carl

Sorry for this late congratulations, scottnshelly. Anyway, congratulations. Carl

Congratulations, Patrick. I bow to you in deep respect. Sincerely, Carl

Congradulations, Mr. Mike. Good job. Carl

No, I've never heard of him. As I said before, I/we don't participate in tournaments. So I really don't know to many people who do. I go down to tournaments once or twice a year just as a looki-loo. Sometimes just for something to do on a Saturday afternoon. Carl

Hey, fallen_milkman, I live in Jamestown, N.Y. Have you ever been up my way? My wife and I go to Erie several times a year. As a matter of fact, my son and I came down over Labor Day to see Revenge of the Sith at Tinsel Town. One of my cousins studies and teaches Kuntao in Florida. Some consider him to be a master. (I do) Yea, we have a Goshin Jutsu school here also. Run by Gaffar Adams. Maybe you've heard of him. He and his students participate in a lot of tournaments in Erie. I've gone to a couple of them that were run by King Cobra, but I/we don't participate. Just to watch. Sorry I hijacked this thread. Regards, Carl

No, It's designed to be mounted on a wall. It has a 3/4" thick board in the back that sticks out maybe 2" all around with a screw hole in each corner for mounting. Like I said, it's not a traditional makiwara, but it serves it's purpose for me. Shotochem, I totally agree with what has been said about bending your elbow. My first few strikes are in slow motion to "feel" distance, technique, point of contact, etc. I once had a teacher tell me that when you strike a person, for instance a head strike, you're target is the back of the head, not the face. in other words, as makiwara said in a previous post, if your target is a couple of inches away, you miss. I hated it when that happened, so it doesn't anymore. Simply because I bend my elbow when training on the makiwara. Good luck. Carl

Welcome,TDKguy. Carl

Welcome, Neko. I also study Goju-ryu. If you have any questions, p;ease feel free to ask. Carl

Welcome,Chaos. Carl

Welcome,Jordan. Carl

Welcome,Jeff. Carl

Most things we learn in MA in the beginning go to extremes I think to show the proper mechanics of a technique. After a time, (after it's ingrained in our minds) we might not cross our arms as much when blocking, or get as low in a stance, or modify a punch to suit us better. Everything we learn in the beginning feels so foreign to us that we question it because it does. After a while, when things begin to click, the light bulb goes on, and we start saying , "Aha, that's why we do that" we begin to understand why we do this and why we do that. In the end let me say this to you, when your teacher tells you to do this this way, or do that that way, question him/her. After a while you'll know why you do this this way, and that that way. If he/she tells you why, good. If he/she says some thing like, "Because I say so" you might be in trouble. But I will say that saying "I don't know" at time is OK because there are things we don't know and will never know. I'll close by telling you a saying I heard a long time ago. If you begin to get lazy about your training, remember this; "If you practice sloppiness, you'll master sloppiness." Carl

Congratulations, CrazyChild13. Keep up the good work. Carl

I have one my wife bought for me several years ago. It's 9 inches wide and 12 inches high. A 1 inch thick board with what I think might be 1 inch thick felt, covered with canvass and a dragon on front. I mounted it on my basement wall, about solar plexus high to the center. I try to use it at least once a week. I get an excellent workout with it. I strike it with the knuckles, palmheel, knifehand, hammerfist, elbows, and front kick. It gives me an excellent idea of distance, and what it's like to strike a hard object. The area that I strike the most has compressed, so over time it has become even harder. Since it isn't a typical makiwara made with rope, I haven't gotten the calluses you might regularly see, but I know that I get the same effect. I would highly recommend to any one to buy/make one for training purposes. Carl

Let us not forget that Bruce Lee was also an actor! Carl

[quote name="aefibird Carl' date=' do you have any links to places that sell (or have instructions to make!) a Chiishi? Thanks. [/quote] aefibird, I don't know of any place that sells them, but there are a ton of websites that will show you a picture of one. Just enter chiishi into your favorite search engine. (I use google). I made 2 of them. One that is about 8# and one that is about 15#. Take a 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" wooden dowel or aluminum conduit and drive nails or screws so they stick out an inch or two, 4 to 6 of them on one end. The dowel should be long enough so that after you pour the cement into the can you have a length left that is equal to the length from the tips of your fingers to your elbows. Mine are about 24" total in length including the cement end. Take a metal 1# coffee can (or plastic, I used metal) and put the dowel in with the nail end in and make sure it is sticking straight out of the can. Pour in cement mixed with water to desired weight. Let dry about 24 hrs., cut away the can and have fun. As for a video, I bought Morio Higaonna's video Power Training from: http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Tsunami/Pages/Thome.htm I think you'll find this to be an excellent video for the chiishi and other training aids. I hope this helps. Carl

I (we) don't compete in tournaments. We sometimes spar in class. I have never had a younger (cocky) student ask me to spar. If this were to happen, I would simply say to him or her, "No thank you , I don't want to get hurt." I don't need to prove anything to anybody. I know my limitations and would rather not get hurt trying to be "Mr. Macho". Just my .02 Carl

Carl Okinawa Goju-ryu Sandan

In Goju-ryu, we have an age uke or jodan uke, only in our basic katas, Gekisai dai Ichi and Gekisai dai Ni. While the rest are jodan uke, they are open hand so that it is easier to "receive" as Shorin Ryuu correctly put it. Carl

I love this explanation monkygirl. Can I use it? To Cmon: If you have ever heard somebody refer to kata as "forms", they are not to far off the mark. Kata, loosely translated is "formal exercise." Although it also means shoulders. I also agree with vinrex's explanation. Some think that kata are a waste of time. I would agree with that if one weren't taught the applications. While one can't be expected to know all of them, one should at least be taught most of them if they are known. Jeet Kun Do isn't a Japanese martial art and so wouldn't have kata per se. I believe it's an offshoot style of Kungfu, and so would have what the Chinese call Quan (kata). That is if Bruce Lee incorporated them into his art. I hope this helps. Carl

Blackbelt in Okinawan Goju-ryu Carl

Good luck, goju-dave. Carl

You're so young, maybe you should wait a few years. Only kidding. I'm 53 yrs. old and started training again after a 30yr. hiatus. I was a 2nd kyu when I stopped back then. After training again for 10yrs. this time, I was recently promoted to Sandan BB. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would get this far. My Sandan BB is icing on the cake, so to speak. Keep up the good work, train hard and often. You'll make it. Carl

koryu, Do you know Hakutsuru? I'd love to learn it. I have a weapons video (Matayoshi) with the kata but haven't had the time to learn it from the video yet. It doesn't look to difficult. Katas I like: Suparenpei and Seisan. Carl

I couldn't recommend any more than what has already been said about using weights when doing kata. I use them as often as I can when performing kata. You have to be careful that you use them slowly, as has already been stated, and you will find that your blocks and strikes will become much stronger as well as your hand strength for grabbing. You also might want to consider either buying or making a Chiishi to help in strengthening you hands and arms. Great topic Thanks, Carl