Jussi Häkkinen

Zenryo Shimabukuro was a finder of Sukunaihayashi (Shorin) Ryu Seibukan. Eizo Shimabukuro is connected to Shobayashi (Shorin) Ryu, which is a different branch of Okinawan karate. (Just to help you to avoid some traps that may come from mixing some Shimabukuro's and shobayashi/sukunaihayashi -translitteration). Yes. Yara PECHIN or Yara Yomitan are the names (well, actually PECHIN is a social status, not a name) that can be found from the lineage chart. It's a different person than Chatan Yara (1670 - 1746, approximate years. Kyan was born in 1870 and died 1945). Kyan's Kusanku is still a Chatan Yara no Kusanku. Here are one article and the lineage chart of Seibukan. I also included a list of Kyan's teachers. Article about Seibukan kata. Lineage chart. Kyan Chotoku's teachers.

It is a "Tomari Chinto", Matsumora Kosaku no Chinto, to be exact. It is a Chatan Yara no Kusanku, but Kyan did not learn Kusanku from Chatan Yara (Kyan is too young for that). Kyan did learn Kusanku from a supposed relative of Chatan Yara, Yara PECHIN (Yomitan). But I do agree, a decent book well worth its price. Not to be taken without a critical eye, though - but that applies to every book ever written.

Hmm, this might come in late, but... If you really want to have something that fits, get a custom made do-gi. Tokaido, Hirota and Shureido all do these, as do the American brand called "Satori-gi". Shureido - and usually the "tournament cut" -do-gi of most brands - is pretty roomy on the shoulder area. Of course, you can measure the key areas of a do-gi that fits and mail them to the selected retailer. If their service is good, they'll find you a do-gi that fits. If they won't do that for you (and only refer to some vague size chart), it's time to find an another retailer.

Practically yes. The turn/jump to the ground is similar in pretty much every Kusanku. Usually the bunkai is also pretty similar. My advice to the original question still would be: Ask your sensei. It's pretty much useless to ask applications from the internet - after all, if one doesn't get them from own sensei, he must train karate in a wrong place to begin with. No advice from the internet will ever help around that.

I still believe that he's actually talking about Nijushiho and Jion. The pronounciation would be pretty close to these. These are also very common kata in Shotokan.

It's completely appropriate and OK to give a gift to your sensei. He will appreciate it. Think your sensei as your teacher and a fellow person. After all, that's what we are - human beings. A small present for Christmas, a "happy birthday" if you know his birthday etc. are appropriate.

It's an excellent middle weight do-gi. The fabric lasts well, hangs beautifully and has all the quality characters of the heavyweight do-gi (of course, with an exception of the thickness and weight of the fabric). It will serve you well and last for a long time.

If you want to shrink a Shureido do-gi, wash it in hot water (as hot as your washer allows) and repeat 2-3 times. Japanese cotton shrinks a bit. Do not use the tumble dryer, it only causes unnecessary wear to the fabric (one tumble drying session will wear you do-gi for the worth of months of training wear). Keep your Shureido well and it'll last years of hard training.

Both Tokaido and Shureido are state-of-the-art karatedo-gi that are pretty much of an equal quality. Personally, I am a Shureido user, but my next do-gi might be Tokaido - or then Hirota, from which I've only been hearing praises lately. Reason for thinking about the brand change is that Shureido has seemed to drop its quality a bit lately - not a lot, and its do-gi still are among the very best you can get, but still enough to make me to think about giving Tokaido or Hirota a chance. You can't go wrong with these brands, so choose freely.

I'd recommend Tokaido, Shureido, Hirota and Ki International. They do embroidery in a way that there's no "negative" image in the reverse side. That, of course, requires that belt is embroidered before it is stitched together. That kind of belts are a bit more expensive, but usually the quality is also very much higher and they do look a lot better.

Nsasho might be Nijushi-ho. Shio I...huh, that beats me. Still, those kata - by the names that S. Shotokan has given - do not ring any bells. Overall, it sounds that he's training in some spin-off school that doesn't follow the shotokan curriculum. I feel pretty confident to say that those kata are not Okinawan kata either - nor belong to any Okinawan or Japanese karate style (named that way).

