Sasori_Te

Also, I wanted to pint out one more error that you made. Tai Chi has many fighting applications within it. Tai Chi Ch'uan translates to Grand Ultimate Fist or Grand Ultimate Boxing depending on who you ask to do the translating. To be fair, there are many people that teach different forms of Tai Chi for health benefits. Some people teach these things after only having cursory training themselves. To be sure, I have met several people with a much deeper understanding if this art that do indeed know how to apply it's combat applications.

Good for you. Are you going to have time to enjoy it before you go away?

You don't have "all of the above and more" as a choice.

Not that I'm aware of. I didn't even stay with him an entire year. Not that he wasn't a good instructor, but what I really wanted to take was Shorin Ryu or something very similar. He also taught Shorin but only if you belonged to his Danzan Ryu class for at least 6 months or something like that. I started training with Mike Wall very soon after this.

I hate patches on uniforms and never allowed my students to wear them. We all knew what we were there for without having patches to remind us. I have worn patches when I train with other styles that wear them but I still don't like it. I never understood the purpose.

karatekid1975 makes a good point. One that I have been looking for in this post. Sparring isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on how you spar. Do you spar for points and stop in between each point? Do you spar for points continuously for pre-determined length of time or until a certain number of points is reached? Do you do pre-determined sparring? This is sparring where each individual involved performs pre-determined attacks and counters. How much contact is allowed when you spar? These are all important considerations that will determine how useful your sparring is to your over-all training. There are more but this a quick list.

This is Oyata Senseis background from Mike Minor's website: Taika Oyata's family lineage dates back to the Zana family, which was a Bushi family in Shuri, Okinawa. His ancestor Zana Oyakata (Oyakata is title) was the King's scholar. When Japan invaded Okinawa around 1609, the Shuri King was captured and the Zana family head resisted and was killed. The Japanese also required the family to change their name to Sinda which means Death. Years later the family name was changed to Ikemiyagusiku and eventually became Oyata. Taika's father was the middleweight Sumo champion of all Okinawa. When he was young, he and the rest of the Sumo team challenged all comers in Okinawa. Kana Oyata was the strongest man on the team and won the competion for his native island. Taika was the fourth son of Kana Oyata and the youngest. His three brothers Taro, Kiseii and Akio were killed in the second World War, He, also fought during the war and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Japanese Navy. If the war continued a few months longer, Taika Oyata would have joined his brothers in death because he had been selected for a suicide (torpedo) mission, his death certificate had already been sent to his remaining family. As a part of training in the Navy, Taika was required to train in Iado (art of the sword), this is where Taika got his introduction to Martial Arts. When the war ended Taika returned to Okinawa and continued his studies of the martial arts. About this time he started a job working for the US government delivering food to the smaller islands. Food was not readily available and there was much starvation on the islands. Taika Oyata was stationed in the village of Termu where at age 17, He met Uhugusiku No Tan Mei who was from a Bushi Family that resided in Shuri. Uhugusiku No Tan Mei was about 93 years old at the time of their meeting. Because Taika Oyata had royal blood in his ancestry he was allowed to study under Master Uhugusiku. Taika Oyata took extensive weapons training from Master Uhugusiku, learning many aspects of the indigenous weapons of Okinawa. Taika was also introduced to Master Wakinaguri who as a Chinese Martial Artist and was also a Bushi warrior. Master Wakinaguri was asked to teach Taika the art of vital point striking and pressure point striking, techniques for which Master Wakinaguri was renowned. When Taika Oyata met him he noticed that all the fingers on Master Wakinaguri's hands were the same lenght. This was due to many years of training by thrusting his hands into pumice. Taika Oyata was Master Uhugusiku's only student, at the time, He considered Taika a family member calling him "Mago" which is Okinawan for grandson and teaching him more than he would have a regular student. After the deaths of his previous instructors, Taika joined an analytical research group along with Master Nakamura and trained with Master Uehara. He was accepted as an instructor/student in Master Nakamura's Dojo becuase he had studied from Uhugusiku No Tan Mei. From Master Nakamura, Taika learned the tweleve empty hand kata he now teaches to his present students. Taika worked with Master Uehara (Motobu Ryu) on weapons and was a training partner. Through the years, Taika has constantly analyzed the kata and the human body. He developed his own style of tuite that wasn't dependent of strength but of execution of technique. Oyata Sensei is, without a doubt in my mind, the best martial artist that I have ever seen up close and in person. He is amazing. However, RyuTe is a VERY complex style and takes time to become truly proficient in the techniques. Oyata Sensei says that he only had George Dillman in 2 or 3 seminars that he can remember. He says he never received any rank from him. From research, it seems that George Dillman makes many claims like this. Idon't know as I have never met Dillman personally. I am familiar with Rick Moneymaker and Tom Muncy and their Torite Jutsu style. I feel these gentlemen are actually doing what they think is best to further their art as well as martial arts in general. I don't however agree with everything that they do.

