ZakariRu

in the shotokan version the kick and then balling up mid air is the most important part.

Eye, you need to be careful because you come across sounding like an idiot. Funakoshi constantly said that training out of a low stance was necassary. The shotokai karate (SKA) is awful technically, they dont understand the bunkai even in the slightest and they do the kata incorrectly. Even by Funakoshi's standards. Their is nothing fluid about them too they do the same kime as the JKA. Read egami sensei's book. Last time i checked goju has front stance and shiko dachi. They are both identicaly as low as shotokan stances.

Bruce:: He was one of the finest martial artist to ever live. his theorys on movement, combinations, and lead side attacks were truely revolitionary and now adays seem like common sense. (look at karate kumite compeitiors for the best jeet kune do examples.) Musashi:: If i was a serial killer for my entire life, and then retreated to a mountaint to write a book about it, would future martial artist try and use it as a philosphical manual? If you have actually read a book of five rings/spheres. there is no way around it, Musashi was a psycopath who did not believe in a fair fight.

I can tell you how we do the unsu jump if that helps (shotokan)

Ive trained at the JKA headquarters with Osaka sensei. and i can say technically what the ISKF does here in america is almost identical to what they do in japan. and that is impressive. but politically the ISKF here is utterly ridiculous with some of their policys and practices.

You havent not not seen alot of karate tournaments then. Alot of compeitors in Karate tournaments do huge ammounts of grappling a. biamonti hip tosses everyone.

there really isnt one, slight differences in kata. very very small ones. And orginiazational things. the JKF are the goju people in japan =) Goju ryu is the closest thing to okinawan karate taught in japan ;-p

well when shi to ryu was first being taught there are was only goju and shorin ryu. Sensei Mabuni and Sensei Funakoshi had the same plans for karate. they just taught different kihon (most of the same kata) before the JKA, shotokan guys did superenpi etc.. (hyakuhachiho) Chito ryu only has 13 or 14 kata. Most shi to guys dont know all 52 or whatever. personally im trying to learn all the japanese kata =p wado,goju,shotokan, and shito. i only have another 60 or so to go =p

It sounds like a Karate tournament. except we can hit to the back.

I just wanted to know, if i train extra hard can i be the link queen someday? Thats the kata alright ippon nukite indeedy. Pointy finger of DEATH! (no not unsu) Zak

kinda but not really =p theres a part in the middle of the kata where there are two front kicks forward from a kiba dachi (might be shiko)

Chito ryu is not S h i to ryu. its not spelled both ways its two different styles! chito ryu is kinda funky looking by japanese karate standards. its a more okinawan style. they focus punches differently then japanese styles. they do crazy kata like chinto with a jump, and seisan. their bassai dai is reallly reallly scarry looking too. I have a good good friend from the national team who does chito-ryu. I wish i could be more descriptive but i cant =p

thered be no way to fairly judge it. it would be olympic tag. just like the open tournament scene.

i said rather My goju ryu instructor teaches at a high school 2 days a week for free. That says alot about his intentions to karate. He doesnt want to do anything but spread karate. (hes a teacher during the day)

Nobody in okinawa ever charged for a lesson =p College karate clubs are usually free. And it says something when youd ratehr have your own commercial academy then teach at a Y.

were you holding the stretches? or just doing alot of different ones? in kicking stretching is phenominaly important. Bill Wallace says its one of the main resons he was so fast (he also practiced kicks incredibly slowly and told me that this builds flexibility too). When your stretching its important to hold the stretch for a minimum (thats a funny word) of 17 seconds. Any less and you might as well not stretch it as the muscle wont release. any longer it doesnt make much of a difference. I only stretch my inner/outer thighs and my hips. (straddle split and then lean to one side)

Its Called Annan just Annan or Anan. I have a couple shito ryu friends from Hawaii that compete with it. the opening movement is in shoulderwith stance where the right hand rises up, and then the left hadn goes up the same side of the body (right) as the right hand is coming down. at the end of the opening motion the hands are at a crazy palm to palm position (maybe its wrist to wrist). Dont we have any Shito-ryu guys around?(i know there are 52 kata but somebody has got to know them all!)

i dont think so the kata im thinking of has this crazy graceful wrist block thing in the begining then several steps forwaard with this crazy palm strike type thing (like a knife hand with the fingers slightly spread). very popular shito ryu tournament kata

Does anyone know where i can get a video or mpg of kata Annan? (shito ryu or shorin ryu.) or a book that has it in it?

