Taikudo-ka

My own sensei's one inch punch is very real... I'm sure Bruce's was at least as good.

- "If you want to perfect your high kicks you need to first perfect your lower kicks" True, True (as usual). I think if the stretching regime in your training is good, and you practise regularly, you'll slowly but surely get higher and higher. I make no special effort to kick high, and still notice dramatic improvements in my kick height. Get your kick right and practise at a maximum comfortable height (not your absolute maximum, only to where you can still do it "right). Use a small target you can adjust the height of, and practise accurate kicks on this. Keep up with the stretching, and the target will naturally start getting higher and higher, till suddenly one day you are kicking head high, without even realizing it. Today in class sensei asked me to kick a paddle, which she held at what I thought was a "challenging" height. I made a wry face, gave it my best shot... and my foot sailed clean over the top of the paddle... "Control - you must learn control". Hehe, without it height or power are useless.

I've used low kicks to knees, etc. (not hard to actually cause damage of course) Also targetted the groin when swept down. And used shin blocks against kicks (although I am a karateka). Its all good fun when sparring. I like an opponent to use unexpected techniques and do suprizing stuff. I think most people are too unimaginative when it comes to sparring - jab, jab, jab, like a 3rd rate boxing match. Cut loose a bit. That's what free sparring is for, in my opinion.

TV has become SO lame lately (as if it even seemed possible just a few years ago)...

- "'Kara' can mean 'empty' or 'China' in the Okinawan dialect, but Funakoshi had it officially declared 'empty-hand'." I'm pretty sure that it's "Kara" for both in Japanese. In Okinawan, the "China" is To or Tou (actually T'ang in Chinese, in reference to the dynasty, and the period when the Shaolin Temple was considered at its peak). In old Okinawan texts, it's almost invariably referred to as Tote. (Not karate). Even Funakoshi did this in his early writings. The switch to "karate" came with the Japanese pronunciation of the T'ang kanji. But with the change in pronunciation came the possibility of change in meaning, as the "Chinese" kara could be substituted with the "empty" kara. So, originally the Okinawans practised Te (hand) - a striking art - a counterpoint to their native wrestling (quite unlike sumo). When they incorporated techniques from Kung-Fu, it became known as Tote (Chinese Hand). When this art went to Japan, it became known as Karate (also Chinese Hand). Then the meaning of the "kara" changed to "empty", which became the commonly accepted naming and meaning - empty hands. Similar linguistic tricks can be played in English, eg a bar could mean an iron rod, or a place where alcoholic beverages are served. Funakoshi's declaration would only be "official" in his own Shotokan school and the JKA.

Maybe because everyone has a bit of a different idea of what karate should or shouldn't be. With Kickboxing or Tai Chi, for example, you pretty much know the genre and the type of fighting or lack thereof you'll be involved in. But by making karate into something with broad appeal, trying to show the self-defense, sport, fitness, internal discipline and external displays (like breaking) all as aspects of the art, as well as various offshoots doing differnet things to make the art more appealing, easier for the masses, or conversely harder and more disciplined (eg Kyokushin introducing full contact sparring), I think the Japanese organizations set themselves up for this sort of thing. They made it popular by attracting people with all these different interests, perhaps not realizing that later on when these new people "took over the reigns" so to speak, there would inevitably be disagreement as to exactly what they had been studying, and why, and therefore where it should be taken. Taking things to America would have no doubt only made things worse, as the spirit of individualism there means EVERYONE wants to break away and do their own thing, even IF their goals and approach to martial arts are similar. Hence the enormous variety of styles, and ever present disputes, rules changes, splinter groups, etc. There must be more "styles" of karate than any other art except kung-fu... but at least with karate the government never tried to unify them into one "official" style like wu-shu. (Or Judo for that matter.) Unlike most other modern Japanese Budo arts, which evolved out of earlier jutsu forms, usually directed by a single individual or group, karate was imported wholesale from Okinawa where the multitude of styles already existed. It came to Japan with a whole group of masters, who subsequently argued over just about everything from whether the kanji used for karate should be "Chinese Hands" or "Empty Hands", to whether there should be sparring or not. I think it was obvious from the start that karate-do was never going to be quite as unified and standardized as Kano's judo, no matter how much they tried to mould it into the form of a modern budo... the rough edges still show... but they make the art all the more interesting. Note that the Japanese were also unable to prevent the Okinawan karate from spreading directly to other countries, not just Japan. Thus today we have not only the multitude of Japanese karate styles, but also a range of styles descending directly from Okinawa. No wonder no-one can agree on exactly what karate is and big organizations like the JKA constantly have disputes and what not. Let alone the normal politics and horse-play you get in any big organization...

