Sauzin

Well the same is true of the bo. If your doing lots of person on person drills then you want ratan. But Okinawan ni-tan bo does a lot with kata. And hardwood dowels will work for this. It all depends on your instructors curiculum.

Well it's pretty obvious you needed to tell somebody. You just told the wrong people. You should be telling the police or whatever kind of family wealfare department exists over there. You should also tell your parents, your teachers, and/or a counselor. But you're right we can't help you. It's kind of like martial arts. Learning the most effective defense art in the world won't help you if you don't have the sack to use it. And how can you expect to have what it takes to defend yourself when you're being attacked if you can't or won't even denfend youself after it has happened? The first step in any defense is being brave enough to choose to use it.

Geeezzzze, and you know what is sad? The guy in that video would be considered a "master" here in the states. Why? Because he's actually gripping it reasonably well, his feet are in the right position (though his posture is terrible), and he's at least able to imitate a proper arc with his swing. You see what I mean? The old arts are in serious danger of being lost here in the states. I have to admit myself that I don't know enough about the Japanese sword to be able to recognize many of his mistakes. How could a person off the street tell the difference between him and a legit sword instructor? How do you know if what is on the tape is worth a dime? And why do we have such a problem with quality control here in the states? Well a lot of it has to do with people professing to know an art when they have merely seen a video. Another reason is it seams the subtleties that make these arts what they are, are lost on many of us! I don’t think people know what becoming proficient at the sword means. You can’t learn a few basics and then get the rest from a video! Chances are it isn’t even on the video let alone recognizable by someone who has just the basics. The more people who settle for imitations, the less of the real thing we can expect to see out there. That is a horrendous shame. here here!

If what you say is true, then your uncle should be in jail.

Yea, if you think that someone stabbing you with a sai is going to do anything for you except give you tetnis then you have been decieved. The very best sai artists in the world didn't need to be stabbed just like the very best rock climbers in the world didn't have to fall clear off a cliff, so why should you? What is the point of a martial art if you end up hurting yourself more then the people who you are learning to defend yourself from? Think about it, you're kind of defeating the purpose here.

Thanks for the compliment. I can get a little expressive when I bring out the soapbox. I think that is the first time anyone called it artful though:P. What Shorin-ryuu, Gunyo Kogusoku, and Hudson said is exactly what I mean. Now what Kchenault needs to ask himself is, why would we all be in agreement? Are we all conspiring just to get students and keep people from learning, or is it possible that our experiance has taught us the same thing?

This is what I was saying. No one person came up with the way to wield the katana that is currently practiced in today’s traditional martial arts. The techniques used today have been refined over generations of masters. While each system may have a founder, the founder gained experience elsewhere and was taught by real live people. Not a video. No founder of any legit system has been taught solely by a video. I agree that following a dream is not easy. Nothing worthwhile is. Beginners and even some experienced martial artists need to understand this. There is no easy way to become a good martial artist. Many tapes try to sell you on an easy way of learning an effective art. This is marketing hype. A real art, even if you have a teacher, requires commitment, hard work, and discipline. Sure it's fun, but even with a teacher it's not easy. With just a video it is impossible. If you really have a dream of learning weapons then things like learning another art should not be a problem, especially when the art you practice has no such weapon art. While some weapon arts can and are taught separately, many aren't and shouldn't be. Many weapon arts draw on specific empty hand experience. In fact I started martial arts practicing in a version of Goju-Ryu that did not practice weapons. I was lucky and found a weapon instructor who would teach me weapons separately, but after some work I soon found that learning the empty hand art that he taught made learning the weapons correctly easier. It would have been more work to just learn weapons then to learn both arts. Kata, which all traditional arts have some form of, are more then just a technique. Comparing them to one painting technique is a gross inaccuracy. Comparing them to a painting style may be closer but still not allow comparisons to objective successes. Painting is subjective, winning a fight or protecting your life is not. This is why I use the bridge building comparison. Building a bridge is complicated and its architecture can be very artful though the main objective is still to reach the other side safely. Fail in this, and the art is pointless. Again, would you settle with a video on bridge building if your life depended on it? To what lengths would you work to find a real instructor who knew what he was doing if your life was at steak? Do you think the creators of these arts had the luxury of settling for less? Do we really know if we can afford this luxury ourselves? Will your bridge break? Am I an instructor? Not technically but I do help run classes. I do not make money and I have nothing to gain except the opportunity to refine my technique and the satisfaction of helping others refine theirs. I am a student and nothing more at least twice a week. I know what I know because I have tried it and seen it. I have seen people learn from videos out of convenience. I have seen someone have to unlearn and relearn these things and take much more time then if they had just put forth the effort to find someone to begin with. Or even just waited until there was someone to show them. I have also seen people who learned entirely from videos convinced that they have a martial art that will protect them on the street. I hope they never have to find out the truth the hard way, but somehow I think that not knowing their art is ineffective increases their chances. Am I biased or experienced? I don't know take your pick.

