swdw

I would suggest letting go of your ego a bit. Your current attitude will only get you a smackdown at a school thats well trained and trains hard.

I used to be a Shureido fan until I got a Ronin heavyweight gi. I now have 2 of the 16 oz gis. To me the only difference in quality was the ties. And the way Ronin attaches the waist tie is smarter. Ronin gis also wrinkle more easily than Shureido gis. Still, I think provide great "bang for the buck". Ronin gis are slightly oversized. They breathe well and moving in them is very easy and comfortable. They come with long sleeves and pant legs, but you can have them tailored and still save LOTS of money over a Shureido. Please don't take this as advertising. I send people to the following link because they have incredibly low prices on the Ronin gis. http://www.discountmas.com/uniforms.html

Depends on not only your Sensei, but how often classes can be held and how hard people train on their own. Under my Sensei- he had one exceptional guy that made it to shodan in 4 years (and he was impressive- till he injured his back working), average is more like 6-7. That was with classes 3 times a week, 2 hours per class.

This is a big selling point of the SPEAR system, which unfortunately has LOTS of holes in it. Cross is right, you don't train a flinch- you train to work off the flinch.

Here's the thing- this was done at an easy pace so someone could see what's going on. The video was made to answer questions about "what do you mean concentrate on the process, not just the end point?" So it was made to talk about the process of the arm movement in a narrow context. There's a lot more to this, and footwork was barely discussed. Now- the idea of the left had having a shot does not consider the effect you are creating on the opponents body. Why - cuz this was not done at anything close to regular speed. Done correctly, the left hand is out of play because of positioning, body shock, or other reasons. Also, done at an easy pace and explaining the components, it looks like thes moves are sequential when in fact they are simultaneous. Have yet to see a one two combination be faster than a simultaneous block and strike, or in the case of the shoulder lift, a simultaneous parry / off balance. More than one person has thought the same thing when this is done at half speed. I've had people tell me they can back off before the block when moving outside and lifting the shoulder, or they can get the follow up punch in when jamming with the crossing hand and striking with the forearm, etc, etc. First- keep in mind that nothing is fool proof and there is always a trade off in anything you do. That being said- Here's what's happened when these are done full speed with other black belts that thought this wasn't very effective 1. The person lands on the floor 2-5 feet away from you- no second punch possible 2. Body gets shocked so hard it delays the follow on punch when jamming a roundhouse with the age uke. You don't pull the crossing hand- it's in a perfect position for an uppercut or barely has to move to block a follow up strike. As that happens, the hand that jammed the punch slides down hard and the forearm catches the brachial plexus. 3. Person tries to roll away when lifting the shoulder- problem is their back is towards you- buffet is now open 4. Head and body get bent backwards- what is not shown in the video is the leg contact done when moving in on many of the techniques- this really screws the opponents balance and takes the back hand out of play or makes it ineffective. 5. Other various and sundry things including spinning the opponent, putting him on his toes on one foot, taking him down with the leg engagement, etc There are 2 things that are important and when you are just teaching the hand movements, they are not discussed- one is intermediate angling and positioning. Second is when you move towards the opponent, you wind up jamming the attack or striking with your entire body weight- not just the arm. The effect on the attacker can be pretty harsh. Because of this, on some of the moves, you have to pull the technique drastically or move easily to prevent injury during practice, and you won't see the full effect of the movements. So, think what you like, but I have my students do this against a charge or multiple attacks after they've practiced it, been taught correct angling and footwork, and get the movement down correctly. The results are pretty consistent, rarely does a second attack get a chance, and if you train them right they are in a position to evade /parry/jam it and the other hand is now in a position to strike or totally blow your opponents balance. Attackers have even had their punching arm go temporarily numb from the contact. The other thing you don't do is stop putting the pressure on the opponent once you've made contact. Against the "normal" roundhouse punch on the street- the overcommitment Andrew talks about works in your favor because of the angling used. As an aside, if an attacker throws a jab, the defender changes what he's doing as he moves in because he can feel the withdrawal- and he's in a position to exercise other options.

Sorry, link fixed now.

http://www.okinawabbtv.com/international/karate/kodansya.html# Enjoy!

I find acting like Curly in the 3 stooges confuses the heck out of em Sorry, couldn't resist

Hey P.A.L.- Does that fall in the same category of techniques as, "Gee, I dunno, he just tripped!" ?