Funakoshis books are good for history, the technique is outdated and he gets a bit senile from book to book espicially if you compare the earlier japanese versions of kyohan (ryu kyu kempo karate) to the english version. also dont read john van weeners book. one of my senpai was throwing it out and decided to give it to me instead. i should have let him throw it out. (the mans basics are gross!) Nakayamas books are very good for raw technique (no philosophy, this is good) Dynamic Karate is worth reading if you dont know much about body dynamics but is kinda of common sense if you have alot of exp in martial arts. Edmond otis (AJKA chairman) and Randall hassel also wrote a book called "the complete idiots guide to karate" its about karate in general but most of the philosophy and technique are out of shotokan (it also has my friend Dean doing Heian Shodan) This is a phenominal book, probobly the best on karate/shotokan (I'm not saying this because i know literally everyone in the book.) hehehe Sugiyama Sensei also has a book called "25 shotokan kata" best single volume kata book in existance. (He is in chicago, train with him if you get the chance). He has another book called "healing with Ki" not shotokan completely but worth reading. Z P.S. My reviews are right and everyone else is a shotokan zealot =) P.S.S. Can get every shotokan book in existance on Amazon.com

ironically i started at a Y =) my instructor just got back from winning the european shotokan championship I've considered opening a club at a Y, but there are limitations as far as income, contact, and competiton go there.

Im gonna ask some questions and hopefully all my karate forums sempai and kohai are going to answer =) 1. Start up captial. How much money is it good to start with? just one months rent and utilities? Enough to pay for half a year or so with 0 income? What does the averadge dojo's electric bill run anyway? (afternoon and evening classes every night) 2. Rank? Ive been training with 2 different schools for a long time now. the dojo i hold the highest rank with is an indy that doesnt give certificates. should i buy one from a martial arts store and have the instructor sign it? or just not worry about? I currently live one hour from both of my main instructors (ones an hour east the other an hour west) One of the reasons my instructor has been asking me to open a dojo. 3. Time Im currently in school working on my BA in edumacation. Will i have to drop it to part time to run a school? 4. Cardio Karate/tae bo. At other dojos its the money maker, is it neccassary? 5. Orginization I hold rank with an indy dojo but train full time with an ISKF (shotokan org) dojo. Is an orginazation a good idea? 6. Insurance Yes/no? 7. Would you train under a 18 year old shodan, who is an international competitor (on the AAU jr national team at 16)? forgive spelling/grammer errors im going to bed =)

thanks bob, ive got a nationals in 2 weeks and was looking for a video of the new mandatory kankudai =p

Ridiculous. No samurai ever had his head honorably cut off... Samurai used the Wakazashi not the tanto. and your best friend always assisted you (along with many others) the cut to the back of the neck left a small flap of skin so that your head would stay attached to your neck. it takes hours to die from disembowlment. its also a Cross not a Z per say =p AND DONT FORGET YOUR SAKE. No im not Afraid to die(come close several times). Maybe afraid to live though miss kickchick. Its easy to say your not afraid to die on a internet forum. but is the answer the same when it matters? "The way of the samurai is to live each day as if you are already dead." - Yamamoto Tsunetomo

I dont know about all of that. (not kicking in the 70s) If you look at all the older japanese jka guys they have been hookkicking and spinning kicks to the head since the first all japan karate tournament.(58,59) Its the europeans and americans who had this crazy idea that only reverse punches and front kicks could score. I say tkd is bad jka shotokan with bad stances and sloppy basics where the forms wore changed (someone didnt know the bunkai apparantly either) and history was altered. Tang so doo(yes its a school of tkd) has all the same poomse as Shotokan! they spell bassai with a P and call most of them by okinawan names. Many of my friends are tkd stylist, and i started in taekwondo. My kumite coach also started out in TSD and changed to shotokan later. So im not totally biased in my opinions....