AnonymousOne

By reading through the posts I guess I could easily be labelled an old timer. I am almost 45. I started boxing when I was 7 years of age. I started Karate when I was 17. I have trained all my life really. My brother was a successful boxer and got me into fighting. In many ways LOL In 1980 I spent 1 year training full time and then travelled to Japan in 1981 for one year of training. What a crazy 2 years that was. I then ran out of money and had to start working again, sheesh life stinks! hehe I am in New Zealand. I dont teach Karate anymore. I prefer to train. I do all sorts of training. Karate, weights, running, obstacle courses, plyometric exercises, makiwara, weights, as well as many other things I train for the sake of training. Competition doesnt interest me except in the sense of competing with myself. I am in a traditional Japanese Karate School which is a direct derivative of Shotokan. Basically Shotokan really. Thats the old Shotokan pre-1957. Hmmmm what else? I have a teen age son who is becoming very good. Accept hes going through all the youthful stuff of wanting to jump and kick to the moon as I did. He will settle down to real fighting soon hehe. I train everyday accept Sundays. I am divorced and engaged to a beautiful woman who is 13 years younger than me. She made me a T-Shirt with D.O.B. on it. Dangeous Old B--stard. LOL Its cute I include my family in my training. They either work out with me, or come biking when I run or talk when I work weights. Its a family thing we all enjoy. I am not bald and still have my own teeth and dont need glasses LOL I am 5'10" and weight 179lbs I am pretty set in my martial ways and I have worked out a system/programme that works for me. Being one of the highest ranks in my school and country for that matter, I tend to be a little closed minded on some issues, but I will endeavour to keep an open mind here and be respectful. I dont need to be called Sensei I am not teaching anymore. Stating a rank does not tell of the level one has I feel. However, I can run a marathon and bench press 265lbs. Now thats not bad for an old dude is it? I dont believe Martial Arts is a way of self enlightenment. Its a fighting art pure and simple that teaches fighting skills, respect, determination and self discipline. On a battlefield you dont get a chance to discuss philosophy. Believe me, in my younger days I had many street fights and never lost once. Trying to talk philosophy to a mad attacker doesnt usually work. The art of self defense is that. If you can walk away or talk yourself out of a fight all well and good. But, most idiots today dont talk they start punching! So to me, the idea is to put them down fast then they are receptive to philosophy. I was attacked in July 2001 by an idiot. There was no chance for talking. People like that just throff at the mouth and attack you. They deserve no patience. Thats how I see it anyway [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-01-30 01:03 ]

I think this is a wonderful exercise. Its not easy to describe but I will try: 1. From a standing position you step forward into a forward stance with your left leg leading. Here you would execute technique 2. Then you turn clockwise 180 degrees into a right leading forward stance and execute technique. 3. Then you turn anti-clock wise 90 degrees into a left leading forward stance and execute technique. 4. Then you turn clockwise 180 degrees into a right leading forward stance and execute technique. 5. Then you turn anti-clock wise 90 degrees into a left leading forward stance and execute technique. 6. Then you turn clockwise 180 degrees into a right leading forward stance and execute technique. 7. Then you turn anti-clock wise 90 degrees into a left leading forward stance and execute technique. 8. Then you turn clockwise 180 degrees into a right leading forward stance and execute technique. 9. Then you turn anti-clock wise 90 degrees into a left leading forward stance and execute technique. Now you are back where you started. This exercise you can do various blocking and countering with Gyaku Zuki. You can also change the forward stance to back stance and block with Shuto Uke and then change to forward stance and execute Gyaku Zuki. This is known as Kihon Keiki Mae Itch In one method of using this you can block with Uchi Uke, do a Mae Geri and then execute gyuaku zuki, oi zuki then gyaku zuki again. This exercise is called Happo geri. I find it’s a great exercise for multi directional fighting. _________________ I have no need to make a statement to authenticate my credibility [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-01-29 23:58 ]

