Sasori_Te

Even if you have the best video in the world the Chinese neija or internal arts are not going to be learned without a proper instructor. There far too many intricate details involved that can only be learned by instruction from someone qualified to teach the respective internal style.

He reminds me a lot of the guy behind this place. http://www.ten-no-kishi.com/ This guy really irritates me. Check out his lineage. He has irritated a lot of the Native Americans with his services.

I had a chance to visit with Sensei McNeill this past week in Nashville. He is doing well and has two more weeks worth of treatments to go. He wanted me to persoanlly thank all of you for your kind thoughts on his behalf. So, a sincere Thank You, to all of you.

Haveinfun You also need to go and do some fact checking instead of blindly listening to Angi Uezu's hype. He was in Kichiro's organization when Kichiro was forging his father's signature. He was not Shimabuku's top student. From what I have read and seen (of course there are always two sides to every story) Angi Uezu didn't start until Don Nagle and those guys were already dan ranks. I can't remember the Okinawan guys name that was in line to inherit. I'll look again and post it later. But it was not Uezu. I'm going to have to agree with Master Jules here. His diploma analogy was right on in my opinion. As I said before, I will be studying baji/ pigua as well as chen and yang taiji ch'aun. I want to get a better feel for some of the roots of Okinawan karate. I will also be concentrating more on my Goju Shorei Karate.

There is supposedly a good instructor near me named Tony Yang. He seems to be very well respected in the Chinese MA community. He teaches the following. Baji/Pigua Beginning Training Neigong and General Single Moving Warm-up Exercises Jin Gang Ba Da Shi (8 big posture training and fighting applications) Xiao Baji Form and Training Further Training Da Baji Form and Training Pigua Stationary and Single Moving Exercises Pigua First Form Baji/Pigua Combination Form Kun Wu Sword Form and Training Exercises Da Qiang (Long Spear) Training Exercises Liu He (6 Harmony) Spear Form and Training Exercises Tanglang (Praying Mantis) Beginning Training Basic Warm-up and 18 Lohan Exercises Basic Punching, Kicking, and Stance Training 1st Set Single Moving Training with Fighting Applications Seven Hand Form and Two Man Fighting Further Training 2nd and 3rd Set Single Moving Training with Fighting Applications Babu (8 Step) Style Forms Qixing (7 Star) Style Forms Meihua (Plum Blossom) Style Forms Mimen (Tight Door) Style Forms Liu He (6 Harmony) Style Forms Internal: Taijiquan Beginning Training Basic Neigong and Warm-up Exercises Basic Kicks and Single Moving Exercises (Yang's and Chen's) Liu's Abstraction of the Old Style of Yang's Taijiquan Liu's Abstraction of the Old Style of Chen's Taijiquan, 1st Level Further Training Push Hands Training and Fighting Applications Liu's Abstraction of the Old Style of Chen's Taijiquan, 2nd and 3rd Level Long Form of Old Style Yang's Taijiquan Long Form of Old Style Chen's Taijiquan Pao Tui (Cannon Fist) Chen's Style of Taijiquan Taijiquan Jian (Sword) Form and Training Exercises Taijiquan Dao (Sabre) Form and Training Exercises Internal: Yin Fu Style Baguazhang Beginning Training Basic Neigong and Warm-up Exercises Basic Walking the Circle and Palm Changes Training Xiao Kai Men (Opening the Gate) Linear Form Further Training Eight Mother Palms Form Tight-hand Form Deer Horn Knives and Hooked Sword Forms Dao (Sabre) Form Jian (Sword) Form Two Person Exercises and Fighting Applications Weapons Dao (Sabre), Jian (Sword), Staff, Xiao Qiang (Spear), Da Qiang (Long Spear), Hooked Swords, Deer Horn Knives, Needles, Nunchakus Other Forms and Training Mi Zhong Quan 1st and 2nd FormsXing Yi 5 Elements and Linking Form His website is: http://www.wutangcenter.com/wt/index.html Tell me what you think about this guy.

Shio is not the correct spelling for "4 corners" there is a term shiho that means four directions, but the only place that I am familiar with this is from Aikido and a few other styles that incorporate shiho nage or 4 directions throw. I've never heard of this in a Shotokan style either. As for the other kata you mention could it be niseishi?

I really don't know where you guys get this stuff about hurting one of a group and having that effect anyone else in that group. If it was me and I was a member of that group and you hurt my friend, that would be that much more pain headed your way. You cannot assume anything in a street situation, especially that all those techniques and martial philosphies that you have practiced in class are invincible, or are even going to work at all. There are no trophies and glory to be had in a street fight. The only trophy is your @ss home in one piece. That is definitely a trophy you don't want someone taking from you and handing back to you on their terms.

The Japanese term your looking for is mushin "no mind" I believe. I have several exercises that aregeared toward this. As long as you have your techniques practiced into muscle memory, no mind works like a champ. If you have nothing to react with the reaction is usually to freeze as your mind engages and tries to think of something.

kotegashiNeo, Do you know the application behind this technique? Several come to mind but I'm always interested in hearing something new.

I just wanted to give you guys an update. Sensei McNeill is still undergoing treatments but in his usual stubborn fashion he still goes out and teaches classes at his students school I believe one night a week. He definitely hasn't lost his sense of humor either. Thanks for all the nice thoughts and prayers. Keep 'em coming.