Oh man you just don't know how far off and how depressing this type of thinking is. I'm going to get on my soap box here and go over a few points. I hope I don't step on any toes. Karate, kobudo, iaido, and more are art forms but I think you might misunderstand what kind of art they are. They are not dance and look pretty arts. They are not miming or imitation arts. They are not abstract arts whose beauty is found by the beholder. They are martial arts. This means they are made to work and in working they allow you to express yourself. But if they don't work then the expression is hallow and without drive and purpose. Art of a martial art is in the effectiveness of the expression. This differs from painting where the art is both the expression and their interpretation by observers. An untrained child can paint, the same is not true of iaido. Where the paint brush used for a specific non-subjective purpose (like building a bridge) then your comparison would be closer. Now imagine if you learned to build a bridge from a video tape. Say you did get it constructed, but then had to trust your life with it by walking across. If failure meant death would you settle for a video tape? It gets better. I don't know if some people really understand what is passed on between a teacher and a student in a martial art with a lineage. It's more then just the way movements are done. A kata is like a journal that has something written in it from every master throughout the generations who has touched it. We aren't talking about the creation of one man. We are talking about the compiled works of generations of accomplished martial artists. Their legacy is in the kata and the way it is taught from teacher to student through the decades. And you guys think you can get any of this from a tape? You can't. Not even a little bit of it. Not a smidgen. Nothing. You get your own interpretation of a group of movements. That is not the kata, that's a soulless construction put together by your mind. Not the minds and hearts of generations before you. The more people who do this and pass it off as a martial art, the harder it will be to find the real thing. And there's more when talking about weapons. For all the subtleties of empty handed arts, times them by 10 and that’s what you find in legitimate weapon arts. Especially the katana. The difference with the katana is that if you learn it from a tape, not only are the techniques useless and likely to get you killed if you rely on them, but you are very likely to hurt or kill yourself or someone near you. Is learning nothing at all better then learning a little incorrectly and getting killed by it? YES! Should people follow their dreams? ABSOLUTELJY! But not half a$$ed. If it really is a dream then you should fulfill it with the real thing. Find an instructor, learn the real art. None in your area? Then move! It's your dream for God's sake don't make excuses, go follow it! But if there is no one around, or you are too lazy to look or pay for it then find another dream that you can really fulfill. Because the last thing that you want is a life filled of false accomplishments and dreams that mean nothing and that’s all anyone trying to learn these arts will ever get from just a video.

Well first I'd like to say that it's obvious that you and your team put a lot of time into the kata. The movements look very practiced and deliberate and I really think you will do well. Actually, and I mean this seriously, the H-form katas are some of the best H-form I've seen. Now since you didn't ask for a critique I'll not go any further. I think you know that I have some opinions about certain things (such as spinning a bo in one hand, striking under the arm, or twirling a sai) that might cause me to make a few suggestions. There are perhaps a few other things... Regardless, thank-you for sharing the videos with us.

No you haven't asked any of these questions before. If you had I'm sure no one would ask you to get a qualified instructor, because you already have a qualified instructor for the bo, remember? There's an old saying it goes something like, "If you ask a cruddy question, you get a cruddy answer. "

I agree and I disagree. Cross grain, no matter how skilled the cut, a katana is not going through a red oak bo. It would make about a 1/3" - 1/2" cut then stop. Now if it were at a 45 degree angle then maybe. But a katana can't even go trough a straw mat or bamboo shaft at a 90 degree angle. Let alone 1 1/4" of hardwood. Under most if not all most all circumstances I would completely agree that clashing is not optimal. Under almost all circumstances the opponent's weapon should not be the target (a common mistake in fight choreography). This is perhaps the only exception I could think of. The very first thing I would do if I were facing a swordsman with a bo is I would attempt to either break the blade by clashing it's side or wait for his strike and intercept it using a 90 degree angle with my bo. Once the weapon was lodged I would quickly remove it from his hands or break the blade. He would be the one avoiding my weapon not the other way around. Why do you think Miyamoto was so successful at besting enemy swordsmen with a boken? A boken can take a clash, a katana cannot. This is another reason the jo became so popular against the katana. There was no quicker way to remove a swordsman of his weapon then to use a staff. Similar accounts can be found in Europe as well. Quarterstaffs were often used to disable an enemy’s sword then pummel them to death with the sword often still attached to the end of the stick that is hitting them.

