granmasterchen

I am currently in misawa japan and teach the forces on the base martial arts. as far as back when i was in the military, we didnt' learn any thing in basic training, when I went off to special forces training we were taught by some of the worst looking marine martial arts instructors ever, the worst techniques you could possibly imagine is what they taught. After a couple small confrontations with me and the instructor that left the marine on the groun in each scenario I was elected to teach the martial arts combat program for the base which eventually led to what I do now as a military contracted civilian to go around and help teach at military bases. Basically the only groups that are made to attend are special forces and military police. The programs they go through are very very very basic and short, nothing to even compare to a martial arts program. We cover some basic aikido manipulation and some submition holds along with strikes and escapes, we train on how to disarm and how to use the batons and similar techs. But just like any art form, if it is not trained on a regular basis, you lose the skill. I encourage the people that I train to see me at any time for further free training to maintain their skills and even enhance them. So feel free to ask me any questions that you may like, i'll try to respond as best I can in the time differences that are placed on me and sleep patterns and all.

well, as it worked out, the set up of techniques in each style for black belt were the same things that I had done in other styles, just different terminology. Some of the styles had me do a one on one with instructors where we could go through the terminology and show the exact same movements and such. So in that sense I went through the exact same black belt testings as the others of that school had done, only with the instructors substituting terminology in for those that i was more familiar with. Doing demonstrations of all your techniques and such and showing them all that you had to learn and know gave other instructors an idea of where I would rank in their system. In some systems I was a brown belt, where as other systems I would be a fourth dan. The big factor for most styles and instructors were the forms. The fact that I know bassai would easily get me black belt in many styles, yet in some styles they study the tekki/nihanchi katas before bassai and others they do them after bassai....and so forth....So, in the aspect that the styles are nearly identical to many that I have studied in the past, I have no problem with accepting the rank, seeing as I can step in front of the class at any time and feel comfortable teaching them the same movements that their normal instructors would. In the aspect of styles where I am not comfortable with their movements and such I feel odd. Many styles have granted me honorary black belt and master titles simply by my combination of knowledge, skill and philosophy in regards to budo and bujutsu.....so there are many mixed emotions, but I am comfortable in many styles, others I am honored for the title and still have much new information to teach them, yet much to learn from them as well.

yes, there are many requirements one being dedication and contribution to the arts others may include but are not limited to katas, sparring, breaking and such breaking is a big thing in my style one of the things we must do for a very low dan rank is to take a large bucket, place an apple at the bottom, fill the bucket with sand, and spear hand through the sand and pull the apple out with one swift technique. but yes there are lots of various criteria depending on styles and instructors...

you can kiai without opening your mouth, you can do a proper kiai to tense the stomach muscles and give yourself that extra edge with out letting your opponent hear you, it may sound like a grunt instead of a loud shout. but I agree with cross, during kata, but during sparring, i don't usually bother....honestly, I get annoyed when I am at a tournament and I see a student doing Kiais during a match.....since they usually only do it to get a judges' attention and thus make it slightly unfair by giving theirselves an edge in a fight.....yet most judges(hopefully) can see past this subtle technique....

nicely said

from the training I do with Iron Forearm, we most work on "forte" training. where you stand across from you partner and you slam your forearms against each other like you are both doing and inside forearm block coming from the outside of the body. You smack forearms over and over again for hours. At first your arms will get red, bruised and very sore, but you gradually work your way up and hitting harder and gaining more power in your blocks. This way your blocks are or will eventually be powerful enough to break bones when you apply the "snap" into your block. The second level that we went to in the training that I did consisted of going up into the mountains. We got a 50 lbs log, tied rope around it, tied the opposite end around a branch of a tree. One person would walk up a hill located on one side of the tree and then swing the log down towards the person on the opposite end. This person would have to block the incoming log with his forearm blocks. This taught a couple things; 1. to condition your arms for the incoming force of blocks 2. to injure your opponent with the power of your blocks and 3. in case you miss the block, you get hit in the chest which trains you to take hits to the body, which was also a part of our iron body training. We trained in the entire iron body conditioning and to the extreme, so I do not recommend this type of training for those that new to the art only to those with several years in the art and with a master their to give you proper guidance and training. -also, in case you do do this, at the midway point of the log's swing, it accelerates very quickly up to you!

