AnonymousOne

How many of you have a Makiwara at home? How much time do you use on it? What techniques do you practise on it?

Well I would only suggest you assiduously practise the technique over and over until you can do it. You might also want to consider doing some plyometric exercises to develop explosive power into your legs so you can get yourself off the ground.

Welcome from a 45 year old

Performing a kick with power requires using the hip. Often this causes one to lean back slightly

Warm up well first

19? Lets see how you feel in 25 years

I knew you would like that one Bon. Its not easy

Our school has a "no responsibilty and at your own risk" contract No sign no train

I like the stories about Choki Motobu, he sounds like a rebel. I like rebels LOL

I will take that as a compliment

I advocate balanced training. A balance between basics, Kata, sparring, bag work, makiwara work, running, plyometric exercises, weights and several other things. I have been training solidly for 28 years now. I learnt how to effectively defend myself 20 odd years ago. Has it been tested on the street? You bet! many times when I was young, ****y and arrogant. So "for me", I would be happy pratising Kata for the rest of my life. I enjoy it and it certainly helps maintain and develop the skills I have accumulated in all this time. I am not looking for fast ways to develop street fighting skills as I had that sorted out years ago. I would have to agree with some of you about Kata based on the performance of the teachers of some schools. It looks more like a golly wog dancing than a man practising fighting. When I first saw my Sensei demonstrate Kata 28 years ago I was deeply impressed, I still am. It looks dynamic, you can really see the power he possesses. It certainly is formidable. Then I turn to "Golly Wog Schools" and I think they ought to be hung for impersonating a Martial Artist LOL Remember a good balance.

Well I certainly agree with practicality and I am not one for promoting 360 degree spinning head kicks for self defense. In fact in our school which is a derivitive of the old Shotokan (pre 1957) such things as high kicks and jump kicks are not promoted until very high grades. They are simply impractical. I believe our school is very practical and realistic in what it teaches. I am aware that many schools/arts teach 'showy' techniques and students suffer because they are not grounded in good, solid, practical and effective basics. Unfortunately I have met many people that are very flexible and can do wonderful head level round or side kicks but they cant fight to save themselves. This is the disappointing part of MAs.

The fist can get to the head faster than a foot can. I dont see the point really myself.

welcome

"A man of real combat, a man of true fighting ability" How often I have heard these comments over the years. I am amased that just because some people dont go and bust peoples heads or enter contests people assume they cant fight. In my experience I have found the ones to be quite humble and amicable people tend to be the most competant. I have also noticed that some dismiss a particular arts capabilities because of their own incompetance. You hear them say I did such and such an art and it was no good so I switched to ____ instead. Baloney! The problem is YOU not the art. If you failed at one art you likely will take the same bad attitude to the next one. I see this here on this forum again and again. There is no perfect art and there is imperfect students. The art does make you, you make the art. Its the same thing in life. Imagine going to law school and failing and then blaming the law school. Duh, others passed why not you? Same old scenario: Adam talking to God "Errrrrr Eve made me do it" I think people would go much further in life and be honest with themselves and admit they fail at things because they dont put enough effort in. "Kata doesnt work" - have you totally and absolutely mastered Kata as set out by your school to make such a comment "This technique doesnt work, its weak" - Duh have you totally developed your body to its full potential using that technique to make such a comment? There are so many arm chair martial artists today that wont get down to the hard work of paying the price to succeed. Those that do the hard work, I am proud of you!!! My son met this young man about six months ago through his job. They arranged to meet at my home before going out. We had some coffee and got talking about MA. He was surprised my son never mentioned we had some knowledge of it. He is training in a Combined MA school and has 1st degree black belt.I didnt say much to him at the time but I asked him why he was in an art that combined several arts. He stated he did Karate once but found the techniques "Were no good for real fighting" As they were leaving I thanked him for his insight and invited him back with his MA suit so he could explain more to me. Now this is a young man of 22 who is very proud of his achievements so to speak. He was very pleased to be putting on a demonstration of his art for us and I was intrigued. About 2 weeks or so later he came. We went into my gym/dojo at home and he was surprised at all the equipment. He said "Wow, do you guys train?" I said "Well alittle" I didnt wear my Gi just Gym clothes. So I asked him to demonstrate to me the techniques he felt were ineffective. He first started with the reverse punch (Gyaku Zuki). I said ok lets test it. Theres a makiwara, hit it as hard as you can and lets see if it works. He hit it and pulled his hand back and said "ouch, thats hard". So I asked my son to perform the same technique. The makiwara pounded back at the speed and force my son can do and this young man ws really surprised. He said "Jared, you never told me you trained". So I then hit it with a fair amount of force then asked him if we could then try it on his body. He said "No way". I asked why not seeing the technique was allegedly ineffective. Then he proposed the idea that in sparring it was not effective. So I asked him to show me. Well in a short space of time we learnt his technique was no better that a 5th Kyu. Then we got onto Kata and my son and I demonstrated some Bunkai to him and his attitude started to change. Then we invited him back to train with us the next day for 2 hours. The poor guy was totally exhausted. We had a long talk afterwards and I explained my involvement and his enthusiasm for the art changed and my son tells me the young man (Barry) now has a makiwara at home, goes running and works weights. Evidently he wont come and train with us because it was too hard for him. I have seen this time and again. So many people want a short cut and wont pay the price, so they blame the art. _________________ Soft teachers make soft students [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-03-04 20:54 ]