Principally, karate and other martial arts is anaerobic work for the body. In other words you need your body to use the muscle at high speed and high muscular power. For those that are not farmiliar with these terms a marathoner developes great aerobic capabilities and a sprinter great anaerobic capabilities. For the most part in the Dojo your school is getting you to develop anaerobic endurance and this is great. Another system is based on a balanced combination of aerobic and anaerobic work. Aerobic work means work within your capacity to use oxygen. Everyone, according to his or her physical condition, is able to use a limited amount of oxygen each minute. With the right kind of exercise, you can raise your limit. The maximum limit is called the "Steady State", the level at which you are working to the limit of your ability to breathe in, transport, and use the oxygen. If you exceed this limit, the exercise becomes anaerobic. When this happens, your body's metabolism changes to supply the oxygen you need to supplement the amount of oxygen you are breathing in. This re-conversion process has limits, so the body is always limited in its anaerobic capacity. When you work anaerobically, you incur what is called "oxygen debt". Oxygen debt is accompanied by the build-up of lactic acid and other waste materials, which in turn leads to neuro-muscular breakdown, or simply, tired muscles that refuse to work. Oxygen debt has the unfortunate feature of doubling, squaring, and then cubing as you continue to work anaerobically. In other words, the faster you work, the greater your need for oxygen to continue working becomes. It is necessary to understand that, while the object of training is to develop your anaerobic capacity to exercise, this can only be done in relation to your oxygen uptake level and capacity to exercise aerobically. In other words, it is necessary to work as much as you can at economic or aerobic speeds to lift your oxygen uptake to your highest possible level as the foundation upon which to base your anaerobic or speed training. To gain the best results for the time spent in training, it is important to work at your best aerobic speed: i.e. at speeds at a level just under your steady state or Maximum Oxygen Uptake. This is theory and can be applied in practice. Even very slow work will effectively increase general cardiac efficiency and therefore raise the oxygen uptake. However, by working at speeds much below the maximum oxygen uptake level, it is going to take much longer periods of time to gain the same results than if the if the rates of speed were at faster aerobic levels. In other words: one can work too fast or too slow and it is important to control the work efforts as well as possible if the optimum results are to be achieved in the time spent exercising. To train at speeds above the oxygen uptake is anaerobic exercising with the net results the development of lactic acid that causes a lowering of the blood pH with the ultimate results of neuromuscular breakdown in the working muscles. This means that the volume of exercising will be limited according to the oxygen debts being incurred. Seeing that, in this marathon type conditioning phase, it is important to do a large volume of training and it has to be economic, or aerobic. The net results of the aerobic exercise is carbon-dioxide we breathe out; and water and salt we perspire. we are really endeavoring to lift the pressure by the heart upon the cardiac systems generally, to an economical level to bring about the development of the under-developed parts the smaller arteries, arterioles, capillary beds and veins. To carry out this 'near best aerobic' training practically, it is necessary to time your work, and to progressively increase the work efforts as fitness improves. It can take many years to gradually and continually develop general cardiac efficiency. This is the reason why marathon runners are usually better performers at ages nearer forty rather than in their earlier years; that is if they continue with systematic long aerobic training. The more time that you are able to work aerobically in training, then the greater endurance you will be able to develop. So there is really no limit to the work that a teacher should place