G95champ

The SKA shotokan guys I've worked with are very narrow in their stance. Being from a JKA background and niw FSKA we are much more square. I understand the SKA logic but IMO it's not as good in real life as it is in tournament point attacks. Nothing else negative I can say. That's not negative just a disagree,net in opinion.

I have never asked students to do push ups or set ups or run. IMO they pay me to teach karate and I'll teach muscle development through martial exercises. I've always had a problem with paying to learn to do jumping jacks lol

We often warm up with kata on a count as a group. We espically do this on days we are going to focus more on basics, self defense or sparring. Likewise I also use it as a cool down exercise on those days.

We train one step 2-3 times per month We do 3 or 5 step probably double that, just becomes of newer students One step is more beneficial IMO

Double promotion. Congrats

I think the changes happens for a few reasons 1. Age - assuming we study a give style our entire life we should be more physically fit and healthy in that 18-32 age area. When we were younger we may not have had the strength or when we were older the speed, flexibility, reflexes etc. 2. Mental growth - because the more we study the more we understand what we are doing and how to do it. Let me be clear I, nit taking about Kia or th force. However mover application and body alignment can allow a older person to preform better because they are maximizing all their ability. This is also a reason I don't allow black belts under the age of 15 I know now that I'll never do what I did 15 years ago but that don't make me a worse martial artist. No matter how hard I train things get sore quicker and pain lasts longer lol. However, I find myself moving with greater efficiency and I have became much more precise and l as wreckers with age Long story short if your no changing or adapting your not growing. My karate is not your karate althoughwe train the sa,e style from the same teacher in the same dojo. We must adapt to fit our body, age, ability, handicap, lifestyle, environment, laws, etc

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First the student must have a physical ability to do the technique. They don't have to win every match but they should be able to defend their life if needed. Second their has to be a working knowledge of the the how and why. This makes the physical possible if the student is older or something Third as stated above time. The person can't be given it but must put in hours of sweat and study. Hard work and desire can make up for the first two.

Internet is the ability to study at home. Before we had very few means to research and check our content. I agree it's a little broad.

The revelance is we needed a black hero in the civil war. Not saying he is not deserving but does his actions, deeds, and bravery exceede the others I listed? My answer is no but your free to disagree.

Douglas was a great man but IMO not the most important by any means. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy but would things have turned out the same without him? I'll venture to say yes. Douglas himself said John Brown was much more important in regards to abolition. Wendell Phillips, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Thadius Stevenson, Julia Ward Howe, Charles Sumner, William Lloyd Garriaon, Dread Scott, Daniel Webster, William Seward are all much less famous who played a huge part in abolition If Douglas had not been a runaway slave, do you think he would be as famous than those listed? I do not mean that in a racist tone by any means But those list d above moved the public bar to where the anti-slavery movement really had a platform both politically but more so emotionally.

Sounds lik a combo of Ganganku and Heian Yondan from the Shotokan schoolse

ALICE Is the system we took the training under.

If you can exit the building and run absolutely. I was referring tithe old option of hiding in a corner or closet vs spreading out and attacking the gunman. No question that when it's real it changes the emotion but that's the point. If the shooter can aim while we hide under desks he will kill us. If he has to react to getting hit with books he is less lily to hit his targets.

I just done a Google search and yes both Goju and Uechi Ryu developed from Shorei Ryu.