And that brings up another point. Why do so many schools teach you how to get out of a headlock, but never teach you how to prevent one? Anyway, if you do some digging on youtube, I'm sure you'll find some examples. If you want to verify the efficacy of the moves, post the links here. Sorry, but personally, I don't have the time to dig them up. There are simple wrist escapes that require speed and positioning but not strength. You wind up putting your entire body weight into the escape, which is why it works. They need to be taught, not written about, because there are very simple key components which are too easy to leave out w/o proper instruction. I've had my 11 year old students escape from a tight grab. Cross is oh so correct on the idea of teaching someone to move as soon as they feel contact if surprised, or move when the opponent tries the grab if you see it coming. Learn to use your flinch response to keep from being grabbed. If grabbed, learn to use your initial attempt to evade to aid in the escape. You already have momentum built up. Most schools teach a wrist escape with both people stationary and one person holding on. For a woman or kid being grabbed by the wrist, they will also be pulled towards the assailant. You need to practice escaping with first, the grabber standing and pulling. Once you get the idea, then you practice with the grabber moving towards or away from you while pulling.

Hi, Over the last couple of years, I've met some great people in the Colorado area that teach Goju who do not have commercial schools. A couple of us have talked about it and we'd like to try and have a weekend get together of all the Goju Sensei and senior black belts in the area. The idea is to go back to the old way of doing things where people got together, kept their egos in check, had fun and exchanged ideas. After all, it's a lot easier to keep your skills up when you get the chance to work out with another senior individual. Since I'm just putting out "feelers" at this time, there's no location picked yet. However, September might be a good time to do this. If you are in the geographical area, please drop a line via PM or e-mail. E-mail me at: sjw*****at*****shobukanmartialarts.com (remember to remove the asterisks) Sam

Hee hee, Just to confuse the issue further- here's the Uechi version of Seisan

Ages huh? Lessee, you're 16. I guess that means those of us who've been training longer than you've been alive have been practicing for eons. Have you ever had to use your training when dealing with a T-Rex? Us ancient farts could tell you what it was like back in the cave man days. Let me pick my ancient brain . . . aikido and shotokan . . . oh yeah- that's also called Wado-ryu Previous comments were all in fun so don't take them wrong. Keep training, and keep an open mind.

I couldn't agree with you more. What makes a really good teacher is someone who can modify an application for the individual. I've seen my Sensei take 2 approaches. First, if he wants students to get an understanding of the gross movement, he'll show everyone a standard way. Once the gross movement is developed, he goes along and modifies parts of it for individuals to make it more effective for them. His second approach deals with an application that just won't work for an individual if given in a standard approach. He will immediately modify it for them, after explaining it to the rest of the class, so that individual doesn't become frustrated with something that would otherwise not work. Of course, in order to do this, the Sensei has to have an in depth knowledge of what he teaches

You Go Girl!!! Or should that be "you go goju girl?"

Good reply, and this answers Shorin Ryuu's objection about concentrating on devastating attack instead of tai sabaki. As you pointed out- if you practice this correctly it becomes an agressive / offensive move rather than a defensive move. As usual, it's all in HOW you practice. There are a couple of drills you can teach. They start as stationary shifts, and then progress to moving. When tai sabaki becomes part of moving offline in stances towards an attacker while slipping the incoming technique, it becomes really fun. Only thing I'd add is- most people don't take enough time to develop this skill so they fall back on advancing and retreating in a straight line when pressured. My feelings on this is they haven't done it enough to trust it or create an automated response. I tell my students that tai sabaki IS the block and everything else is insurance. Other ways to explain tai sabaki: From Karate Kid part II: Miyagi, "Best defense- no be there." Umm- get outta da way or you can use "don't get hit".