upon his students, provided that the supplementary work is above the required faster aerobic work are as easy effort at the lower aerobic speeds. In other words; it is wise to work once a day at faster aerobic speeds and supplementary to this work, to work as much time as you find time and energy for; even if it is only for fifteen minutes jaunt. The aerobic work should be approached this way: Decide how much time you have daily for your training and balance your conditioning schedule upon this. Measure out. So measure out the time you have available Then you need to pick a form of exercise that you can measure easily for progress. A Karate Kata is perfect for this. So allocate say a 2 hour training session for example. Rather than aiming for peak anaerobic performance, slow down a little and work at a slightly slower pace but you will be spending more time doing it and thus increasing your aerobic capabilities. Anaerobic endurance is developed by doing anaerobic work, yes, but its also developed by having a strong foundation of aerobic capabilities. Most people can do a Kata, (if they do it slow enough and lightly enough), for 2 hours. The point here is to gradually increase your vigorousness as your ability to is developed. When you are working this way your goal is not to get puffed out. This is aerobic work not anaerobic work. However your breathing should be laboured and you will and should be sweating. In effect you are jogging here not sprinting. Your anaerobic work is done at another time and is greatly enhanced by doing this daily. Training this was has these benefits: * You are training more hours in a week thus mental satisfaction * You are developing long endurance, gradually and safely. *Your mind is thinking and concentrating on your technique * Your leg strength will develop because you are spending far more time in your stances. * Your performance of Kata for grading will increase significantly. In a 2 hour session you would complete your Kata 120 times for most Kata. Imagine how good your Kata will get doing it 720 times per week! * Your aerobic capabilities, over time, will dramatically increase. * You avoid muscle strain and injury * Your fighting skills increase significantly, not only because your body is working but because your mind, the most important part, is concentrating on fighting much more often. You dont have to use a Kata, but pick a series of movement that you can use over and over that you can directly measure. Perhaps you might want to do 5 different Katas in a row to relieve boredom and then start again. In these sessions you should not be totally worn out at the end, please remember this is daily aerobic work and NOT anaerobic work. You should be nicely and comfortably tired at the end of your training. The body cannot sustain anaerobic work for a long period of time, its very taxing and takes time for recovery, but the body is beautifully designed to develop great aerobic endurance. Just slow down and work below your steady state condition and work for longer periods of time. You will notice, over a period of time, that your whole Martial capabilities improve significantly. At other times in the week you can do anaerobic work, weights and so on. But for these sessions, time and working slightly below steady state is what its all about. Does it work? Well back in the 1960's they developed this system for marathon runners and the result was world records were broken left right and centre. They still use the system today. A maranthoner needs a great aerobic capabilities yes, but they also need anaerobic capabilities and this is the foundation upon which they build. The conditioning phase of this training stresses exercising aerobically to increase your Steady State as high as possible given your particular situation. For best results, you should exercise between 70 and 100 percent of your maximum aerobic effort. This is working at a good effort and finishing each bit of work feeling pleasantly tired. You will certainly benefit from training slower, but it will take much longer than if you work at a good aerobic pace. _________________ I have no need to make a statement to authenticate my credibility [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-01-29 23:41 ]

