baronbvp

I will try to come. Plane tickets from Seattle are $305, so driving is probably the only way I can pull it off. Looks like about a 10-hour drive. Have to check with the boss (my wife) and work.

See everything, look at nothing. Let your gaze focus almost on infinity, as though you were looking at one of those 3-D paintings they had in the 90's. In your peripheral vision watch for movement and trends, but in the area around the top of the chest/bottom of the neck watch for signals that something is changing/beginning. That's how I catch feints.

I like being corrected when I know the teaching is correct, even if it is frsutrating. But when you know it is wrong, that's when you have to watch out. Snazzed, if you need a break maybe you can ask to focus on the artistry for one lesson, instead of perfect form technique. After all, if you earned your blue belt before, you must have been doing something right. Overall, I think you are lucky to have a mentor who appears to have hand-selected you as a protege of sorts. Have you addressed this dilemma with him? You owe him that, and he owes you an honest answer.

I remember when I started karate and learned that shuto (knife hand) was a real move. I thought, "oh my God, there really is a karate chop." Good post, Scott n Shelley. I'm in the military and the stereotypes are there as well. The question to me is usually, "how many people have you killed?" For the woman who accidentally chases away guys by telling them she's a black belt, I say more power to you! Those guys aren't worth dating anyway. Real men aren't intimidated by such a thing.

People quit when they decide to. Everything else is just a crutch. No one controls your behavoir but you.

Check out these books by Iain Abernethy: Karate's Grapling Methods, Throws for Strikers, and Bunkai Jutsu.

Jobless and divorced, but good.

Good post, but I disagree that kicking and punching don't go together. To me, a boxer who can't use his legs for opoortune kicks is missing a weapon. And I have never seen a real fight (or any standup fight) without punches, including in my several visits to Thailand. "If you take out the head, the body will fall."

Good stuff, thanks! The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. What a great journey. I have found many of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu books by the various Gracies to be well laid out, simple, with effective modern text with great photos.

I agree with both of you, which is why I am finally focusing on one style - shorin-ryu. While I feel relatively capable as a fighter, I wasn't really progressing anymore on my own. But I do feel that grappling is an important skill that some standup fighters neglect. Now that I'm older, I also appreciate the mind-body-spirit artistry of a pure style. It's really just a matter of incorporating shorin-ryu training as yet another time demand in my busy daily life. So far it is well worth it!

I think throwing and grappling complete the arsenal for a striker. MMA is gaining momentum.

My renshi says you can make ten mistakes of any kind on a test to pass. I made three on my yellow belt test, all three the same as I forgot to shuto out of the pivot. But I have seen people fail, I have seen people not be allowed to test, and I have seen kids with belts they don't deserve. My personal opinion is ten is too many mistakes -- but it's not my dojo. I only care about my learning. I was never into belts but they are indicative of mastery of kata, which I am focused on for awhile.

Based on some other threads in the karate and combative MA subjects (UFC), quite a few people have discussed that Mixed Martial Arts are what many people are doing now instead of a pure form. Do you add any other forms to your style of karate? Does grappling add to your effectiveness? Or do you think focusing on one discipline keeps it pure and effective instead of diluted and sloppy? I have been sort of a MMA throughout my life, though that term hadn't been invented. Now I am focusing on shorin-ryu but can't resist adapting it as another part of my arsenal.

Sounds about like me. My striking is predominantly boxing and kickboxing, mostly self-taught and one-on-one with various people throughout my life. My grappling is a blend of the wrestling I learned in high school, freestyle ground grappling from sparring with friends over the years, and some judo and BJJ moves. I have also taken some other things like kung fu, MT, and TKD but don't retain much of it, at least not consciusly. Over the last 20 years I have focused the overall effort into military combat survival in hostile territory. I haven't been in many street fights -- maybe 5 -- particularly since I got older. I have been weight training for the past 15 years. Now I am taking Shorin-Ryu and trying to focus on its art and functionality but learn the kata. However, I can't resist adapting some of it to my own style. My renshi and I are also doing some one-on-one Splashing Hands, which I guess is a new kind of street kung fu derivative. Does that make me a MMA? I have no idea. Maybe this is a good topic for a new thread.

Str33tguy, what did you find in the street? What do people do that differs from MMA? What do good street fighters do and bad street fighters do?

OK. What did you learn? What was different?

