peoplecallmemilk

My Sensei turns 80 today. Teaching for 45 years. Happy Birthday Kyoshi Edward Takae Sukunaihayashi Shorin Ryu

Are there any Shorin ryu only tournaments currently in operation in the US?

my sensei recounted a conversation to me between himself and Zenpo. Zenpo stated that when he first started to compete in the USA (1963), other sensei would approach him asking what his style was, as they had never seen his type of kicking before (leaping thrust back kicks, side thrust kicks etc...) Id like to know if thats correct, can any of you older saltydogs tell me how common these types of kicks were back then in at least in competition My sensei also said that all these kicks were taught to Zenryo by Kyan except for the front thrust (the way we currently practice it), which he (my sensei) said he adopted from shotokan, as I'm sure many others have also. If none of the old unchanged kata have clearly defined thrust kicks, but now all karate styles have thrust kicks, when did the hundredth monkey phenomenon take place and who was that monkey? thanks

An interesting question. I think that you will find several from our kata when you look them more closely - especially from the bunkai aspect. I recommend asking your sensei about it. Seisan is a fine example of a kata that has a thrust kick in its bunkai - it's rather self-explanatory after you see it. My sensei was the one who pointed it out to me, so he doesnt know. Seisan the only exception i know of so far. (and i may be wrong but i believe the old way called for more of a snapping kick then the pelvic thrust we now practice. I'll get clarification on that next class) Thanks The old way for the front kick in seisan wasn't really even a snap kick it was more like a quick little flick kick

Anyone here study or know anthing about Chintokans style? I was curious as to how different/similar is it to sukunaihayashi? It was founded by a student of Zenji Shimabukuro (Zenryo's nephew) and named after the fact that Zenji had truely mastered the Chinto kata. Their patch is even the same as seibukan (except for kanji)

could it be like the vertical fist (Tatsuo Shimabukuro), 3/4 fist (Chotoku Kyan) when punching, are thrust kicks are an innovation if so who if anyone was the innovator?

An interesting question. I think that you will find several from our kata when you look them more closely - especially from the bunkai aspect. I recommend asking your sensei about it. Seisan is a fine example of a kata that has a thrust kick in its bunkai - it's rather self-explanatory after you see it. My sensei was the one who pointed it out to me, so he doesnt know. Seisan the only exception i know of so far. (and i may be wrong but i believe the old way called for more of a snapping kick then the pelvic thrust we now practice. I'll get clarification on that next class) Thanks

We use side, front & back thrust kicks (not snap kicks) extensively in my style (sukunaihayashi), for sparring and kihon but none of them are in our kata. Is it the same for other styles?

My Sensei (Takae) told me this story He was entered in the All Okinawan Karate Championships under Seibukan & Sensei Zenryo. The way the fights were scheduled all of his bouts were towards the end of the competition. As the day wore on Sensei Zenryo could see that Sensei Takae was getting anxious and his tension was building. Knowing that it would be a while before Sensei Takaes first bout and knowing that he had to relax if he was going to do well, Sensei Zenryo (wise man that he was) took him across the street to a bar, ordered a pitcher of beer and told Sensei Takae to drink the whole thing. Well that relaxed him just fine and the end results were (as told by many) Sensei Takae sweeps the tournament and takes home the championship (no points were scored against him)

thanks, audio two, oldschool classic

His name is mentioned in the books "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles, and Secret Techniques" by Mark Bishop, "Unante: The Secrets Of Karate" by John Sells and "Karate-Do: History and Philosophy" by Takao Nakaya. As well as a few places online.

Sensei Edward Takae

Zenryo Shimabukuro

share one if you got one.

My Sensei was in the Special Forces and did 2 tours in Vietnam, as the story goes him and his unit (12 men) would hire Hmong (Mung) guerilla solders as bodyguards and guides. Hmong are a mountain tribe that fought for the US during the war... Anyways, each soldier hired 2 Hmong bodyguards for $5 a month (each) who then never left their side; they ate, sleep and fought together. Sensei had just had been training in Okinawa 7 days a week for nearly 7 years when he was called to war and he didn’t let that stop him from training. When there was down time Sensei would teach the Hmong solders Shorin-ryu right there in the jungle day or night. I can’t help but imagine that he may have spawned a Hmong Shorin-ryu spin-off style thats evolving on some remote Vietnam mountain top.