He is a part of the AJI organization. He spent his 35th anniversaty in the martial arts with his AJI friends in Hawaii. Glenn Medici, whom I studied Danzan Ryu under, is also an AJI member.

TSG, the impression that I got from his e-mail was that he likes everyone to hold him in that light. By that light, I mean the all knowing and wise Japanese master light. He could have simply said, no, sorry I don't answer questions via e-mail. If I can find a copy of his response and my initial question I will post it.

I'll take that as a compliment. However, I know very little about the Chinese martial arts. I do know a few things, but not as much as the other individuals that you mentioned. I will say that the three of you have a very similar writing style. Perhaps it's just a gut feeling on my part. Well, maybe not only on my part.

Yeah that's what I thought and expected.

I think the question is too subjective to give a specific answer. It all depends on whose kicks and punches we are talking about. If I'm very good with kicking techniques or whatever techniques then those are the techniques that I am more likely to use in a fight. In other words it's not the technique but more the fighter and the given situation.

I would have said "Kodo: Ancient Ways", except that Kensho Furuya is a jacka**. I e-mailed him concerning a question I had about ki. He then sent me a snotty e-mail back about his not writing anything that might be considered speculation. It had a very aloof tone to it. Not at all what I would expect from a zen priest. He then went ahead and posted a portion of my request for his students and made it into something that it was not intended to be. As far as I am concerned, he is an arrogant a**hole first class. Sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone, but this is the way I feel.

Sorry, It's a bad habit. I'm trying to get out of it really.

I'm throwing my vote in for the instructor to handle this one as well. It definitely sounds like there is a high level of ignorance here. Now, does this mom have any reason that she might think is good enough to be acting this way? I personally think this behavior is inexcusable but that doesn't mean that there is not another side to this story. Why did this all start in the first place?

You have to also remember that in a lot of the Okinawan stances the hips are already aligned and "open" for lead leg kicks. Except for front kicks, you don't tend to see a lot of rear leg kicks in Okinawan Kata. As a matter of fact, you hardly see ANY kicks in the older Okinawan kata. As for your hips, I suggest seeing a doctor just to rule out any major problems. If the doctor doesn't find anything try going to a chiropractor as someone else suggested. Those guys do some great stuff. Good Luck.

I didn't think he would be. He doesn't teach Danzan Ryu, he teaches Goju Shorei Karate and is the founder of the Goju Shorei Weapons System. He started off in Danzan Ryu many years ago received some significant rank. I'm not sure what it is specifically.

What was the point in answering what Drunken Monkey said by saying "Duuble Bingo"? Did I mention that I wonder whether or not you, tbk and gilbert are the same person? Not that it matters, inane answers are inane answers no matter which of the 3 of you it came from.

47mm what is your martial arts background? I've never asked. I'm curious.

I thought that "Living The Martial Way" was a really good book too. I loaned it to a friend and haven't seen it since. I thought that "barefoot zen" by Nathan Johnson was also a really thought provoking book. I don't buy into his whole viewpoint but I thought that it was interesting and very well prepared.

Hello missy! Welcome to KF!

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Hello and welcome!

White Tiger and chalkiusa are singing the same song that I know. Make a plan and stick with it, otherwise you will have a second full time job. I'd say that if you're going to teach properly and not off the cuff, you'll probably put in about twice as much time going from student to teacher each week. Good Luck!

Legally here is what I did. It would be nice to be able to trust that none of your students would ever try to sue you but you can't count on it. That is exactly why I opened my scool as a LLC. Limited liability companies/corporations only allow the student to sue the school as an entity and not you as a person. You are simply representing the school. Also you need to get good insurance coverage for a school. There are several good companies that offer fair coverage. You want to be able to find one that doesn't put many limitations on how you can run contact drills and sparring. Starting costs depend on the kind of school you want to open obviously. A big commercial school with a kick boxing ring and all the bells and whistles is going to cost you some nice coin. You might consider a fairly substantial small business loan for this. You'll also want enough capital to carry you through your start up phase. Getting a good student base to carry the school can take a long time. Other than that you can save up and play it by ear. BTW the LLC doesn't cost as much as you might think. If you have a lawyer set it up it will cost around $1300. I had a paralegal company set mine up for me and it cost me $400. Setting up an LLC will also give you some added benefits. You will have a tax ID number and will be able to use this to get substantial volume discounts on equipment from MA suppliers. You also get the benefit at tax time of being able to write off a LOT of your expenses. A good accountant can help you with this for about $120 to prepare your yearly return.