Sasori_Te

Welcome to KF!

Again, thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts. Sensei McNeill and his wife certainly appreciate it.

Especially if you're a dad with a daughter.

I guess it depends upon your understanding of what a high "block"s purpose is. It sounds like both the judge and the students trying to cross train have a limited understanding of this technique. I will agree that since these students are trying to grade in another system they should do the material the way it is done in that system.

Try "Okinawa Island of Karate", by George W. Alexander. It is an excellent history book with the origins and lineage of all the prominent Okinawan styles (and some not so promonent ones as well).

The positions don't matter nearly as much as the mindset. What exactly is it that you want to know? There are several different examples that I know but they all work toward the same goal.

Unconsciousness is achieved by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain. Any time that you remove oxygen from the brain some amount of damage occurs. There are many other variables that dtermine whether or not a person can or will be seriously harmed by a technique like this. Somone earlier mentioned that they had used this type choke numerous times with no problems. Let's look at it another way. Do you think a court is going to care when you tell them, "Your honour, I've done that choke a bunch of times and nobody ever died before now." How far are you willing to push your luck if it isn't necessary?

I know several different qigong exercises that are done from a lying flat on your back position.

Now you're really learning. Most people don't realize how little they know.

You can also try looking at https://www.gojushorei.com Sensei Mcneill was the other original co-founder of CaneMasters besides Mark Shuey. He makes some great canes too. If Shoju is still running around in here you might want to try asking him as his organization was starting to make their own canes. They were going to start selling them for good prices the last I heard. It's very difficult to use drugstore quality canes for martial art work. They are nowhere near sturdy enough to take constant punishment. You need to find a good oak or hickory cane. My instructors cane is hickory heartwood and it's take some SERIOUS abuse. After years of this I actually managed to nick it a couple of months ago. Time to strip it, sand it, soak it and refinish it. I have a friend in Arizona that also makes beautiful custom canes out of exotic woods like purple heart. They are very nice. I'll post his website if I can find my business card holder. If you don't feel like waiting on me you can do a search on T.J.'s Weapons. Let me know if you find him.

Prospector, you just proved our case for us. You said you can't perform a judo throw all that well, yet you say that you learned the basic principles of balance breaking, positioning and execution. If you had truly learned these things and understood them as well ash you should then you would be able to perform said throw. This is why you should have a teacher show you core techniques and principles. There is too much room for a beginner to misinterpret information from a book. Thanks for proving our other posts on why you need an instructor.

For those who asked, yes he is a Christian. Thanks for all the responses.

Hi folks, I would like for anyone out there in KF land that believes in prayer to pray for Soke Dave McNeill. Sensei, if you read this or are told about this I hope you don't mind. Sensei McNeill is the founder of the Goju Shorei Weapons System and a co-founder and previous partner of Cane Masters. Sensei McNeill has been diagnosed with throat cancer and is presently undergoing radiation and chemo therapy. All prayers and positive thoughts are welcome. I can say that Sensei McNeill practices the highest ideals of the martial arts and is a true seeker of the way. If you don't believe in prayer or have nothing positive to say I would ask you to please be respectful and don't say anything at all. Thank you in advance for any responses.

I didn't say my style didn't do the majority of the things that you are talking about. Indeed a lot of the Okinawan and Japanese martial arts do. But I have seen Chinese styles that bend their knees much deeper than what you are talking about here. I've also seen Chinese systems that don't bend their knees as far as you are discussing here. I have studied physics too. While I'm not a mechanical engineer I'd like to think I have a good handle on the basics of structure and movement. I'll admit that I wasn't paying close attention to what I was writing when I wrote about 50/50 stances. I was in a bit of a hurry and my meaning did not come across too well. You need to admit that much of what you have said in this post is style specific to your particular style. It doesn't make what you say any less true. There many roads to the same destination. That's my wise, all-knowing answer. I'm practicing it. What do you think?

Very wise for a rookie white belt. Just Kidding jarrettmeyer. Yet another good post.

Very good post jarrtettmeyer. I agree with what you are trying to say here. Meditation can calm the mind and help you become more a part of what is going on around you rather than having all your attention taken up by what is going on inside you. I too feel very connected with everything after I meditate.

You just did refer to bending the knees in general by referring to "any 50/50 weight distributed stance." Also, any time that both knees are bent and both feet are on the ground they will both be supporting knees no matter what the weight distribution. This is a generalization and an assumption on your part. Not all styles do this the same way. Again, this is a generalization on your part about the specifics of your style. Physically, you lower your center of balance when ever you bend your knees or physically somehow lower your body as a unit closer to the ground. You are getting stability of a stance confused with lowering your center here. By your last statement you are discounting many styles of martial arts due to the stances that they use. What about a cross-legged stance? Oops, gotta' go. I'll answer the rest of this post with my opinions in a little while. Sorry for cutting my views off in the middle.

Sounds like you are doing some sort of wheel kick to me. This is okay if you're trying to do a wheel kick but unacceptable for a sidekick. Try this: Look at your target Pull the kicking knee up towards the opposite shoulder as tight as you can. The butt cheek of your kicking leg should be facing your target. Lead the kick by opening your hips/ rolling the hips open into the kick. THis is very hard to explain typing. Try and visualize your knee pointing more (about 45 degrees) down toward the ground than out to the side. Lead the kick with the hips and the heel of the kicking foot. Don't forget to pull that toe back. Also, don't get into the habit of locking your knee out with a full extension kick.

I will agree with 47mm here (Wow a first ). The initial information is too vague to answer with any certainty. Without specifics I still say that all are correct and there are more applications for a bent knee besides.

I'm like Master Jules. I'm constantly (almost) thinking about application and technique. I physically train at least once a day for an hour. More if you count going through a technique physically after I think about it.

I would also very much recommend Marc Tedeschi's "Essential Anatomy for Healing and Martial Arts". It is an excellent reference for anatomical and pressure point locations. It does not, however, cover how to use these pressure points. It's strictly a reference book. I bought it a couple of years ago and gave that copy to Soke McNeill of the Goju Shorei Weapons System. I bought another copy about a year ago.

I'm in agreement with Shorin Ryuu and ShorinRyu Sensei. I don't necessarily have anything against combined styles. I'm more interested in who combined them, their background and their reasoning for doing so.

Sai has a good point. Try pointing your big toe straight up in the air while flattening the foot for the kick. This will push your heel out. I hope I explained that well enough. I understood it perfectly so I must have.

I'd say 75 to 80 percent of my training is devoted to the continued refinment of basic technique. Thinking about it, I don't really like the term "basic" to describe technique. It makes them sound overly simplistic. I think core technique is a much better description. What do you think?

I too can hardly wait for the unveiling to occur. It promises to be a very spirited discussion.