isshinryu5toforever

I'm almost certain that's what your Soke did. The Japanese use Menkyo Kaiden for a lot of things including but not limited to: martial arts, calligraphy, and tea ceremony. It only makes sense that modern Okinawan martial arts would adapt many things from their Japanese counterparts. There is a close relationship between the two countries today. The belt system, rank order, and even the way classes are run came from Japan. For a lot of Okinawan systems, even something as simple as laying out an order to the basics came from Shotokan. I think the only real point is that it's not tradition in Okinawa to use the Menkyo system. That certainly doesn't mean it can't be used.

Yeah, body types vary greatly. At this height I have been everywhere between 150 and 220. If I had never played football or lifted a weight, I'd probably sit closer to 150, because I was always a really small kid. I'm just very lucky that my body puts on muscle very easily, and that I can cardio that muscle off really easily. I have a very adaptable body type.

KMAs were dead before the Japanese ban. The ban wasn't really all that effective anyways. Korea is extremely mountainous, and the ban could only really be policed in big cities. In China also, I think most of the masters had already fled during their war with Japan. That was a much longer period than we study in school in the US. Then again, the person just asked when martial arts were banned, not the details I suppose.

I probably don't worry about the quality of cards as much because all the UFC pay-per-views are shown free in Korea.

Haha. The most I've lifted in the last year or so: squat: 350 lbs x 5 bench: 275lbs x 5 dead lift: 405 x 3 cleans: 225 x 5 I'm 5'8" and currently weigh in at 175lbs or so. That said, I played high school football, ran track, and played baseball. I also played for my university TKD team, so I have a long history of lifting. I would say that anyone who can at least bench press and squat their own body weight is in a good place. Getting bigger isn't always something you want, and I've spent the last 6 years going from 220 lbs as a senior in high school, benching and squatting a lot more, to 175 lbs, and I've never felt better as an athlete.

The front kick was great, but I think Silva may be giving Seagal a bit too much credit. I don't think we'll see a big influx of front kicks though. It's something people will train for now that they've seen it again. It isn't a new technique, but more like one that's so old people kind of forgot about it.

Ok, there are a few things that I want to cover in my post that are from a older posts, and go back to the first question postulated by the OP so please humor me a little haha: Empty handed martial arts are a pretty new thing. Most of the time on a battle field, if you had no weapon, you were a dead man. I don't care how good you are at any empty handed martial art, if the other guy is half as good with a sword, you're dead. That said, not all empty handed martial arts developed out of a need for self defense. Boxing, for example, was technically a game. A really, really brutal one (check out the metal spiked Ancient Greek Boxing gloves at some museums), but a game none-the-less. Same goes for Taekkyon. I can bring in the idea of high kicks here. Taekkyon was a Korean village "game" where you got points for landing various kicks on your opponent. Knocking someone down by kicking the topknot was a victory. It was a "game" the same way boxing is a "game." It wasn't all out warfare, but it wasn't to be taken lightly, and you could definitely get hurt. Korean village sports were pretty brutal, they had another where you basically hurled rocks at each other. That's for another post though. I have seen a few theories postulated that high kicking, especially with the hip movements involved in things like crescent kicks, may have come from Taekkyon. Maybe the kicks themselves didn't originate there, because Taekkyon's kicks were more hard pushes than snaps, but maybe the idea of kicking to the head did. This would especially make sense in terms of Japanese MAs as they finally moved to Korea during the occupation period from 1905-1945. Japanese Karate was something practiced for discipline and aesthetic beauty. Some of those high kicks sure are beautiful. Some people would point to the ban on Korean martial arts, but that was only really active in Seoul. How do you really police a population that lives mostly in and near the mountains?

It was my understanding as well that Menkyo is generally a Japanese tradition. The same goes with the idea of Budo, or heck the idea of uniformity.

As with everything, it's about the teacher not the style.

I'm going to repeat what I said above, your idea of what Shaolin "is" needs to be defined. Because there are no Shaolin temples like you see in the movies. Going to a Buddhist temple to be a disciple and training in martial arts are different things. From what I've been told by people who train in CMAs, and who have spent a considerable amount of time in China, is that you should go to China and experience China. If you want to train as well, find a local school. They will be more than happy to take you and teach you. You'll learn the exact same thing. Going to experience the Chinese park culture is a good way to find martial arts as well. It might not feel "mystical," but you won't spend nearly as much and you'll have a much richer vacation experience.

