Sasori_Te

I have a question. You got out of your car and this guy just walks up to you for no reason and says this to you?? Nothing else had happened between you prior to this? You'll have to forgive me, but I've never seen an adult (even a bully) act like this. There is usually some sort of catalyst for the situation.

bushido-man96 I agree with you 100%. A very high ranking guy once told me that if he ever stopped learning it was time to quit. These were lip-service words from him, unfortunately, but they always stuck with me as a good way to look at training for the long term. Rank just gets in the way, especially when it isn't utilized properly.

Belts and titles ....... titles and belts ...... Blah .... Blah .... Blah. Too much of this in martial arts if you ask me. Can you you teach me something? This question can be answered in the affirmative by everyone you train with or meet walking down the street. That's all I need to know. Everything else is ego. If not directly on the part of the person with the title then by the folks who have conferred the title. It's a word and much like the physical belt rank in any given system, it means no more or less than the definition given it by that particular system.

I try to keep all of my students updated at least on the local laws concering self-defense and concealed carry. Really, any aspect that I can think of that the training I provide may fall into. At the end of the day however, I tell them that in an actual self-defense situation it's better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Sorry to be the fly in the ointment here. (Not really ) Why doesn't the instructor know this already? As an instructor myself for the past 15 years, I usually have a pretty good idea of the disposition of all my students. Of course, I don't teach children either, but that's niether here nor there. As a parent myself sometimes I think we tend to see the flaws of other people's children more quickly than our own. Don't be too surprised if the instructor already knows about the things you are concerned over. There may be a reason that he's allowing it or we may not be getting an entirely accurate picture of the whole situation. Of course with some schools and instructors out there now days, they could be totally clueless which is an entirely different problem. Regardless, I hope you have good luck resolving your problem.

Kicking with the ball and toe of the foot has been a part of both the Naha and Shuri Te Lineage systems since the techniques were imported from China. Uechi Ryu Karate ( Pangai Noon Gong Fu ) still utilizes the big toe and ball of the foot to devastating effect. The body has to be highly conditioned to do this however. I found some video of Shinjo Kiyohide Sensei doing various breaks and one of them is a big toe kick. You can see it at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWfXX5aQhjc These kicking variations all depend on the body part being targeted and the skill of the kicker.

Thanks for the extra info on those books. I haven't read either of them. But, I was wondering about GOM's sources. He mentions some interesting details that I would like to study more.

many resourcea?? Can you give me a few examples? I'm always looking to expand my collection.

GOM Good post. Could you please tell me where you got the details? I'm a MA history buff and story collector and would love to find out more. Thanks.

I would think the most impractical weapon would be one that I'm not trained in properly.

I'm going to have to agree with Martial_Artist here. No matter what you carry you better be well trained in using it. In other words, you remain your most important weapon. Both have advantages and drawbacks. You guys better check your research on the knife vs. gun distance thing though. A person with a blade out has the advantage over a person with a holstered weapon from 40 feet. This was based on a study done in the military using sling rifles and holstered pistols. If something goes down close and quick with a knife the person with the gun is at a distinct disadvantage. As stated before, it all comes down to proper training to include appropriate empty hand tactics against both of these weapons.

Tung oil does make the wood shiny. Over time the coats act sort of like a varnish. I would also recommend soaking your weapon ( yes this is a pain ) in something like mineral oil or linseed oil for 3 or 4 days then let it hang dry for 3 or 4 more days and then apply the tung oil. This will keep the weapon from drying out from the core. Good luck.

Yes Shotokan is descended from Shuri Ti. Funakoshi Sensei's instructor was Itosu Ankoh Sensei and he was a Shuri Te stylist. Funakoshi and Itosu together (mostly Funakoshi) changed the art to be taught to school students in Okinawa and Japan. Then Funakoshi named his style Shotokan. Shuri is simply the name of the village in Okinawa where this style of Ti was practiced. On Okinawa most Karate was called simply Ti or Tode. The variations were due to the influences on noted instructors in specific villages and were later named after those villages. Shuri, Naha, Tomari ..... Later instructors started using their own names to differentiate their personal styles within those systems .... Shotokan ( Shoto was a pen name for Funakoshi ), Uechi Ryu ( named after Uechi, Kanbun ) ... Anyway, you get the idea.

Givnal I meant to say that seiza is used like the lotus posture. The type of meditation you are describing can be done from any position so long as it's comfortable. I was simply elaborating on what seiza was traditionally used for in terms of meditation. I'll elaborate more as I have time.

Let the random thoughts happen. They're going to happen anyway until you learn to ignore them. The key is, don't hang on to any one thought and don't get hung up on the fact that stray thoughts are messing up your serene meditation. I personally let the thoughts happen. I don't concentrate on anyone particular thing. Think of it as watching scenery from inside a moving car. Simply let it pass by. Your thoughts will become one big blur of background noise which you will eventually be able to ignore totally. Don't concentrate on any one thing. For example, If you concentrate on your breathing you start wondering all sorts of things about it. Am I breathing correctly? Is my breathing too fast? Is it too slow? Yadayadayada ...... Let it blur. Then you can start fine tuning your meditaion after you calm your mind. As for seiza, it's a different take on the lotus position for energy work. The idea is that it's easier to accomplish circulating the energy ( small circulation ) up the back and down the front (I'm really generalizing here) if the hips and knees are bent. This is supposed to greatly reduce the flow to these areas ( think of pinching off a garden hose ) and allow more energy to be available to circulate along the desired path in the upper body.