Hey I don't want to discourage questions. I just want to encourage better questions. Questions like: "What timing is appropriate when doing a side strike?" "Does the hip, the foot, or the bo move first?" "What do I need to do to my front stance to make it work with a bo?" "Where on the bo should my hands be when I complete a strike?" "How close to my forward hand do I slide the back hand when doing a slip punch with a bo?" "What is a good stance for a side block?" "What makes a solid side block?" "What kinds of blocks can be done with a bo?" "What kinds of locks can be done with a bo?" "How do you disarm a bo?" "What is the proper way to grip a bo?"... There's many, many more. And you don't have to get defensive. I'm just concerned for your safety and the safety of anyone reading your posts. After all, these were just suggestions.

Actually a wood bo would have a better chance then a metal bo. It would be faster, the katana could get stuck in the wood of the bo, and the wood bo could shatter the katana. Still a katana would likely win, but you would have an even worse time if the bo were metal.

Um...yea nix the idea. In fact wait about 10 years then consult with your sensie to establish coarse material. And just so I can say I told you so, your general attitude towards weapons, such as thinking about weapon teaching techniques as a yellowbelt, practicing with swords and metal bo's, and your insistence that you can't find or don't need a qualified weapons instructor but need to jump into it now anyway because you just can't wait is going to get you hurt. Advice: 1.)Limit your weapon practice to a rattan bo or a white oak bo (6ft bo, jo, hanbo, nitan bo) until you can move to a place where there is a qualified weapon instructor or you get lucky and you find someone in your area. 2.)Slowwwww Dowwwwwnnnn. Practice your technique, form, and defenses repetitively and at a slow speed. 3.)Work closely with your instructor. 4.)Use the forum to ask basic questions relevant to the things you are working on at your rank. Don't fill your head with a million things that cannot be understood. Get the important stuff down first.

Speed and the jo's ability to change hand positions in transition. A bo is too long to do many of the jo's changes, but with a jo you can maintain control. The jo is just long enough to have reach over the sword, but not loose speed. A jo vs a bo would be a different story. Given the space the bo would have a serious advantage.

I don't disagree with you entirely Shorin Ryuu. The best way to do it is to focus on all the aspects at once. I haven't found very many people who can do this right off the bat though as you noted it is difficult. I noticed you described energy and biomechanics on the same step. The problem I have is with people who separate them. Like you said, you really can't. But what do you say when you are asked, "How do I incorporate chi?" I usually reply, "How do you not incorporate chi?" What makes chi work well? Proper breathing, correct body position, efficient movement, and the proper mindset. What does a person need to know about chi to do these things? I'm not saying don't think about it or don't learn about it. I'm saying you don't need to. In fact if you focus on it too much, especially during kata, you may miss one of the fundamental things that makes it work. Instead I suggest passive awareness of chi while doing kata. Acknowledge that chi does exist but do not attempt to force its existence. Instead focus on the things that allow it to work and it will develop and strengthen naturally over time.

<-- not a huge fan of actresses or actors playing martial artists in movies. They would do better to teach a real martial artist to act.

I have heard that in reference to a jo. Classically Muso Gonosuke a master at the bo attacked Miyamoto Musashi with a rokushaku (6ft) bo in their first duel and lost. He then meditated on Mount Homan realizing that his staff was too long, and then faced Miyamoto with a jo. This was Miyamoto's only defeat. In most cases I think the katana would have the advantage. There was an interesting sword vs bo discussion earlier, try doing a search you may find it.

I like this wording. Don't worry it's not too personal. The answer (if there is such a thing) is in kata. I know what you are referring to and my opinion is that you need to keep working kata and give it some time. In time as you practice your kata your body and mind will gain control, focus, and efficiency of this energy that you are building. The kata in Goju are more then sufficient to do this when practiced properly. Work the physical details. Work correct positions, once you hit these consistently, work the transitions and the efficiency of movement, then work the timing, when you tense what muscles and then work when and where you focus on what movement. These things will occupy you for years and years then seemingly without noticing you will find that your energy will align and focus to match your physical precision. There are other ways, but this is the most common approach in Goju-ryu. Oh and weapons help too.

