GreatSeekerofTruth

Tonfa are utilised as a pair. however, if yo ulive in the UK, you cannot BUY, SELL, CARRY or otherwise have in your possesion except if on a direct route between home and class ( no popping for petrol or a loaf of bread on route ) as they are now listed as an restricted weapon. ( June 04 ammendment to the Criminal Justice act ) which is SO funny. A baseball bat - legal, a side handled baton - illeagal 12 inch bucher knife rolled up in a bag - legal - side hanled wooden baton - not. I can see the criminals wondering what they will lever do without it. should take them .5 seconds to remeber the easily converted handgun they can get from the fishing shop.

The main problem with Shotokan is that so much of it was re-invented along the lines of making it more 'sporting' or 'athletic' . as a consequence, kata's were pretied up with longer deepr stances, higher kicks and simple block/punch combinations. they droppeed weapons they dropped grappling they dropped bunkai of course, if you take a look at shito ryu /wado ryu and use a little brain power, you can re-invent lots of it. also, try to see some yuishinkai. thats more like how shotokan used to be - and includes lots of practical stuff. as for shotokan being a sport - who needs kyushu jutsu when your in your 20's, 17stone ambidextrous and of course a 4th dan. getting hit by that sort of person is likely to incur some downtime in the target. anyone ever see frank brenan or terry oneil in the UK. kyushu jutsu would be like a drainpipe exhaust on a ferarri for these people

Wow. How about asking sensei ? I mean, if he can teach you the thing, he probably knows the timing he expects to see. but as a rough guide, block soft( slow) strike hard ( fast) turn sharp. plenty of kime, hip etc. the breathing correctly is about as hard as it gets also, zanshin, mai-ai and metsuke. have a look at the top competitors in full flow ( world championships etc not your local county chap - unless he/she is world champion ) thats how kata will LOOK when the FEEL is correct. oss

If they're good, fear is part of the respect you show. Clearly its part of the 'could do to me' rather than 'will do to me'. i recall watching my sensie spar, and simply not get socred on by anyone due to fear - but as we got older, wiser , better, faster, stronger and funnily - graded to black belt - we started to score. also, phsycology - if he was teaching you when you started - and he/she was that good then - you get a mental block ( and if you dont get get a physical pointer ) i recall gary speed ( noe deceased ) recounting a session with a youn Morio Higaonna. he saw an oppening in kumite and struck the groin lightly. ( higaonnna accepted without reprocussions ). howver, when trying for a second time, was met with a flying knee kick to the head. ( the physical pointer not to take liberties ) heh ho. ps. If he likes hitting you or anyone else - then he is a * and you need a new club ( Kohie-sempia respect is bi-directional )

Best Karate - available anywhere Shotokan at its best. ( JKA ) Karate Jutsu - Very good - but not a beginners book Karate KAta V1 and V2 by Kanazawa are also very good. ( SKI ) excellent JKA videos from Shotokan Magazine in Cheshire. ( also online as MPG ) Nakayama's Dynamic Karate Harry Cooks History of Shotokan - Fan Sodding Tastic kawazoes vidoes are excellent but basic. not much around on kyokushinkai

hah. A quintisential shotokan kata. as they're mostly abused by the 50's/60's masters to look good in competition - who cares. kanku dai is probably the most shuri te - but god what they did to it.

mm. The red Triangle club in Liverpool ? if so I'd guess you have about the best authorities standing on british soil somewhere in your dojo. bottom line, funakoshi claimed 15 for blackbelt. under KUGB - Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Jion and another whos name I forget are all shodan ( tekki Nidan ? Jitte ?) Bassai Sho, Kanku Sho, Nijushiho and another whos name I forget are all options for second, and required for third ( Jitte ? Tekki Nidan ? Sochin ?) gojushiho sho & Dai, Wankan, Unsu, Chinte, Tekki Sandan are all 4th and above Gankaku, Jiin, Meikyo are the others. basically, they will teach you when you are ready - unless your on the national teams- then you might get ahead. luckily, all shotokan kata are a doddle to learn from video - and theire are plenty of video's about. PS. i am KUGB 4th Dan - but then I was a lot younger back then

Whilst progression may be quick at times, it will be slower at others. You havent mentioned any other 'relevant' facts such your preference in trainint, how often you train, your schedule or backround, and indeed the style. The structure for Kyu grades, and to the some extent, dan grades has become so weakend and meaningless. ie. Funakoshi wrote of a need for 15 kata for first dan. most shotokan 1st dans only need 6/7 now. ( 5 heian, 1 tekki and a choice ). I myself spent 2 years working on Hiean Shodan. over and over and over....... and 3 months with another teacher doing Nidan, Sandan and Yondan. the other teacher wanted a strong kumite team - and white belts cant fight as seniors. also, kyu grade progress is artificial. - in one system I know of, there are 4 kyu grades - in another 12. bottom line, train hard - and often. observe other grades performing. measure your performance, but keep both eyes on the journey. ( thier is a parable about focusing on the result, before commencing - to the effect that the harder you seek the finishing line, the longer it takes to get there ) does your kata performance look and feel like a counting by numbers exercise ? or does it flow, with hard and soft, slow and fast segments, is your awareness high throughout - and after, can you do it backwards ( Sensie Kase and Shirai of shotokan like this idea ), can you do it again and again for an hour and retain a tight composure. and if you are cheating - you cheat yourself. and if your teacher is simply fee collecting - move on.

all i have lots of shotokan, but would like some mpg of shito and goju. i have lots of vhs - but conversion is a pain in the arsenal

do you have Shito Ryu kata on Mpeg ? would you like a copy of Sakagami's Karate Kata Taikan an exchange is available

shuji no sho shuji no dai koshiki shuji sakagawa sho sakagawa dai sakagawa chu sueyoshi soeishi sho soeishi dai kongo urasoe sesoko shirotaru sho shirotaru dai chatanyara chineshitahaka tsunakake ( Oar ) shoun yonekawa ( left handed bo ) dont care about jo

I am very intrested to see how many kata we can collect, either in print or video. I have all the shotokan, and some of the kyokushin kai. I aso have lots of RyuKyu Kobujutsu kata I would love to see any goju or shitoryu. * Yes, I have bought about 70 videos in the last 25 years training , and about 180 books on things martial ( Kyudo to KungFu ). doesnt have to be ok grand master blah-blah - be nice to see a competent student on mpg etc so send me your link, and ill send you mine ! in Budo