AnonymousOne

Explore everything Retain the good Reject the bad Self train more than you dojo train Study every possible performance enhancing method of training

In my school we use a very deep Kiba Dachi where that stance is required. Gojuryu, and other schools use a very similar stance called Shiko Dachi. In your opinion, which do you feel is the better stance? And if so why? Which is the most stable? What are the weaknesses and strengths of each stance? Why would the ancient masters opted for one stance rather than the other? For those that dont know that names of the stances: Shiko Dachi http://www.shotokankarate.dabsol.co.uk/shotokan/stances/shiko.htm Kiba Dachi http://www.shotokankarate.dabsol.co.uk/shotokan/stances/kiba.htm (Note: The demonstrator would never get away with this in our school. Hehe. It says you must keep your feet paralell to each other, but hes not. But never the less, the example is there)

Two years in a row this school has won first and second place in mens open weight contest, in my country

I got into Karate at age 7. My older brother was a school boy boxing champion and I used to go watch him train and I trained in boxing a little then too. There was also Karate there and I was fascinated by it. My parents thought it would be better for me than boxing because I was a weak and very unhealthy child that suffered badly from asthma. They didnt want to see my bashed around as in boxing. I enjoyed the training and when I was about 17 (so young but had done 10 years training!) I realised how strong and healthy I had got. It was then I decided to practise Karate all my life. However it wasnt until I was about 20, after a very mean and big black belt beat the crap out of me that gave me the motivation to step beyond normal dojo levels of training activity. 41 years later, I am still training twice daily

What modern science of 'kinestheology' research has been applied to it?

I'm 52...you ARE a kid! Thanks Pops!! Haha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, what happened. I was a blue belt and now I am a green belt!!! I have been demoted LOL

People ask this question, often because they are looking for a way to get efficient fast. It just doesnt work that way. There is no drive through Karate school, where you can order upsized physical development growth... sorry Shotokan is an excellent school and there are many other good schools. How much are you personally prepared to sacrifice to get good? How much pain can you take, in the seeking of your goals? Do you even know what your goals are exactly? If you dont know what your goals are, how can you achieve anything? Do you want to know who is limiting your abilities to grow and develop? Go and have a chat with that guy in the mirror, he IS responsible!

I am not saying things dont work, I am saying to constantly search for greater levels of performance. We must remember that Karate was also at one time refined. Okinawans learnt Chinese forms and modified them. Why? Were those techniques broken? Funakoshi modified them, were they broken? Other masters modified them were they broken? No they werent! They were searching for better ways to perform. I think its probably true to say that every Master of days gone by, in one way or another modified Karate in one way or another. I think its human nature to seek better more efficient ways in all areas of endeavour. I just simply dont believe that Karate is perfect. I dont believe it ever will be perfect. However I sure feel its a good idea to seek perfection. With the analytical tools we have available to us today, I feel we are in a better position now, than ever before, to research test and modify. New levels of human endurance and capability are always being challenged and surpassed constantly. I just dont feel we should limit ourselves because some Master (all respect intended), from some past age says it should be done a certain way. My idea is to test everything empirically and if of course its even possible, to attempt to improve what we have. If something can be improved, then improve it. If it cant, then dont. But you dont know until you start researching and testing. Thats how man was able to fly. And thank you. Being 48 and being called a kid was lovely Haha

Ted T thanks for your interesting response and I fully agree that Karate faces the problem of charlatans and con men. Except for the government stepping in and licensing teachers, I do not know how to avoid this. Never the less, I feel new development and new research should not be hindered because of that. Sports performance has benefited dramatically in the last number of years through open minded research and innovation. I would love to see the same kind of honest effort applied to Karate and leaving no stone unturned. I guess if Karate competition attracted multi-million dollar prize money like boxing, we would see a sudden injection of cash into research. I guess all we can do at this stage is try and learn from the boxing research which is a bit limiting for Karate-ka, but never the less, close.

