The style I was doing is a bit crappy really. GKR, you lot have probably heard of it. Lets not turn this into a bash though It has the deep shotokan stances but not the experience of some of the shoto guys to know when its too deep and injury causing. So if any of you know any decent clubs in the Newcastle area of the UK... As to the better to train somewhere crappy than no where at all. Id rather train at home on my lonsesome Ive been a bit spoilt by effectively getting free private lessons off a 7th dan one of his 3rd dan instructors, with occasional input from a couple other 5th and 6th dans. Maybe its sounds a little arrogent, but theres alot of crappy karate out there. Id rather avoid these days. Maybe's I am getting old after all.

Just under a year ago I realised I was largely wasting my time with a style that wasnt going anywhere and not doing me any good. So I quit the style. I was fortunate enough to be able to get a job down in kent and was offered somewhere to train (ShiKon dojo, with Steve Rowe) training was brilliant. If I wrote down a list of what I wanted from Martial Arts it would match exactly with what was being offered. To cut a long story short it didnt work out and ive ended up having to move home. Now I got a couple major obstacles to training. My right knee and my left knee. Original style has pretty much destroyed them. The stuff ive most recently been doing has gone some way to helping build up the surrounding muscles and tissue, but now that im no longer training there, things are going down hill quite fast. And I cant find anywhere "decent" to train at home. So i guess im wondering if anyones had similar problems re a cross roads in training and how they overcame it. Part of me cant see myself ever training again, even though I really want too...

Not to sure about this topic..

My old club had shodan-ho's. THey wear a plain BB. Shodans can have their names in the spangly writting Not an idea I personally liked, but it seems be getting more popular these days. (god that makes me sound old!). Im with Shorin on this...why not just have the same process as a 1st kyu? What got me about the old club was that you spent about 9 months+ on 1st kyu...then the same again on Shodan-Ho. A bit weird. Ho hum, to each their own I suppose.

Just to be pedantic, im gonna say sport MA will do you more harm than good. From my personal XP i could score points on an attacker. But no longer so sure I would hurt them..

Bunkai means to breakdown and explore the kata. Oyo is the application of the kata. Kata were devised as a way of remembering large volumes of info. They ingraine moves into muscle memory. There are a myriad of possible applications to everymove in every kata. Some of the them are very nasty and useful, some are nonsense. IMO, if anyone thinks kata oyo cannot be used..they just dont know the good stuff. I used to think the same way, im happy to say im now a convert. If you want more and better info, buy Bunkai Jutsu, by Iain Abernathy.

You got any more information on this club you visited, it will be easy enough to do a bit of digging and find out some info. Could be a good club, just an idot of an instructor, in wich you dont wannatrain there. Also bear in mind ppl judge by different standards. For example, competition success doesnt matter to me, its not something i look for in a club anymore. Doesnt means either is bad. Just different. .

To be honest its not an easy question to answer im afraid. A good one to ask though. Perhaps it might be better if you expand your questons a little? There are ppl here who could give you a disertation based on that question? How much detail are you looking for etc:

Another good topic Angela..well done on the member of the month to. Myself im start to develop a keen interest in alot of the things you touch on above. Pity most of it just went right over my head lol

Thats pretty much what shikon is all about, yeah.

Assuming it follows the main shi kon club, it will do yang family tai chi too (same as italian guy) the extra skills are little bits of kickboxing (for lack of better term) for imediate SD benefit. Weapons wise Jodo (4ft pole) and Iaido (sword) may be available as may tai chi weapons such as the chineese broadsword, scholars sword and spear. Its very much SD orientated as oppose to sporting karate. But has a relaxed atmosphere and no dojo politics and good instruction. Of course I can only relate to my experience in Kent, but its all good. Go try a few free lessons, see what you think. And keep us informed.

Its affiliated to Shi Kon, one of the best clubs in the UK. It wont be sport orientated, but you will learn effective karate in a pleasent atmosphere. Steve Rowe is who im moving a couple hundred miles down the country to train with..

I started 6 years ago at thirteen. And now im going back to be being a white belt again, very refreshing. All experts! lol wishful thinking

Not many ppl have them pulled out, but those that do like to spread the joy My mum had hers out.. made me want to keep mine, looked as though she had been beaten up quite violently. Very painfull apparently.

In reference to gedan to block a kicK.. Have you read Rick Clarks 75 down blocks? Its on my wish list.. Shorin Ryuu, again I agree. As long as the intent to hit you is there on your oponents part.. that can be argued as the first attack, its just that you were faster.

I agree, good post Shorin Ryuu, I smell an article!

Hmm I didnt mean the whole system. Say if an Aikido person taught you a more effective way of locking a wrist, would you use that?

From what ive heard Bruce Lee could be quite the racist himself. Like ppl have said he said most system were incomplete not just karate.. But perhaps karate was pictured as the bad guys because its strongly associated with the japanese?

Spent 6 years doing sport karate because I didnt know any better Then twigged I didnt like competition. Going to be doing street effective stuff based on Wado Ryu soon enough. Dont know if most would call it traditional. Depends on your interpretation.

Hello slamhamster Jax_Evolution, im another GKR runner. 6 years and im finally free Its not all bad, but its not what I wanted, theres so much more out there.

If you feel it works quite well then dont change it. There approach was what made them the masters. If they saw someone doing something better than the way they did it, then they used it. Eventually they were able to see they flaws and correct them themselves. Things stagnate and die without change. But at the same time dont fix it if it aint broke etc: I agree, your still gonna get attacked in much the same way today as you would in the past. But if it suddenly became glaringly obvious that you were doing something that actually wouldn't work, you'd change it.

What I was actually trying to get at (got a bit lost in my ramble ) was that in an SD situation the oyo you used wouldnt actually use a simple block as a block. More likely there is a more subtle and final interpretation of it.

Quite a bit. They should move to the orient and share their wealth of knowledge, im sure they will be well recieved.

Would you agree however that there are no blocks in a kata? Different to no defensive moves.. Best form of defence is offence.. IMO they are entirely interchangeble. There is a very fine line between offense and defense in kata. That "block" could be a lock, which very quickly becomes offensive etc: Its semantics really I suppose. [ramble/]