G95champ

Yeah to come to a karate messagboard and say kata is not important and expect ot get a backing is like going to the pope and saing the bible is not important. Just won't float. I agree with Taikudo-ka. I did 1 years of Ju-Jitsu and maybe 6 months of Thai boxing. I think I can hold my own with anyone on the ground EXCEPT a person who has trained full tiem in Ju-Jitsu for a few years. Plus my standup is better thanks tot he Thai. Karate has its weak points but so does everything else. Again Karate is not about fighting but a way of living. The Kata teaches that once you understand them.

I personally like to finish with a spinnign kick tot he gut. However to say I have a favorite combo I can't. I just throw stuff that comes to mind. Im sure I do some more than others but I realy can't say waht they are. However if I can land my spinning thrust kick I will. I disagree about goig to the stomcach. Im a big guy and I know a lot of big guys. Shots to the ribs and kidney take a toll. The stomach is usually simpler to hit becasue most people are worried about their face. Thus I always look to go to the chest and stomach. However My first target is the legs with low roundhouse kicks or cressuant kicks via Thia Boxing.

There is your problem. Karate is not about fighting. The Kata is deeply important. In fact much more so than any punch, kick, throw, break, lock, grab, etc. etc. etc. If you want to learn to fight take up Boxing. Something that is about fighting. Kata builds speed,power, balance, and techinque. No its not the same as trading blows. However nothign is. Again if learning to fight is all you want to do get out of yoru karate class.

I personally will not test or give a studetnt a black belt until they are 18. That is just my personal thing. I think there is a certin mental quality that should come with it. Which no one under 18 could possibly have. I also don't think many with less than 10 years of practice coudl be much higher than a 3rd DAN. Rank is an honor not a right. I don't and won't take away from someone who busted their hump like I did to make my black belt and turn arround and give it to a kid who don't know what 5x5 is. You don't vote you don't make Dan under me. [ This Message was edited by: G95champ on 2002-04-09 07:13 ]

That is they way we do. We act like we are stepping on a box and do a front jump kick.

My theroy is that all Martial Arts lead to the same place after many years of practice. Mean in the long run any karate style will lead you into Ju-Jitsu and Akkido etc. In the beginning there was this one Martial Art. However on the battlefield you had no need to grapple becasue someone else would come up and kill you while you were on the ground. Thus it broke into 3 styles. One of which was Karate this could be taught quickly to an army and kicking and punching is all they would have time to do. Ju-Jitsu and Judo became a practice only for sport. The other branch was be Akkido which is all your join locks and stuff. Which was completely left out becasue its difficulty to learn. I have read about this speration and I think it makes a lot of sense. Thus I have came to feel that any martial at will have bits and parts of others in it. Just like the Yin and Yang. However that is just my thoughs on the matter.

I have trained inmany places. Fro nice dogo's to ones that were just a empty room in an old building. We have held classes in the gyms of schools and the local YMCA. Been inside and outside. On Wood, Carpet, tile, grass and even blacktop. In all cases each had something special to offer. Again its the quality of your teacherand you attitude of the class that mades the dojo not the building.

Im glad to hear others do it. I think that gives my students who are not as advanced physically an edge and keeps the more advanced students more humble.

Well differant people have differant ones. Sure some are universal but not all effect everyone as bad. Pretty much a safe bet is to grab where muscles meet IMO....

Its much like these guys you see ridding skateboards down stairs. Sure once you know how its fine and maybe fun. But how in the heck do you learn how without getting hurt? I assume you can because I have saw people do it n TV but I also saw Luke Skywalker pick up a ship as well on TV once.

Yes I saw most of it. Again I though it was a bit built up with all th talk about Ki and Chi. I thogh it made better TV than being correct in that reguards. Im sorry I jsut don't buy that Combat Ki stuff.

I never cared for the written test myself. However I have saw many schools use them. The Dan tests we do are the only ones that take more than one class. Becasue we must teach several classes first to show we have the ability to do so. Otherwsie our tests are done in 30mins to 2 Hours.

My friend has one he got from AWMA. Its a nice sword but last summer he was using it to cut though watermellons. LOL. Practicing his cut and all. Anyhow as you made the cut you could feel the blade in the handel shaking. Like it was not put together really well. And the guard seemd to be loose as well. Ive never had a class in swordsmanship. I did buy a few books and tried to pick up the basics. So maybe all swords feel like that. I have seen guys practice o TV and in videos where they cut though those bamboo poles. I figure that is much harder to do than a watermellon. I just want to buy quality.

Such as using you fingers to push in on areas of the body and cause pain. Funakoshi refers to them as Vital points. Basically were muscles meet. I enjoyed it. Although it hurt a bit more at tiems it was much better than getting punched all the time. It also helps with self-defense.

