Quiet Dragon

Great article gheinisch! I have found the same thing that italian_guy is talking about and it all ties back to what gheinisch originally was talking about. If we study and practice the basics diligently, we are creating muscle memory so that while doing kata or kumite or anything else, your muscles remember the movements or stances without having to work at it, it is total second nature. This is part of the big picture of martial arts. It should be second nature, to act without thinking. Without persistent practice of the basics, Kihon, then you have nothing to build upon.

Welcome !

I have to say that I have wanted to learn and study the MA since I was a kid but never did start until I was older (34). I have been in it now for almost 4 years and would not trade a moment of it. I have truly found a passion in my life. I originally wanted to study the MA for the discipline, confidence, and the power that it gives you. Since I have started, I have found that I have learned that and so much more, which would include friendships and bonds between fellow karateka. I would never imagined but it has been so rewarding. I have been very proud of our style and our Sensei in that he has incorporated different styles into one so that our training is not limited. We study mainly the Okinawan style of Shodokan and Shorei but self-defense, Akido and other styles are mixed in. We focus on the basics, which as it has been said by others, is what MA is all about. Without the basics we have nothing. "Flash is trash without the basics" The best thing about our school is that our Sensei is a Christian and our dojo is at our church. So our training is God centered and there are no political agenda's to have to deal with. Besides that, there is no charge for our class, so you cant beat that. We have to pay for our Gi's but not our belts.......we earn those. Our Sensei teaches for his love for the art and wants to serve others by passing along his 35+ years of expereience and training to others.

Im glad to see my first glance is the same as what you guys(or gals ) see. Looks like "Karate for Kids" to me. As Shorinryu Sensei sadi, " looks like a belt factory". As I said, I visited last weekend and noticed that a lot of the kids and one of the black belt instructors ( who was no older than early 20's) had all kinds of stripes on their belts. Not just a few, but some kids had like 8 stripes on their belts. Either white or yellow. I wanted to get others opinion because for those of us who live and breathe martial arts, no matter what style, these kinds of "kid karate" "belt factory's" do the art a true injustice. As it was mentioned, you really dont expect much out of a 30 minute class do you? Except for maybe to attempt to hold a childs attention for close to that long. Looks like a daycare with American karate mixed in......I say American karate....not martial arts.

I did a quick search and found this one in Wisconsin. The site is http://www.maawisconsin.com To give you a flavor, here is a quote that is at the school ( I saw this) and on this site: "At Martial Arts America, we are a Black Belt Academy...what that means is it is our focus to help all of our students become Black Belt leaders not just here in the academy, but at home, at school, and in their career." Let me know if anyone can find out anything else.

Martial Arts of America Is anyone familiar with this system of the martial arts? What style is it? or what is it based on? One of these opened up close to us and I was curious as to some background info on them if anybody knows about it. I went in this past weekend (12-13-03) to observe for a few minutes and they were teaching the smaller kids at the time so I didnt get to see much about their system.

Greetings Empty_cup and welcome ! May your cup be filled with knowledge that guides your path in the martial arts. If you need help, you have come to the right place.

too funny....the things we get ourselves into....

Currently 2nd Kyu Brown Belt in Hon-Shin-Do. This style combines Shotokan, Shorei Ryu and self defense techniques. April 2004 will be 4 years.

If you want to condition your knuckles, I would try other methods to build them up to start. One for beginning is to get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it full of sand and punch the sand just as you would strike. This will work out the whole arm, wrist and knuckles. Then you can build up to other things such as boards. Hope this helps a bit.

Awesome list of sites....had to print them out since there was so many....great job

How about.... " is that the best you got? "

......if you do a spinning hook kick on the pinata at your neighbors kids birthday party

Speaking of Butterfly Knives...I actually bought a decent one many years ago but never figured out how to use it properly. I wasnt involved in MA at the time but always thought they were cool weapons. After a few nice slices to the hand, I realized then that I might need to get some instruction on how to use it an not use the trial and error method. Has anyone ever seen a video online, that might demonstrate in a teaching fashion, how to use that knife, since it can be rather tricky.

Sasori_Te He is 9th Dan. He has been in the martial arts for over 35+ years and has learned styles including Judo, GoJu, Shorei Ryu, Aikido, Kendo, and Jujitsu. The fact that you raise a question of his credentials makes me think I may have implied something different than I wanted. I was passing along some hopefully helpful wisdom that he has given myself and others to help calm us before promotions. Since anxiety and nervousness are natural human emotions, my response is to try and deal with those emotions mentally to help out physically. You can read more about our teacher here: http://www.crossroadsnewnan.org/leo.asp