I would like to ad my 2 cents to this post. It doesn't sound like this black belt knew what he/ she was talking about. It's not calloused skin on the knuckles that you want with this type hand conditioning. You want the bones to become more dense, not the skin. The skin is too superficial and can be lost easily lost. Bone conditioning involved putting pressure on the bones that are not normal. You can do this by doing knuckle push-ups on a firm surface, not sand. You can also strike hard objects lightly at first and gradually harder as your conditioning starts to take effect. You can literally pound sand in a bucket, but you can also hit a sturdy heavy bag. I personally prefer a static makiwara for training. You can make any bone more dense like this but you have to do it very carefully. Arthritis and deformity can result from improper training. Bone cancer is also supposed to be a side effect.

So, by all means, please enlighten us on how you relax like this. Enquiring minds want to know.

a fast bigger guy will hit harder. Why not both?

Certain kata/ qigong are supposedly best performed at certain times of the day according to whether they are prevelantly yin or yang in nature. mornings for yang energy work and evenings for yin energy work. This is a quick answer to what he's actually asking so I'm aware that it's an over-simplified explanation.

From what angle are your instructors approaching this discussion? Are you talking about energy work? regular workout type stuff? A little more detail will allow for a more informed opinion. Maybe not much more.

I would also like to remind the newer guys, sparring is simply another tool that should be used for learning timing along with technique. Sparring is not fighting by any stretch of the imagination. competition sparring usually amounts to little more than a fancy game of tag. If used correctly (taking the emphasis of competition away) free sparring can have many benefits. You don't get your @ss kicked in a dojo(you shouldn't). You are shown weaknesses that you may have. You figure this out, fix it and are better for having had the lesson. Everything in a dojo should be about learning and improving not I'm better at this than they are, or I might not be able to spar but my forms look better. The only person in martial arts that you need to worry about beating is yourself. Try and do better every time you perform a technique.

I agree with Shorin Ryu Sensei. Most lower ranks look like one of those toys that I hated from the '70's. You may have seen those stupid plastic balls on a string with the sole purpose of bouncing off one another. Beginners look like this to me sparring most of the time. Straight line attack, clash, back off in a straight line. Learning to shift your center line in any direction at will is very important to self defense and sparring.

It sounds like shin splints to me. You might have a series of very tiny superficial fractures. When the muscles and tendons exert pressure on this area you feel a sharp pain. It takes a week or two of babying the leg for the pain to go away, however you can re-injure your leg quite easily for about 4 - 6 weeks. The same amount of time it takes for a regular bone break to heal. My advice is to take it easy on your leg for a while.

I've read pretty much the same. Miyagi, Chojun traveled to China initially from 1904 - 1908 and studied the Southern Crane style. He went back several times after that and studied with other systems. It seems I heard somewhere that he studied black tiger, but I could be completely wrong about that. I might have him mixed up with someone else.

It's kind of strange too because the only time I ever use palm strikes are when I'm training them with repetitions, and during some self defense scenarios.

I taught/teach situational awareness and training to my students. I personally believe that it's very important to take in your surrounding wherever you may be. I do this without much conscious effort anymore. It's something of an ingrained habit. Here's a recent example that can partially be accredited to situational awareness: A few nights ago my wife, daughter and I went to a reataurant a few miles from our house. We were getting ready to leave. It was my turn to take our daughter to the restroom. Upon exiting the restroom my wife jumps from around a corner to give me and the little one a scare. My reaction was to side step in front of our daughter and back into a cat stance lead hand slightly forward to ward, stepping into a sanchin type stance with the rear hand coming forward with a palm strike. My wife came about 4 inches from being struck in the head before I caught myself. It happened that quick. I don't think she'll be doing tht again any time soon

What kind of fighting do you know how to do? Also, I hate to break it to you, but by beginning training in the first place you should have already taken on a great deal of responsibility. You have the responsibility not to use your skill unless you absolutely have to. You have a responsibility to your instructor to try your hardest t olearn what he/ she is teaching you. You have a responsibility to your peers to learn control so you don't injure them in class. I can go on but I won't. So, what's a little more responsibility compared to what you already have? You won't know whether or not you'd make a poor teacher until you try. Also, it's been my experience that if you think you're doing a bad job, that just means that you're worried about how well you're doing. It also means that you probably aren't doing nearly as poorly as you think you are. Your instructor will help you through all of this. You should never be left to your own devices while you are learning. I don't see the big deal. Also, being 3rd kyu should give you at least 1 1/2 to 2 years to think about it.

As you said, it's simply a spelling difference. Kempo/ Kenpo means fist way. Ch'uan Fa means the same in Chinese.

That is where you would be technically incorrect. The I-Ryu system was turned over to Kichiro upon his father's death. He and he alone can determine what happens to the original I-Ryu lineage. There were many others that disagreed with this decision and formed splinter groups. Angi Uezu worked with Kichiro Shimabuku in the original lineage for some years until they had some sort of falling out and Angi Uezu also left that organization and formed his own. In other words, Kichiro Shimabuku's organization was the only one authorized by Tatsuo Shimabuku.

We were always lucky enough to have a few folks that had previous training in jiujitsu. As Kempocos said Okinawan Kempo is a lot od standing grappling. I too have had the pleasure of training with some small circle folks and also some danzan ryu jujutsu guys. Simple answer is we supplemented our stand-up grappling with ground fighting as the opportunity presented itself. Some of us, myself included, trained with other people on a part time basis to attempt to fill these perceived gaps. As someone else said, there are bunkai applications for kata that translate to ground work but I haven't had the chance to study them closely yet.