Sasori_Te

Most of your self defense techniques are probably in kata somewhere to begin with. If you know how to look at kata and break it down properly you'll see many locks and throws that are commonly used in self defense scenarios.

If your instructor allows you to wear shoes try asics wrestling shoes. They grip very well and are very tough and flexible. Any wrestling shoes are okay but asics are what I use on the occasions that I wear shoes.

Yes, we practice both bunkai and oyo. We then apply the variations to one, two and three step sparring and then to free fighting at a more advanced level.

Very well put Sens55. Thank you.

That's because it hasn't gone bad yet IAMA chick. An indulgence like that by an instructor can literally ruin a school. Not to mention that it's highly unprofessional of your instructor to date a subordinate.

I'm not knocking mixed martial arts. I'm knocking some of the practitioners with the attitude that they are the baddest thing walking. I practice a well rounded regimine to include grappling and jiu jitsu. I also believe in humility and respect. If I offended anyone by my initial post because of misunderstanding, I apologize. A style is only as good as the practitioner. Of course there's a good point that traditionalists have their big mouths as well. I would say that Malkosha had some excellent points. As far as self defense goes, I've seen lots of real fights and participated in several. I have never been in one that went to the ground. Every one started with either a shove or a sucker punch. I'm not proud of those fights but they did teach me some pretty good lessons. I wanted to say this so that you don't think my opinion comes from blissful ignorance.

I've been drawn to martial arts every since I was a kid. I don't really know why. It looked magic to me as a kid and I wanted to be able to do that. Now it means so much more to me. IT's truly become a lifestyle.

It varies from school to school. My first instructor let me train without paying tuition because I taught beginner classes for him. I've had instructors since that charge no matter what. As long as I receive my training it really doesn't matter to me. Teaching someone else is not the same as you being trained. You can learn more about techniques you already know by showing them to someone else but you obviously can't learn a technique from your system without it being taught to you first.

karateka is simply a practitioner of karate. The belt wears and fades after many years of training.

If you like your training don't do it.

If karate is not high enough on your list of priorities to make enough time to practice at home then you may as well quit. The dojo isn't a store where you go and purchase a technique, go home and put it on a shelf and then use it as you need it. It takes many thousands of repetitions to get a technique right. Multiply that by the number of techniques in your style and you'll see that there's no way that the instructor can teach you the way you want to be taught.

I found a magazine while doing an online search. Try going to https://www.furyu.com. This magazine covers traditional Japanese and Okinawan arts. I believe however that it is only published quarterly.

I use my front leg extensively. It's easier to snap a fast kick to their lead leg thigh, knee or calf. I also use it for inside sweeps quite a bit. Also like to use it to attack incoming low kicks with a knee. Front leg kicks don't telegraph nearly as much as rear leg kicks do. I've found that by careful practice in front of a mirror you virtually eliminate any advanced movement from a front leg kick. I believe the Chinese call this the shadowless kick.

That's not really the vital points I was referring to practise. I'm referring to more advanced and exacting points than the throat, major joints, eyes or groin. These are good for basic self defense but I'm talking about something that requires a lot more training and study.

Leaning while kicking also telegraphs the kick terribly. you can see it coming from a mile away. Remember, when you slide the rear foot forward you leave yourself open for a check or a push. A side thrust kick isn't hard to block, you simply move out of the way.

Since we're talking about an actual fight instead of sparring, the worst that can happen is you get yourself seriously injured or killed. In a street fight nobody cares how fast you are or how flexible you are. All it takes is one mistake. Granted, you could still make that one mistake with both feet on the ground. But, if you think your that flexible and that fast and can do what you want to your opponent, you're already making a critical error by underestimating him. You will hardly ever know what the person facing you is capable of until it's too late. So to counter that you must know what you're capable of and what you know best. If that happens to be high kicks then good luck.

Thank you smr. I knew that there were other examples. I just couldn't think of any more examples from classical/traditional styles off the top of my head.

Ben, IMO if you kick to the mid section your leg will be at least parallel to the ground. This effectively reduces your balance and control by half, the half of your normal balance point that is now parallel to the ground. The higher the kick the more committed the kick and the longer it will take you to retrieve. I personally don't kick at all unless I'm relatively sure that I can get away with it. And then it's a low kick. That of course is again just my opinion.

A better suggestion is probably this. If you have access to a video camera, ask your instructor if you can tape him doing the katas. This will give you a better idea of what he is expecting from you. I did this for a couple of my former students.

I subscribed to it for a while. The articles started turning more towards the latest martial arts movies or the flavor of the moment in new instant martial arts. I didn't renew my subscription. Now, I read through it and buy it if there's anything worth reading further. I've seen a few aikido magazines that were good if you like Aikido. However I haven't seen any Karate magazines that are that much different from Black Belt.

I opened up a school in a small town in Arizona. The kids there had nothing to do and I thought that it would be good for them. I only charged $20.00 per month with fees lessening for additional family members. The only reason that I charged anything was to provide liability insurance as well as buying the equipment needed for the school. However, over a period of 2 years small town politics claimed my adult class. A student I had, one of Sensei Demura's former students, happened to be not well liked by most members of the community because of a business that he ran in town. Anyway, he was an excellent student and they wanted me to ask him to leave class because of their disagreements with him. I wouldn't, so they left. So it was he and I and my kids class. The kids weren't putting in any effort to learn and the parents in town were indifferent. As far as I could tell I was just a babysitter for 3 nights a week for an hour. So, I shut it down. It opened my eyes to a lot of considerations that go into opening a school. I'll certainly be more careful before I do it again. This is just a small representation of what some people expect for paying money for a service. My ethics were worth more to me than their money.

Shihan Fumio Demura is my idea of the perfect "commercial" school owner. He is extremely successful but he keeps the art first and foremost the most important thing. Passing along his style is what's important to him. This has reflected in every one of his students that I've come into contact with. They are usually excellent technicians, very very respectful and always willing to help out however they are able. Unfortunately, schools like his aren't the norm that I've experienced.

Goju1, try going to https://www.dragonsociety.com, or there are several books that I could recommend that you check out. Try 'Essential antomy For Healing And The Martial Arts' by Marc Tedeschi or 'The Encyclopedia of Dim Mak' by Erle Montaigue and Wally Simpson. The latter doesn't really cover The Five Element Theory but it does cover in depth the angle of the strike, the expected result and the antidote for the strike. There are others but I can't cover them all here. Try looking up Five Element Theory on Google or some other search engine. If not, I'd be happy to explain it to you in an e-mail or series of e-mails. Whatever it takes. I'm all about passing on knowledge.

Please elaborate on "Remember there are NO non-Okinawanor Japanese GMs/Hanshi/Soke/O'Sensei.". I know Hanshi Bowles from the Shuri Ryu lineage. If you are talking about classical martial arts then you could be correct (except for Hanshi Bowles). However I know of several styles in the tradition of Okinawan martial arts that have American Sokes and Grandmasters. Also, to comment on calling a Gransmaster master, I believe that you should address them as master because you respect them enough to use the title. I don't believe that someone needs to be referred to as master at their request.

I would disagree with no kicks. I was able to use low kicks, among other things, to "save my arssse" as Hohan puts it. It depends on what your comfortable with and what opportunities present themselves.