A young man walks into a Karate dojo for the first time and there on in, he is given systems of warm up exercises, basics, kata, kumite, methods of training, commands on ethics, history of Karate, methods of supplementary training etc. From start to finish he is told what to do, how to do it and how to think (in many if not most cases). Funakoshi greatly altered traditional Okinawan Karate to “Make it easier for the Japanese people to learn”. He altered the Kata, some almost to the point of being unrecognisable. He gave them new names and made the comment In reference to his own actions he said, “The old and the new, this is only a matter of time”. In his autobiography “My Way of Life” he expressed his feeling that Karate will and should continue to grow and change. He even suggested that Kata may even be given new names. Rather interestingly, when expressing his concern over the development of Karate, he complained that, at that time, some people had invented new and unusual Kata. The context of what he was saying about this, seemed to me, to be a railing accusation and an expression of dismay. When some of his students decided to wear protective clothing to practise Kumite, he never darkened the door of that place again. He also made the statement “The way, who will pass it on straight and well”. There seems to be a contradiction of terms here. This is not only true of Shotokan, but this attitude lives in the minds of many heads and leaders of schools all over the world. To alter Karate is an act of heresy. You may alter the supplementary training, you may alter the warm up exercises, everything but the actual techniques. Unless you have some kind of mountain training experience, then come back and win many tournaments, kill a few bulls or tigers, break unprecedented numbers of bricks or tiles or perform some other public demonstration of extraordinary feats, then you will never be accepted by the “Karate Community” if you are an innovator. Whilst the rest of the athletic world is gaining leaps and bounds by continuing to push the envelope of human performance by innovating, researching and adding new techniques and training methods, the Karate World is clinging stead-fast to traditions. Are we going to limit future generations by treating traditional Karate methods as “Holy Icons”? Where is there room for the innovator? Where is there room for the future Mozart’s, Picasso’s, Columbus’s, Wright Brother’s of the Karate World? By clinging to traditions, are we not limiting the potential of Karate, even in the face of modern scientific analysis and evidence that demonstrates things unmistakably to the contrary? Where is the research team, like in other athletic endeavours, that is analysing every possible movement and constantly looking for better ways? Where is the “wind tunnel testing” in Karate? How can we say Karate is perfectly effective if we are not using all the highly effective and modern research tools that modern technology can provide? Other fields of endeavour have grown in leaps and bounds by modern analysis in all areas of sports performance, why is Karate not being put under the microscope? Is it just a lack of funding? Or is it a lack of will motivated by deftly clinging to age-old methods for the sake of keeping traditions traditional? Is the “Karate World” so arrogant, that it has decided it cannot be improved? Is she (Karate) so omnipotent, that it sees into the future and can decide its past and current methods cannot be surpassed? Where does this thinking come from, who is the author of it, and what is the motivation for such a position? In the 1950’s and 1960’s a man came to the world of competitive running, a man named Arthur Lydiard (a fellow country man of mine). He was a coach. After experimenting on himself, he bought new methods and turned running performances upside down. He was hated and criticised in his time and yet his athletes constantly broke world records and achieved multiple gold medals. He was laughed at and his success was explained away most amazingly. He was never really appreciated until late in his life and perhaps not even until after his death. His methods have become almost stock training systems for athletes today. He never really gained the respect and credit he so entirely deserved. Is Karate going to treat the thinkers and innovators in the same way? It is said that Kata is the heart of Karate and it is. There are multiple reasons for this and I am not going to address them here. But I am going to question the stead fast methods of kata techniques, order, and application. Why is it that, say a Shotokan student can develop themselves to become a highly competent fighter using one type of kata series and yet a student from Gojuryu, using a completely different type of Kata series, can achieve the same end? The Kata they are using are completely different, in some cases radically different to each other. Seeing they are using different movements, different techniques, different order, different emphasis, and so on, how is it they can both develop competence in fighting and yet the tools are so different? Is it the fact that they are practising fighting technique rather than traditions that makes them competent? Does the tools make the man or the man makes the tools? Which came first? I see organisations all over the world dedicated to the development of Karate. Some are even called “Karate Research” organisations. What really is pouring out of these organisations? Where are the advances? Where are the innovations? Where are the new techniques? Where are the new Kata? Where is the new training systems and methods? Where is the bio-mechanical, physiological, nutritional, technical analysis etc etc and result? What exactly is being researched and to what end? How can Karate benefit and grow if we remain stagnant? Karate evolved and grew over many centuries and innovation was the need of the hour in the development stage, but its seems to have slowed down and even many cases stopped in the early part of the 20th Century. Why do we assume the development stage is over? In the 19th and 20th Century man went from horse and cart to space travel. What leaps and bounds can be attributed to Karate? I understand the need to honour our Karate forefathers and be grateful for their life’s work in passing on what they researched and found based on what analytical tools they had available to them … at that time. However, our whole world has radically changed. Our ability of analysis and empirical testing has put new light on a multitude of human endeavours in such profound ways, that the new levels of performance has attained levels that were once thought impossible. With this in mind, are we going to limit Karate? Are we going to pass on something that could have been a lot better than it is only because we want to pass down tradition? In financial accounting systems, book keeping books were highly effective for a very long time. For hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, these reliable systems were used. Is it better to pass these on to future generations or pass down more efficient and faster computer accounting software? Is tradition always valuable? Isn’t it true that traditions were once actually new innovations? Why should we dampen the human spirit of innovation, creativity, forethought, inspiration, talent, imagination, or even genius? If Karate does become more open minded and opens its doors to constructive criticism, modern analysis, modern bio-mechanical & physiological investigation etc with the goal of better performance, by what means will it be controlled to ensure the highest quality development and who will be qualified to accept and reject innovations?

