AngelaG

I know of certain people in sports such as BJJ and boxing who are starting to look into pressure points. They can be effective. I know of a couple of people that have used them in real SD situations. However, in my opinion, they are an addition NOT a replacement for other training methods. as an interesting aside I have seen televised matches of people that do not study PPs where they have KOed their opponent. If you know about PPs you might notice that they have managed to hit on a PP without even realising it. It's also worth thinking that maybe people who are considered to have a "glass jaw" may just in fact be sensitive to strikes on the stomach meridian. (St4, St5, St6) It's also worth considering that a sensitive part of the body is not the same as a pressure point, and that PPs can give much more effects than "just hurting". Thanks Angela

Kata/bunkai/oyo is much more important than kumite in my dojo .

Once again, if someone is keen to attack you they would hardly be startled by a kiai, if anything they would probably be expecting you to scream or cryout in some way. I disagree. Most people have already run a scenario in their head when they start a fight. In this scenario they have already won the fight! (Who'd start a fight with the intention of losing?) They know what they are going to say/do, they anticiapte you being the victim. If you suddenly throw them off track it can be extremely disorientating for them And there is a huge difference between a kiai on the end of a technique and a scream as they attack you. Of course that is the other point, is that a kiai is not something you would consider doing on its own. Also hit some pads with and without kiai. The strike with a kiai will be much more effective!

In a sparring situation it might work. But in self defence if the person is set on taking your out i doubt a shout is going to scare them away. Not to scare them off, but to startle them. This can buy you vital time to get another technique in.

I agree that when people hit they should attempt to strike the target. However there are certain moves when the opponent really needs to go with it or risk serious injuries. A lot of the locks we do are extremely painful if the opponent resists at all. This is not an option to play with when working on the neck etc.

In some kumite competitions you can only score if you kiai on the technique; this way it shows that the technique was intended and not a lucky flailing of the arms/legs.

Practicing full resistance is pointless. Why? Quite simply that in the street I would not give you a chance to resist me if I tried to throw you; I would strike you first, poke you in the eye, use BAR etc. we still get newbies that will stand there and say "this technique doesn't work", and we have to explain that's because the partner has had to indicate the first part of the move for safety reasons.

I disagree. I think block gives out the wrong connotations, and leads to the prevalent misunderstandings there are these days. There are people out there that will actually try some of the so called "blocks" in real self-defence situations. This is foolish and dangerous IMO. I think if we learn the Japanese terms we can learn the whole meanings from fresh, instead of being stuck with a pre-conceived idea in our heads.

I think as long as people are honest that they are honorary ranks I have no real problem with it. As a real grade might show what level you are at within a particular club an honorary grade shows that someone, somewhere respected you enough (for whatever reasons) to bestow an honorary rank on you. I train in shotokan but when I go up to a friend's ryukyu kempo he still lets me wear my grade, as he says he has seen me train and knows what I can achieve, and also because he respects my instrutor's opinions of my capabilities. He says he considers me an honourary grade in his system at whatever grade my instructor says I am. It is not to say that I am actually that grade in his system. However one day I would like to gradually take full grades in his system, and yes I would work my way up from white belt.

Right up until it becomes common practice to mis-interpret the words. For example "uke" being commonly translated as "block", rather than "to receive"

anybody who is halfway decent at sparring should realise that in a class situation you come down to the level of the lowest opponent. Everyone knows that a 5th dan should be able to wipe the floor with a 10th kyu, but what does anyone learn from that? It is not about ego. The 5th dan needs to create artificial openings and slow it down so that the 10th kyu can learn to start looking for openings and making judgements. The 10th kyu will start learning the rudiments of sparring, and the 5th dan can work on control, distance, timing etc. That way everyone gains. In the same way there should be no problems with mixed sex sparring. So what if a 6'2'' man can smash a 5'1'' woman to bits? This would prove nothing, other than the fact that he has no control. He needs to watch his control, and he'll probably find a smaller woman has different challenges as she will have different target areas and will probably be a lot more nimble. She will learn to confront an opponent larger than her, and again will face a new set of challenges.