i started off in MDK TKD, the katas and all that I learned were very easy transition to other styles, I quickly got an honorary BB in shotokan, asahi ryu, then shito ryu and shorin ryu. I then started training in japan where I quickly was given honorary BB in kyukushin karate and ninpo budo taijutsu. After training with ITF and WTF TKD, along with MDK TSD, I again got honorary BB in their styles as well......It all started because of my knowledge of techniques and skills, since they were all similar or the same, I actually received a higher dan rank in some of the styles than I had started with in my original style. Now for styles that were very different like the kung fu arts....now that is a different story.....it intitled new moves and so forth yet I eventually made my way in that as well....the point is, once you have a great foundation in any art, it is much easier to get a BB in any other style....once you are a master, you will realize how easy it is to transition from one style to the next, because after you reach a certain level you come to the realization that ALL styles ARE the same at a certain level, they just train the techniques in different orders with different focus on certain techniques.....

Many moves exist that can kill a person in one blow. Yet for obvious reasons we don't allow these moves in competition. So on that note, you can't judge effective fighting styles of a competition to what may or may not be effective in the street. I can guarantee you that if these blows were allowed in competition; 1. not too many people would still compete 2. There would be lots of maimed and dead comptetitiors. think about fighters that get into a grapple....all of a sudden the one shoots his arm up and tears out the other's throat....quick match....winner by death.... my point is; don't judge competition fighting effectiveness to what may be effective in real life street combat

If you are lucky enough to find a great master/sensei/sifu/instructor or teacher, you should be happy and grateful. You SHOULD show your respect for that person. In the cases where you have this opportunity it is natural to look up to your instructor as a person and as a martial artist. In this aspect you should try to base yourself and set goals to be similar to their humble attitudes towards life and their skills as martial artists. This is a fundamental and upper understanding in the levels of budo as the martial way. Not just the skill of fighting but the way you live your life and view life. On that same topic, respect; yes admire;yes but worship, no Like you said, everyone is human, even these masters and the masters that taught them. Nobody is perfect. But don't misunderstand someone's respect and admiration for their instructor as outright worshipping of them. There is a difference. Be careful how you approach the situation. Just like some of my great teachers, many smoked, one did drugs, some were involved in illegal activities, but they were still very good at the martial arts. You have to make the decision on what you want to learn from them. If you like their combat skills, study their combat skills, if you like their philosophical skills, study their philosophical skills and so on. If the instructor has problems, their is no need to adress them infront of others, simply learn what he is willing to teach you. More than likely your instructor doesn't come in to class and teach the students to smoke, drink, do drugs or perform other illegal activities. What the instructor will teach, most likely, will be to learn your techniques, to train hard, to think before you act, to be skillful and to be humble, to be calm and control your emotions. Most instructors don't bring their personal lives into the dojo so on that side don't critisize them for what they do outside of the dojo. If the instructor makes a mistake in class, also remember that they are human, don't lose all faith in their skill or ability to teach just because of one mistake.....take advantage of their experience, skills, and their dedication to teach you a skill that is truely without a price, absolutely priceless knowledge passed down through generations of martial artists. Remember to be respectful, but don't outright worship or get the misconception that someone or anyone is perfect, keep this in mind and you will be fine. It is not wrong to have heros, but sometimes the admiration we have for them can be wrong and lead to problems....good luck in all your future trainings, I hope this helped somehow.

Congrats going on from green belt is when i started learning the intricate parts of martial arts, finding the meaning behind every lesson and every movement....that was a great transition in my martial arts training, keep up the hard work!

man, i've only paid 20 dollars a month for the last 10 yrs or so with my master.....must be nice having a master that doesn;t rely on teaching martial arts as his sole source of income!

Breaking bricks is a part of martial arts that not all schools participate in. It all depends on the instructor, not the style. Not all practitioners believe in the art of breaking and see it as a waste of time, just like many see kata as a waste of time. Breaking teaches you control and how to focus your power. It builds confidence and is an excellent way to show perfect technique. There are many tricks to help you learn to break or to break more effectively. If you would like more information just send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Feb 17th, PACIFIC martial arts breaking champion, 24 inches of concrete in one break with an elbow strike

I sent you some messages, I practiced shotokan and many similar styles, of course katas have slight variation everywhere you go.