Around your hip joints you have a series of muscles and tendons that need to be developed. Not only for kicking but for practically everything you do. You can strengthen these by attaching a weight to your foot and lifting your knee up in a knee kick position (Hiza Geri for Karate-Ka's). Also attach a weight to your foot and do side way legs swings without bending your knee. Use a weight where you can only to at maximum 12 reps and do 3 sets at least twice a week. Eventually you should be able to get to the point where you can attach the weight to your foot and hold it dead still at head level position either in a side kick and/or front kick. These muscles are critical to almost everything you do in Karate. If you want fast and powerful kicks and punches these muscles must not be neglected. There are many exercises you can do to develop these muscles and tendons, but after 27 years, I feel weights is best. Try weights on this for at least six months and then measure your capabilities. see if this old goat is wrong

I have been battered and bruised and the worst place that happened was when I was in Japan. They are brutal and I personally dont think that improves anything but your determination to keep training. You need to harden your body where your body gets blocked alot, forearms and shins namely. Getting hit often is or should be an accident. Often its done by egotistical people. Back in the 1970's when I first started training, in the dojo was a husband and wife team. They were Shodans and I was 1st Kyu. The husband was an excellent Karate-Ka but a man of great ego. I constantly beat his tiny little wife in Kumite. Well, one night I leg swept her and put her on the ground in front of the whole dojo. I just reacted, there was no evil plan in it, but he didnt take it that way. So the next time I sparred with him he beat me to a pulp and there was blood everywhere. Our Sensei (at the time) saw it and did nothing. I was infuriated. I increased my commitment to training. A year later they left the Dojo. Years went by and I kept training. In 1995 they returned to the Dojo. Near on 20 years had passed. I have a memory like an elephant. They were made to start at white belt again and once they got to brown belt they could attend Dan grade classes. I saw them come in and get changed and I had a pile of pride inside of me, which was not a good thing really. But I remembered what this man did to me and I decided, not so nobly, to settle the score. I had also heard rumour's that at the Dojo he was attending, not head (Hombu) dojo he was treating some other students badly. I felt a lesson was in order. Anyway... we went through the warmups, basics and kata as we usually do and got onto Kumite. It was a big class and he finally noticed me standing before him. We were doing Kihon Kumite, one step sparring. As we were about to start, our sensei told the class to ensure we attack strong and hard. Now this is a big guy. 6'5" and about 220lbs. He stepped forward with a lunge punch to my stomach. Along with his big ego he likes to attack big. So I side stepped and before he had stopped moving I had countered with a jab to his head. He was surprised at that way I excuted it. I could see what he was thinking in his face. Then he had to change over to the left side. He attacked again. This time I spun around backwards as he was moving, backed into his body, rammed my elbow deep into his gut and the judo flipped him onto his back and I countered again with a downward front kick, using my heel, to his head. I held this blow back. He got up and we changed partners again. As he moved away to the next guy he was looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Then we eventually got to free sparring. By this time we had been training for almost 2 hours and those that arent fit find themselves lacking in performance at this point. Once again he found himself facing me. Fortunately my sensei was some distance from me and I felt I had some latitude. As we were going through the bowing I asked the guy if he remembered me. He said he did. I said "Thats good, its been a long time, I will be sitting on your Shodan testing committee". So... we started sparring. Now this is a guy that is not intimidated at all. In fact he came at me like he wanted to test me. Now remember almost 20 years of constant training for me had past, I had also spent a lot of time in Japan. Clearly this man, was no match for the training I have had. I am not being egotistical here, I am stating plain fact. 20 years difference in training makes a huge difference especially at the school I am at and apart from this my 6 days a week of training had been going on for some 10 years. He went to attack me with a front kick. He telegraphed his movement and I saw his foot lift. So what I did was slam my right front kick, not pulled, deep into his stomach. The wind was thrown out of him and then I foot swept him on the ground. He slowly got up and others were still sparring. I told him to proceed. I stood completely still with my hands by my side. I nodded and said "Well, go on". He lifted his fists into a sparring position and started dancing up and down on his feet as to tell me "I am fit, I can do this". I know this man and he was trying to tell me what happened didnt matter. He then went to attack me with a lunge punch. As he stepped forward, as his foot was slightly off the ground, I swept his foot out from underneath him, he crashed again to the floor. His wife was two people away and she leaned forward to see what was happening. I told him to get up. He did. I stood there again with my hands by my side motionless. I nodded at him again to proceed. This time he attacked again with a lunge punch, I side stepped to his right, countered with a front kick to the kidney and again foot swept him to the floor. This time I knelt down and countered with a single point fist and held it only millimetres from his eye and did a really loud Kiai. By this time he was really humiliated. I could see it in his face. I had taken him to the floor 4 times. As he got up I said to him "You need to work on your fitness and speed, and dont stop training, you lose your technique." He clearly understood the message I was sending. After this I only saw him once a week and he was much more respectful, not only of me but of others, so much so that others commented on it. Very few saw what happened but I am glad his wife did. She is a really nice person and I suspect she spoke to him about it. The moral of my story is this. Those that are below you may one day be above you. Either way have respect for people.

Bon I believe where you are there are GojuKai schools. Headed by Paul Starling. Good schools

Should a medical student be allowed to perform brain surgery?

Imagine how they felt in Horoshima and Nagasaki 1945

Gankaku is a 5th Dan Kata. I am amased how low ranks want to practise what their bodies cannot handle.

Katas like the Kanku series, Unsu, Gojushiho series, Gankaku and Empi should not be practised until you have been training at least 15 years (solidly) other wise you tend to perform it looking like a duck whos come out of an oil slick. The problem is today the Western Karate-Ka want all the advanced fancy looking stuff here and now, they have no patience.

Shodan is but a beginning

The Best Karate Series are ok but very poor in Bunkai of the advanced Kata

Try doing one arm push ups that bounces you off the ground and then land again on one hand without falling over. This puts a plyometric element into the movement

Eat a little meat and lots of fresh garden vegetables.

