Jussi Häkkinen

Just go and train. Train hard. You'll either like it or not - and you'll either keep doing it or not. There's no pressure to it. Enjoy. Train hard. And no, everybody can not excel in martial arts. However, one has to try to see if he can. For most, it will not be a lifetime hobby. For some, it will. From those whom will keep training it, only a small fraction will ever be masters or champions. That, also, has to be seen via time. Sorry if I sound depressing. I try not to. I just am flat out honest. If you're interested in karate, go and check it out.

"Back in Okinawa" karate was developed (and trained) by nobles and officials, who did not have shoe shortages or other shortages (yes - the common story about peasants fighting samurai is - like many stories - false). Barefoot training was perhaps made because it was most handy and the sturface suited for it (grassy land, wooden floor etc.). Feet can take the training easily - IF you're used to walking and being barefoot. Drop the shoes off at home, at least. Many people have their feet supported by shoes all the time. That will cause problems and make the foot muscles lazier and lose the elasticity of heel. It takes time to recover from years of extended shoe use - especially if you use them at home as well.

Shureido TK-10. 3/4 sleeves and pantlegs, most heavyweight one that Shureido has. Perfect do-gi. Negative thing: I don't want to go back to other do-gi anymore. Price isn't that bad, 150€ (roughly same in USD). Before my "Shureido era" I used to go through 1-3 do-gi/year (so called "heavyweight" do-gi of other brands). I have had my first Shureido since 1998 now and it still is in great condition (and I have them in heavy use). I just bought a new one (about 1 year ago) and it has "settled in" now - they really have to be worn for a while before they even begin to feel perfect. And that slight bluish tint...sweet. My highest recommendations for Shureido. Only other do-gi I have an interes to is Hirota's custom tailored do-gi - might try that next. For beginners and others with lower budget I always recommend Kamikaze's America. It has a good price/quality value and many of my friends swear by them.

5€ for kyu grades, 10€ for dan grades, not including belts.

- Low roundhouse kick with shin to knee, reverse punch to face. - Front kick to groin, palm heel strike to face, takedown. - Shin block, reverse punch to stomach, front punch to face, elbow strike to face. - Strike to lead hand, straight in, grab hair with a lead hand, reverse punch or elbow to face, knee to face, takedown... And so on. Theme stays. Keeping it sweet. And definitely freestyle.

Pull your leg back - and go forwards by yourself. Do this immediately after being grabbed. Put your hands straight to the opponent's face and push your thumbs (or other fingers) into his eyes, rotate your thumbs to ensure the destruction. Alternative (and more friendly for dojo use) approach is to press the fingertips firmly to opponent's throat. Very classical old karate approach. Works. If you don't want to cause as much harm, just immediately pull your leg in and just strike and pound the opponent's face as hard as you can. Also a traditional (and rather handy) approach.

Crescent kick and back kick. Not a side kick. And I see people usually concentrating too much to the jump. Forget the jump - just do a quick crescent kick for the first 180°, then do a quick back kick while dropping down the last 180°. It isn't very difficult. When you get this done, do it as an one fluid movement. Then, switch the kicks in the air like you'd do a nidan maegeri. Presto! You've mastered the Unsu jump.

Nice idea. But when someone performs something, he or she opens it for critic. As do we when writing. Thank you for your critic. Again: When you publish something, you open it for critic. That's what those people did. Don't get sick from it, live with it. And drop the hypocrisy - you're slamming us now. Yes. Possibly you can. However, straight talk usually gets the point. False politeness is for hypocrites. For the record, Niel I agree with what you said about the still pics.... he does not seem 'grounded' but for me the pics served their purpose which was strictly to reference the moves. It is? OK...why does she even claim the kata to be Seienchin when she has altered it into a nearly unrecognizable state? And in which competition those "extra hand movements" are allowed? In most competitions she would get no points - due to performing a wrong kata. Kata competitions are for performing kata as well as possible. They are no free routines. They are pretty strictly defined. What I don't like is that she has altered the kata into a state that it can barely be recognized and obviously has no friggin' idea about what she's doing in kata - i.e. she doesn't know Seienchin's traditional bunkai. Bunkai should be visible in kata. Her sloppy movement and wobbly stances are only an icing on the cake. And that makes you better than us because...?

