harleyt26

I had a problem with a kiai for a very long time.After many years training I met a Goju Ryu instructor that teaches six different bunkai to Gekisai Dai ichi.One of those bunkai drills is the kiai,at every punch strike or block you yel or roar as loudly as possible with the intent to dissrupt your attackers train of thought.After a little practice you start tp realise how effective it really is.I figured if it really works I don't mind so much doing it anymore.Mine is hard to describe but it is more or a fast loud roar from the diaphram or maybe even deeper.It is a good technique hit them hard with it. Tom Hodges

I train Isshinryu,its one of the best fighting styles around.Many good fighters have an Isshinryu background.I like it because you can devote a great deal of time improving and correcting the eight empty hand kata.Instead of just learning kata after kata to test.Its not the only style like that but there aren't many. Tom Hodges

It went very well again this year.Every one showed up except one lady that works at Walmart,she just could not get the time off.Every basic technique and kick was done two hundred and twenty times.We then did empty hand conditioning drills.The kata demonstrations were excellent everyones hard work payed off.We followed that up with weapons kihons practice and several kata and two man weapons drills.Finished with the traditional kanpai.Everyone went home very tired but inspired.I got text messages for three days from members stating how sore they were.Classes have been full since.Its the best way to renew peoples loss of interest. Tom Hodges

Keep trainig ps1,promotions are not all they are cracked up to be.You don't need a belt to keep getting better.It sounds like you have enough training under your belt to have enough to work on for quite some time.If you are serious about it,good things will come around eventualy.Good luck,personaly I think you are better off without the organizational dictatorship.But that is probably because of my own history with them.There are good ones out there but they seem to be rare,I have found one that I like for now.We will see what the future holds. Tom Hodges

This is not the best representation of Pinan Sandan but it does show the ending as Neko Ashi Dache and punching over the shoulder as they do it in Nagamines shorin Ryu Tom Hodges

I was with my first instructor for seventeen years,we had a disagreement over some dojo politics and I decided it was time for me to find who I was on my own.Actually there was more than just myself there was seven of us that moved on together.That was five years ago,we still are all together.It was the best thing we could have done.It did not take long before we found we had been kept in the dark like a bunch of mushrooms.We have since trained with some of the best martial artists available.And our own arts have improved tremendously as has our understanding of the principles involved.And our opportunities and possibilties for the future are unlimited.We have heard that our old instructor has invoked a new rule,no training outside the dojo.I suspect that would be to keep the mushrooms happy in the dark with out letting any light in.Once you see the real thing it knocks that type of instructor right off their pedestal.Don't get me wrong loyalty is a very honorable thing but blind loyalty is not honorable or intelligent.It is your training you are paying for if the service or quality of service is not there,is it the intelligent thing to continue to pay just out of loyalty.You can be a fool or you can go get what you are paying for.The martial arts are very widespread now and with the assistance of the internet there is no good reason to support an inadequate instructor,school or style.As the consumer it is your right to get what you are paying for without complications. Tom Hodges

In Motobuha Shito Ryu it was horse stance(seunchin dache)elbow strike while breaking a bear hug from behind with a foot sweep between each direction.In Shorin Ryu it was cat stance(neko ashi dache)punching over the shoulder while breaking the bear hug from behind.

Her name might help.William Domeitrich trained directly under the founder of Chito Ryu(Chitose)he has a daughter Devorah Domeitrich who is very knowlegeable in several styles.If it is her I would recommend trying to get into her class if at all possible. Tom Hodges

Blocking is one interpretation.They could also be a backfist strike to the groin(low)and a backfist to the face or collar bone(high).By bringing them to you and striking back out should eliminate the fists hitting together. Tom Hodges

Its amazing everyone shows up for this event,even the ones that only show up a few times each year.Of course we tell them we will be talking about the ones that don't show up.They also know that to not show up makes a very bad statement about their commitment to their training.It applies a lot of pressure to the slackers and usually reinspires some of them,at least for a few classes.Its also good for them and helps keep them from getting too carried away on New Years Eve.One of these hard workouts on a hangover/or very little sleep is a memory that will stick with you for several years.Most of our guys plan and train their demo kata for several months before the event.It winds up like a competition everyone trying to do the best and be the most memorable for the whole next year.Its a blast and I wouldn't miss it. Tom Hodges

We have a tradition of meeting every new years morning Jan. 1st at 6:00am at the dojo.We take turns calling out ten kihon on each side for each participant,the more people that show means a better workout.After kihon we take turns demonstrating kata,both empty hand and weapons.Its all followed up with a toast to the new year,Kampai !!!.This tradition is meant to symbolize our dedication and comittment to training and to strive to do better through the next year so that everyone there can see your progress from one year to the next.After all it would be kind of embarrassing to show no improvement. Happy New year to all,Tom Hodges

