Sasori_Te

My fiance and I were down in New Orleans for Mardi Gras (mistake number 1). We were walking down Bourbon Street when an obnoxious drunk asked if he could see my fiance's t!ts. I figured that I would let her handle it and avoid escalating the situation. Apparently the guy didn't notice me. She told him to get lost. He tried to grab her. I planted a nice palm heel on his forehead. I then backed up and let him collect himself both mentally and physically out of the gutter. As I was walking away a plain clothes police officer grabbed me by the arm and thanked me for not hitting the guy again as he would have then had to arrest both of us. I said your welcome and thanked him for not arresting me and went about my business. I'm just thankful that the situation didn't escalate as the guy was with a group of other guys. It could've gotten nasty. I was very lucky.

ofd????? Is that supposed to be a genuine disorder? I'm so glad that I didn't follow the psychology trail any further than two years in college. I'd hate to think that I was one of the guys sitting around making up names to give people an excuse for being annoying or obnoxious. Although .... they have come up with drugs for many of these so-called conditions, maybe they'll find a miracle drug for annoying a**holes. Hmmmm .. what do you think?

After more intensive research on the internet and asking of questions to pwople in different branches of IsshinRyu, I cannot in good conscience become a part of Kichiro Shimabuku's organization. Apparently he's forged his father's name on certificates dated from the 60's and 70's. There were some other things too, but they matter little. This man obviously has no conception of honor and is nothing more than a money grubber. I'm by no means putting down the style of IsshiRyu. I cannot however be associated with anything headed by this man.

Do not cross train tai chi with instruction from your mom. She will not have had the background to instruct you properly and you will just end up picking up her bad habits along with your own. If you like Karate that much then stick with it. If you're that curious about Tai Chi (find out who the instructor is and what his lineage is), then go for it. Again, before you take Tai Chi, please verify that the instructor is a qualified, knowledgeable teacher that can teach all aspects of Tai Chi. If you don't know what I'm talking about then go do some research on Tai Chi. You should have also done this for your karate instructor as well. Good Luck!

I'm going to have to go with 47MM on this one. Your instructor is dropping the ball in this case. It's either that or we're not getting the whole story. I've had to ask people to leave my class and not come back. It's not fun, but I did it to protect the rest of the class. In the immortal words of Spock, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

dear john. How much time and how much money is involved in each one of these ranks that are being handed out?

Thanks for the info P.A.L. I'll keep that in mind if I buy anything from these guys. I've gotten some books from their publishing company before and they were okay. That doesn't say anything for their videos and dvd's however. I was thinking of buying some of George Alexander's stuff. It's usually pretty good quality material. I'll let everyone know what it was like if I do.

What's wrong with having push-ups for punishment. If you explain it to the kids why they are doing the push-ups (i.e... Let me help you burn some of that excess energy so that you can pay attention.) then they usually don't have any problems with it. I've also found that most people dislike push-ups whether doing them as punishment or for calisthenics. I mean really, they're boring when done in a regular fashion, not to mention thay're hard work if you do enough. Unfortunately, it's not in most people's nature these days to work that hard and enjoy doing it. I also give my kids a speech every couple of months or so and it goes something like this, "Why do you think I make you guys do push-ups when you play around? Do you think I do it because I like to watch you do push-ups or because I enjoy it just to be mean? I make you do push-ups because it's a way that I can provide consequences for your negative actions that still yields a positive result. You might not ever be a good martial artist if you screw around in class but you will be a lot stronger. But seriously, you need to know that EVERYTHING you do in life carries consequences, some good and some bad."

As was mentioned before. Did you sign a no compete clause? I've seen these things in a number of different forms. Some you can't take students, you can't open a school within 50 miles of the school you left that sort of thing. Usually these instructors are better businessmen than they are martial artists. If you didn't sign anything like this, go for it and open your own school. If the students didn't come with you in the beginning and they didn't even bother to come and ask you your side of the story then you don't need them. Those guys are all victims of sensei worship. I've also known a lot of people like this. It should be an instructors job to make his students think for themselves. Instead there are a lot of folks out there that are happier doing your thinking for you. It's a shame really, but how do you change the essence of a person? There will always be good and bad people. Try and cherish the good ones and keep a wary eye on the bad ones.

What part of central Louisiana are you in seeker? I'm from there originally and might be able to help you out. Natchitoches? Alexandria?