Totally horrible. She has no friggin' clue about what she's doing in that kata. Posing, that's all - it's not a kata. Try this: Kunjo Miyage, 7. dan, Shito-Ryu http://fileserver.uechi-ryu.com/videos/miyake.wmv Or this: Meitatsu Yagi, 10. dan, Goju-Ryu http://fileserver.uechi-ryu.com/videos/yagi_kata.wmv The versions are a bit different, but still something that this little girl from Gator Nationals will never reach - at least if she keeps the theatrical way she's having now.

Well, he's mostly known inside USA. He's not a big name in Europe - or in Japan. However, according to an interview with Kenneth Funakoshi, he has told that he's not a relative to Gichin Funakoshi. Funakoshi studied Anko Itosu's and Anko Azato's Shorin-Ryu in prior to moving to Japan and beginning Shotokan. Shotokan is a name of his training hall - "school of waving pines" - and he didn't name his karate at first. He just did teach the Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu that he had learned in Okinawa. Shorin-Ryu is from Shuri-te and Tomari-te lineage. Most Shorin-Ryu substyles have kata from both of these city styles. It must be remembered, also, that Shuri, Tomari and Naha are located very near to each other and the old masters went around, studying arts from different regions and teachers. So, it's really hard to say whether Shuri-te, Tomari-te and Naha-te have ever existed in "pure" forms. Naha-te has a slight change for that, though - it was mainly brought from China rather recently (in karate time scale).

Partially you're correct. However, several Okinawan and Chinese styles have used stances as a physical excercises. I believe that Yoshitaka (and Gichin) may have incorporated that idea via Gigo's several trips to Okinawa. Also, I wouldn't count the general trend towards the athletic karate training (that did spread from universities) as an unsignificant source for more physically demanding stances. And well...since the kata were altered (and practically no applications taught) in Shotokan, I would easily believe that the manouverability and pliability of original stances could be thrown out the window, as well.

At least Shureido, Tokaido and Kamikaze do produce black do-gi. However, if you wish to train karate...well, stick to white. Black looks a bit cheap. Of course, still, it's up to you...

Kamikaze, Shureido, Tokaido, Hirota. Kamikaze's are even reasonably priced and well available (for example: https://www.kamikaze.com ). I personally prefer Shureido, but Kamikaze America has a best price/quality value of any do-gi on market. Get that and you won't regret. My dream do-gi? Well, Shureido TK-10, Tournament cut do-gi. The one I have now.

I did a little check about them. They should be OK. You may ask in http://www.e-budo.com about them - there are people who should know that instructor if he's a real deal. So far, I have seen nothing that would make that instructor a fraud. And, well, I have a pretty keen nose for frauds.

Heh, I figured so, but I thought that some others who follow the discussion might as well get some stuff...open forum, so we can as well educate them. Besides, it's nasty to have inside discussions, so now they have a grasp about what we're talking about. Ahh, Yuichi Kuda's group! I have heard and read about his group before. Small, maybe, but then, so are all groups of traditional karate. And better to have a small group with high quality than a large group with no quality, I think. I certainly enjoy checking out the websites of traditional karate groups. Seems like that you have got the first hand instruction (pun intended). Here's a bit artsy karate pic of me, taken by my girlfriend a few years ago: http://www.fssk.org/galleria/010_action/jussi_shutouke.jpg

In some situation Funakoshi used high stances, in some situation he used low ones. The stance heights do vary in old Okinawan kata. Recently (in 1900's) the stance heights in Japanese karate were standardized (at least in Shotokan) and kata did lose a lot of its liveliness. Funakoshi's karate was generally Anko Itosu's Shorin-Ryu. Modern Shotokan, however, has changed via the influence of Yoshitaka (Gigo) Funakoshi, Gichin Funakoshi's son, and via the JKA's (and other Shotokan organizations) standardization process after Gichin Funakoshi's death. Generally, stances became lower, wider and longer, kata became less pliable (but more athletic) and techniques, such as blocks, became a bit stiffer and reached longer. You might want to check out http://www.shorinryu.dk/film/03%20-%20Pinan%20Nidan.mpg to see an Okinawan way to perform a Pinan Nidan (known as Heian Shodan in Shotokan). Only technical differencies are the beginning - Funakoshi opens his kata with a low block - and the end - Funakoshi replaced the low knifehand block with high knifehand blocks. Otherwisely...well, that's how Funakoshi's kata has been in Okinawa. Compare it to the modern day Shotokan. I'm sure you find the difference interesting. (Performer in that clip is Jim Sindt from Copenhagen Shorin-Ryu Dojo, who teaches Matsubayashi-Ryu in Copenhagen, Denmark).