In our school when we perform Kiba Dachi in the Tekki Kata's (Naihanchi) we take a very low stance, wider, lower and deeper even than the normal Shotokan Kiba Dachi. Its a killer on the legs, but it sure develops stability and leg strength. The stance must be deep, body completely upright, feet exactly paralell to each other and knees out over the toes. In Shoshin Nagamine's book, Okinawa Karate, Matsubayashi-Ryu, Naihanchi is done in Kiba Dachi. It was my impression it was always done in Kiba Dachi

I found this excellent site on sports performance that has an abundance of information and advice about training. It also includes a lot of up to date research http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk

If you want to get better at "back flips", I recommend you attend a Benny Hinn concert. I see people there can really back flip!!

Speed is developed by developing your fast twitch fibre in your muscles. I have experimented with speed training for many many years, probably around 30 years. First you have to have strong muscles as a solid foundation. Then you must practise speed using several methods. I highly recommend using weights and then followed by plyometric exercises to build explosive muscle power. I also recommend using light weights, as fast as you can, mimicking exact Karate movements. Then use high repetition. Of course there is also the need to practise the techniques in the normal fashion over and over as fast as you can. You simply have to keep pushing the envelope. If you are constantly working hard on looking for speed and working very hard at it, but constantly telling your muscles you want and need speed it will come. Speed in Karate is anaerobic work. Look at the way you train and spend as much time as you can on anaerobic work. Repetition solves most Karate problems

The most powerful Karate technique is the spinning, jumping, hovering, 540 degree, tiger claw, eagle winged, double kicking death lunge. But the technique is so secret you cant learn it until you get to 8.5 Dan

AIR ALERT III: THE COMPLETE VERTICAL JUMP PROGRAM http://www.home.no/slominski/Air%20Alert%20III.htm

Tekki Sandan... Ahhh the Kata the resembles an armour clad warrior. What a great Kata it is. One good way to train in this Kata is to stand in Kiba Dachi and stay put and just practise all the hand movements, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Kiba Dachi is hard on the legs and the repetitious hand movements is very hard on the arms, shoulders and upper back muscles. This is an excellent Kata for over all body conditioning. The stance develops leg strength, balance and stability, while the arm movements develops a lot of speed strength and co-ordination. Practise the arm movements daily until it feels like you arms are going to fall off!! Inside Tekki Sandan is more than what is first seen. I spent 10 years on the Tekki Kata. In our school the Tekki Kata are dan grade level. Underneath the cloudy surface in the Tekki Kata lurks gems of gold, if you work hard.

Train like hell and then rest the day before the grading

For greater leg strength I cannot highly recommend enough of that of using weights. Do lunges, squats, squat jumps with weights, sprinting, burpees, step ups, sissy squats Here is an article that is about jumping, but the exercises are designed to develop explosive leg strength http://www.home.no/slominski/Air%20Alert%20III.htm Weight exercises in detail (excellent site) http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

36? Sheesh a baby!! Haha Of course you can! There are people who run marathons at age 70 and 80. Zig Ziglar the noted motivational speaker weighted 220 lbs at age 46 and he took up running. 10 years later on a tread mill at a famous Texas Physiologists, he was performing at the same speed and times as the Dallas Cowboys top athlete. I am 48 and pretty fit, mind you I havent stopped training for the last 41 years. Some recent research shows that a man at age 65 will only be down by 15% of his strength compared to a 22 ys old who is at peak strength. Theres a lot of research on this and I encourage you to study it, its very motivating, so just go at it!!

I would suggest putting more weight on the back foot and perhaps taking a lower stance. Your back foot may be lifting up because, inadvertently you are lifting your hips and upperbody which in turn lifts your leg and foot. As you move back or forward in any stance, remember to slide your foot across the floor. Dont lift your foot. The only way to improve is do the stance, moving backward and forward over and over and over on a daily basis. Another way is to carry a weight on your shoulder as well. Kokutsu dachi is not an easy stance and many have difficulty moving forward in it because the weight is meant to land on the back foot, but the tendency is to put the weight on the front leading foot. Repetition solves any problem in Karate

Haha I used to think the same thing before I got my Shodan. I guess some dont want to look like they just got a black belt and have it looking all shiny new. You would never get away with telling a Shodan or higher in our school they are a disgrace! You would find yourself flat on the floor. Karate is also about etiquette and respect. Judging another person over such a trivial issue is very disrespectful. Our school demands clean gi's all the time, but there are no rules about a worn looking belt thankfully. Let us get on with our training and worry about perfecting our technique rather than judging those who we are supposed to be in submission to

There is no such thing as "can't", its "won't". There are many ways one can use weights for plometric training, one just has to think about it for awhile, add a little creativity and there you have it

You you can die if I apply the secret mystical death fire punch number #43, followed by a circling wing eagle claw kick to your left toe nail. Please do not ask me to teach you these techniques because our order does not allow outsiders to learn them. Its on a need to know basis and you dont need to know.

That would depend on how you use the weight. Some use weights in a plyometric way.