kotegashiNeo

relaxing cannot be forced. The act of trying to do something creates tension, therefore trying to relax will create tension. There is hope however I have 2 techniques I can sugguest. The first technique will work quickly however isn't feasable long term. Simply exhaust yourself to the point where tension is not possible because you are that tired. This will help you to remeber what relaxed feels like. If I had a student who had difficulty relaxing I would work him into the ground. The real solution will take longer depending on your level of awareness. What you need to do is simply become aware that you are tense whenever and wherever you are tense in your body. That is all, just be aware of the tension because if you do anything you will create tension. Don't try to relax that will create tension because your current natural state is a tense one. Create awareness of your tension and it will disipate of its own accord.

Yeah Elky you are right all the Okinawian guys are black belts in Judo Well at least in the Jundokan they were and they comibine in tight clinching with striking i.e. Taira sensei I would like to see someone clinc with that guy. I get the point of the vidoe actually I got it 15 years ago in a fist fight with a judoka learn to fight at all ranges it just makes good sense.

High Level Goju (Jundokan) is incredibly rough and powerful. I once had a high ranking Okinawian grab my forearm with such force that I thought he would crush my bones and I swear he could have squeezed harder easily. Goju fights in the closest of distances. The grappling that occurs in goju is almost all standing but it is fierce powerful and quite honest one of the best styles I have ever seen. I wouldn't how ever call it soft, it yields butthen it snaps back extremely hard

My goodness that is an awesome link you have the teshinkan, meibukan, jundokan great stuff!

I find a 45 degree sumo stance very natural while it isn't the most mobile if it is deep it can be adjusted for speed by varying the depth of the stance. I like it because it allows for great hip rotation while still maintaining a low center of gravity great for in close stand up grappling

I think the only time that you will know that you are ready, is after you have passed, then you are certain

These are all great sugguestions and will help tremendously, I would only one thing. Try to fell your sparring partner. I mean hie energy if he is very aggressive you will feel that he is coming at you, if he his passive you will feel that also. I know it sounds kinda hokey pokey, but if you can be still you may be able to read the intention of your sparring partner. One thing, this may take some practice until you can trust your gut, once you can however it can help a great deal remember you must be still first

That is all anyone would do

I was just curious about my new sensei. I train in Barrie On Canada and his name is Sensei Stephan Ohlman (sp) has anyone heard of him ?

Hey guys to meditate is to be aware, to your breath your moods your thoughts. It is the act of mindfulness. If you do meditate just relax into don't clear your mind that is very difficult and would come after much practice instead get to know yourself think of it as having conversationwith yourself. Sounds a little crazy but let me ask you how well do you know yourself? When you ask yourself that question don't depend on what other people have told you about yourself and your life try to come up with those answers by self dialogue. Most of all if your try to meditate have fun don't take it too seriously.

Just wondering if anyone here meditates regularly, zazen or anything else? And if you feel it helps your martial trainning.

Thank goodness Sauzin somebody said the obvious, If you train with a break in the sparring this can create very bad habits. My original training was competitive kickboxing and when I started to train in karate these guys would come in with shots and just decide to walk out almost uncovered and reset. Well I lay a beating on most black belts in freesparring because of this unawareness. Now I understand that the rules of your dojo allows for this type of break which is fine but never just asume you are going to get a break at a certain time. If you are sparring maintain your awareness, if possible maintain your awareness at all times. Imagine this guy tries to potshot you on the break and you are ready for him! He will realize that he will need more than cheap tricks to face you plus you keep you composure. As for the other black belt he is going through a phase, you guys sound like you could be great trainning partners for each other. Lastly your sensei let you guys beat on each other, good for him! controlled sparring is good but sometimes in order to grow you have to mix it up. Getting hit in sparring is important if you are going to being doing freestyle sparring in the first place. It sounds like your sensei was aware of the incident as it was happening and let you guys have a go at each other. At a Mcdojo this will never happen because the owner will be too worried about a lawsuit and they will say they are worried about your safety. If a dojo does freestyle sparring and doesn't let you have a go then, when you do defend yourself how will you respond to getting hit you might turtle not very safe at all. So I like your sensei and he made the right call and don't worry the only way to fail as a martial artist is to quit.

I don't care if karate enters the olympics some will enjoy it but I really don't think it has the appeal that TKD has. If you don't realize the skill involved in the type of point sparring it looks like bad amatuer boxing. WKF rules are a bit of a bore but they are throwing real punches and are strong atheletes. I think these guys would kick butt in a street fight, they are not the guys you see on ESPN 2 flicking their feet at each other. These guys are in great shape are used to taking some really hard shots. While it isn't traditional karate who here is training tradtional. NO sparring just kata and maybe some pre-arranged kumite. who here is doing the conditioning required for truly lethal hands, feet, fingers and mind, If your are then I salute you, if you are not then well what do you care.

Longarm I do thank you for your opinion but it is not the belt that concerns me it is the potential disrespect to my sensei but as sauzin mentioned it is a bigger slap in the face to train with these people in the first place. So I will train in aikido and I very much look forward to starting from square one.

I hear what everyone is saying but I think alot of you have missed the point. As for my old sensei he was more of a business man than a sensei and that is where the problem between me and him lay. As for the new sensei his okinawan sensei and mine are bitter enemies and to accept lower rank in the EXACT same system I feel would be disrespectful to Yasuda sensei who is my okinawan sensei. If it was a different system or even a different style of goju say meibukan or shorei kan than I could understand as there would be many little differences but it isn't it is the same. So To accept lower rank or not is the question still. I have no problem wearing a white belt in a system I know nothing about which is what I plan on doing anyway so thanks for everyones help