cathal

Ha ha, sorry didn't mean "escape" I meant to say detour. Instead of push they did a roundhouse punch.

A friend of mine did Kenpo for a while and he showed me a few things. But as I recall his escape was different than the one you described.

We train close quarters as well. Elbow strikes, knees, and headbutts.

Thanks for the info

Something else to consider here is that he may simply have been trying to scare you into buying into a training program.

For the training in Ryukyu Kobujutsu we do threek kyus of Bo, then two of sai, two of tonfa, and finally nunchuku for the shodan. So when you reach Shodan you have a good feel for all of the weapons basics...then you can pick one to specialize in.

I have had the opportunity to meet several hundred martial artists through seminars, gradings, etc and I can safely say I have yet to meet someone who is cocky enough to say something like that. Most likely you got some stupid kid who wanted to stir some stuff up with you.

My father being a gunsmith, I've been around guns all of my life. I know their safety rules, use, and of course how dangerous they are to the human body. (Almost first hand but that's a different story.) In my experience not everyone likes guns, a surprisingly large amount of the people I've met simply don't like them. If it were a requirement of the martial arts there would be a tonne of people joining just to use them and that would cause a lot of controversy.

So you can only select to train with one weapon?

We don't do much ground work as well, but we do have some different methods on getting back up. How do you learn to get back up?

I practice Shotokan as well, and we do not train in weapons. I train weapons in another dojo.

For Kata competitions, the timing and proper use of your hips is important. Like lordtariel mentioned, keep practicing your kata at different angles in a room. For sparring be patient and make sure your techniques are crisp. Some sparring competitions also prefer that you block and then immediately counter rather than block/counter simultaneously.

In our dojo we teach the Japanese from day one. We use both for beginners, and as you progress we move into mostly Japanese. But we aren't exclusively Japanese at this point.

Yes if you don't really need a cane I suppose learning that could help. But if you really need it for support, I'm not too sure how effective it would be. Then again, I've never practiced those techniques or watch them performed. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Well that part is easy then. A simple video search with your favourite search engine, say.

For me personally it is taking a few days off of classes and training. You start to 'get the itch' after a little while. But also I might watch a movie, like oh so many of us do.

Good luck with the grading

Hm, for me the front thrust works well. Gidan or Chudan level is going to be the best, either way it's low and it takes them off balance. If they are grabbing a hold of you you can shift your weight and do a take-down or push them away. If they haven't grabbed you at this point, the thrust pushes them back giving you valuable space. If you hurt them enough you can run, or dial 911 on your cell, etc.

So the sempai's went through a pretty rigorous class then. You kind of need that every once in a while I think. Without them it's easy to be complacent and stay in a rut. The sempai's oofer you feedback on your sparring, or did they just cycle you through and do the sparring? Regarding conditioning, I'd definitely say cardio. Running, biking, etc.

No doubt he has, I think he's looking to see what other styles and martial artists define it as, so he can better articulate that to his family. Matbla, #1 - has been covered fairly well so far. #2 - I typically will use a thrust kick to get someone out of my way if I am feeling crowded. I find a mix of hand and leg techniques seem to work well, for example 2 punches, front kick, ridgehand. If you practice your own combinations very frequently you'll find you can do them very very fast. That is what you'll want in competition sparring. #3 - My dojo uses teeth protectors as well as small hand guards. (They are thin leather gloves which cover our knuckles.)

Here, here.

Sounds like you're leaning toward a Karate style, based on your first post and in this one.

I practice Shotokan as well, but stress that Shotokan is not a sport style. It will teach you balance etc as Shui Tora indicated, but it isn't exclusively sport-like. That said, Ryukyu and Kempo, as far as I know are very similar. A lot of hand combinations and not as much focus on leg techniques. Some versions of Ryukyu can be based off a Chinese art, and some Japanese (from the same base as Kempo). In some situations Ryukyu and Kempo are interchangeable. My suggestion is to check out each dojo, try it on, and decide for yourself after chatting with the instructor and maybe a student or two. Some questions to ask: - What are your fees? (ask about all) - When are your tests? (i.e. every 6 months, etc) - Do you require me to sign a contract? (a major sign of a McDojo is that you're required to sign a contract locking you into paying no matter what happens.)

It is an interesting site, it could have been better without that music. LOL

I've got serious doubts about the PS3 coming out for Christmas let alone for this fall.