Hello folks. I was just surfing and found the best Book/Video/DVD site that I've found to date. The link is https://www.yamazato-videos.com . All karate stylists should check this site. It has some stuff there that I haven't seen anywhere else. Let me know what you think.

Well, tommarker, that pretty much sums up what I have been thinking. The instructor at the school I visited seemed very traditional and also very knowledgeable. I'm going to give it a go. However, it's going to be very difficult to override my previous training to stop that fist from rotating. I guess I'll get over it though.

I agree with you that most other instructors only trained this long in their styles. However, Shimabuku only trained this long in two separate styles (i.e. 7 or 8 years in Shorin Ryu until Kiyan's death and the rest with Miyagi in Goju Ryu.). I would also like to reiterate that he never received any recognition such as a dan rank or a certificate that would allow him to teach either one of these styles. I'm not saying that he wasn't proficient enough to do so, only that he lacked any credentials. I would also like to know more about the "meat and potatoes", if you will, of the philosophy of this system. Thank you for you previous post.

Also, Sugiyama Sensei seems to be a very nice man and a knowledgeable instructor. I have e-mailed him a couple of times and always received a response with an explanation for any question that I had.

I have the book in front of me. The katas included are as follows: Heian Shodan - Godan Tekki Shodan - Sandan Bassai Dai Jion Empi Kanku Dai Hangetsu Jitte Gankaku Ni jyu-shih-ho Chin-tei So-chin Meikyo Unsu Bassai Sho Kanku Sho Wankan Go jyu-shiho Sho Go jyu-shiho Dai As Porky puts it, "That's all folks!"

I have some questions about IsshinRyu for all you guys that call this style home. I think I'm about to start IsshinRyuand would like to know other viewpoints on a certain few things: 1) Shimabuku Tatsuo never received a shodan or a menkyo of any kind before he compiled tha IsshinRyu style. As far as I can determine, he only studied with Kiyan Chotoku and Miyagi Chojun for a grand total of 19 or 20 years. I am a little concerned that he was qualified to initiate his own martial arts style with this limited background. 2) Upon Shimabuku Tatsuo's death his style was set to pass to his top Okinawan student. His son became angry with him for not passing the style to him. Shimabuku Tatsuo then relented on his deathbed and passed the style to his son Kichiro. I've also heard from highly placed instructors that trined with Shimabuku Kichiro that he was known more for his business skills than for martial arts skills. 3) I'm still not quite sure about the vertical fist with no rotation. I know it can be a strong strike in the correct circumstances, but I'm not sure I agree that it is right for all straight punches and elementary "blocks". I'm by no means an expert on this style and welcome any information to help me make my final decision.

At the risk of irritating people with a one liner, Good post AngelaG!

Huh??? Funakoshi's teacher, Itosu Yasatsune was a Shuri Te stylist (Shorin Ryu). The stances in traditional Shorin Ryu are higher and much more natural than today's Shotokan. If anything, I would say that jujutsu/judo had more of an effect on the modernization of Shotokan, not what Funakoshi taught when he first came from Okinawa. Also, the open hands were from Shuri Te's Chinese origins more than anything else. As I understand it, the katas passed from the Chinese to the Okinawans using only open hand and finger techniques. The Okinawans introduced the closed fist into their martial styles. If I am incorrect please let me know, and also where I could look up the information for my self.

At the risk of hijacking this post I want to make an observation. A lot of people seem to be VERY caught up in the whole "My art is thousands of years old so it must be good" thing. I'm not saying that this is what you intended with your post Shorin Ryu Sensei. After reading many of your posts here I know better. I'm really commenting on the way some people have responded to your post with seemingly qualifying statements. Does it really matter how old an art is as to whether it is effective or not? I too am proud of the history of the arts that I have taken, but it is just that, history. If you think about it, the "style" is all in the name and philosophy anyway. The human body only moves so many different ways with only a finite number of combinations of those ways. I was trying to make a point somewhere here in all this rambling so I'll stop now before it's lost any further. It seems my new style will be in IsshinRyu which originated in the 1950's with Shimabuku, Tatsuo Sensei. I'm done for now.

Welcome to the forums.

Hi and welcome to the forums.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome to the forums Libreg.

Welcome to the forums. It's always nice when fellow Okinawa stylists join.

Welcome to the forums.