isshinryu5toforever

That's awesome. You pour a lot more years into one of those than most people do for their brown belt. Congratulations.

Ok, I remember that, so maybe people still do kill each other with cheaply produced katana...

If you haven't read it, what draws you to it? I know who Gary Alexander is, he runs Combat Isshinryu, but other than that, why would you suggest that particular book? Just wondering.

I think that this is debateable. I think that when some aspect of training is adhered to for so long, and then someone decides to try something new without it, it freaks people out, and they don't like to refer to it as "real" anymore, when I don't think this is necessarily the case. When you're talking about the Budo aspect of Japanese Karate, kata aren't very debatable. That's pretty much their purpose. The aesthetic perfection of every single technique in a kata is the lifetime goal of someone that does Budo. Kata, kumite, and kihon are not as linked in Japanese Karate as they are in Okinawan. That isn't to say a link doesn't exist, it just isn't as prevalent in my experience. Once you take away kata, Japanese Karate's kumite, Kyokushin's in particular, becomes more akin to kick boxing, specifically because they have modified their methods throughout the years, and Muay Thai has been a big influence on Kyokushin's sparring.

Did you read the article?

Check this out. I tried to put together some info I knew for a bit of a guide on a few brands. http://www.karateforums.com/guide-to-finding-a-new-do-gi-vt39288.html

From the look of the comments, this is a specific type of person in the UK known for starting trouble and running away. Not that you should take them any more lightly, but if that's the case, I can see why he didn't feel like escalating it until it got a lot more serious. There's more a sense of security in some places than others. If that happened in Korea, it may never have ended with one person getting hit. It likely would have ended when the person spewing the verbal abuse simply got bored. You see it a lot here. Rarely do things end with any sort of physical engagement. It might just be that kind of place as well. In any case, good on him for finally backing the punk down. If anything, the kid is lucky the bigger man didn't keep beating him when he hit the ground.

If you have trouble staying motivated, then I'd say do it. I'd try something else first though. Pick a distance you like to run, and make it your goal to get competitive times at that distance. You don't have to actually run races, but I know it helped for me. I made it a goal to run 3 miles in 18 minutes, because that is the US Marine Corps mark for a perfect score for men. They have the highest fitness standards in the US military, non-SOCOM, so I figured it was a good goal. If you don't have a way to mark off specific distances, then the Nike+ might be a good tool for you to use.

I liked the whole, just grabbing a belt thing. It took a lot of ego out of it. People tend to cling to the belt, because it's "theirs." Doing Judo, they would just toss you a different colored belt when you advanced, and there were only white, green, brown, and black belts. I want to do Sambo in the future, because there is no ranking, which is great. You have skill, or you don't. As sensei8's sig says, "The proof is on the floor."

If you run a lot, then it can be a nice little program. It will log the time and distance. It's not 100% accurate, but it's not terrible either. If you're out for pure performance, then you already have marked out courses at specific distances, and you wouldn't need something like this.

It might just be the grappling schools I've been to, but doing thing this way seems a lot more prevalent in grappling schools than in Karate or Taekwondo schools. At the Judo place I trained at in Korea, only for a short while before I hurt my knee not even doing Judo, until you got your black belt, the belt wasn't really yours. You just kind of grabbed a belt off the rack at the rank you were. When you advanced a rank, the guy told you to grab a different color belt.

If you're going for a modern look, then it would be pipes, a few knives, maybe a machete. That would make an interesting scene. Other than the crazy people you hear about on the news, not a lot of people walk around slicing people open with katana.

Usually a uniform will shrink a little when you wash and dry it. That usually improves the fit. Give that a shot. If that doesn't work, then you can just get the sleeves hemmed. Not much you can do about the apron. If you just started, did you order the gi through your school or on your own? Because if you're a beginner, it would have been worth the extra cost to just get the gi through your dojo.

I don't see why you would test a student when they're not ready unless it was to prove a point. I've seen it done before in extreme cases, like someone has a huge ego and keeps pushing for a test they're not ready for. If they fail, why would you charge them a second time? I've never been in a school that does that. Some of the schools I have been to don't even charge for the test. That's a luxury not everyone has. I understand that, but double charging because someone failed? I don't know about that.

