AnonymousOne

Obviously this instructor had never trained using a makiwara which Shotokan and its derivatives teach. Nothing wrong with punching thin air, as long as it is done in a balanced training schedule. Personally I punch thin air as in Kata and Basics, use a Makiwara, heavy bag and apply plyometric exercises to punching technique. A balanced approach is always best. You have to remember Hirokazu Kanazawa now 10th Dan, won the All Japan Karate Champs 3 years in a row, the last win was done whilst he had a broken arm He is Shotokan.

with all the respect i have for you,I am totally disagree here, these light dance stances in your eyes happened to be the original stance in the original forms, it's funny that you think kokutsu dachi in Heian Nidan is combative and high stance of Pinan shodan is like a dance, do you realy think that two blocks(outside inside and middle block) of Bassai Dai in zenkutso have ever been used in a real fight, I guess choki mutobo never can't pass the Naihanchi kata under your eyes since his naihanchi-dachi is too high to be combative like Kiba-dachi, from one side you all talking about the importance of kata as a tool to learn how to fight, from other hand you justify your dead static stances as a tool to make a karate-ka stronger and faster. we fight the way we do our kata, you fight like us but you do your kata in other way and still think kata teaches you how to fight. IMHO okinawan kenpo or karate is in combative side and yours is sport side. i don't wanna start a fight over my MA is better than yours ,so i am gonna leave the last word to you. I have no idea how you perform your kata obviously, so I cannot comment on your performance or even your school. Albeit, have you seen how a top class boxer punches a bag with full verosity, full power, full commitment, and total focus? Thats how we practise our Kata. Total power and commitment in every movement, except of course for the parts of the Kata that are designed to be slow and light, otherwise its all out. We train for explosive power. This anaerobic work is very demanding, but exactly matches what is needed in real combat. As for me I havent competed in contest for well over 20 years, so no I dont train for sport. I have seen many top class Okinawan Gojuryu Karate-ka perform Kata the same way we do, but of course using their Kata. Hard styles tend to practise Kata that way. I was merely pointing out that the way others train in the same Kata looks strange for me. I didnt say it was wrong for others to do that. Thats their choice. Its just not my personal choice to train that way. Personally I dont see the point in light blocks and light punches. In my younger day when I was young, over confident and somewhat arrogant, I got into many street fights, undefeated I might add, and I experienced first hand what its like. When I worked in the mines in Western Australia for one year preparing for two years in Japan, I got involved in many organised and somewhat barbaric bare knuckle boxing bouts. Again I was undefeated and I apply those experiences to to my training. A real fight demands massive explosive power and thats what one must assimulate and inculcate with Karate training. That is my personal opinion. I am well aware that some schools practise them differently and for various reasons. I dont agree with that philosophy. May I make a suggestion? Pick a Kata and go through it at full force, I mean really put 100% power and speed into each movement and see how hard it is. Do that and then tell me its easy and not good training Some Karate-ka practise Karate like a marathoner runs a marathon. Long slow distance. Others practise Kata like a sprinter, all out speed and power. Without going on too long here, I would humbly suggest you study some of the scientific research that the world class boxers have access to. Its very interesting. Sadly Karate hasnt invested that kind of money into research. But we can benefit from the boxing research. Really what you are talking about is aerobic work and I am talking anaerobic work. Thats the difference here. "To develop kicks that will knock your sparring opponent backward, you need to moderate your aerobic training and specifically develop the high intensity, anaerobic system. You need some aerobic capacity, that is certain. But the ability to end a street fight in a few seconds or even last several rounds in sparring does not require an ability to run five miles. Instead, you should perform some form of aerobic training for 20 minutes in duration, 3 to 4 times per week, at approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age). Then, with the time that you may have previously spent in endurance training, train your high-intensity, powerful energy system. One way to do this is with resistance training in the form of squats or lunges. To develop maximum force and power, you will want to cycle through a training plan that leads you to eventually performing sets with a high load (weight) and few repetitions. This type of training will develop the explosiveness of your kicks, the type that ends a street fight in a matter of seconds. Or, if you are a tournament fighter and need the ability to perform several rounds, you will want to develop your local muscular endurance (LME). To do this with resistance training, you go to the other extreme than what was described for developing power. For LME, use very light weights and perform many repetitions, perhaps 20 to 25. This will develop your ability to deliver successive kicks in a tournament format. Besides resistance training, you can perform short bursts of high intensity effort on the heavy bag and on the running track in the form of sprints, which is much more beneficial for the development of your power than running for 30 minutes or more. LESS AEROBIC TRAINING MEANS GREATER KICKING POWER by Christopher D. Hess, SMAC Have a great day and may your training be blessed

Enpi is a lovely Kata. The flight of a swallow ......

