Isshinryu88

Actually, Master Shimabuku switched between full twist and vertical punch a few times over the years. In some of the early videos he does it one way during one kata and then the other way later on. I've heard that the rotation is actually due to distance from your attacker. Closer in, the fist only rotates to vertical before it hits. A little further out, 45 degrees. And then the full twist for attacker's at that range. Isshinryu does practice the full twist, although usually only in the context of the "hidden" one we do near the end of Seiuchin kata. One of the more vocal proponents of pressure points, Chris Thomas, was (maybe still is?) involved in Isshinryu. He said that the 45 degree punch fit the angle of the rib cage better than the full twist punch. Of course if you really want to open up a can of worms, there's always the discussion that the full twist was designed to protect the Okinawan school children as they began learning karate way back when. By the way, this change in punching led to some of Master Shimabuku's Okinawan students leaving him. After his death, some also went back to Shorin Ryu and the "old" way of punching. I'd also heard that his son Kichiro had been considering returning to the twist punch. Not sure what happened in that situation. I've always done the vertical punch, even through my travels in different styles. Since I tend towards the 45 angle, it doesn't get noticed much. The thumb on top fist always gets questions though. For the original poster, I get the idea that you are looking at joining a school. If so, where were you looking at?

I'm pretty sure that there are two different books referred to as Bubishi. The one that you are referring to is one that has been handed down from teacher to student. The student hand copies his teacher's text. This is different from the thirtry volume set and is not a condensed version of it. Patrick McCarthy has a very good translation of the Bubishi.

No problem. I found the other thread you were talking about. I suppose they should move this one to the Korean Arts forum. Just out of curiosity- Do you see what I was trying to say when I talked about getting everything put together in one package? When you spoke of fluid contact, I think we are talking about the same thing, only you wrote specific to ending up in a position of the technique I spoke of. I've been doing JKD and have come to accept their view of fluidity of contact (I like that terminology) as being everything from "you can't touch me" range to "Man, I can count the pores in your skin" range. I don't want to be too specific, but I know of someone in KS, past black belt, who said that he hasn't had any training in the fashion I spoke of. Does your school continue integrating beyond Jue Mahk Maga Ki Bon Soo ( I got tired of trying to describe stuff and just went and got my book )? Thanks!

I only studied Aikido for a few months. I think that one thing to keep in mind is what it means for an Aikido person to "win". I think most Aikidoists would consider it a victory if they used their skills at zoning and movement to prevent an attacker from hitting them. It wouldn't matter that they applied a technique and threw the person around or not.

As a brown belt, you should know that every KSW form has far more hand strikes and blocks than kicks. To say differently makes me question if you're being genuine in relating your KSW experience. I suppose it's my previous MA bias, but the repeated sections of spinning crescent kicks give me the impression that kicks take precedence over hand techniques. You should also have realized at the brown belt level, just how impractical applying the techniques in sparring would be. They must be practiced under controlled conditions or else serious injury can result, and that's precisely why the techniques get their own dedicated practice time and are not a part of sparring. At some point, everything should come together in one package. Brown belt is certainly too early for this to be anywhere near a completed process, but the ground work should be started prior to black belt. From observing my seniors, it was clear that this wasn't happening for them and I knew it wasn't occuring for me. I agree that you can't go full speed with many of the techniques. With the white belt techniques beginning with the ready stance as the refernce point, moving up to the yellow belt wrist grabs and clothing, moving up the scale to the kick/punch refernce for the pressure point sets- it's obvious that the idea of getting everything integrated is there. The TKD style focus on kicks doesn't lend itself well to the entering skills needed to transition into the joint locks. Perhaps it was my instructor. Being in Houston, you are pretty much in KSW central. Now, if you believe that you can think your way through a fight, relying on the "underlying core" principles to try and apply a joint lock, you will fail, and lose the fight. In a conflict, you must react quickly to a very fluid, dynamic situation, and the only way to react quickly enough is to practice the specific movements of the different techniques over and over and over. There's just no way around that. I agree that you can't think your way through much of anything in a fight if you are hoping for success. But memorizing, what is it, 233 or some such number of techniques, and trying to maintain competency in all of them isn't conducive to that process. Look at the techniques. How many times is the straight arm bar repeated? There's probably only 6 or so seperate principles to the wrist locks. The side to side motion of the wrist, up and down of the wrist and the two twisting motions of the forearm. If you didn't learn them well enough by red belt to apply them effectively, I'm sorry, but that is a reflection on you, not on KSW's techniques' effectiveness. I said implausible, not ineffective. Do you actually believe that someone will grab both of your sleeves and pull your arms to the rear and then hold on to the sleeves while you begin to move into that sequence of techniques? How then could doing forms reinforce a joint technique? This would be my bias coming through again. Bunkai, applications, forms the basis of most of the Okinawan Karate arts. Practicing the forms reinforces the fundamental hand/foot techniques, but in a moving/sparring situation. I guess I don't see much call for forms if physical attributes is all they provide. You can get better results from a well thought out exercise routine. but to imply that KSW isn't teaching you how to be effective is far from accurate. I'm sure you've seen, or at least heard of, the video of the KSW master who was accosted in a parking lot. His response- a backfist to the temple. Simple, direct and very effective, but not a spinning crescent kick. Many of the Korean Arts have a strong infatuation with kicking. Point Sparring, while not a sterling example of a "real" fight, does give insight into what an art focuses on. The forms also give that insight. In my former school, roundhouse kicks were the rule rather than the exception. All of the time spent on joint techniques and there were never any exercises in starting in a point sparring situation and then moving into a joint technique, stopping before the technique locked in. A faster moving version of the second way of doing the very first set of techniques. I'm sorry that I can't remember any of the names. You did the set using the kick and punch as the refernce point, like with the pressure point sets. If I hadn't moved away, I'd likely still be attending the school. I like KSW and if I move to where there is a school, I may very well resume. If anything, I envy you being so close to the home school.