I think the nunchuka ban thing was a knee-jerk reaction to the whole ninja thing more than anything else... The whole "OMG! This is a LETHAL NINJA WEAPON!" thing. A broomhandle or kitchen knife can be just as deadly when handled right. I think its particularly hilarious that places where you can buy a gun or a live sword, the nunchuka and shuriken still tends to be banned. Hehe in reality shuriken are supposed to be poisoned and would be pretty pi$$-poor as a weapon if they weren't...

We have junior ranks for all grades, not only black belts. Anyone under 16 has a junior grade. When you turn 16, you move to senior grades but drop a level. Not exactly sure how black belts are handled...if there is a junior one or not... I haven't seen any. I would never turn up to another school or style as a student with my current rank showing... If I had the uniform, I'd be wearing a white belt until the sensei said otherwise. Particularly to get a rank in something different like kickboxing then show up to a karate dojo wearing the black belt when you've never even seen how that style fights... that's just sheer arrogance and assumption.

I went for self defense and out of long-term interest in martial arts, and ended up getting all the other stuff people talk about - strength, fitness, improved confidence, discipline, humility. (Yes I think you can have improve confidence and be more humble at the same time... there is a difference between true confidence and the sort of manic, but ultimately insecure, ego promoted in the west). Plus I enjoy it.

This is all good- thanks guys. As far as bone on bone blocks, I was taught the close fist, palm in middle block as using the more "padded" side of the arm to block. Palm open, face out, its more bone on bone... (if you block with the arm, rather than the actual palm). The only full contact, bare knuckle fight I've seen (apart from kids in schoolyard scuffles) was two men in a streetfight (literally... fighting on the asphalt just outside my house) Little technique was involved. Both guys waded in, faces red, throwing a barrage of punches, then after a few seconds one guy goes down, and the other guy proceeds to kick the crud out of him until he's 'done'. This was around 20 years ago now, when I was living in what we call a "public housing estate". (council house, government yard, housing commission, government subsidized housing, whatever you want to call it) What is the precise difference between a block and a parry? I would think that most unarmed blocks incorporate an element of both, in that the blow is generally deflected away from the body, not just stopped. Am I right in assuming "parry" means to deflect a blow away, not just stop it (a block)? In that case most moves would be parries as it would be unlikely to "block" a strike the same way you could "block" a sword slash, stopping it directly rather than deflecting... A thrust, like a straight punch, would have to be parried, rather than blocked... (Or is my definition wrong)