Welcome back and may your training go well. Goju is a good school. I have a friend who is an 8th Dan in Gojuryu

There are so many styles today and even variations amoungst teachers in a style it can be quite confusing. I see our Heian (Pinan) Kata for an example, that other schools train in and I am amased how different they are performed. The stance is high, the movements are performed more like a light dance, rather than an aggressive battle sequence. But still, thats peoples choice to train that way. At the end of the day, you have to research various schools and decide what you think is best. When I started training at age 7 I just went to the local dojo. Fortunately its a great school and 41 years later I am still there. I have however visited many dojos and since the 1980's there are now a smorgasbord of dojo's available and to date I havent seen a school that is better than the one I am in or has the same standards. However, we dont have a lot of students in vast numbers (like we did in the 1970's when we were one of the few dojo's), because the training is so harse. Many people join up and soon leave for John Doe's Easy Martial Arts Academy.

Deceleration Are you training in such a way that you are causing deceleration as you perform a technique? One often overlooked and yet very important point in Karate training is deceleration. For those that don’t know what I mean let me give you an example. Lets say you are doing a bench press with weights. You push the weight up away from you forcefully. This is good training, but as you push that weight away from you, you have to slow it down and stop it so you can lower it back to your chest again. This slowing down is called deceleration. The muscles get tuned to this action and the fast twitch in your muscle fibres are thinking you want to them decelerate. They react how you tell them to work. So in time, although you are gaining strength and endurance, you are losing out because you are training your muscles to slow down all the time. This has a negative effect on your potential abilities. It’s a good idea to examine the way you are training and performing all your technique to see if this is what you are telling your muscles that you want. Fast, explosive and powerful action is developed by training your muscles to do exactly want you want them to do. This type of important action is rarely taught inside the dojo, but many things in Karate training are done on the basis of deceleration. Perhaps the masters of days gone past did not have the biological and biomechanical research, we have today, on fast and slow twitch muscle fibres. You must train all your technique to accelerate in the fasted possible way. For those that want to explore this facet of training, I would suggest training in Plyometric exercises. This may seem like to be a minor point to some, but you will never reach your full potential until you train your muscles exactly how you need them and in fighting you DO NOT need a muscle the decelerates, except in the few cases you need to decelerate from one stance to another to gain balance and stability. Other than that, you are striking, blocking, punching and kicking at the fullest capable force. One example of developing non-deceleration, say in punching, is to get a medicine ball or even a heavy rock and throw it with one arm, mimicking the exact movement of a karate punch (yes you can). Throw it as far and as fast as you can. Your muscles will only experience acceleration. That’s exactly what your muscle fibre needs to learn. Fast twist with no deceleration! Do this over and over and over a period of time you will see the difference! Weights is a good build up to developing strong technique, but don’t over look plyometric (non deceleration) training, for explosive speed in punching and kicking. Try it, you wont regret it!

Karate My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi Karate-do Kyohan by Gichin Funakoshi Karate-do Nyomon by Gichin Funakoshi Dynamic Karate By Masatoshi Nakayama Okinawan Karate by Shoshin Nagamine Okinawan Gojuryu Karate by Morio Higaonna (3 Volumns)

Our school requires a minimum of 3rd Dan, a First Aid Certificate and having been trained to teach. Being able to teach is another grading in itself

I am 48 and can do it in about 9 minutes based on my current training. However I can hold that pace over 10 miles or longer. I have never tried just to run 1.5 miles, I am sure if thats all I had to do, I could do it faster than 9 minutes.