Ok first question, go to this web site and order it from them. You will be in purpleheart paradise: http://www.murasakikobudo.com/pages/products.html Your second question has a simple answer and a not so simple answer. The simple answer is you inner power will strengthen over time and repetitive kata practice, specifically as your Sanchin grows so will your control and projection of chi assuming you've got a qualified instructor. The more complicated answer involves your definition of what karate was really meant for. You must understand that there are many views of what "karate as a way of life" means among traditional martial artists. It does not always mean that karate should focus or include chi specific exersizes or development. I will tell you this; some of the most amazing chi I've ever seen demonstrated was from a 4' 10" 90lb Okinawan called Seikichi Odo who didn't believe in it. That's right. He believed chi was made up out of lack of understanding and was convinced it was an unnecessary distraction. Yet he was able to pick up and throw 260lb men across the room and drive wooden military tent spikes into the ground with a single palm strike. Things that were not seemingly physically possible. I guess what I'm saying is you might try worrying less about chi and focus on kata. You are only a Sho-dan, so you are just beginning. I am a little concerned you are teaching at such an early rank. As a San-dan I do "co-teach" but I do so under the supervision of 5th dan and I am hesitant to take credit for actually teaching, since I am really only passing on instruction that has been approved by a real teacher. Your rank would denote that you are very early in the game. You should not be frustrated that you are not a chi master yet.

You might be able to engrave a Shureido natural sai. Engraving the Shureido chrome sia's would not work. The chrome eventually wears off and engraving would just make this happen faster. Still the engraving would not be easy to see on a natural sai and really in the end accomplish very little.

http://www.weaponsconnection.com/ These are really good too. -Paul

OK, first off to the original topic. I want to make it very clear. There is nothing shameful about safely spinning weapons or props that look like weapons (hatchets, knifes, sai, torches, kama, nunchaku, etc...). You just need to understand two things. The first is that there is nothing martial about the art you are practicing. Spins are beautiful, fast, and wonderful displays of dexterity. But they don't work in a real fight. Not even a little bit. So don't try it in a fight. You'll get hurt, killed, or go to jail. The second thing you need to know is that you are practicing a respectable art that by working spins and other techniques that cannot be used in a fight is technically a type of juggling. Webster's dictionary defines juggling as: "to perform the tricks of a juggler" and a juggler as "one who performs tricks or acts of magic or deftness". This is what spinning is. As a result going to a martial art forum might not be the best place to find help in what you are doing. Juggling is a very popular art and there are many forums and web sites out there who can help you with spinning faster and doing tricks. I'm now going to try and ignor what frakis is saying about killing people with swords and looking cool . I will just say that I am glad he traded them in for a bo.

Frakis, your heart seems to be in the right place but this is bad advice. False confidence is a very bad thing, and with kama's it's all too common. I don't know how confidence can be anything but false unless you have a qualified instructor with this weapon. You can't just judge for yourself when you are ready to move fast with a kama. A teacher is required. While generally I don't suggest practicing with wooden kamas, even this would be preferable to practicing alone. And intimidation techniques? If you have time to intimidate someone, you have time to run away. Get help. Call a cop. What in the flying heck would anyone be doing with a kama unless it was life and death situation? Not the kind of life and death situation that runs away when you spin a blade. To justify using a kama it would have to be a very extreme situation, other wise you will be behind bars when you're done. Just spinning them around at someone threateningly is considered assault with a deadly weapon. Come on frakis, this isn't the movies.

Guess what the fun looking spins are based on? Seriously check out the links I gave you. It's the same finger manipulations that are used in advanced baton work. I'm not talking about releases either, not if you're doing the hand changes correctly. What you see in XMA is show. Maybe 1/10th of that "weapon" work would do anything in a real fight. And if it doesn't do anything in a real fight, then it's not a weapon. It's a prop. You will find prop forums on the links I provided. Even if you did want to learn the real weapon, it sounds like you don't have the time to learn it right. Why do something half-way? It's a waste of time and it's dangerous. Start with a simple weapon like a bo. Then when you have the time, move to something more dangerous.