harleyt26

Pinan Sandan teahes an application to the left then the same application is trained turning to the rear.It is not a preplanned map of one possible attack of mulitiple attackers.Kata and combat are not different at all.Kata is a series of technique put together in a pattern to insure the ease of practicing important applications without the possability of forgetting some of them.Kata is most certainly not only one possable fight from beginning to end that is foolish. I must admit I have not been in many street fights or competitions in a ring.But I am an ex airborne ranger with 101st airborne division 159th air assault battalion in the Viet Nam struggle and saw plenty of action there as well as spending several years as seargeant at arms for a motorcycle club. I also was engaged as a bouncer for a local pub on a few occasions and served as a body guard a few times for a well known model.The local swat team has trained at my dojo on a few occasions also.I have been teaching karate for twenty seven years,and practicing for several more than that. I do not train to avoid a conflict,I train to end a confrontation as quickly and efficiently as possible.I live a lifestyle that reduces the likleyhood of finding myself in a bad situation if at all possable. Ask your teacher if a kata is one fight against multiple attackers and is only good if the attackers follow the kata. I will not address the rank issue directly.I will only say I have been ranked in several styles at higher levels than I modestly feel comfortable discussing. Tom Hodges

If actual combat is different than how you practice kata,why practice kata? Kata is not a dance it is combat. That attitude implies your style,school or teacher is lacking.I would recommend bringing this thought to your instructor.Please let us know how he responded to it. I do not see where a knife or club is more concealable or accessable than a traditional weapon.The traditional weapons must be considered by their classifications.A sai is a truncheon/club,a nunchaku is a flexible flail,a bo/staff, arnis or escrima sticks are used for training knife techniques. To totaly eliminate the traditional weapons is only eliminating yourself from generations of experience with the items you may find accesible when you need them. The founder of Shotokan,Gichin Funakoshi,was himself quite knowlegeable in bo and sai techniques.He was the first instructor of Taira Shinken the main person responsible for preserving the traditional weapons of Okinawa. taira Shinken learned the basics of bo and sai from Funakoshi before training with Yabiku Moden. Funakoshis Shorin Ryu is still taugh at the Hozon Shinko Kai honbu dojo on Okinawa. Tom Hodges

Are you referring to Paul Chens kama with the curved handles and wood covers? They are beatiful. Tom Hodges

In the style of karate I practice the spearhand is practiced palm up and usually used to target the bottom ribs by going just under the rib cage with the object in mind of grabbing the lower ribs to pull your opponent into a strike,punch or knee. If you cannot get hold of the ribs grab the clothes or belt. Our Naihanchi is practiced with a spearhand like this instead of a cross punch. For the eyes,armpit or throat area I prefer a one knuckle punch. Tom Hodges

Empty Hand: Naihanchi Seisan Kusanku sanchin Sunusu Weapons: Sakagawa no Kun Dai Shushi no Kun Dai Tawada no Sai Hamahiga no Tonfa Tsuken Sunakaki no Eku Tom Hodges

Would that be William Domeitrichs lineage of Chitose's Chito Ryu?I train a similar style of weapons that his daughter(Devorah Domeitrich)teaches.Maybe the sai would work better than they appear but it looks like the opponents weapon may slip out because of the angled tines.Although the techniques may be easier to apply because of the wider opening of the tines.It would also seem that it would be easy to injure your own sides when retracting your punches.We hold our sai with both tines horizontal to the floor when they are by your sides/retracted.If your style holds them in the verticle position(one above and one below) when retracted it would not be a problem. Tom Hodges

I have not seen that style of sai before.Very interesting.What is your style of kobudo called that uses that type of sai?I would think that design would be easier to make.I do think they may not be as effective for trapping and locking other weapons.But they are a unique design.Who makes them for you?What are the handles wrapped with?Are they custom made for the individuals arm size?Or do they come in only one size or maybe two or three choices of size?What are they made of iron,stainless steel,aluminum etc.? Tom Hodges

We do two kama kata.One is Kanegawa no Nicho Gama and the second one is Toyama no Nicho Gama.In actuality they are two variations of the same kata. Tom Hodges