My all time favourite I guess would be Tokkan, simply because its the hardest Kata to perform

I learnt all our systems Katas (over 60 of them) while I was a kyu grade. I wasnt supposed to learn them, but got books and watched the dan grades. I was just curious. I wasnt capable of performing them properly but wanted to try anyway. It was a waste of time really and I dont recommend it to students. I feel its best to improve on what you are supposed to be improving on

Who graded Oyama to 10th Dan?

I am a High priest of the Cult of the Holy Inspired First O'Donnelly Kilt Wearing Church of Pakistan. I hold a 37th Dan Black Kilt in spirituality.

I have mentioned this story on this forum before. When I was a kyu grade in the early 1970's I had a shodan beat the crap out of me. He was very good and very mean. Big too I swore then to train hard and I did!!. To cut a long story short, I kept training and a little while later he left. 15 years later, he came back to start training again. I got my sweet revenge

circular or spiral? Both

Turning the other cheek relates to verbal insults. Its an old Jewish saying. Some legalistic Christians are pacifists and claim you cant hit back, cant be in the Army etc. But is this Biblically sound? Deuteronomy 20:4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. Pacifists are free loaders. While they stay at home enjoying life, going to Church, work etc, in other words enjoying freedom, others go to fight to give them that freedom and they pay no never no mind to the high price freedom costs. They spit on the graves of those that died for the very freedom they take and enjoy. They take the freedom - but wont pay the price to have that freedom. In other words they are freeloaders!! Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. "yoke of slavery" = made made laws superimposed over Gods laws. Training in martial arts is not a sin, its not demonic and legalistic Christians who try and judge you need to be quoted this verse: 1 Thessalonians 4:11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business... Quote it to them sometime

Thats weird. God faxed me and said he wanted you to take up knitting.

Thats not necessarily true. Using a "proper" weight training programme can have a huge impact on a karate-ka's abilities. Personally, after having used weights for over 30 years, I would not stop using them. Weights not onlybn develops much needed strength but is also helps avoid injury. Just about every field of athletic endeavour today uses weights because the scientific research over the last 20 years shows the huge impact it has. As my teachers has said "If you have two guys with similar ability and yet one is twice as strong as the other, who would you put your money on?" Weight training has profound effects. I am not talking about body building weight training, I am talking about a properly constructed weight training programme for Karate/Martial Arts. Its a good idea to read the weight chapter in James Fixx's book "Sports Peak Performance". This explains the body mechanics of weight training and the biological effects..

Just about all Karate technique is circular. Even a straight punch is circular. A front kick is circular. Such is the nature of body mechanics

When you have mastered one art fully, then you may have the right and ability to be able to modify it. Wait another 20 years or so

For a bigger person I would recommend Gojuryu or Gojukai Karate

What is the best combative martial art? You... only you... if you perform

How do you measure yourself? A marathoner runs usually 2 hours per day. They do the same thing over and over … running. They can accurately measure the distance and time it, to check progress and performance. A high jumper can clearly measure how high they jump. A shot putter can measure how far he throws. But… how does a Karate-ka measure accurately their progress? I am not referring to mediocre progress, I am referring to hardcore peak performance measurement with great accuracy. With the Karate-ka having to perform so many different techniques, how do “you” measure yourself? I am specifically referring to karate technique. I am not talking about supplementary training like weights or running etc but actual Karate technique. Do you feel the way modern Karate is taught, that there is adequate measuring tools? Is the belt grading system enough to measure correctly? With all the scientific testing abilities today, do you feel Karate is neglecting their use for peak performance assessment? How would you recommend one tests their overall abilities to check progress accurately?

Study the weight training programmes of Olympic high jumpers, there you will find all you need to know

The instructors in our school (minimum of 3rd Dan level) are required to train as hard as and in many cases harder than students. This type of training would not allow someone to get over weight. Its a proven scientific fact that excess body weight slows you down. In all fields of athletic endevour they tell you to maintain your correct weight for peak performance. In our school, which is strictly traditional Japanese, one is expected to be at their peak constantly to remain a teacher. Grade test are performed regularly to ensure high standards and if you dont measure up, you lose your grade and has to sit it all over again. The standards are high, which it should be Its leading by example.