ps1

Make sure to inhale in between the moves. Otherwise, you could pass out. If the problem persists for even a few more days, you should certainly get to a physician. These symptoms could indicate much bigger problems.

That may or may not be true. But it's important to remember that knowing the moves is different from knowing how to apply each. This list in no way validates rank for anyone. If you want to know where you stand, go try out a jiu-jitsu class. The technical level of each technique is also a big deal. It's not enough to say, here's a kimura. You need to be able to explain what each body part is doing and where it's moving on the given technique. Lastly, it differs from organization to organization. The best example of what I mean is the place where I now teach. It's a school with an instructor who has trained in many styles. When I showed him the list, he reacted alot like you. However, despite knowing what the moves where, he was no where near ready for blue belt. I even brought in some of my blue belt friends to prove it to him. Again, not saying your skill isn't there. Just saying that some arbitrary list you find online is not a good benchmark.

A while back, Rickson Gracie sat down with Pedro Sauer and they came up with specific criteria for the blue belt level in BJJ. It's my belief that if the average person, only looking for basic self defense, trained just these techniques for the rest of their life; they would be quite a tough human being. It goes as follows: Guard work: cross choke, armbar, triangle choke, sit-over sweep, scissor sweep, kimura, guillotine, 1 pass over the legs, 1 pass under the legs Side Control Work: Kimura, armbar, americana, 2 methods of attaining mount, 2 basic control positions (one with underhook, and one without), shrimp escape to guard, ramp (belly up) escape to the back Mount: cross choke, Helio Gracie choke (sliding collar), armbar, americana, elbow escape, upa escape Back: sliding collar choke, rear naked choke, back-on-ground escape to side control Standing: Bridge gap to T-position using a side kick, Sit down throw (tani otoshi), hip throw, leg trip throw (kosoto gake) That's the whole curriculum. The last component is a MINIMUM of 100 hours of training. Notice I said minimum! Most wait longer than that. The reason is very important. You see, that list is just the end of each move...but BJJ specializes in learning the means to attain each move. I can teach a person all of those moves in isolation, and they will still stink at Jiu-Jitsu. This is because they must learn the most efficient means of travel between the positions. That's why grappling takes so long to learn. That's where your concentration should lie. "I am a shark. The ground is my ocean; and most people don't even know how to swim." Relson Gracie

Why are you doing Hapkido with her doing Shorin Ryu? Why is she not doing Hapkido also? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to hear she's training...just figured you'd want her to train in the same art.

If you want exercise vids...there's none better than P90X

You should be trying to perfect new moves on people with less skill than you. If you can not hit a particular combination on a white belt...you'll never hit it on a green, brown, or Black belt. Once you've really gotten good at hitting the moves on white belts, then try it on people of your own skill level. Once you get good at that, try it on people better than you. When you spar people who are better than you, don't try to win. That's pointless. Try, instead, to learn. If you throw technique x, what do they do. Learn the habits they have. Then you can take those moves they do on you and try them on white belts. So the cycle continues.

I tend to disagree with some traditional methodology here. Kata, while it has many benefits, will not make your sparring better (particularly at higher levels). It helps beginners because it instills some basic techniques and some basic coordination. However, to get to a black belt level of sparring ability, you must focus on footwork and timing. The timing comes from two sources. Ippon Kumite (one step sparring) is the first source. Your goal should always be to tell your uke to actually try to hit you with his/her technique. The second source is actually using your ippon kumite techniques in sparring. The more you attempt them, the better your timing will get. Footwork is something you can practice anywhere. At first, focus on the footwork you learn in your one step sparring techniques. Then, you can start putting together footwork patterns that work for you. If you master timing and footwork you'll be a very formidable opponent.

Congratulations!!!

Yes. I always want to throw my hip into a punch. Therefore, the punch I use will be dependent on the position of my hips at the time. I prefer it not to. When i am punching, I always want my hips and footwork to work with it. Anytime my hands start moving independently of my footwork I'm off balance and not in a good position to defend. This is what I want to happen to my opponent, not to me. It defends my chin...or pulls my opponent into the strike. Perhaps. Not sure. Most of they guys I deal with are boxers now. So they don't have your traditional hikite so to speak. The mistake they tend to make as beginners is trying to get power by just using the arm rather than the core. Absolutely true. I use several techniques to simply gauge distance and set my opponent up for other strikes.