Why would you care what they think?Do you not think maybe they would have a problem with you no matter what you were wearing?Maybe its the place or type of clientel of the place,if so maybe you were looking for trouble just by going there.I choose to wear what I want when I want and where I want.I have met many interesting people and had many interesting conversations I would not have had if I had not been wearing a MA t shirt.Also shirts are given as gifts and purchased by relatives and friends of members.Just because someone wears a shirt does not mean to me that they necessarily train themselves,but I would probably ask them if they train and how long,etc.If you wear a Dale Earnhart shirt I would not assume you are him or even a race car driver.T shirts can be excelent conversation starters. Tom Hodges

They are just clothes.If you bought them why noy wear them?I ride a motorcycle also,when I wear a bike shirt it does not mean I am looking for a race.When I wear a dojo shirt or jacket or a tounament shirt it is only showing my support for the art or sport.If I was looking for an altercation I would not care what shirt I was wearing unless it was a good shirt.You better not bleed on one of my good shirts! Tom Hodges

Psilokan,yes my school is primarily a very traditional Okinawan style of kobudo.I have found that if a person needs that kind of incentive to continue training then they are not there because of their love for the art,and they will not be there long anyway.Also I do not teach children,I can see that more belts would be necessary to keep their attension for a short goal curriculum.I must also say my dojo is not a business that I run to make money I charge just enough to support my own training but my main concern is to promote the art as my sensei wants it to be and keep it as close to the way he was taught as I possibly can.In actuality it is white belt then black belt,the brown belt is used when someone tests for the black belt but just does not quite make it,then they are given the brown to show that they have progressed beyond the beginner level.

White,Brown,Black at our dojo.

I trained for many years with an instructor that taught me many kata and I won several trophys with them.But I could not use them to fight because the instructor could not teach the real applications in them and could not teach me to find my own applications in them.I am now training under some very very knowlegeable instructors that have really opened my eyes.They have shown me things in kata that is beyond description,all I can say is that if you cannot see the value of kata you should find a better instructor.Good kata instructors are out there but they are difficult to find.But even very good instructors cannot teach someone with a closed mind.By the way are you guys actually trying to say it does less damage bare knuckle than with a pound of padding on your hand???

I have been told by my sensei that the okinawans refer to Naha Te as new karate,how new would it be in relation to the other earlier Te systems?And how was it formed?On its own or by blending other systems?

several of us at my dojo do practice on makiwara.They are the type with a metal bracket fastened to the floor with a purple heart tapered board standing up from it with a Shureido leather pad on top.Our weapons makiwara resembles a lifesize cross made from landscape timbers and wrapped with rope to pad the weapons slightly.they are not only useful for learning to transmit power to the target but are also very good for practicing accuracy and to know what actual contact with a weapon feels like and how the weapon responds to that impact. Tom

I think korin may be speaking of Motobu Choki.

I agree with Shorinryu Sensei.I would have to add that by placing it in the "weapons" section instead of the "sport karate" section it was misrepresented as something with real application instead of flashy useless trophy garbage.This made up self taught stuff is why I got out of competition and judging.It has no basics or kihone,no application of proper technique,no power delivered to the (supposed) weapon or from the (supposed) weapon to the target.As far as training with padded weapons,we tried that and quickly found that it produced a feeling of security in that it would not hurt if you do happen to get hit,that causes you to stop relying on proper blocking techniques,bad habbits are quickly formed.The same goes for wearing padded gear. Tom

In the Shito ryu system I studied we did kiba dachi also but we had a stance called fuda dachi that was much more similar to the shiko dachi used in the okinawan systems I study now. Tom

My kobudo sensei is Donald Shapland he lives in Abbotsford,British Columbia Canada he makes the turtle shell type out of fiber glass.He brought a mold from Okinawa.The real turtles are a protected species there and them and their shells cannot be taken out of the country legally.He just finished making some for Patrick McArthys group in Austrailia.His e-mail address is kobudon@shaw.ca I do not know how much he charges for them or how long it takes for him to make them but the ones he made for me are very nice and can be painted to look any way you want.

http://www.jinmukan.com/sv/elite2004-anan-mina.shtml I am not sure if this post will work but give it a try.

My sensei has us do our kata three times slow and pretty with everything absolutly in perfect position and with correct stances.Then we do it three times as fast as we can without power.Then three times as hard and fast as we can.Then we do applications to the kata.Then we move on to the next kata.We do not do any competeing at all but we practice some forms from a low stance and practice blasting in from that low position.Some of our forms are what I call more practical, IMHO,in the stances being from a more upright easily transitional position. Tom

I do not know of Shito ryu dojo in your ereas but I will try to find out.I do know my instructor Kaneta Toshio has taught seminars in France I will try to find out where.