Practise Kata hard and fast

Religion and philosophy will not save you on a battle field. Are you a Warrior or a Monk?

Its better to be a master of one art than a Jack of all Trades. There is no glory in saying I have done this and this and this. It does not increase your skill, only solid training does

You will get taught bunkai by your Dojo. The higher you get the more they teach you. Its a simple method, look at the movement and use your imagination as to how you could apply it. You might discover something no one else has

16 is a great age to start Karate. I started when I was 17 and I am now 44. My son started at 15. Hes now 19 almost 20. Hes never been in a Dojo and his level of technique is about 2nd Dan I feel. He only spars with me and must train under my technique. I am quite hard on him and he has no interest in a belt and he understands that technique is what it is all about. Recently he was with some friends and they met up with some other boy who has a shodan in some school. They got talking about martial arts and my son said he trains. When questioned about what rank he was my son said he didnt have one. So naturally the other boy was proud he had a black belt, until my son demonstrated some technique. Now this boy wants to come train with my son and wants to meet me.

Good points you made. I dont really like the idea of making money out of Karate. I used to teach and was given compensation for my time as a teacher, however, I wanted more time to myself, namely the evenings to explore my own training and ideas which teaching did not allow me to do. I am a great believer in Kata training. It teaches you skills, balance, timing, agility, mental discipline, focus, speed, power and so many other things. I just feel they need to be modernised. Even Funakoshi criticised adding new Kata, but look what he did to all the Okinawan Kata. He changed them but didnt want anyone to change what he did. Amasing!

The higher up you get in the Karate world, the less flexible one is allowed to become. If you are in a traditional Japanese school one is controlled and dictated to by Japan as to the training methods and so on. I spent 1 year full time training in Japan in 1979 and you cant buck the system. You must adhere to their traditions or you are out. This does limit things alot I feel. So to a big degree a Western Sensei must submit to the what Japan says must happen because they control the grading system. Which is really very much a class system. The Japs are mad crazy about grades and certificates and they have sold the rest of the world on this idea in the martial arts. Personally, I feel we should have a Kata ranking system. In other words when your Kata is at a good enough level thats your grade. Then you will move on and be allowed to practise the next one. The colour of the belt is no indication of real skill. In fact I see some people wearing a black belt and its an insult to the art. Instructors need to be tough, knowledgeable and actually skilled. I dont believe anyone should be teaching until they have Sandan grade. Soft teachers turn out soft students.

Download them for free http://ctr.usf.edu/shotokan/kata.html

Think about Jitte when you have been training for at least 15 years. Its an advanced Kata and theres more in it than face value

You can get all the Gojuryu Kata on video and in book form written by Morio Higaonna at amazon.com The video and books give you all the movement and bunkai. The video is not the greatest in quality but you do get all the info you need