I am interested, but then again I am interested in any new martial arts info. lol

I used to live in Monterey, where do you study at over there?

by the time your an instructor....hopefully you have the skill to end a "street fight" quickly....I admit that I am no where near as in shape as I was before black belt, but I can guarantee you that my skill and ability have only gotten better, I no longer train endurance, I see no point in me being in shape and prepared for a fight in the street to last 5 3-minute rounds.....but yes I still believe in staying in relative shape, we just don't have the time, keeping a job that makes us our true income, then spending time teaching, and having time for our families....many things have changed in life for the martial artist in general since they first received their black belts....at least a good amount of us.

it's all in the mind, once you understand the fact that the boards, cement and bricks...ARENT hard then you can start breaking down the mental barriers that hinder you and make you fear the strike. Once you KNOW that you can break it, then you CAN break it. my latest break was 24 inches (2 feet) of bricks with my elbow....what a rush...aaaaa I love breaking!!!

I know and practice some very unorthodox and very very dangerous ways of toughening up the body if you want to play it very dangerously....but be warned...it is very dangerous...the training could easily kill you.

Does anyone have information that will lead me to the "infamous" Korean Kicking Kata....i call infamous because I have been searching for it for years....with very little success, only a few people that have seen it once or twice....and my instructors are back in the states.....so I can't reach them being over here in Japan....and many styles have never heard of the form....

if you train diligently in any true style, you will become effective in defense and many other areas.

hmmmmmmm, this may make you think a bit more.... all the heian/pinan katas were recently found to be derived from one very very very long kata....long name that i can't remember off the top of my head.... anyway, some great instructor, possibly funakashi-san broke the forms up to be learned in segments easier.......actually i dont think it was funakashi, he just switched the order around, originally after the breaking into 5 forms, heian 2 was the first of the heians...and heian 1 was actually the second... anyway the point is that all five of those katas originally derived from one, long kata, so if you take the combination of all five of those forms, and take the original, I may say that that original kata was very very vital to learning basic techniques, combos, applications and breathing.....just think...all five were one....apparently the tekkis/nihanchis were as well.

in "general" white, yellow, orange are the beginner levels blue, green, purple.......and the new camoflague that i just saw this week at a school are in the intermediate category brown and red are in the advanced then you have your black belts.... granted this is only a generalization, I have sparred blue belts when i was in the beginner level at tournies and blue in intermediate and blue in advanced....some schools have a different standard. some have green before blue, blue before green, blue before orange, purple before green, green after purple and so forth....some styles dont have brown instead they have red....or vice versa....and some have both, others have belts with stripes on them ....say for instance white on top, yellow in the middle, and white on bottom, the top and bottom show what level you are at, but the middle level shows that you are closer to attaining that given color than someone of a solid color....it can be confusing......

there is a big difference between registering yourself as a black belt at your police station and getting into a fight and being penalized due to your skills in combat. Big difference there. But as far as street fighting being similar to martial yets, only lacking the structure I agree with to an extent. As a street fighter you advance and find moves that are more effective by fighting over and over. You will learn holds that are effective, ways to punch that are effective, how to hit harder, where to hit places to do the most damage, and certain grappling and submission holds, you will find where its good to kick and easy to kick. Many street fighters will be able to kick the knee and groin and know not to throw sloppy high kicks that they are not skilled in. Many will be able to throw hammer fist, uppercuts, haymakers and jabs and even combinations. Many will know head locks, and throws, and how to knee someone to the midsection or head. Some may use elbows and many wrestling moves seen on tv. So yes, it can be similar that there are moves and such that can make a street fighter an effective fighter and that their skills improve as well, they do lack the standard structure of a martial arts class, but there is also a structure to the streets.... just something to think on.

I really enjoy basai as well, also known as passai, or basai dai...the first and original form of that specific kata. I learned it as a green belt I believe....yet mastery took many years

what kind of help do you need?