SenseiMike

why would you need to train from an instructor? chi is 100% internal, no other human being can guage your performance there. Self training should be fine as long as you're honest with your self.

That defines me, anyone else in my boat?

warlock, how do you define useless? You mean as in breaking the knuckle, or as in weakening the fist? I would argue that there is easily over a half century of evidence that the "punishments" of toughning the knuckles are quite effective.

we have white yellow green blue purple brown red & black

that's assuming that there wasn't already an element there. everything I do is 100% kata based, and we do shoulder throws at white belt. I find a lot grappling in the shotokan katas, probaly more than actualy punhing.

Trust me, if you want to survive in this industry you have to have contracts. They should be FAIR but you have to know that you're going to get paid next month, and how much. As for the rest, I think you should leave the school, tell him if he doesn't break the contract then you'll file harassment charges because of his behavior. Does he do knock down tournaments, full contact, or simply point sparring? If it's just point sparring and you want to go into heavy competition, then switch styles to TKD it's similar enough that you'll adapt quickly, and they are all about point sparring tournaments.

after reading gichin funakoshi's biograghy, I realize that many old masters from okinawa (itsou, azato) enjoyed geeting quite drunk. itsou used to get drunk and let people punch him as hard as they could. As for me, me and my students go out and have a drink ater class sometimes.

Ah ha! Take a combination of things when you throw a punch- your opponent is moving- he has his chin tucked, decreasing your area for a good punch or he may even lower his head and trying to run at you like a bull. Now, you're not trying to hit the top of his head but: 1: You end up throwing a hard punch with intentions of knocking him out 2: Your opponent decides to drop his head down and force a clinch (you're opponent's got his agenda and gameplan too). 3. The target you initially wanted to hit (the jaw, front of the face) is no longer in the same spot- rather you've got a hard forehead and dome of the skull in the way. At this point, you either make contact with the forehead or dome of the skull while you're throwing full force- Something needs to give to absorb the impact of the blow- its bone on bone. I guarentee you his head isnt going to break. or You try to correct your punch halfway through to make contact with his face. The result is that your shoulder, elbow, and wrist are no longer aligned since you threw a cockeyed punch. With the misalignment, once again something has to give in order to absorb the blow- the very small bones in your wrist are the most likely to give before your elbow, shoulder, hands, or your opponents face. I'm not going to disagree with this, as it's accuarate, but: If some one tucks there head in and rushes in to clinch, wouldn't you as a striker who is in clinch range: A: Foucus on body shots to the kidney area B: Uppercut him C: If he's under your arms instead of over them, grab his head/neck and knee the body, or the head if possible (this would cause one to risk loosing balance tho, and may end up in submission) D: All of the above, create enough distance to uppercut by utilizing body hooks to get in an upper cut, then after landing the upper cut grab his head and pull it into a knee

AndrewGreen, I used to be exactly the same as you in your beliefs. And you're correct in the proving wether or not the human mind can manipulate these energies is the ultimate goal. There are institutions working on such, and I'm sure that one day they will be successful at it. Some quick points, about zen & chi as they relate to modern science: 1) Ki is usually taught as a ray of light that enters & can be emited through the body. Modern Science has revealed to us "bio photons" in short, they have found, measured, and published the results there of, that living beings, as well as natural food sources (fresh plants) emit photons on a cellular level. Our bodies are filled with internal light. Tha is a scientific fact. This also goes hand in hand with doaist/buhhdit belief that eating fresh leafy green vegetables will increase your chi. 2) Science has proven that all matter & energy are made of the exact same "stuff" & that it is only a matter of how that "stuff" is aranged that results in who/what we are. There is an old belief in the zen world that there is no such thing as "1" because everything is divisible, one apple can be cut in half, then into quarters, etc.. science has shown us that you can divide an atom into protrons, nuetrons, and electrons, then divide those into "quarks" the quarks are divisible as well, but we currently lack the technology to measure such a small amount. The essence of this point however is that on a base level everything in existence is composed of the exact same ingrediants, only in different combinations. That forms the basis of "interelation" that so much of ki theory depends on. 3) Nonlocality is a term used in referance to orbiting elctrons. Science has recorded that one electron is capable of existing in multiple orbits at the same time, and that it's existence in either orbit is dependent on an observer. (yes I know it gives me a headache thinking about it too) this gives credibilty to the belief in a nonlocal mind, (another biggie in zen/ki practice) as well as the existence of consciousness at the sub-atomic level. practicing ki you taught to shift your mind, out of your brain and into your foot, your hand etc.. as far as the conciousness, one could speculate that if a single electron possesses enough consciousness to be aware of an outside observer, than a cluster of elctrons (I.E. a human being) would be extremely conscious. 4) back to our good budy the electron, if it is capable of breaking the most basic laws of physics as they relate to our concept of space/time then the ki/zen concept of stretcing one's mind out to exist beyond the body is 100% scientificaly posible. What is our standard of comunication these days? electrons, we send them up and down wires, though the air, all to send information to remote sources. Human beings are made up of billions of these particles.

also I recomend reading "The Feild" or "The self aware universe" I had both these books, but they were stolen by my roomate. They are chock full of experiment notes that show the existence of ki.

no, but I can point to over a hundred years of research seriously, the science is there and is currently being used for some cool stuff in labatories across the world. prototype free energy machines are a great example. heck, just do a google search on the zero point field.