Yes many styles share variations of many kata. This will range from style to style, dojo to dojo and organization to organization. There are many reasons for this. Accidental where student A forgets how his teacher taught him or confusion where they mix up two kata. On purpose where student A changes a techniques because if application practicability or his inability to preform a certin technique. I will also include adjustment in that some add little points of flash for compatwtiin that are not traditional. This happens at all ranks and ages. Many Shotkan schools call Gojushisho Sho and Goshishi Dai the same or opposite names because of a mix up done by Kanazawa Hirokazu in a tournament/demo. One of the things I like about Shotokan is that Funakoshi left us a lot of sources to help us with kata. Thus you tend to see Shotokan kata more unified but I'll be the first to tell you ours are very different as well. Human nature always steps in and remember it's and ART not a science so IMO we should always be trying to interpurtation and adjust what we do to fix the time we live. The style founders were not gods and what they say is not gospel but it's a great platform to build from nd discover for ourselves what they discovered.

uechi Ryu ??? Is that what I'm thinking of

JR 137 you are correct. I over simplified the origin in that Shorei Ryu today can be seen in Goju Ryu and U???? Ryu. (I can't recall the name) I do not know how Goju or the U style have in common with each other much less from there Shorei Ryu base. Therefore to paraphrase Obi Wan Kenobi what I told you was true from a certin point of view lol.

Chinese food - very interesting and I can see that as having an impact.

Not saying that did not have an impact but do the general masses know that? Kickboxing - Jo Lewis or Bill Wallace would be more popular to the average person. However, both would be a distant second to the JCVD movie kickboxer lol As a martial artist I agree with your post, I was referring to something that made little kids, teens, or adults want to find a dojo.

Actually, no. By the time Funakoahi started teaching what became Shotokn in public the military controlled Japan and all weapons had been banned. Both Goju Ryu and Shoin Ryu the root styles of Shotokan feature some weapon training so from that argument then yes you could say Shotokan has weapons. However, I'd dare say that Funakoshi never taught them for political reasons. With that said many Shotokan kata have Movments that are often viewed as designed to use a weapon (Jittie and the Bo). So I'll not argue that the footprint was not installed. When I teach kata I teach every move as a offensive, defensive, grapple, weapon and a nature application. You can put any weapon in your hand and preform the Shotokan kata pretty easily with said weapon without much adjustment. (Without knowing anything about the weapon). I have won black belt tournament kata by doing this. Hangetsu, Jion or Empi with a bo, tofa, sai, scrima, all are very simple. Normally I just borrow a weapon and do it for fun with no practice, I just react. (Yes I have failed bad too) Thus IMO I think Funakoshi understood this simple fact. If we were to find a stick or staff or any other weapon: he wanted us to be able to use it without getting caught up in technique. By the 20th century no one walked the streets with weapons, so weapon training was a waste. However if a weapon appeared in a fight he felt, the application of that weapon should be basic and very similar to the empty handed techniques we have practiced.

I have advocated the fight back mentality for years. All studies show that people who huddle in a corner die!!! People who fight back, have better chances of survival. Thankfully our school district changed last spring. We (teachers, school staff, and admin) went thought a training with local police where we rush the shooter, throw books, folders, etc. This does not allow the shooter to focus on the target and hopefully gives someone the opportunity to take him down. We done this with paint balls. In every senecio where we didn't fight back but huddled over 90% of us were shot. In the situations where we threw nerd balls and sponges at the attacker less than 10% of us got shot before we could get the gun. Given, you don't want 5-7 year old kids attacking a gunman but with the other option being stand in a corner and get shot, I'm telling little Johnny to throw books.

Here is a list of what I think are the most important events in making Martial Arts a world wide practice. Of course I'm focusing on the orient and events after WW2. 1. American Military bases on Okaniwa as part of the post war occupation of Japan under the Marshall Plan. 2. Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet 3. 1980's moves (Chuck Norris, Karate Kid, and hundreds of Ninja movies) 4. The first UFC in 1993 (Gracie Ju-Jitsu) 5. The Internet (allowing the networking like KF and YouTube)

I'll add I'm all for meditation and learning to control your breathing, heart rate, emotions, thoughts, and even help regulate your health. However that's your body not another's. What I stated above is done around the world in martial arts, Dance, Yoga, prayer, meditation, listening to music, art, playing games, walking, swimming, writing, fishing, shooting basketball, gardening, cutting trees, hunting, doing drugs or whatever brings you into a state of peace. It's not the death touch.