Remember you are not a yellow belt when you pass. You grow into the belt somewhere along the process. By the time you go for the next grade aim to be the best yellow belt there is... and then you have to start the whole process over again I have suffered the same anti-climatic feelings on some of my gradings, but I think it's just because you put everything into it and then it's over. This is especially true if the sensei provides input on what can be improved. It's too easy to hear the negative and forget the positive (You got the belt, you must have done well). Congratulations. Don't worry about it and have faith in your sensei.

theres like 3 types of brown belts at my dojo. http://www.samuraimartialsports.com/F.A.Q..htm it says the order at the bottom It says brown is 3rd, 2nd and 1st kyu?? 8th kyu is orange.

8th kyu brown belt??

If you understand kata properly you come to realise that kata bunkai is about teaching principles behind the applications. It is not about learning 1001 different techniques because you will get log-jam in a fight. When you start to understand the principles you can look at as many kata as you want and pick apart moves that maybe look very different but make use of the same principles.. and it helps understanding of how important the principles are and can be applied to each technqiue. You can also use the kata to help teach flow - and each kata will teach flow from different techniques and principles.

It will vary from dojo to dodo, and drastically from org to org.

If you were taking the class you were in charge. It's as simple as that.

The problem with traditional karate for self-defence is that a lot of the moves trained are not, and never will be, legal in competitions. Take shuto uke when used as a neck strike or a neck wrench. These techniques will not translate to a competition environment.

Well done Mr. Mike!

I think, in the beginning at least, you need to make classes as easy for you to attend as possible. There is a huge drop out rate in the martial arts and I think if you add other factors into that, such as expensive classes, long drives, expensive gear etc. then it will add to the odds of dropping out. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that YOU will necessarily drop out, but the odds are more stacked in your favour if, until you really get into it, it is an easier ride. Once you are hooked you may well drive miles or pay more for your tuition but I feel that commitment is often built up over time. What I suggest is travelling around to a few centres in your area and sitting in on some lessons. Feel free to ask questions, if they can't (won't!) answer them then they are probably not worth your effort. Eventually you will find a place which clicks with you, and you never know, it may even be a MA you hadn't considered unil then. I think the most important part of any club is not the style, bu the instruction. You need to feel you can bond with your sensei and your fellow students, and you need to know you are getting quality instruction. JMHO Angela

My group is under the Open Circle Institute. It is an open organisation, with people from many different styles. Five element theory and pressure points tend to be used by the majority of people in the OCI. We have Mauy Thai boxers, Wado Ryu, Tang Soo do, Ju Jutsu, Shotokan etc. all studying it, and then coming together and pooling the knowledge. Five element theory is used within my shotokan quite specifically. All our kata bunkai is looked at with regards 5ET and PPs. We also look at players to enhance our technique. Happy training Angela

I guess you need to make sure you can commit to that amount for the foreseeable future. You won't want an interruption in your training just because you can't afford to attend class

£16 a week? I personally would not pay that much. But that's based on my budget.

I would say that it is probably more relaxed on the whole. It is definitely more circular and we try to get rid of all out tension - apart from when using it to prevent lock out of joints when punching air etc. Have you ever tried the fire walk? I have done some of this and then hit pads etc. I was well impressed with the affect. I am also playing with other concepts such as hitting with the tip of my tongue to the roof of my mouth to join up the energy flow, and colour visualisation. All really interesting stuff! I also want to spend soem time on using energetics to "block" pain on my side, and to create extra pain for my opponent (with as little effort from me as possible!) I did once KO someone with an extremely light tap to ST4, after tapping the GB/LI crossing. I'm not sure who was more embarrassed - him or me!

Because of the way I train I know where the points are and what they do; I study 5 element theory and how I can hit the points in certain orders and certain ways to generate better effects but because of my sex and size I personally would not choose to use my fingers to activate my point (other than in a training session), unless I was already holding them in a restraint position - or if I was locked up and needed to use a point to get them away from me to give me space to strike.