Fairfax_Uechi

Did anyone see this show? I happend upon it last night. For those that saw it, any opinions (I'll post mine after some discussion as to not influence the thread too much)

So do you ever get the desire to take up an art?

In our area, there are many commercial dojos of all styles. There are also many instructors teaching through rec centers, YMCAs and out of their homes.

Well since it's something we work on all of the time. I don't spend much time thinking about it. To me it's sort of one of those "it is" things. Like Sanchin it just becomes part of you. Like you say there are many applications. The other day I was helping a young man with some defense techniques, and while he had some training it amazed me how many things I could have done to hurt him in a real fight. In this case, we were working on getting him to understand the basics and unlearn many bad habits. Not an easy task. He was amazed at how only using a few techniques, I could vary them to strike him in all kinds of places. Like you said, going from a simple trap, I could open him up, and build from there. In my own case, I do drills hundreds of times slow to get the form down. Then when I speed it up, I have more power and speed.

Well you should be practicing as much as possible. As someone said, using a video camera is a great thing. But we also highly recommend using mirrors. Work in a room with mirrors, work slow, and get great form. Keep doing it over and over and you'll see huge improvements. As for Kumite, the only way to get good is to do it. As other said, do as much cardio work as possible to build up your lungs. I recommend running as much as possible. And practicing techniques as much as you can. Drills such as step and punch and getting to a target fast and away fast are always helpful for building speed in kumite.

Others may or may not agree with me, but I say if you think you are a martial artist that's what matters. Do you really care what others say/think? If so why?

Are you giving them a belt, or are they earning it? To me there is a huge difference. If someone has worked hard, and deserves it they've earned it. If not, they were given it. FYI, I ask this not to pick on you, but to show a point. IMHO, there are people who work for things and those who have things handed to them. As the last poster asked, do they have good form? I'll add, are they ready, and do they deserve it? If so, then great, if not, why would you promote them if they don't deserve it? Again, not to imply anything, just wanted to hear the logic.

What's to say they can't be pretty, powerful, fast, have rythem, and be graceful? Afterall, the more you train the more you should have all of these elements. I personally used to train very fast. My kata was fast by choppy and of so so technique. Now I train with a mixture of very slow katas to get perfect form (or try to get perfect form), medium speed - to get a nice looking kata, and all out to work on speed and power. To me all of the elements are important. And no one is more important than the others. And over time, all of them improve.

Haha..I would go the other way in a tournament. I would have a brand new belt to make them think I had just tested the other day and didn't really know what I was doing yet just to play off the opponents cockyness. Sounds logical to me. Afterall, why help your opponent out by letting them put up their maximum guard. I have also heard of folks who have two belts, one for training which wears, and one for special events such as tournaments, rank promotions, and demonstrations. This way they look their best when on "show" but have their every day belt.

As many have said and I agree that keying a belt is just disrepectful. To me, the disrespect is on several levels. First to the belt. The belt did nothing to deserve being abused. Next, to the person wearing it. Why damage something that you've worked hard to obtain. Or is this person from a belt mill, and doesn't deserve the respect? Finally, it's disrespectful to everyone looking at it, as the wearer thinks that they're fooling others. Which time will show, and we'll be disrepected by the lie of the appearance of effort.

Sanchin, a very simple kata to learn yet an extremely hard kata to master.

I study martial arts as well as my son. My better half is considering it, but watches all of the time and is actually beginning to express intrest.

I agree with the others, Train, train, train. But keep in mind that physics dictate everything. Remember F=MA (force = mass times acceleration). In other words, if you're big and fast then you'll generate a lot of force (knockout power). If you're SLOW OR small it will be harder. (but not impossible). The first thing that I would suggest is to learn good form. Learn it well. Don't worry about going fast, and don't worry about anything except good form. From there, develop speed. Then hit a bag or dummy often and hard. You will get good and fast. Couple this with strength training and you'll achieve your goal. But know that it does take a lot of time and dedication.