Does he teach both Kajukenbo and Kung Fu/Chinese Chuanfa? or does he teach just Kajukenbo? I can see how the Quan dao would be in Kajukenbo, because part of the style is derived from Chinese Chuanfa, but Kanjukenbo is not Chinese Chuanfa. Kajukenbo was created in Hawaii, and I would consider it an American martial art, because it's an eclectic mix of the styles that were present in Hawaii. Those include martial arts from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and the United States. Soap box rant over, good luck learning the Quan dao.

Yeah it does, but books are much better. You could get Japan's version of the 1000 Chinese character book. It's the primer that was used for children to learn Kanji/Hanja/every day written language (China). You have to make sure that it's Kanji specific though, because Mandarin now uses the simplified version of a lot of characters, Hanja use only the old ones, and Kanji kind of mixes the two together. Something similar to this would work nicely: http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Learn-Kanji-Introduction-Components/dp/4770020686/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1287530202&sr=8-2

That would be why I put quotes around "traditional." Gojuryu and Shorinryu are young, but they're deemed culturally traditional to Okinawa. Isshinryu isn't that much younger, but because it was made up by someone later, it isn't deemed a similar cultural asset. I think Tsuyoshi Uechi is trying to change that. As far as the videos, I'd agree that the boxing with take downs is just boxing with some wrestling. The full contact competitions don't bother me though. A lot of Isshinryu schools are missing aliveness in their training. Kata, bunkai, and kumite should all be linked together. You should be able to apply what you learn in kata to kumite, but actually hitting each other is a good start. There's a steep learning curve to be able to actually apply what you do in kata to kumite. Live sparring is the only way to do it. Also, after the talk of personalization, how can we talk about whose Isshinryu is real and whose is not?

You do Shotokan Karate, but you're learning a Chinese weapon? Am I missing something here?

Rosetta Stone would be the best. I've used it before. It's an immersion simulator. You learn like you're a kid. You see items and learn the word without trying to relate it to your native language. It takes a while to get used to it. As far as writing, you need to get a book on kanji. It will teach you proper stroke order at the very least. East Asian languages are pretty difficult to learn without a proper teacher.

What kinds of swords are you looking for? Are we talking katana or taichi swords? The type you're looking for, and what you're looking to do with it will really affect what you buy. How much metal on metal contact are we talking? Are you going to do something that's wood on metal, like bo vs sword? Can you tell us more about the scene? I have helped people with choreography before. I'm definitely not a movie guy by any means, but I know a tiny bit. Or I know people who would know.

I'd say Kyokushin, and its offshoots, are the most consistent test in Karate. Other styles have dojo with a similar work ethic, Gojuryu has plenty, but the quality isn't as universal.

Isshinryu was "made up" out of two Okinawan styles of Karate. It isn't recognized as an old, "traditional" Okinawan style, because it was put together in the 1950s, and continued to grow until Shimabuku's death. Currently, if I'm not mistaken, please correct me if I'm wrong, Tsuyoshi Uechi is working to have the Okinawan government recognize Isshinryu as a truly Okinawan style on the same level as Shorinryu and Gojuryu.

Oh, I wasn't talking about pain, I was just talking about throwing or grappling with inanimate objects.

If you're looking for prop swords that can take heavy contact, they won't be light. The light ones are great for swinging around to look cool, but once you start making heavy contact for any kind of scene, they need to be much thicker and made of carbon steel. I don't think aluminum would stand up to much of a beating. https://www.stagesteel.com has some stuff you might want to look at, but if you're doing an extended scene, your actors need to be pretty strong. That's why all sword schools are built around a single blow, swinging around a big piece of steel makes you tired haha.

It's great to be fearless, but I believe there has to be some intelligence involved. If he was confronted by the robber, sure he should stand his ground. Aside from the fact that people can carry around guns, the problem I have is that he went looking for trouble. "Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience." - James Freeman Clarke I don't think I would have a clear conscience if I ran down someone to beat them down for a failed robbery. What he did, he did more out of pure rage than out of any just intention. What if he had killed the robber? Would he be able to live with that?