Uechi Kid

Toe kicks require conditoning. I have seen boards broken with toe kicks. More Practice

Ya. Tai Chi.

Sound like that kick would be good to take out an opponents leg.

I practice Uechi Ryu. We use the big toe kick (sokuto geri). It’s the main kick in our style. In fact we strengthen our toes by kicking tires that are cut in half and mounted on the wall. We start by just pushing against the tire and work our way up to kicking it full-blown. We also condition our shins by kicking the tire with roundhouse kicks. Big toe kicks may not be practical on the street but if practice pointing your toe without shoes, you’ll point your toe with shoes. Not necessarily so if you practice the ball of the foot kick.

Shodan, Uechi Ryu Eight years in April

About Bodhidharma Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Zen Buddhism to China. Although some scholars doubt that there really was such a historical individual, here's what's generally believed about his life. He was born in Southern India around the year 440 CE. His spiritual instructor, Prajnatara, told him to go to China. He traveled there by ship, arriving in Southern China around 475. Legend has it that he spent nine years in meditation, facing the rock wall of a cave that's about a mile from the Shaolin Temple (of kung fu fame). During his life he had very few disciples, only three of which have made it into the history books. Bodhidharma transmitted the patriarchship of his lineage to Hui-k'o, and soon afterwards, Bodhidharma died in 528. A few years after his death, a Chinese official reported encountering Bodhidharma in the mountains of Central Asia. Bodhidharma was reportedly carrying a staff from which hung a single sandal, and he told the official that he was on his way back to India. When this story reached his home, his fellow monks decided to open Bodhidharma's tomb. Inside there was nothing but a sandal. According to Tao-husan's Futher Lives of Exemplary Monks (the first draft of which was written in 645), the sermons published in The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma were delivered by Bodhidharma himself. Until recently the oldest known manuscripts of these sermons dated from the fourteenth century; however with the discovery of thousands of T'and dynasty Buddhist manuscripts in China's Tunhuand Caves, seventh- and eighth-century copies have been identified. Interestingly enough legend has it that Bodhidharma cut off his eyelids to prevent himself from falling asleep while meditating; tea-plants are said to have sprung up where his eyelids fell to the earth. However in The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, the author says: ... The only reason I've come to China is to transmit the instantaneous teaching of the Mahayana: This mind is the buddha. I don't talk about precepts, devotions or ascetic practices such as immersing yourself in water and fire, treading a wheel of knives, eating one meal a day, or never lying down. These are fanatical, provisional teachings. Once you recognize your moving, miraculously aware nature, yours is the mind of all buddhas. Which leaves me wondering whether a man who's hacked off his eyelids would accuse another man of being a fanatic for only eating one meal a day. At any rate in keeping with the legend, Bodhidharma is usually pictured as a hairy gent, with round, bulging eyes.

If you are getting bored with the same old moves, you probably don't know the true meaning of the moves. A few years ago two friends and myself started to look deeper into our techniques. Our goal was to find "the original intent" of the moves in our kata. We discovered applications that will work on the street. In fact they should only be use against a real attcker. These application are devastating to an opponent. My point is now when we do those same old moves they take on a whole new meaning. Look deeper into your forms. Good luck

Boy does this bug me. If you don’t think that your techniques from kata will work on the street, you haven’t figured out the real application yet.

If, for the most part you enjoy your training, stick with it. If you're not a black belt you will be and then your input will have more impact. Be careful about changing schools. Styles like Goju Ryu are very tight nit. Your Sensei has a high rank. If you try to change schools(within Goju Ryu) you might find your self with no place to train. Good luck

Find a School that focuses on pressuer point fighting (Kyusho Jitsu) and grappling (Tuite).

Well I'm glad it's not just me. I was so disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing science explain some things that we already know to be true. Oh well, just keep on training.