Here's another problem, which I feel is particularly pronounced when you start involving mixed striking/grappling matches. That is that for striking to actually "work" it has to be done full force, with the object of actually inflicting injury. I personally would have problems getting into a ring and actually smashing someones face in, purposely breaking their arm, doing full force "concrete breaking" hammer fists onto the back of their skull, etc, just for the purposes of competition, to prove that I'm "The Champ". Striker vs Striker is OK as almost every art has devised some system to measure "good strikes" with points while protecting fighters from severe injury... even Muay Thai wear gloves nowdays... Grappler vs Grappler is OK as most techniques can be used effectively without injuring the opponent. Even potentially damaging locks can be applied only to the point of initial pain, where the opponent taps out, and can easily be tightened until that point is reached. Striking arts, by relying on the speed and power of the strike, cannot use this controlled force and have it achieve the same outcome. Thus, a "striker" vs "grappler" match puts the striker, to my mind, in the unique disadvantage of not being able to effectively employ their techniqes without really hurting the opponent. If the strike is padded or pulled in any way, its not going to have any real stopping power. The glove or semi-contact rule is there to stop the opponent getting hurt, and if they aren't hurt, they ain't gonna stop from grabbing and taking you down. On the other hand, any karateka would find that treating an opponents head like a pile of concrete tiles ready to be shattered just to win a sports competition is a very un-budo like idea. Those who can, probably won't want to... Those who actually main or kill others in the name of sport might find the law interested, and a distinct lack of potential competitors. Remember, most martial artists are trying to avoid "real", full force, full contact no hold barred fights against an opponent who will really injure then severely given half the chance. They are not trying to seek them out and engage in them on a regular basis... If you do, expect to spend a lot of time either in hospital or a police cell. This is not "Fight Club" and if you really engaged in some Hollywood BS like that, expect the broken neck and hospital time. (And no training). So, I'd say that strikers have an innate disadvantage to grapplers in any sort of mixed sporting competition. Not because their art "sucks", but because of the limits of competition.

Bah, if its done by those guys the only thing you can guarantee is that it will be totally fake, completely unrealistic, and a bunch of boring arbitrary nonsense totally unrelated to real martial arts. (Just like the original "survivor" has absolutely jack to do with real wilderness survival... heck, a 10 year old cub scout could outlast any of those jokers if they were really lost in the bush somewhere) WWF meet Survivor - where you get to vote on who wins, not the management...

Here's an interesting thought - the fight ends up wherever the best fighter wants it to end up. Thus the better fighter can choose to fight stand up or ground against an inferior opponent... The superior fighter will "take the initiative" in controlling the fighting style.

Well I agree he comes across as a bit of a hard-case - rude boy - street tough, whatever you want to call it. I guess homosexual related phrases are his favorite swear words... everyone's gotta swear somehow and I don't see him saying "oh fiddlesticks!"... Maybe he secretly enjoys the after match showers a bit too much... who knows or cares...

I think Kickchick has made a good point here. Too many people seem to look upon belts as some sort of "fight championship" grade, where to keep your belt you must be able to whip anyone "lower" than you, but in turn most certainly lose to anyone "higher"... That is a highly unrealistic goal. It would just turn testing into one big sparring match, with the belts determined by who wins on a particular week. You'd never keep a rank long as any "newbie" (even one with years experience in another art) could come in, whip your butt, and take your belt, sending you to the back of the class to start again. Belts would be nothing more than a competition ranking board... Besides, if said newbie comes in, built like Mike Tyson with matching personality, and defeats a black-belt with pure brute force and aggression, thus "claiming" their belt, is this new "black belt" in any way ready to teach, and pass on his techniques? Does he even has any? Can he even tell a good punch from bad? Or is he some freak who goes home to pound concrete and won with sheer luck and 250 lbs of brute force? In my dojo, sparring may form part of a test, but it is balanced with other stuff - measurements of quality of basic techniques done both ultra slow and as fast as possible, kata, plus the sensei's general observation of your technique and where you've come from, skill wise. At the end of the day, it is measuring your ability to perform prescribed techniques to a certain degree of proficiency, and thus ultimately the time and dedication you've put into training, regardless of beginning ability or natural skill. It also makes life easier for teachers, who can, say, easily ask different levels of students to perform different techniques, even if they are all training together. Also remember that rank is only meaningful in a particular school or organization. Having a black belt in karate does not automatically make you an expert in judo, even if some sparring match against a judoka might seem to prove otherwise. Comparing colored belts is particularly stupid as they are different with every art and style. White tends to indicate total beginners, and a 1st dan black belt should generally indicate mastery of all basic techniques to a high degree, but in between everything is up for grabs. (As is seems is everything above 4th or 5th dan...)

Classic. Must have been written by a Brit.