I'd like to address cross' response in reverse order: I believe this is a flawed analogy. Let me explain why, and respond with a real world example or two. When I took up riding motorcycles, I was tutored by friends that had been through the BMW R.A.T.S (riders advanced training school) and others that had been to the California Superbike school. It just so happens that braking was the first thing they had me work on. As you said, I learned how to brake gradually and use the right force on both wheels. This is akin to doing a basic technique at moderate speed to learn it. Once that skill was developed, they had me practice emergency braking. The idea was to lay into the brakes as hard as you could w/o causing a skid and stopping as short as possible while maintaining control. This practice possibly saved my life on 2 occasions (definitely kept me from being seriously injured) and because of the TRAINING, the responses I had ingrained took over and I stopped correctly without thinking about the mechanics at all. Later, I worked with a friend of mine in the same way. He was run off the road into a shoulder that was coming to an end and he stopped w/o dumping the bike or going over the shoulder into the 15 foot drop. And he accomplished this stopping on gravel. This points out that HOW you train is as important as what you train. Had we only practiced gradual stops, we'd both be dead- or hospitalized at the least. In anything, you react how you train. First, the idea that classical blocks require fine motor skills is a recent misconception because of people not training correctly or being taught correctly. The whole idea behind a classical technique is that it should work in the absence of fine motor skills. However . . . the more fine motor skills you are able to retain the more effective the technique becomes. Kinda like the bonus points on a test. The basic techniques in goju are that, basic skills training gross movement. As time goes by you add more refinement to the technique, both practicing alone and then being willing to face a practice partner that will push you to your absolute limits so you can become accustomed to user finer skills w/o thinking. (trust me, braking a motorcycle w/ independent front and rear brakes takes a heck of a lot more skill than braking any car). Instead of limiting this to just my opinion. let me quote a passage from Okinawan Goju_ryu II by Seikichi Toguchi "There is a difference between sports movements and budo. I believe the movements in sport karate are not very different from the movements of everyday life. Many of the punches and kicks used in karate jiyu kumite (free sparring) are easily copied and executed by children who have never studied the discipline. There is no consistent training required to execute these techniques. If you are big and forceful, you have an advantage in this type of sparring. If you can also execute swift attacking techniques, you can generally win. The techniques of Japanese budo however, are quite different from sport. When fighting with techniques of the martial arts, you are not necessarily big and swift. Instead of using only your own speed and force, you are required to also utilize your opponent's power and speed. In doing so, you have to move in ways that are rarely found in everyday life. In the kory kata of goju-ryu, for example, there are many strange movements to which our bodies are not accustomed." "This training method is similar to that of playing a musical instrument. In playing the Okinawan shamisen (Guitar-like stringed instrument), for example, the fingers of both hands move in different directions at different speeds simultaneously. We do not our fingers this way in our daily life. So, as beginners, we learn a variety of fingering techniques and scales which we must practice everyday. When our fingers can move smoothly, we are ready to learn to play music. This is exactly the same principle when learning goju-ryu techniques. In this regard, there are some problems in the present karate world. Some karateka change kata of their styles into simplified movements. In other words, they transfer the kata's particular budo movements into those of daily life. By doing so however, one can no longer condition oneself for budo techniques." As another example my Sensei was invited to a seminar where a senior Okinawan Sensei was visiting. (I'll have to ask him the name, it escapes me right now, but I think he was shorin-ryu- will get back on this part). Part way into his class, the Okinawan Sensei stopped, walked up to some senior black belts and asked them, "Why are you doing common movement? Karate is uncommon movement. You should be practicing uncommon movement until it becomes common movement for you." That statement sums it up pretty well. If you read through this whole post, thanks for taking the time.

Okay- warning, this reply may raise some hackles, but keep in mind I'm a traditionally trained Goju stylist. I know what I've learned works and because of that I believe n the traditional techniques when USED CORRECTLY. Actually they work very well when use with angular movement and remembering to use BOTH hands. Funny you bring this up. This topic occured on another site and I gave up trying to explain the answer. Cuz a pictures worth a thousand words I did a short video and posted it on youtube, link is below. It just so happens I was using age uke as the example. See video and try it. The more you do it the more natural it becomes, but I can't stress getting OFFLINE and the use of the crossing/pulling hand enough. This is a HUGE misconception that sparring and fighting are the same- they aren't. Go find some of the sites that have videos of street fights. You won't see a game of tag. What you'll see are committed attacks, rushes, grabs. Sometimes theres a couple of jabs at the beginning to see if the other person will back down, but then comes the real attack. Basically everything you DON'T see in a sparring match. I've had my students practice classical blocks against such attacks and guess what? They work, and the work a heck of a lot better than slapping. Most sparring is a straight line game so you bounce back and forth and make slight angle changes. Think about it from this perspective. Do you ever get worried that your opponent will rush you and take a shot coming in so he can knock your head into next week? I'd guess no. Are you in a defense situation that would allow you to get run over or flat out tackled if you keep backing up and don't get out of the way? Probably not. Classical blocks don't work well sparring because they were designed to be used against committed attacks like you see on street videos. The distance is different, the timing is different, and the threat is different. I threw a committed attack at a student last night and he upended me with an age uke. But he moved in and offline at the same time to do so, not backwards. He then jammed a roundhouse punch and shoved me to the floor. He didn't know which punch was coming either time. This was done at full speed and full power. BTW, he's only a 7th kyu, so you can learn early on how to use these blocks. Kinda funny to see a 7th kyu do this to a yondan. Anyway, go here and be sure to watch BOTH parts as there are different responses discussed ( I had to break it into 2 parts because it was over 10 minutes long ) http://www.youtube.com/swdw973 As far as slapping goes, there are 2 reasons people do this One- they don't consider the attack a real threat. By real I mean you will be injured (not hurt- injured) if it gets through, and Two- like you, they don't have faith in the classical moves so they fall back on a more natural response. I've worked out with senior practitioners and have students with previous experience that have tried the slapping they were used to in sparring when we did jyu sanbon and they were shocked to have me blow right through the blocks and overwhelm them. One student with several years previous experience told me he'd never been steamrollered like that. He lost interest in point sparring after that and started training for street defense. A friend with 28 years in Shorinji ryu realized the same thing and is now tickled that his traditional training DOES work.