In Shorin-Ryu there are a lot of substyles. The style I study belongs to Kyan Chotoku's lineage and the way we write "Shorin" can also be pronounced as "Sukunaihayashi". http://www.seibukan.org will tell you more. There are also a lot of other Shorin-Ryu styles. The Anko Itosu lineages generally write their "Shorin" as "Kobayashi" and Shoshin Nagamine's Shorin-Ryu writes their as "Matsubayashi". There are also many other styles - and they may write the "Shorin" in many ways. All, however, point to Shaolin - the way of writing wasn't standardized back in the times, so people used any writing form for "sho" they could think of. So, we can't really say that we have a same style (necessarily). Shorin-Ryu is just an umbrella name for styles born in Shuri and Tomari area, often having kata from the styles of both of these cities. We have Wansu, Passai and Chinto from Tomari-Te. Seisan, Gojushi-ho and Kusanku from Shuri-Te. Then, we have a kata that was invented by Kyan Chotoku to combine those city styles a bit - Ananku. Zenryo Shimabukuro created a kata Wanchin. As a weapon kata, we do Tokumine no Kun. As a first kata, we do Seisan. In fighting, our style varies among the situations. We use our hips square forwards if that is handy - and we open our hips if it is handy. Some kind of definitive factor of our style is a strong hip movement and a way to do a gyaku tsuki (reverse punch) in its basic form by turning from shiko-dachi to zenkutsu dachi to maximize the power output. Sorry about a long babble...you might also want to check out Zenpo Shimabukuro, our current world head, performing Chatan Yara no Kusanku: http://fileserver.uechi-ryu.com/videos/zenpo.wmv

In side snap kick, you don't rotate your hips as clearly as in side thrust kick. I personally leave my hips about 45 degrees "open" to front, turning the supporting foot sideways (in front kick I keep my supporting foot forwards). Still sounds like a variant of a side snap kick. I just tried to do the kick that you described and I ended up with a version of that very kick. Yep, hard to master but nice to use as a "stopper" kick. Especially when kicked to knee or upper leg.

If the foot is vertically, it's called "tate sokuto geri" (vertical foot edge kick). If horizontally, it's a yoko geri keage (side snap kick).

Not true. In Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu 10th dan is a relatively "common" grade among the higher ranking people. Style - even in Japan - has 15 dan grades and Masaaki Hatsumi (head of BBT) doesn't really count as a "McDojo" -master to me. Sure, I'm not saying that the dojo in question would not be a McDojo. However, I wouldn't say that it's impossible for him to actually have a 10th dan. When it comes to style heads, well...Iwao Tamotsu of Shorinji-Ryu Renshinkan currently carries a 10th dan. He's not an old dude (around his 50's) and certainly not "about ready to die". And yes, I do know about Japanese systems a bit. Easiest way to check this Bujinkan teacher's backround would be to contact Mr. Masaaki Hatsumi himself and ask about this gentleman. Mr. Masaaki Hatsumi will most probably tell right away, if the guy is a real deal.

Well, it depends a lot. Generally: Yes, but you can use any of the appliable parts of the foot to the kick. "Side snap kick" is a bit open term - it can be done as maegeri to the side, it also can be done in many other ways...I guess that the kick is one variant of the theme.

Sounds like a yoko geri keage for me too. It is a side snap kick. Can be seen in Chatan Yara no Kusanku in Kyan lineage (and in several other lineages). Okinawan thingy.

In Bujinkan there are 15 dan grades. 10. dans are not that rare - Hatsumi's attitude towards grades isn't very serious. So, I wouldn't actually say that it's necessarily a McDojo. Did you know that, although 10. dan usually is thought as "highest grade", there is no roof to dan grades that would apply to all styles and arts? Some arts have 5 dan system, some 15 dan system, some (such as Judo) have an unlimited system - although anyone with a grade over 8th dan is a rarity in Judo, still.

Hmm, I don't know what you mean by "exaggerated", but in Kyan-originated Shorin-Ryu -styles the hip movement is clear and strong, easily visible.

Yes, indeed. You don't need to condition your knuckles. You need to get a good punching technique, where bone alignment is good and joints are in as strong position as possible. When "conditioning" knuckles, one actually creates small fractures to the joint area. That causes some cartilage to form to the joint area - which limits the movement and is guaranteed to cause harm in the future. Shinbones and arms are the areas you actually can condition by fracture-heal-fracture -method (thai boxers use such methods rather often). However, you shouldn't use such method to condition joint areas (knees, knuckles, elbows...) due to their negative effect. And, well, cartilage is softer than bone.