I got back from a weeks teaching (a week ago) assisting my Sensei with the SAS (special forces). I am not sure what they requirements are in the USA but down here my Sensei has been teaching them since 1966. No one else has got a foot in the door.

Its very hard to determine anyones skills 50 years or more after their death. One can only rely on testamony of their loyal students and prejudice can happen.

Get a box that is about 18" to two feet high and about a foot wide. Squat down next to the box, so the box is on your side. Now jump up and over the box (side ways) onto the other side of the box and land in the opposite position. Now repeat the process in the opposite direction. This develops explosive power in your legs and develops your ability to move side ways. After awhile you can do it with dumb bells in your hands or a weight tied to your shoulder or back. Its also a great exercise to develop your anaerobic capacity. Tip: If you have bad knees dont try it. Try 3 sets of 12 repetitions to start with or build up to that.

Does anyone use knee braces? I recommend punching or kicking an attacker LOL

Choki Motobu promoted that idea. There was rivalry between them over their Okinawan class status. Funakoshi was a lower class than Motobu but had a better education. Motobu was also thrown out of Itosu's school where Funakoshi trained. Funakoshi was selected because of his skill. He trained under the finest Masters of his time, Azato, Itosu, Matsumura and many others. If you know anything about Okinawan attitudes and culture you will realise they would never allow anyone to do anything unless they were highly skilled. These stories came out of petty jealously by Motobu's annoyance a lower class Okiwawan was chosen over him to represent To-De (Karate). Motobu was a great master but a renegade. Theres no evidence to show that Funakoshi was not very skilled, quite the contrary from what I learnt in Japan and all I have read these last 28 years

I trained in Japan for a year and spoke many times to Sasaki who trained directly under Funakoshi. I have also done 3 seminars with Kanazawa who trained under Funakoshi. I have also read Egami's accounts of training under Funakoshi. All reports show that Funakoshi trained his students incredibly hard. In Funakoshi's autobiography he stated "One must train until they drop from exhaustion and rise again soon with the same strict regimen" All accounts show Funakoshi was a very hard teacher. Egami addressed this issue very well in his book Beyond Karate.

On 2002-03-04 13:03, spinninggumby wrote: My knowledge of Japanese/Okinawan martial arts is fairly limited. Can someone either tell me (or refer me to a reputable source) the significance of the following karate-related topics? 1) Sabaki method (circular?) Sabaki usually means to side step or move out of the way of an attack. However the Japanese word does have several applications. Could you expand your question further please 2) Main or general differences between Okinawan karate and Japanese karate Thats a big question. Apart from Okinawa using the original names of Kata, they tend to have a higher stance, dont always promote contest as much and take a less militaristic approach to training and attitudes in the Dojo. I would suggest reading Shoshin Nagamine book "The Essence of Okinawan Karate" for greater insight. Or Morio Higaonna's series of books. 3) Mas Oyama 4) Gichin Funakoshi As for Funakoshi and Oyama, I am simply interested in what set them apart from the other karate masters of their era (or of any era for that matter). Oyama was a student of Funakoshi for awhile. He was graded to 4th Dan "I think" under Funakoshi. I dont think Oyama liked the sparring methods of Shotokan and placed less emphasis on Kata. Oyama was into more overt demonstrations of power by killing bulls and breaking masses of bricks and tiles. He also liked full contact which Funakoshi spoke against. I hope that helps

Mas Oyama killed 1500 lb bulls. Gogen Yamaguchi killed tigers, so nothing surprises me I personally have successfully defended myself against dobermans and Rotweilers (sp?). I killed a German Shephard once that attacked me. Sometimes I wonder why I go running with peoples crazy dogs around the place. Fortunately we dont have bears, cougars, snakes or even poisonous spiders here. Dogs are the only problem in the cities. In the woods theres nothing but birds and the odd wild pig that runs away anyway My sister raised many types of big dogs and fortunately I got used to dealing with them, even mad crazy ones. Now a bear? Have you ever seen me run? You would in that case LOL _________________ Karate begins and ends with courtesy [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-03-04 00:41 ]

I never meant perfection, I meant what 'you' personally aspire to. Perhaps 5th Dan rank, running 10 miles aday, bench pressing 250lbs, winning a certain contest, mastering a certain form, attaining teachers rank etc etc. There are as many desires as there are people. btw the my questions were designed for people to ask themselves

Welcome