Use your imagination. Take any durble bag. Fill it with rugs, superlon, whatever you'd feel suitable. Hang it to roof or anything similar. Go on, punch and kick.

Second one ("bad") isn't actually even kiba dachi. It's a shiko dachi - badly done one (too high). See the feet - they point outwards. Knees are over them, OK, so no knee damage is coming up, but it doesn't work the same way as kiba dachi does. Two different stances. And well, the kiba dachi is too wide - much too wide. See Funakoshi's way to perform a kiba dachi (it's an Okinawan way, not a modern Shotokan's "side split" -way): http://home.drenik.net/joemilos/IMAGES/GICHIN12.JPG It's narrow, relaxed and keeps the hips mobile. It's the idea behind a kiba dachi. It should feel like a boxing stance.

There's no sense - unless you buy something like Hirota's wall mounted makiwara ( http://www.karategi-hirota.co.jp/img/9_07.jpg ). Makiwara does need to have enough give to flex under your punches. It's not a conditioning tool - it's a wrist alignment and body usage training tool. The "pad" -makiwara that are mounted to wall usually begin from the misunderstanding that makiwara would be a conditioning tool. They've wrong. You'll only cause damage to your wrists and fingerjoints by such things. Skip it - or buy one that is similar to the Hirota-example I posted a link to. However, for home use, I'd probably consider a good punching bag. It has more uses than makiwara does have.

Not really. The martial arts training was more like "limited to certain individuals" than "secret". Police and guardians trained for their job, nobles trained for their own reasons. People have often confused the night training with "secret" training, especially because the training was often done at graveyards. However, they forget some facts: 1: Okinawa is a hot little island. Weather is very warm. That is the reason why heavy excercise was often performed during night time. 2: Graveyards usually had an area with a flat stone surface. That was an excellent training flooring before the time of dojos and "open" training. So, this had no secrecy reasons either. Really many of the legends of Okinawan karate are just that - legends. They are seldom invented by Okinawans, but by outsiders who want to glorify the karate and make it something it isn't.

It depends. Most traditional Okinawan or Japanese styles have a pretty strict dress code - white do-gi is an only option. In some kobudo styles (or karate styles that have kobudo as an integral part of their curriculum) they might wear black jackets with white pants. However, that isn't very common. My general rule of thumb: More coloured do-gi, more patches in it => worse the school. The closer you get to a simple white do-gi and one or no patches, the better stuff you usually get. And don't worry - goths can wear white as well. I wear mostly black and grey outside the dojo and still am comfortable in my white do-gi. It just takes a time to adjust. (I'm not a goth, but I prefer darker colours).

Check my previous post for the most probable answer. Shortly put: To use it (police, guardians etc.) and to excercise with it (nobles and others). No need to be any truth in samurai myth. Check out ballet, wrestling, boxing, classical music, oil painting...they're all hobbies, artforms or sports and have lasted for hundreds (or even thousands) of years. They're not unaltered - karate isn't either. Actually, the karate (even the Okinawan styles) that we know nowadays was developed in 1700's, 1800's and in early 1900's. That was the time of systematization of karate. So, karate hasn't survived for a very long time - the tradition of empty handed fighting has. And well, for that, the Chinese influence (36 families etc.) and the location of Okinawa as a trade center do give a pretty good backround - without the need of fighting the raging samurai clans.

