shinnekodo

The video looked like it was faked in some way, ie, it did not look real. This could be due to its poor quality. The kata, however, is very real. In my style, we do this kata, and it flows pretty much as the video depicts, albeit, obviously not that fast. Kata suparempei (pechurin).

Congrats!

Can someone please post again how to search for karate schools locally in one's own area. (IE using the internet search engines) It was posted once, but I forgot how it was done. Thanks.

Today I got the news that I have a lower back problem that is pinching or infringing on some nerves that leaves my right leg in an almost constant state of soreness and pain. The MD tells me that this is a chronic state that there is no "fix" for unless I have surgery (in his opinion that is an extreme circumstance and most with my problem do not have surgery, but it is a possibility). Now, as to my karate practice thus far, the only limitations I have noticed is that my front snap kick is bothered a little and my crescent kick (in my style it is called outside crescent but most others refer to it as an inside crescent) is greatly hindered, almost to the point that it hurts too much to throw it. Unfortunately, our outside crescent kick is featured in a few of our katas (my favorite thing), so I am concerned about the future of my karate practice. (Stretching my right leg is also greatly impeded, it hurts too much to do it.) I guess my question and the reason for this post is does anyone have any advice as to how I might cope with this situation and its potential impact on my karate future? From what the MD tells me, this situation will have exacerbations and "remissions" meaning it will come and go, but in general will probably get worse as I age (I am 40 now). Thanks in advance for any replies.

IMO, yes. I have a subscription and most of the time I find something worthwhile in each issue.

It has been said in my style (we teach rudimentary nunchaku techniques) that the nunchaku has always been illegal in the NY area except for the practice of martial arts. The laws that you have links to are newer and stricter variants. Some of the history that is passed on in my school is that sometime in the early 1970s, that about 5 police officers were attempting the arrest of 2 individuals who were armed with nunchaku. At this time, not much was known about nunchaku. The 5 police officers were killed in a short amount of time by these 2 nunchaku-wielding individuals, so the story goes. This incident shocked the community and the state of NY which led to the passing of certain strict laws concerning the use of nunchaku in the state of NY. Perhaps, this story, if true, might explain some of the notoriety that the weapon has in NY. Perhaps, others know more about this alleged story. I have no verification other than that this is told in my school when we instruct new students in the nunchaku as a way of illustrating the capabilities of this weapon.

It would be hard to give advice here. You have to do what you are able to do in a given situation, IE finances, driving, ETC. I would suggest that you decide what you like best, tae kwan do or shorin-ryu and find a way to pursue it. If you asked me to guess your intent from your post, it seems that shorin-ryu is what you like best.

hakutsuru

What is an acceptable body fat percentage? or is there one? When I was in the military (sevral yrs ago) they would allow overweight people to measure their body fat percentage and if it was less than some set percentage (forgot the #) the overweight person would be allowed to remain in the military.

Congrats.

In my style, the katas go something like this: adv white-pinon 1 yellow-pinon 2 adv yellow-pinon 3 blue-pinon 4 adv blue-geki sei green-gi sah kyu sho adv green-tensho purple-saifa adv purple-pinon 5 brown-seiunchin adv brown-empi ha shodan-sanseiru, seisan nidan-seipai sandan-kururunfa yodan-hakutsuru godan-suparempei (pechurin)

Aye, Georgia, USA. (As in, not very far from Newnan, GA.)

nidan=2nd degree black belt

Hello all, I have been a student of goju-ryu for just over 12 yrs now. Found this site via a link from another forum totally unrelated to karate. Looking forward to reading/discussion. Thanks.