Sigh, but when there is a need to use it as an escape wouldn't it be nice to know? It's funny that Toguchi talks about an Okinawan term called "Kaisai no genri" or the research of the applications in kata. Funny that these were also discussed in articles by Miyagi called "Karate-do Gairyaku" and "Goju-Ryu Kempo". I guess because of my Goju background I tend to look at this differently. We have very old school traditional bunkai that are escapes, takedowns, joint locks and so on. No, these are not modern "made up" bunkai, but applications taught prior to WWII. Both Goju Sensei's I have the privilige to train with (one my senssei, the other his friend) spent 15 or more years total in Okinawa in the 60's and 70's and have met and trained under the likes of Seiko Higa, Eiichi Miyazato, Meitoku Yagi, and others. So I doubt their bunkai are "modern versions". Yes a kick is a kick, a punch is a punch, a block is a block, but what help are they when someone grabs you from behind if you don't also know escapes or counters for such a situation? Wouldn't it be better to find where your art addresses such situations? And as for the separation between kumite and kata, you might as well take up boxing. All the pad work, bag work, and drills teach you the fundamentals of movement without having to memorize all those strange movements. And if that is all kata is to be used for, then the 3 main principles for researching kata -"shuyo san gensoku", and the supplemental principles "hosoku joko" are not of much use and shouldn't even exist. This also raises the question: Why are there drawings in the Bubishi showing techniques other than punches and kicks from body positions that can easily be used as either? Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

This makes me smile, not because it's wrong, but because it's soooo right. One of the most fundamental things you learn in some styles of Okinawan karate is step/punch where the feet start moving before the hands. Most people say this is a bad idea because the opponent will see you're coming and drill you. However, if your hands are still up as you move in they are in a position to deflect any strike he initiates and create an opening for your immediate counter. In addition, most people become so focused on the lead hand because it's the closest thing to them that you can often drill them with the back hand or a low kick. It also puts your opponent in a quandry because you'll have all weapons available as you move in, both hands and feet and you aren't telling him what your using before moving into range. It also makes sure you're moving in covered. It only takes a miniscule move to deflect an incoming technique. And yes this works against experienced people. Too many people try to get too fancy and forget the fundamentals. So take Shorin Ryuu's advice and go back to your fundamentals.

Actually, I did pick up on that, so I said what I did more as a reminder that other people are not in your shoes. Take zanshin as an example. Little if any bunkai taught and there may be no better teacher in the area depending on where someone lives. So for these people, Iaian Abernethy and others are a great resource. Why? Because he and some others actually uses what they teach in real life. So for us fortunate few who've had good instruction, it seems we should try and help those earnestly seeking the heart of karate by pointing them to resources that can benefit them. Just making blanket statements like bunkai on the internet has not left a good impression (quoting cross) doesn't help. If finding and then pointing someone to a resource that is good keeps them from getting hurt one day, we've done something beneficial with our knowledge because we used it to make sure those seeking help were sent to a resource where they learned something useful.