This is a great topic; and one on which I have very strong opinions. I've always felt, and believe it's widely accepted, that being good at karate does not make one good at teaching karate. To that end, I've always felt instructor training courses added a sense of validity and quality to said instructors. However, I feel a better course of action for these large organizations would be to offer scholarships that would help pay for a degree in education. Once a student completes his/her degree, it would then be for the Hombu to set the standards of content and have further instructor training courses for the prospective teacher to complete. Once the courses are complete, the Hombu would assist in placing that instructor in an area that is likely to have good growth for the school. While each individual Sensei is responsible for what is taught in their dojo; it's ultimately up to the Hombu to set the standards for advancement in the art. IMO, this way of doing things would increase the skill sets of the individual instructors and bring even greater credibility to their art.

Of course you may share. I'm simply glad I could help you in your time of need.

I appreciate your kind and thoughtful words. Several key people, including myself, have written letters to our San Dai-Soke, providing the mailing address information is accurate. However, no responses have been received by us as of this post. We feel ignored!! Yes, we've given the thought of starting anew some serious thoughts, but that's all we've done....thought about it. We'll probably act very soon. Yet, what would we look like if we acted too prematurely, however, what would we look like to our student body if we act to late...feels like Catch 22.!!?? You're right. You're caught between the rock and a hard spot. For what it's worth, I'll give my 2 cents. I offer it not because I think I'm exceptionally experienced or wise. Rather, because I know that a fresh perspective often helps to clear the mind and sharpen the soul. This situation really comes down to loyalty. The question is this, to whom do you owe your loyalty and how do you acknowledge it? Without question, your instructors and superiors at the Hombu helped you get to where you are. Certainly your Soke and his family have taught you much. You have trained for many years, learned valuable lessons about fighting, peace, and life. You've stained their floors with your sweat and blood. In turn, they've fostered you both professionally and personally. It's quite likely that you've shared much food and drink, many laughs and even heartaches together. You embarked together on a journey to understand and embrace the warrior spirit. Most assuredly, you owe them loyalty and respect. How about your students? They, in turn, have chosen to bleed for you. They have chosen to laugh with you. They have chosen to follow your path. They sit at family dinner and speak of their amazing Sensei who can cut a man down with a single blow...or lift him with a single word. You and I both know that such stories are greatly exaggerated, but we can both remember telling such tales ourselves because we took such pride in our instructors and the path they walk. Most importantly, they have chosen to give you their loyalty. And in return, they too deserve your loyalty. The clear choice is simple. You must honor both by demonstrating loyalty to both. The path of a warrior is a lonely one; but that doesn't mean you must be alone. Open your school. Welcome your student's back. Honor your teachers by passing on their art and always speaking of them with fondness. Should any of your students ever asks, "why did the San Dai-Soke leave," answer quickly and decisively..."The path of a warrior is, ultimately, a journey we must take on our own. He was simply following his path."

This is very true. In many states, there are no regulations that govern what is necessary to fight pro. In ohio, where I live, a fighter must first complete 5 amateur fights before being allowed to become a pro. For the most part, the rule is effective. Most people aren't willing to jump in the ring more than once or twice just to find out how out of shape they are. That number decreases significantly when they find out they aren't going to get paid for the experience. Even at that, I'm rarely impressed by the local pro circuit.

Sorry to hear about the unwarranted treatment you and your martial arts family have received. Have you attempted to contact the San Dai Soke since the move? Does it seem like you (and the others) are simply being ignored? Have you (and the others) given any serious thought to simply reopening the dojo and beginning anew?

When meeting force with force, the smaller force will always lose. If I try to drive my hyundai through a train, things will not end well for me. So no, a small person can not "go through" a larger person. You must learn how to use your art to go around and pass by the opponent. If you try to "out force" your opponent, you're going to be in trouble.

No. It's not cheating. There are several passes that use grips on the gi pants. Now, if you're rolling no-gi, and they guy happens to be wearing pants, that's a different story. Edit: I should qualify my statement to pertain to tournament style training. If you're just messing around and training for fun/self defense, it's usually ok to grab just about anything.

Well, I would rate RBSD seminars and Grappling seminars among the most popular. Then would be kickboxing seminars (MT being the most popular of them). The rest (weapons, kata, sparring) really tend to be only popular among various orgs. That is, the head of an org will travel and provide seminars for his/her orginization.