Actually I was reading something by a fairly modern Japanese karate master (Shotokan I think...or perhaps Goju?) and he highly recommended Tai Chi as a complementary practise to karate. Said he had been doing it for decades himself and it helped his karate immensely. There is a Tai Chi punch routine almost identical to the karate punch routine (the basic horse stance, hands on hips thing...)

I know that Bruce Lee actually won his inter-college boxing championship (against some hyped "champ", I think from England). At the time he had nothing but a little Wing Chun training, and a lot of natural skill and determination. (Note that at this stage he was still practising classical Wing Chun, and had not really begun to formulate his own system, as happened later). Artist over the art? Maybe... but it does show that a skilled fighter can take their system to a "foreign court", play the game according to their rules and still come out on top. So Wing Chun practitioner beating a boxer? Sure, its possible. If Wing Chun specifically has any advantage over boxing (I'm not sure) I'd say its because on one level it has a similar approach - a fairly direct, straight forward striking system. But the way it goes about this is so very different to boxing. If they didn't know what to expect it'd be quite a shock, and they wouldn't know how to defend against it properly...

Well I don't hink Shihan Bluming was being racist with any comments. Criticizing a particular organization in a country (eg the Japanese Karate Association) for its methods is not the same as racism or prejudice. So if someone says "I think the way the Japanese train is outdated" that is not racism, it is a constructive criticism from a professional or artistic point of view. Said person may well have formed this opinion by talking to many good Japanese friends, and be willing to work with said organization to implement what they think are improvements. On the other hand, if someone says "Well I hate the Japanese because they have slanted eyes and sound weird and their cooking smells funny" - that's an example of stupid cultural bias and prejudices and pure racism. It's directed at the whole group generically, and has no rational base or room for discussion, only personal prejudices with no quantifiable measurements. You hate because of difference, forgetting that the same applies to your own culture viewed from outside. Pure racism. I don't recall Shihan Bluming saying anything like this... To me not being racst doesn't mean I never criticize a person from a diferent race, it means I treat them like a human being, regardless of external factors like skin, eye or hair color, the shape of your skull, the way your language sounds, what you eat, or the style of your hat or jacket.

Nah... overhead is basically how much money the school must outlay each month in order pay all its bills and keep on running. Things like renting a hall, bills for electricity, etc, insurance, any membership fees to larger organisations, payments on any loans that might have been taken out to purchase equipment, wages for staff, etc. A business must make a profit to grow, but must cover overheads just to survive. If there is not enought income to cover them, you'll find the phone and electricity cut off, the bank repossessing and selling your stuff to cover loans and the landlord booting you out of the premises.

Hmmm.. I've found myself instinctively using open, palm out blocks when sparring fast opponents. I seem to end up "catching" the punches more than I deflect them... I'm finding the closed fist harder to use in practise (although easy to demonstrate)...??

At my school we are taught blocks with a closed fist, and for the middle block the palm of the fist is turned towards the body. I believe in Goju blocks are done open hand, with palm out. (aka wax on/wax off in Karate Kid). One of my friends did TKD, and also learnt an open hand block. Which version do you learn, or are you taught both? Does a preference for one type of block or another indicate anything else about a particular school? For those who have a Bubishi, the block we learnt is identical to the winning technique in diagram 37 of the 48 self defense diagrams. [ This Message was edited by: Taikudo-ka on 2002-06-17 12:58 ]

Fortunately I haven't actually run into any ego problems or maniacs or anything at my dojo. Everyone has a pretty good sportsman-like attitude to sparring and whatnot and black belts still treat a white belt like a human being.

Well in point sparring you'd be going for point scoring moves, and there are probably a lot of illegal moves. More like a sport. Freestyle sparring, as the name indicates, would be pretty much anything goes. At my dojo this means grabbing, grappling, low kicks, etc are all fair game. (but not going out of control, or scratching and biting, obviously). The aim is not to injure the opponent, but to try whatever techniques you want against a resisting opponent, who in turn can do whatever they want for defense/counter attack, rather than worrying about trying to "win".

Hey guys, if you're studying Karate, wouldn't a Japanese restaurant be more appropriate? Plus if you're game you can try your dojo Japanese in real life.