Ah, you must be young. Some of us old guys are happy to not be hurting after a day or two! As far as pain, learn the difference between muscle soreness and actually being hurt. I don't like asprin, or any other pain killer as I feel it masks things. I do like a hot tub (soaking with my lady is always relaxing), and steam rooms work well at relaxing the muscles. I've also found that a good diet will help in muscle recovery. Otherwise, as you train you'll learn new limits. At first you'll get sore easier, later on, it will take more time as your body adapts. You'll also learn to ignore some aches and pains. Learning new moves gets both easier and harder as you get more advanced. The easier part is just learning the move, the harder part becomes understanding it, making it part of you, and perfecting it.

I would agree. Find a style with not a lot of kicks, but also be willing to learn to stretch and learn to kick higher. We don't have high kicks, but learning to do them helps with lower kicks (it's easier to do a low kick than a high one, and if you can do a high one with power, the low one will be very powerful).

thanks, I'll check it out as I have a Gold's membership that allows me to use all of the clubs

I'm about 10 minutes away depending on traffic. I pass MANY dojos to train where I train. It took me about 6-8 months to find my dojo (it's not commercial) but well worth the effort.

Congrat! Promotions are always a fun time, and bring great happiness. Keep working hard and more will come soon!

Ueichi is very large in that area and there are many excellent instructors throughout New England. You might want to do a google search on ueichi-ryu and the name of your town and those nearby. Or go to the Uechi-ryu website run by George Mattson who is the "father of American Ueichi". There's a list of all of the Uechi dojos in that area.

I know the feeling. I hate tests. But that's the way things are done in most schools, dojos, etc. I would suggest, if you can, watch a test if there is one before yours. Then practice, practice, practice. When you're not practicing and have a few minutes, do some visualization. Close your eyes, picture the test, and then picture yourself doing the kata, drills, etc for your test. Picture yourself doing well and passing the test. Do this over and over as much as you can before the test. Then when you actually test, TRY to relax and remember that you've passed the test many times already (in your head), so the only issue is going through the formalities.

In Uechi there is a saying that "all is in Sanchin". Sanchin is the first kata we learn and the one that we work on most. It's the easiest to learn the moves, but the hardest to master. In the kata you have basic foot work (grounding), basic strikes and basic blocks. Basically everything you'd need to defend yoursefl. Master them all and you have a great foundation. After this everything else we learn are extensions and additions. If you think about it, if I do an open handed strike the only difference is the finger position from a punch. If I can develop power in one, I can do the other. Same goes for a palm strike or a shoken. Target areas are different, but they just build on the basic moves. As you can guess, I'd rather master a few good moves, then to be to average with many.

Well, it's all real relative. In a style like Uechi that is based on S. China Kung Fu they're much more similar than some of the Japaneese styles of karate. (more fluild aka a Hard AND Soft style vs one or the other) So, is Uechi Karate or Kung Fu? Or does it really matter? I guess if you want to get into all sorts of debates folks can make all kinds of arguements. My personal opion is that what matters most is knowing your art, and how to apply it. In my case as a beginner I was very stiff. As I progress, I'm working to be more relaxed until the point of impact. Very similar to what Bruce Lee was talking about. And a last point. Keep in mind that what he was saying was said a long long time ago. Things have changed and there is much more information out there, so more people know about many more styles. He may have been generalizing for the time period of the interview. (FYI, I think I've seen the film clip that you're reffering to, and think that this was the case, but not being there, I can be mistaken)

As others said, Kata can be a very intense workout. You get out of it what you put in. But I would say that while you're just learning the moves, don't worry so much about being "perfect" just get the moves down. Then, work to build power, speed, rythem and grace. Also, don't discount doing kata super slow. You can't see your mistakes when you go too fast.

My suggestions to new martial arts students is to not worry to much about things. Try your best, but don't feel that you're not very good because others are much better at your art than you. Many have years of training and have worked hard to get there. We've all been white belts (even the highest black belts). Also, read all you can. Make friends, have a good time, and practice, practice, practice.

Learn to punch correctly. Learn to lead with the first two knuckles. The two small ones will break like toothpicks if you hit someone/something hard with them. And like others said, learn to condition them. Start slow and over time you will have very solid knucles, wrists, arms, etc which will help you. And whatever you do, learn good form. Most folks can't punch worth a dime because they weren't taught well. It took me a couple of years to get good at it and I'm always working on it. My SO used to rib me that even when I'm horsing around and not throwing a "real" punch that I use good form. Well little does she know that once something becomes part of you it's automatic.