I think that it's not the Okinawans who have propagated those myths. They generally tend to tell that the karate wasn't used agains the samurai and they mention the whole episode of 1609 as a sidenote in their karate histories - not as a big thing and not as any waypoint in the development of karate. My guess is that the myth is actually western born. While first Okinawa-stationed GI's studied karate and the history of the island, they must have thought that karate was "logically" used against the aggressor. Then, when the GI's returned to USA, they used their romantic ideas to market their art. That's what I think about that myth. There are several similar myths, born outside Japan or Okinawa and then connected to the home countries of the arts...one is that the "belt becomes black from sweat, blood and dirt gathered when training"...which is an idiotic thought if one thinks about the absolute obsession of cleanliness in Japanese culture. However, this myth is - as well as the samurai myth - alive and still told daily in dojos around the western world. So, there's no truth in claims about Okinawan karateka fighting the armed samurai. It's a myth. And most probably a western-born myth. Another myth: "Most kobudo weapons were originally farming tools". Actually, most of them never were farming tools. That myth was born from the Okinawan weapon ban, set by king Sho Shin in late 1400's. Even more myths: "Karate was trained by peasants". Nnnnope. The early karateka (or "ti-ka" ) were nobles, officers and other high ranking citizens who interacted with Chinese merchants, ambassadors etc. and had some time to waste for learning fighting skills (for police, guardians etc. the fighting skills were a tool of profession - still are. For nobles, skills were excercise and fun - just like for most of us these days). Peasants were far too busy with their daily tasks (ask any modern farmer - and modern farmers have modern day tools!).

That was Kyan's way of punching and is still done in Seibukan - which was founded by Kyan's most long time student, Zenryo Shimabukuro. He didn't start his own style - he just carried on (and his son, Zenpo Shimabukuro, after him) the style Kyan taught to him. 45 degree fist is said to be the "old way" of punching and can be found in many Okinawan styles.

Depends on association. I recommend you to ask your teacher - that's the best way to learn karate (of any style). Self studying doesn't work. Go to a good Shotokan dojo (if you want to learn Shotokan) and join their beginner's class.

What style?

Thank you - and yes, English is spoken a lot in Finland. Pretty much everyone under 40 years of age is pretty fluent in it (and at least will understand basic things, such as asking for directions etc...). Actually, Finnish language is deteriorating a bit because of the effect of English. Youth considers that it's "cool" to use English and English grammar with Finnish - or just don't care about it. That sounds great - let me know when you're in our corners. I am only a ferry trip away from Stockholm (and my gf has relatives there), so some kind of get-together would most probably be very well arrangeable. Both coffee and beer will do, as long as it's not Swedish beer. They have some great things there (cars etc...), but they miserably have failed when trying to brew a decent beer. Well, Finns aren't much better in that area, either.

Self-promotion was not meaned in sense of a rank promotion. It was meaned in a sense of self-advertisement. (It doesn't seem that Master Jules did understand my words wrong - I just want to avoid misunderstanding in a general sense).

My full name is what I use as my handle in these forums (and in practically every forum I participate in). I'm a fresher student of karate, having studied Sukunaihayashi-karate for fifteen years. Aside of that, I've concentrating on the theory and practice of martial arts, maintaining an as scientific (and as practical) approach as possible. My rank is lower than yours - that's all I generally give out in forums (I know - it ticks off many people. However, most don't care - they just discuss and are happy with that), but my knowledge base is rather wide and deep, I may rather justifiedly say. Knowledge is not a rank game. It seems that people agree with me in that - I'm daily contacted in issues regarding Okinawan karate, kata applications and the history of karate (and that's it for my self-promotion for now). I've taught karate since 1995 and will open a new club in Turku-area soon. My teachers are Mr. Ilkka Laari, Mr. Kim Mitrunen and Mr. Jamal Measara, the head of Seibukan in Europe. In sense of discussion and training, we have no "senior" and "junior" -relationship. We're just two martial artists on our own paths - if we have a discussion, we don't have those positions either. I hope we'll be able to meet and discuss, perhaps sipping coffee while doing so. I don't back up from my scientific approach -stand. I think that it's possible that you used the meridian names due to their general use, not due to their (inexistent) use in Okinawan karate applications. If so, I offer my apology. Otherwisely, I'll expect to get a very good (and well argumented) explanation.