Yes it is real, but to really master it, I think that your faith might limit it you. Ki requires a lot of esoteric beliefs to fully understand and ultilize. I guess it depends on your particular christain belief system. In my christain back ground it was a huge no-no tho.

The most important aspect of any ki exercise is belief. You must accept that ki exists. Now, how does one achieve this? For me it was science, I found an interest in quantum physics and began reading a series of books on the subject, any book is just as good as another as long as wriiten for normal people to understand. Once I was able to see that is an actual intelectual base for such beliefs, I began looking into relegions that paralleled the science. I found that many of the beliefs in Zen Buhhidism were comparable to the science. It is thus no surprise that many of the old masters were followers of Zen. Anyway, you first have to accept that ki is a reality. However you do that is up to you, for me it was science leading me to convert from atheism to buhhidsm, but you could take any road you choose find your "faith" in ki. Once you accept the belief in ki, you have to actualize it. This is the hard part, the really hard part. You'll need to change your whole perception of the world around you, and of your self. Moving meditation such as kata and ki ko (chi gung) are paramount in this, and seated meditation even more so. About meditation (moving or seated) there are two real types,passive and aggressive. I know aggressive meditation sounds like an oxymoron, but hear me out here. Passive meditation is great for relaxing and clearing your head, and thus should be performed very regulary many times a day. Aggressive meditation tho, is being proactive in your meditation, passive meditation is like sitting at a bus stop waiting for the bus to come, were as aggressive meditation is like hijacking the bus and taking it were you want it to go. You need to focus on your breath in a way in wich your body stays relaxed, but your mind is moving before your body, thus you mentaly breathe out before your body does. when running kata move your mental punch out before your body punches. Get your mind trained to move faster than your body, but keep the two connected. when it's time for seated meditation, don't just stare at a wall, once you've cleared your head, visualize, see yourself lpperforming what it is you wish to do, feel it, taste it, smell it etc...make it real/ Since I've started doing this I've made very real improvements in my abilities. I still have a whole lot further to go, and can't pull it off in kumite yet, but I have faith I'll get there soon enough.

that was a god reply giang_hu, I think of ki in two ways, wy # 1 is mind, breat, and muscle control. That's hard ki. much easier to master than the other soft ki aspect. Soft ki requires a lot of time, and meditation (no I'm definately not a master) I've made a lot of progres, but I doubt i'll ever develop anything spectacular. Hard ki is coordinating your entire body to work in unity inorder to pull off some nice stuff, increased power, roots, taking full body hits, etc.. Soft ki is putting your mind in direct conection with out side energies, this is actually easier to do than you think, but doing it in combat is almost imposible. the best exercises for either are some simple chi-gung/ki-ko exercises followed by rotating hard and soft versions of your kata. also, read some books on quantum physics, I found that once I understood the science behind chi/ki I could accept it a lot more. I reccomend the Self Aware Universe & The Feild as two good books to read.

When I fight I stay completely linear in a long back stance, I keep at an angle, and I don't back up, Thus if they come in to tackle, they through themselves off ballance, and it opens up a chance for me to get in a good choke hold or throw on them. If you stay long in your stance and keep them at an angle, there just not going to take you down, you'll lose some offense that way, but the defense is untouchable

well, I don't know....I mean Ishhinryu is traditional Okinawan Karate, & there's a lot of grappling in traditional karate. I learned 6 months of Ishhin ryu under a bohan lineage, it was different than the nagel guys as well. There's a lot of that in Isshin ryu, a whole lot.

you can find the turnament rules by doing a google on JKA rules.

What are the bad points? A lot of people don't think I'm formal enough (I know I'm not) but I think my teaching styles fit in with my dojo & student body.

those pesky brazillians, is jj enough? Yeah, I combined the kanku with the rising sun, the shotonkan tiger and my own little fist design. On the sides in kanji (tho not readable in avatar) it reads Iron fist way Shotokan Karate do & Kobudo

yuppers I sure did thanks for noticing Osu

I've fought a lot of bjj guys, I actually like fighting them better than any other style. The best, defense you've got is your stance, if you're in a good stance, you aren't going to get lifted at the knees, yes that is by far the most attempted take daown, but if you're stance is good, they should NEVER be able to grab both legs.

AMEN BROTHER!! Osu

I'm not sure if it's the norm these days or not. There's a lot of bad shotokan shcools out there. But in my school (shotokan) we're very heavy on take downs and ground work. I guess it just dpends on the school tho, We practice all of the kata with sweeps & throws, and utlize a variety of hits.

I'd brake a knee cap, male or femal.

I like tournaments, I'm not sure why, I feel that training in the MA's should be about self improvement & defense first, all others a distant second, but I like competition. But what I really want to see is an organized tournament circut that exists nationaly, holding tournaments on a regional level every few months and sending the winners up to championships. I'd love to see it in a way that the travel exoenses are factored in and paid for in advance, so that all the competitors have to worry about is fighting. Is there anything out there like this, something open to multiple styles? Oh yeah, full contact would be nice, I'm pretty much against point fighting in general.