My Isshinryu sensei is Bill Steigner he trained with Tatsuo Shimabuku in the early sixties.We train full twist punches in the kihon/basics except for upper cuts which are of course knuckles down.But in the kata it depends on the applications we are working for that segment of the form. Has anyone else noticed that boxing gloves are formed the same as the Isshinryu fist,thumb on top of the forefinger knuckle instead of the conventional way of wrapping the thumb over the middle segment of the forefinger.It makes the wrist less susceptable to sprains. Tom Hodges

Early Isshinryu also used the full rotation of the wrist.Which is still practiced by some Isshinryu groups.When the marines pinned Tatsuo Shimabuku down and asked him which punch he thought was better(after asking many times)he said the vertical because Isshinryu is a close in fighting style which allows for less distance in order to rotate the punch.For longer range punches Shimabuku sensei taught the full rotation punch also.A very close punch will remain knuckles down a midrange punch will be at vertical and as the punch progresses on out the wrist will pass between three quarter to full twist but in any case the arm should not go to full extension,the shoulder should be down and the elbow should remain close to the body and pointing down.Shimabuku's empty hand teachers were Myagi,Kyan and Motobu he punched as they taught him to punch.The Isshinryu vertical fist is a very good punch and makes the wrist very strong and unbendable but it does not fit into all targets such as a throat shot. Tom Hodges

I have not tried the Murasaki weapons but I have many Crane Mountain weapons and they are very nice.As I said the Shureido sai are the ones I use the most.Another top end wood weapons maufacturer is Don Shapland in Chilliwack,British Columbia,Canada.One of my students(Jeff Hawkins)is a metal worker and makes all of the tekko for me and my students and occasionally he makes a very nice set of sai. Tom Hodges

I would say in this order:Tokaido,Shureido and Agena from Weapons connection as the top end from my experience.Peter Carbone makes the Agena Sai at Weapons Connection and does a very good job.Top end custom weapons don't come cheap though,you get what you pay for.If you are ok with pot metal Chinese made sai then the price of the custom made sai will probably scare you.Tokaido and Shureido are off the shelf but are very good quality.I have not seen any new Tokaido for several years they may not make them any longer.Shureido are the ones I use the most you can usually find them for around seventy five to one hundred twenty dollars they are black iron and tend to rust and must be oiled regularly.The Tokaido I have went for about one hundred seventy five dollars they are stainless steel.My Agena sai I paid two hundred forty five dollars they are stainless steel with copper wrapped handles,very nice. Tom Hodges

Maybe you have seen what is called Chizikunbo,they are used in pairs.Short(four to six inch)sticks with strings for the middle finger to go through.Oyata's group teaches the Chizikunbo kata and techniques.I learned it from Kimo Wall sensei,he is not in the Oyata group but was taught the form by Oyata years ago in Okinawa by Oyata himself. Anything you carry with you to use as a weapon can get you in trouble,even your cell phone.If you get in a situation that you need an equalizer do not hesitate to use whatever you can get your hands on.Phisical defence first legal defence second.Why train in a martial art if you are just going to get beaten for fear of legal action against you?Possible jail or hospital for sure,your choice. Tom Hodges

The weapons have my curiosity up.I train Ryu Kyu Kobudo,Tesshinkan so I know a good bit about them,what system are your additional weapons from?I have known Isshinryu Tokomine No Kun for Quite some time and just recently was taught Kyan No Sai.Some of the Isshinryu weapons kata conflict with my Tesshinkan weapons and since I have no plan to test in Isshinryu I don't want to cause problems with my Tesshinkan kata.Some of the same kata are practiced very differently like Hamahiga No Tonfa and Chatanyara No Sai. I do enjoy the Isshinryu empty hand kata though.That looks like a good progression of information in your schools curriculum. Tom Hodges

If by knuckle duster are you referring to Tekko?I was taught that the original version was two horse shoes fastened together at the sides so that they point opposite directions.They probably would still not be very effective against a skilled swordsman but they would offer more protection and better techniques against a sword than the more modern version. Tom Hodges