I probably have more grasp on that area than you'd think when reading my earlier post. I have done enough pressure point training - and, more importantly, enough kata and kata application training in a classical Okinawan style of karate - to know what is useful, what is not and what is a tell-tale - and what is not. Terms are well known and often promoted, but "gall bladder", "lung" etc. meridians do not have ANY proven connection to the mentioned organs NOR do they have the effect that is often claimed to them. Sure, when you strike a correct part of the human body, it hurts more than the other part, but that's pretty much it for the pressure points. There has been some testing on the area and the results have not been very supportive to the pressure point believer's claims. I've met many 5th dans, 6th, 7th and 9th dans (including a Goju-Ryu 9th dan) (and trained with them) in Okinawan karate and every single one of them has told me that pressure points are not very useful and that they don't work in a way that - for example - George Dillman's group and other similar enthusiasts claim that they do work. They agreed that some areas of the body are more sensitive to pain than others and that there are blood pressure receptors in throat area (for example), but that going anywhere "deeper" in sense of pressure points isn't very useful in fighting and is not practiced in Okinawan karate nor Okinawan kata. I've also been a target to pressure point attacks and performed them to others by myself. Most often, results to me have been minimal or inexistent - so much that I've been labeled as "unreceptive". When I've performed them to others, the "believers" have often had some significant (and almost show-like) effects. However, when I do same techniques to the people that don't know about pressure points (or don't care about them), the results have been same as they're on me - unusable in fighting or self defence. And I don't say "osu" to any teacher that I'm not familiar with or when I'm not a part of some kind of sports club. In a martial arts club it's more often than not a negative, insulting expression. It's generally an unused term in Okinawan karate - if one uses "osu", it's a pretty clear sign that he trains a Japanese style (or belongs to a sports oriented group). I write openly with my own name and I am well known in several internet forums and in the martial arts circles of my country. I don't have anything to hide behind the anonymity. What counts is the knowledge and proof - and, in martial arts, I tend to respect some empiric proof supported by theory and - if claims are very wild - some scientific testing. I realized that in a very early point of my training. However, after that I've also realized that in order to learn anything worthy AND to really know the things is that I have to generate a good bullshit-filter first. That, in my book, consists of scientific approach, testing and re-testing. There aren't things in oriental martial arts that aren't measurable (and analyzable) with scientific process or religion/spirituality - and I rank the religious/spiritual side (including the concept of "chi" without explanation what exactly that concept means) straight away from my testing. I concentrate on what is there and how it works - and how logical, easy and useful would that be in a real fight (not when someone stands and you may do whatever you want on him). Which actually proves that your skin is very thin and you are offended easily. Yes, I did mock your post. Yes, I did re-read it and I would mock it again. Hollow mentioning about your "backround" aren't going to impress me here. Give me the exact scientific studies about the meridians and proof (scientific proof) that they work as you claim them to work and I may listen to you. If you explain me that "this point of the wrist hurts when grabbed" (it does) and "this point of the cheek hurts more when hit" (OK, it does), your explanation is also OK - actually, then it's very OK! I'd say that it's the depth that Funakoshi explained them - if he explained. That's the level that Okinawan masters nowadays (and their masters) did explain the effect. It's - for me - the most functional level of explanation. I don't. From whom and in what school (kan) in which organization? Why are pushing them so hard - often the Renshi, Kyoshi and Hanshi that I know never brought their titles up and never called themselves by their titles. Most of them introduced them either with their full name or on a first name basis. None of them included any title with their name. OK, what is your name and where have you trained? Who is your teacher? What "kan" of Goju-Ryu do you teach and train? I wouldn't receive a beating from my teacher. Actually, if you were present, we'd have a discussion of these things. My teacher has a similar approach as I have. Besides, you're not my senior. You're a student of a different art and different style - be your rank any, we're equal in terms of discussion. Great, that's the way I enjoy things, as well. Why did you bring that up? It won't change anything. I don't assume anything about you - I really don't assume anything about you before you come behind your "Master Jules" nickname and introduce yourself with your real name, including the school (kan) you study. I do that already - openly. Why? You enjoy throwing hollow threats on others behind your nickname and the anonymity? If you're coming to Finland, PM me and drop me a line. If I'm heading your way, I'll do the same. I like to visit new clubs and have a bout or two with unfamiliar people.