I have been training for 29 years. Yes no breaks, every week, every year. Today I train 6 days aweek. No I am not into contest, I just love Karate and fitness. I run, I work weights, I do all sorts of exercises. I train in the Dojo once a week at the Dan grade lessons. The rest I do myself and they are harder than the dojo by design. The Japanese are really into heritage and culture. To change the Kata or create new ones is blasphemy. But... as one examines the Kata and forms of many different martial arts, one starts to wonder. Shotokan have some beautiful Kata, GojuRyu's Kata are great but are completely different. If someone practised a Goju Kata and another a Shotokan Kata with the same amount of diligence and time, would one be more superior in skill than the other? Does the Kata make the man or does the man make the Kata? To me Kata are just a serious of fighting techniques put into a pattern like a manual so the techniques can be passed down and not forgotten. This is a good thing in many respects. However in many cases one has no freedom of expression in Karate, you have to follow a set pattern, as set system with no ability to change anything. Or you are labelled a heretic. Out of sheer interest over these many years I have learnt forms or Kata's from many different martial arts. Gung Fu, Karate, Jujitsu and even a strange little chinaman that lives down the road to me who has no name for what he does. "Just fighting" he says. I feel many of the Movements in Karate Kata are brilliant and some of them are a waste of effort. Today, we have computers that can analyse bio-mechanical movements and many other things. This is how I know some movements are useless and impractical in a real fight. Many movements of course are lethal bio-mechanically speaking. I was a strict tradionalist for many years because of my teachers and my 1 year stint in Japan. However 15 years ago I decided I wanted to express my own creativity. I had developed some techniques and combinations I used very successfully in sparring and I wanted to practise them. So I started putting these together (very quietly). As time went by I added more and more. I studied exercises from other sports, like plyometrics and agility exercises that Karate does not have but are perfect for Karate training. I added these in. I also studied the training methods and schedules of world boxing champs like Ali, Tyson and Holifield. I added some of these ideas in. Then I studied some new ideas in Olympic methods on aerobic and anaerobic training, based on computer analysis and bio-mechanical analysis. From this I found that modern day sports have progressed significantly in training methods and new records are broken because new methods are employed. But Karate, the art that I love is not open to this because of tradition. I started to feel unsatisfied and bewildered like Bruce Lee once was. Although I have not carved up my training anywhere as near as he did. But... For the last 15 years I have been experimenting, studying and working on myself as a guinea pig. I am one of the most senior students in my school but one cannot discuss these ideas with them because they are 'moulded' into the traditional system. The Head Honcho in Japan has laid down the training system and that is Gospel and Holy and cannot be changed. I feel I have developed a far better system of training and I feel I have what it takes to prove it. But even if I did prove it conclusively I feel that the traditionalists would still reject it. I love Karate, I love the school and people that are in it but I feel changes need to be made. Karate must move with technology and modern training methods. I feel all the Kata must be put to the bio-mechanical computer test and retain the good and disgard the bad. Oh what herecy!! I have a friend who is University Professor in the area of Physical Education. He has helped me in my studies. One is able to study the intensity of exercise or the intensity of energy exerted in 'clinical' assimulated real fight. One can determine the exact amount of physical fitness required, the amount of physical strength required and so many many other issues. In many areas Karate is perfect or near perfect and in some areas it is lacking. I am at a point where I am ready to disgard the weak points and only work with the strong and effective. I have developed a series of movements, a Kata if you will that my Professor friend has put to the bio-mechanical and other computer tests by measuring my body and by video analysis. We have measured the heart rate, lung capacity of oxygen usage, we have measured every possible movement and body requirement with all the modern tools that are available to us. I dont want to make this too long so I wont go into results just yet. My goal was to create a form that was near perfect for fighting. Taking into account speed, timing, balance, fighting skills, variety of well balanced technique, treating the left side as much as the right side for equal development of the body, agility, power, endurance, aerobic and anaerobic development. This has been a huge task and its been 15 years in the development. Unfortunately unless I have slit eyes and go and kill a few bulls with my bare hands the world is not ready to accept it nor me. Because its just plain herecy because its not traditional. The only one who I have taught it to is my son who is now 19 years of age and he trains with me and not the Dojo. I have found that his rate of Martial skills development is at a greater rate than that of other students with the same years of training because modern scientific principles are used. I feel these modern training methods have a lot to offer the world of Karate that clings strongly onto tradition. The strange thing is Okinawan Master's of old were allowed to develop and refine things based on the information available to them, but I am afraid we are not progressing how we could be. Despite being one of the most senior Dan grades in this country, despite the years of training and experience, despite our 'proof' positive by computer analysis, the world of Karate is not going to change its tradition. I have hinted at such ideas and only got a negative response, not only at my school but from peers at other styles. Its a delicate subject. Should I start my own school? Is the World Karate Federation going to recognise it? I doubt it. Unless its Japan based and supported you dont get recognition as credible. It seems the whole world of Karate is controlled by traditions. I still have many years ahead of me and Karate has been my whole life. Perhaps in the years ahead things will change. I sure hope so, because modern science is proving some and I say some not all, of the traditional ideas to be ineffective. I would like to see an art that is completely effective in every possible movement, not partially. Lets clear something up. I am not saying someone that has been training for many years is not effective, what I am saying is modern training methods would get some to a more competant level much faster.