Being a big guy I don't like or use many double kicks. Also becasue I am a big guy I can take a lot of solid kicks that most can't take. Thus I catch or trap a lot of kicks espically double ones. I teach my students to only use double with a high low combo because of this fact. Ex kick ribs or face then drop it to the knee or leg as a sweeping or Tia kick. I think a person throwing combo kicks with one leg is really beautiful but I don't or haven't seen it work effectively in real life.

Lead with anything you want.... LOL. If the cross is open by all means do it. To many of us fall into habbits that we see all the time. I personally am a reaction fighter. I play D then counter. Thus I use the cross or revers a lot. When I am working students and play more agressive I tend to only use my lead hand. Again to each his one. That is why it is Martial Arts and NOT Martial Science. In Art everything is right in Science only one thing can be right. [ This Message was edited by: G95champ on 2002-04-06 23:56 ]

This is something I have always done on my tests. I do not know how many other schools do something like this but I want to see how you all take to it. At the end of the test I give a Oral Q+A session with each student testing. I do this becasue their body is tired and I want to see if their mind is still working. I ask some really simple question like "Who is the founder of Shotokan Karate?" The I ask a lot of open ended questions like "Tell me 3 self defense situations you coudl use a rising block for?" Then I will ask a few questions on stuff they may not understand such as "explain the purpose of the last 3 moves in your kata?" I do not grade them on right or wrong but on their ability to answer. I think for one to be good at Martial Arts they got to alwasy be thinking. If the mind stops then the body does. I have had a few student who done really well on the physical part of the test but blew this part. In each case I failed the student. I have also had students who were boarderline on passing until they got to this part and made up. I hold this mental part of my test higher than the physical. I do this on every test from White to Black. I just wanted to know if a Q+A was a common practice in a lot os schools. I guesss being a HS teacher makes me enjoy the testing part a bit more. LOL..... [ This Message was edited by: G95champ on 2002-04-06 23:49 ]

Tekki are the most important. IMO.... Tekki are full of breaks and ground defense. I have read that Funakoshi himself stressed that the Tekki kata should all be taught and used more than the others.

thanks how solid is the one you got? I have several or used several from plaves liek Centure and AWMA and they don't seem liek they coudl take much banging. Im not wanitn one to fight with but I woudl liek to invest in the real thing. If you know what I mean but liek you said 1000.00 for a sword is more than I can pay out at this time and probably any time. LOL

Im looking for a real Katana. Does anyone know the best place to find one?

I am a karate person by trade but I did fool arround with some Ju-Jitsu in 1998-2000. My teacher taught a method where we used a lot of pressure points while on the ground. I have not found many styles that focus on that as he did. It that normal? He stressed taht there were 7 stages to the fight on the ground. 1. Where are you at? Meaning what can you do what can be done to you. 2. Stake in the Center. Meaning you and the one you are fighting are connected at the belly by a invisiable stake do't seperate unless you can finsih the fight. 3. Find the open sport. If you are in a lock, choke, crank, etc get out of it. 4. Rest. plan what to do and regroup. 5. Attack. Use you plan. 6. React. Based on if he acts first or his reaction to your advance. 7. Finish. End the fight with your attack or reaction ot his counterattack. He stressed these stages were not set in stone. One could go from any number to the other and back and forth. I have not been any other Ju-Jitsu schools there are not any in Southren West Virginia. However after viewsing a few tapes by the Gracie family and others I have not see the focus on pressure points as he done. Is this a common practice for grapplers? Thanks

Mine took place in the Summer of 1996. I was working out to get ready for my Fr. year of college Football. I had just made my black belt that Spring. I was lifting 4 days a week. I would run distance 3 times a week. Sprints 2 times a week. I would do 3 M,W,F 2 hr classes at night. I would also do 2 1Hr classes of the mourning on T and TR one kata and one sparring.

I agree that is what gives Karate a bad name.

Here is my page im on it LOL http://www.angelfire.com/wv2/wvka/

Im 315lbs myself. I have found that the best way to drop weight is to simply run. Run and run and run. Start with like half a mile and work up. No need in ever running anymore than 2. Even if you can't run the whole thing dont stop moving slow to a jog or walk but don't stop. The other is to drink water instead of Coke, Pepsi and other forms of Pop. Carboniated Water in pop lays arround in you belly if you drink water lots and lots of watler Im talking like a galoon a day you will loose a lot of weight fast becasue it cleans out all the fat just laying arround doing nothing. So run and drink water. By the way lifting weights is great but be warned if you lift you will not loose weight because the fat turns to muscle and you may actuall get heavier on the scales and you wont loose the size as quick but it will be tone.