Why do you street fight? For fun? Are you an aggressor, or do you merely get attacked all the time? I'm guessing you can't walk away when someone calls you out.

I used to spar this roommate who was a kung fu guy. He had a wicked, seemingly-uncontrolled windmill hammer fist thing going. He would just be raining these overhead hammer fists down on top of your head. If you've ever been struck on the top of your head, you know it will send you to your knees. I couldn't figure out how to put up a good umbrella of blocks -- it was pretty intimidating. Then I looked at the whole picture and realized nothing was going on below the waist, so I kicked him just above the groin. He got the point. Fury is hard to defend against. Wait for your opportunity, until your uncontrolled opponent overcommits, then unleash some fury of your own and go for some vital points or joint locks that will wake them up. Shock and awe, boys, shock and awe.

Not a bad analogy. I don't have enough karate experience to say. I do know that when I practice kata, I have to pay very close attention to the mechanics. I don't have enough practice yet to add the artistry that makes it flow smoothly and uniquely mine. What kata are teaching me now is a new way to move. Lke weight training, I am focusing on precise form first. Speed comes later. As a kickboxer with a hodge-podge of other training, I normally move like a boxer but with more blocking than ducking, more like a martial artist that way. My footwork and style are linear and straight on, with very fast aggressive strikes and leading with my right or left. I also like to grapple if it gets to that point. I have enjoyed the few kata I know so far for the rigid repetition and symmetry about my pivot axis. I have to think about "opening the gate" with my foot before I step forward, and swiveling my hips to punch strong as I step with the other foot. I have to think about which hand goes where when I change stances and block during the shift. Right now it is memorization of moves, but my senseis explain application and I can see the logic behind the designs of the kata. Here is what I consider a good turning point for my thought process. This occurred a few weeks ago. My renshi is a 6th Dan in Shorin-Ryu, a 2nd Dan in White Crane, a former USMC officer and LAPD cop. We share a bond because we are both in our 40's and military and our kids go to school together. As a mentor, he gives me some special personal training outside group class. Throughout my previous training, I have never been interested in earning belts but only in what works. As a carrier pilot, I cared more about quickly defeating an armed enemy between me and a rescue helo if I got shot down over Afghanistan or Iraq. Over the course of a month or so, we exchanged some techniques and then he began showing me Splashing Hands and some more advanced karate. After a few lessons, I realized I didn't have the background in kata to remember or properly execute some of the moves he was showing me. So, I asked to focus on kata for awhile and progress through the belt system which we are doing now. Once I have that background, then we can freelance some more.

This is a well-made point that supports another view some have: time spent practicing fighting is better than time spent doing kata. I like both.

Korin, people may bite off more than they can chew, but it also depends on your philosphy. I have heard Bruce Lee hated kata. People like the Gracies of BJJ spend their time working on technique, repetition, and moves that are measurably effective. I realize BJJ doesn't have kata, but my point is that there are those out there who say time spent on kata is time you could be spending learning how better to fight. A book you may have heard of, that I own and like, is "The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do" by Shoshin Nagamine. It has good history of Shorin-Ryu/Shuri-te and Matsubayashi-Ryu.

I wish I could punch as well as washed-up Mike Tyson.

Don't be holding Mike Tyson up as any role model. Holyfield's still missing a piece of his ear.

I know, can you imagine fighting at that level for 45 minutes? Ali and Foreman banging on each other for 15 three-minute rounds. Yikes. No wonder they don't speak so well anymore. I like kickboxing, would like to learn Muay Thai as well as BJJ.

My interest has varied over my life (I am 43). When I was young I wrestled in high school and did some judo but found them a little hard on my long skinny frame. Later in the military I did some boxing, kickboxing, and military combat arts. I've also done a very little kung fu and TKD. Now after a long hiatus I'm into shorin-ryu. I am trying to stick with this and get very good at one martial art that is suited for my body style. But I still spar more as a kickboxer. For spiritual richness, I seek new experiences and mastery over my body: the moves, the breathing, the emotions, the humility. In each of these arts I have found things I liked and things I didn't. Tai chi may offer some people an answer. Someone mentioned reading, which is also good. So is smooth jazz. I personally find the mind-body-spirit integration of martial arts to be more rewarding than ever. I love the physical activity of weightlifting and sparring. I may not be able to do a very good horse stance because of the pressure on my knees, but I love watching the kids do it. It all makes me happy. It's all perspective.