Zaine

That's one of the names I was forgetting but I'm thinking 2 more up the lineage. I remember a man training under Kusanku who taught Matsumura who taught Itosu. Driving me crazy that I can't remember.

I don't think it was a form that influenced the start of Shorin Ryu, I believe it was a Japanese solider who was in China. However, it's been awhile since I've read the books for Shorin Ryu, being that I haven't been in a formal class in a while. Shorin Ryu doesn't have forms and movements that flow and are circular until you're testing for shodan and above, usually those are reserved for higher ranks, after they have gone through with the more linear training. No doubt that your teacher just has a different way of teaching, he/she might focus more on that. What forms do you know as a 5th kyu and, probably more importantly, which branch of Shorin Ryu are you studying?

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

I remember when I start going for kung fu after almost a decade in karate. It's a hard transition, you instinctively punch hard, form your strikes in a way that you were taught in karate. It's hard to go against a lot of the muscle memory that you have built but when you do you find that you incorporate a lot of it into what you know and what you get is a hybrid. I personally feel that those who don't train in both kung fu and karate are far behind those who do because it gives you a perspective that you just cannot get if you only have one side of the spectrum under your belt.

You also might want to try and find a hung gar studio as there system heavily uses tiger techniques. Apparently it's a lot of fun to take to. Of course, I think that most martial arts are a lot of fun to learn. This one in particular is supposed to be quite aggressive. Again, I don't know so if anyone who is more familiar with the system could shed some light on that information that would be fantastic.

This is a tough thing to go through. I went through the same thing, although it wasn't because of techniques but because of the doctrines that the system was changing to. The easy answer is talk to your instructor, sometimes what we perceive as fluff has something hidden in it. On the other hand sometimes it's fluff and it's just been there so long that it leaks into tradition. I ended up leaving that school, which was a great step for me but again, my situation was different, I didn't agree with the new ideologies that my instructor was slowly making mandatory for a student to believe. It's your call.

You're right, there are consequences for those who are knowledgeable but not wise and some people do face those consequences. I really don't think avoiding pain is a sign of wisdom though. Just self preservation.

Martial art definitely. It is also a sport just like every other martial art can be.

Chi really belongs to a branch of Eastern Mysticism that is really dying out in the martial arts being practiced in the west. There was nothing wrong with the practical chi practitioners, and in fact it was more of an inner peace deal and had a lot to do with balancing your body in your mind. The unfortunate advent that we see today is also a largely western monster. We're lazy and the eastern immigrants to the west capitalized on that and blew it out of proportion. This is not to say that this didn't happen before martial arts migrated to the west but we have a certain way about us that makes us take stuff like this, that promises a quick way out and just running with it. Your teacher seems to have the right of it.

Welcome to KF!

I'm not familiar enough with how chi actually works to speak about that but I do know the science behind it. By opening their hands I'm assuming that they're not tensed at all and then at the last minute they tense up. They are relying on a mixture of their gravity and weight to increase the velocity of the strike. At the last second they prepare for impact. If you stay clinch all the way it is only you who is doing any kind of movement, and you factor out gravity a bit more than when you kind of let it do its thing.

My teacher always told us that if it was light enough to swing around then we could use it as a weapon. He had to make that distinction after we asked if such things as couches, televisions and ovens could be used.

Knowledge is part of wisdom but wisdom is not part of knowledge. Think about it, every wise person who I've met is usually quite knowledgeable, but the reverse does not always hold true. Knowledge is what we know, the hard facts, whereas Wisdom is the application of that knowledge to our lives.

Haha so true!

That's a hard question to answer if we don't consider the prospective student's wants. However, I would imagine that they would go towards the kumite champion.

I tend to spar kyokushin unless I want to focus on something lighter.

To answer an earlier question, wisdom is not a part of knowledge. The knowledgeable aren't necessarily wise but the wise are knowledgeable. It's not necessarily the tenure that decides who has better discernment. I've seen white belts with better discernment than their teacher. Rank generally is, however, a very good indicator of who is going to be better but it really depends on the person. For some people it doesn't click, and you'll find that, more often than not, the people who are purely physical about their martial arts are awful at discernment, whereas those who take time to focus on the spiritual and intellectual side of martial arts excel at it.

First let me welcome you to KF Rodders. The Bill Wallace suggestion is a good one. After attending a seminar of his my flexibility improved greatly.

Welcome to KF and congrats on your re-emergence in karate!

As far as kung fu goes though, Shaolin is probably an easier transition than most.

It is possible that you aren't using the name bunkai, which would explain your orange belt being ignorant to the term. "Self-Defense Applications" is a common western phrase for the bunkai, and it may be the case that they mean the same thing. Again, ask your instructor, I can't emphasis that enough. He/She is going to have the answer that you need.

Agreed, you need to have the application to legitimize the work. Without it you are basically dancing. If he doesn't do bunkai, try using some online resource or just try to break it down yourself. Usually beginning katas have the lovely trait of being rather straight forward in their application.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!