Hapkido and Aiki Jujitsu have alot in common. Once I got good at it, I would get together with another bb and attempt to do a little sparring with it. I found it very difficult to apply when not being attacked by a sword wielding opponent. That said, it worked great in situations where the opponent was attempting to draw a weapon (hand gun, knife, sword). That was the design of the art though...so go figure. I've found that I can lock out arms and wrists left and right when sparring unarmed against an armed opponent, but can't land strikes with impunity. With both unarmed the locks don't work as well. I think part of it is that while the end of a stick travels faster than a punch, the weight of the weapons slows the weapon hand. Also there is a mental fixation on the weapon by its wielder. As my buddy said the other day, the left punch is a knife fighters secret weapon. I've just found it too difficult to time the boxing style punches. Get with someone who is a boxer and tell them to do a few combos...I think you'll find very different results. Now, if someone is really following through with some wild punches...sure you'll get them. I agree with your assessment on the weapons aspect. I think you misread me. I said I could not get locks against punches. Oh ok....my bad! Ummm... my English isn't good... Yeah..that's it...we'll blame it on my English! Only been speaking it for 31 years. I'll have to keep practicing

I voted yes. I am biased though. In Chuan Fa we had only 4 sashes (white green brown and black) and Aiki Ju Jitsu was exactly the same. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu uses only 5. I feel that the longer it takes to earn a rank, the less focus a person puts on earning a rank. In karate, there were tests every tree months. It seemed like all people did was just practice what they needed for the next test. But there was no true understanding of the material. Of course, that was the fault of their instructor...but that's another issue all together. For example: I recently earned a Brown belt in BJJ. There were only vague requirements set forth for the test. So I took 1 month and practiced everything I wanted to demonstrate. That's one month out of the three years I spent at purple belt. The rest of the time was spent just trying to better understand the art. Now...there's a great deal of time before i will even have to think about my next rank. I am back to just trying to understand the art and bettering myself. To me: Fewer Ranks= more time to train

I agree...a grappling art (my preference is BJJ, but I'm biased) would be a great addition. Let's assume that you are completely correct and all forms of karate have the same level of grappling as BJJ...except that it's hidden in kata. The biggest problem that you'll have in "discovering" it is the intense training and sheer time required to get good at it. I've been studying BJJ for almost 7 years at 9 to 12 hours per week and am still only just ok at it. Many Karate practitioners have not/are not willing to put in that much time. That said, why try to "discover or find" something that is already readily available in any decent BJJ academy or Judo school (depending on which facet you're looking at)? There is no shame in asking someone else for help. I like to have fun with bunkai as much as the next guy...but the things it can't teach are the feeling required to be good at grappling...or stand fighting for that matter. It may be able to teach individual techniques...but Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is far more than the sum of it's parts.

This video is decent.

Hapkido and Aiki Jujitsu have alot in common. Once I got good at it, I would get together with another bb and attempt to do a little sparring with it. I found it very difficult to apply when not being attacked by a sword wielding opponent. That said, it worked great in situations where the opponent was attempting to draw a weapon (hand gun, knife, sword). That was the design of the art though...so go figure. I've found that I can lock out arms and wrists left and right when sparring unarmed against an armed opponent, but can't land strikes with impunity. With both unarmed the locks don't work as well. I think part of it is that while the end of a stick travels faster than a punch, the weight of the weapons slows the weapon hand. Also there is a mental fixation on the weapon by its wielder. As my buddy said the other day, the left punch is a knife fighters secret weapon. I've just found it too difficult to time the boxing style punches. Get with someone who is a boxer and tell them to do a few combos...I think you'll find very different results. Now, if someone is really following through with some wild punches...sure you'll get them. I agree with your assessment on the weapons aspect.

It's very much the same in the US. I would also add the same is true world wide.

Hapkido and Aiki Jujitsu have alot in common. Once I got good at it, I would get together with another bb and attempt to do a little sparring with it. I found it very difficult to apply when not being attacked by a sword wielding opponent. That said, it worked great in situations where the opponent was attempting to draw a weapon (hand gun, knife, sword). That was the design of the art though...so go figure.

Agreed. I've learned many things that aren't legal in sport matches. It makes you a well rounded martial artist. Also, what is illegal in one type of sport may be perfectly legal in another. The crescent kick (or axe kick) would be perfectly legal in a knockdown karate tournament and MMA events.