This is where I think we have to be careful when it comes to bunkai, and self-defense training in general. If you get overloaded with solutions, then you can get trapped into trying to think of which one you should do, whereas if you know fewer, and can apply them to different moves across the board, it can serve you better, because they will be easier to recall. Let me add something here. Prior to WWII Miyagi taught only 2-3 kata per person. After WWII, he taught all the kata. Here's my take on this which is worth whatever you wish to think. Kata bunkai- you should understand all the basic level bunkai for a kata so you can teach the underlying principles and applications to your students. However you should pick only 2 kata and train the bunkai until they become so automatic and ingrained that they are your "preconditioned response". This cuts down on the "paralysis of possibilities" many people talk about. Then why learn the other kata and bunkai? Because different kata and bunkai work well with different body types and personality types and they should be picked to match the individual. To teach them, you need to learn them. That said, let me go on to another issue with bunkai- teaching specific DETAILED responses to attacks. I have friends that are taught a different response for each of these-, right straight head punch, right roundhouse punch, right straight chest punch, then another response for each of these with the left hand. Now we have 6 possibilities for 6 attacks. Yet it turns out in Goju, when a jodan or chudan uke are done correctly the cover all these attacks. And even better, you don't have to worry about which hand you "block" with. There are small simple adjustments your body will make after just a few minutes that allow you to use one technique against all of these. Proof is in the pudding and I've had white belts with only a few months of training instinctively make these adjustments. The K.I.S.S. principle IS very important in bunkai. As an example, I posted a short off the cuff video on you tube for a discussion at the Iain Abernathy site. Watch both parts and you'll see one move used against a host of different threats rather than many counters to many attacks. http://www.youtube.com/swdw973 Yes and no, this is also something that has become an issue from a lack of understanding. If the sequence depends on the person countering with a certain tachnique you are right. However, if the sequence is reliant upon the IBR, or instictive body reaction to what you're doing which is an unthought natural response to the stimuli you've imposed, then it allows you to capitalize on that. For example, when a person is overbalanced in one direction, there will be an instictive reaction to regain their base. Capitalizing on this just makes things go from bad to worse for them. However, if you are counting on a kick punch combo for a series to work- you are programming something that may be downright useless. The other time a sequence is usable is when a move puts your opponent in a position for the next move, even if he doesn't want to be there. A series needs to be set up so it "runs the table" on your oppoenet. I.E. just like a pool shark each move sets you up for the next move, yet if something goes amiss, your opponent is not left in a position to take a shot. This allows you to go right into another series while he's resetting. Both of these are realistic and achievable and I know of several people who've used such approaches that are in jobs where they deal with issue regularly (bouncers, prison guards, police on the street, etc). All of them have been able to use different series they've learned because they were based on the principles above. Keeping in mind that 99.9% of the time you'll be dealing with an untrained opponent (although they may have street experience), basing a series on the IBR is fun (for the karateka) and very useful. Many times they can be used against trained individuals too. Since you are Wado ryu, I highly recommend Iain Abernethy's site, as he's a Wado practitioner also. A couple years ago I would have agreed across the board with both of you, but there are some people out there who teach simple, practical, and effective bunkai that come straight from the move in the kata. They are still few and far between, yet they do exist. Plus some very "old school" people are starting to share what they were taught in okinawa which incorporate things people who've been taught an incomplete system find a breath of fresh air. Some of the older guys are deciding that keeping "secrets" is causing a decline in karate, and they'd be right. Those who've been taught a complete art go "so what?", but you need to remember there's probably less than 3% of the teachers out there that have the whole kit and kaboodle. So students of the 97% are now searching because they KNOW something is missing.

Whether or not sanchin is found to be healthy or unhealthy often depends on the person being studied. Why? Because there are a LOT of people doing Sanchin incorrectly. Sanchin is about structure (skeletal alignment) that creates the muscle tension which you then focus at the end of the move. Most people think it's about being the incredible hulk and seeing how hard you can tense your muscles- not good. In addition, too many practitioners have incredible amounts of tension in their scalp and neck- this is also bad. Sanchin can be done as an "internal" exercise where it's about aligning your body correctly, or it can be done as an "external" exercise where it's about how hard you can contract your muscles. First is beneficial, second can be detrimental. I also know of an experiment done by some trainers where they measured the blood pressure increase from Sanchin done correctly and from doing bicep curls with a 20 lb dumbbell. The increase in blood pressure was the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7phct3aKuFQ&mode=related&search= Thanks, Sam

Only thing missing was the Power Ranger suits