I think kyusho-jitsu can be something interesting to study to keep you from getting bored with Karate. That said, I don't think I could say Kyusho-jitsu is practical in self-defense terms. George Dillman is definitely a pressure point expert. He knows what he is doing with pressure points, and he does it all very well, but his antics keep him from being taken seriously. No-touch knockouts, energy balls, and the like are what make people think martial artists are a bunch of mystics jumping around in white pajamas. The video of the kiyai master being head punched by the MMA guy has been posted on this forum numerous times. That hurts traditional martial arts, and so does a lot of the stuff Dillman does.

Yeah, that's exactly what I've seen. We used it at the Kyokushin dojo I was attending. I've never used it in an Isshin-ryu Karate dojo or a Goju-ryu Karate dojo. I saw it used at one of the three or four Shotokan Karate dojos I have visited.

Olympic lifts do have value if trained properly. I've done them for quite a while. They incorporate full body movements, which most lifts don't. A lot of people can get the same benefits out of doing body weight exercises though. So it is up to personal preference.

If you're worried about family, they should support you, so should your friends. If you're in a relationship, that can be the biggest issue. Financial problems, even perceived not actual, have a habit of ruining relationships. If you're single, then there may be no time like the present to start your school. Especially if you have a solid business plan.

Yay! I got to watch a recording of the game here, and I had to work extremely hard to not find anything out about who won. That was a great game.

The flexibility is a good thing. I saw someone get put in a very painful position with one of the old school hard plastic ones.

Active stretching is better than static stretching when you are just starting a workout. As far as leg strength goes, squats and lunges are a good place to start.

It could just be that your legs aren't strong enough. I don't think flat feet is a huge issue, but leg strength might be. It would definitely affect your balance. Flexibility is another issue. It sounds like you have poor flexibility, which will lead to you being wobbly when moving kicks outside your comfort zone. That can be a problem if your comfort zone is about knee level. Doing yoga would likely help you a lot.

Think about economic viability as well. Where is your school in relation to other schools? Is it a high traffic area with a lot of residences? What kind of funds do you have available? How big of a loan will you need? Do you have the liquid assets (or a side job) to support the school before it starts to make money. Remember that most small businesses bleed money for a few years or more before they can stand on their own. That's a huge reason why small business venture fail. They have enough initial start-up capital (money), but they fail to take in the big picture. You could be looking to lose small or large amounts of money over a multi-year period. Can you handle that? The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to be honest with yourself about everything involved, time, money, personal relationships, etc. If you're married or in a relationship, remember the other person. Make sure they are ok with this too, and that they know it will be a lot of stress.

Kettlebells are a great training tool, but I would pay for a class with a trainer who has a lot of experience with them. You'll spend some money, but you'll prevent injuries that can cost you a lot more time and money down the line. Certain kettlebell lifts can be extremely hard on the back if you don't have correct form. Most of Josh Hilis' stuff is for women, but you might be able to contact him for trainers in your area. This is his blog. As it is a blog for women, he uses pictures of women in workout gear. It's totally safe for work to me, but I'm not sure how strict other offices are. Or how strict some people's wives are haha. http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/

This question has been posted tons, and every time the advice is for beginners to seek out someone to train them. DVDs are just not a good idea if you don't already have a very solid martial arts background. Same goes with books and magazines. With Judo you need a partner, which means you both need to have training.

That's exactly what the Shockdoctor cup is, but it's an all in one. I used to do what you do too, but figured it was just plain easier to buy the Shockdoctor version.

Their website is Altoonakarate, but they teach Taekwondo and Hapkido? They might want to consider a website name change. As far as Hapkido, I have dabbled in it here and there. I think it's a lot of fun and it definitely has things to offer as far as unique movement and power production. Do they teach wrist locks as real self defense in your school?

Depending on where you go to school, there may be a competitive WTF Taekwondo team on your campus that you just don't know about. A lot of universities have cheap Judo classes as well, like $40 for the semester cheap. Both are generally associated with local schools. Just for example, when I was a university student just a few years ago, they had Judo (run by a local dojo on campus), BJJ (under a purple belt), WTF Taekwondo (run by a local dojang on campus), ATA Taekwondo (same), JRA Shotokan (on campus only), and you could definitely ask around and find people who did Capoeira (my friend), Isshinry Karate (me), Muay Thai (many people), boxing (many people), JJJ (a few people), as well as Escrima and a few others. Never underestimate the student body. We're in an age where a lot of people have an interest in martial arts, and a few of them have a ton of experience.

Some of the Karate styles probably incorporate more throws while others may incorporate more clinching. Isshinryu Karate seems like a clinching and striking style. There aren't a lot of take downs, but standing grappling definitely seems to be there. The main problem is that most dojo don't incorporate it.