I studied KSW for four years. I left after earning my brown belt. Short answer- It can be a good basis for further studies. Like any art, it really depends on the teacher as much as on the art. If you don't have any MA experience at all, try it and ask a lot of questions. Long Answer...... To a great degree, KSW seemed to be focused on memorizing variations of joint locks. Most of the locks were effective, but rather than focusing on the underlying core of the locks, you just kept learning more and more. At nearly all levels, the techniques pretty much require a cooperative partner to work. At the upper levels, the techniques can seem rather implausible. KSW often seemed little more that TKD with joint locks. A little more focus on punching, but nearly everything was kicks, especially in the forms. While this isn't germane to your question, the forms always seemed rather "made up" to me. There was a focus on forms, but they seemed primarily meant for physical fitness. Very rarely did I get to a point in a form where I could see that the form was reinforcing a joint technique. The school I studied at did a lot of grappling, but I think this was the instructor's interest, not an actual part of regular KSW curriculum. The grappling was good. There was no effort at integrating the long range kicks, medium range punches, close range joint locks and the grappling. If you saw two KSW people sparring, it was like seeing any two people from a primarily kicking art going at it. I felt that there should be a point at where everything should begin to blend together and reinforce each other. That didn't happen. My JKD instructor feels that the joint locks I learned are actually best utilized in a grappling situation where my opponent can't get away so easily. His opinion is that trying to put a lock on a standing person is very difficult since he can just yank his arm away to prevent a wrist lock. If you have any more questions, let me know.

I would second the thought of going to a school and watching. I think that the instructor is the most important aspect. A really good instructor of the "can barely fight my way out of a paper bag" style is going to be of more benefit to you than a poor instructor of the "instant death touch" style. Make sure that the instructor teaches in a way that you can learn. I studied one art where they were very much against asking questions on the mat. I found this incredibly annoying since I knew I was doing techniques incorrectly, but my partner wouldn't say anything to help me out. Another style just went through techniques so fast, it was difficult to get the basics of one, let alone begin working on it and improving it. Good luck.

I can grapple for a decent amount of time without my back complaining too much. But when practicing falls, or being thrown more so, I can only go for a few sets before my back starts to give out. It begins to feel stiff at first and then it begins to lose strength. If I go beyond the point wher it feels weak, I usually injure myself to the point where I can't do anything for a few days. I learned a long time ago how things feel as they progress (regress?) so I stop after I feel things start to wear down. I've always assumed it was an endurance issue, but since I can grapple for a longer period of time and it's the falling that really gets things worked up, I was wondering if maybe it was a strngth issue. Or is it possibly something else all together? Thanks!

I had this problem also. I kept getting them from someone else in class. I just used a treatment I bought at the drugstore and then used sports tape to keep the area covered. A bandaid won't stay stuck on past the first few times you move from one stance to another. The tape worked well and it was common to see people use for jammed toes and the like.

Does anyone know of any JKD instructors who have worked at incorporating internal MA into their studies? Not always the most reliable of reporters, but many authors have claimed that the some of the most capable fighters they have met have been Tai Chi or Bagua fighters. I was wondering if any JKD people had explored those arts. Thanks!

I do some boxing as part of my classes in JKD. I find that boxing's strategies are substantially different from those of Isshinryu. I can see how it would be of use to you from a fitness standpoint and for improving your hand ability. Over the long term though, you may find that it doesn't mesh well with your karate. For self-defense, whatever comes about from the blending would likely be fine. But in the dojo, your instructor may feel it is inhibiting your karate development.

If this is a subject that has been dealt with before, I apologize. I couldn't figure out a search to find out what I was curious about. My question is what differentiates a Nidan from a SHodan and a Sandan from a Nidan. Do you see it as small journey on a continuum or is there a vast difference between each rank? Thanks!