johnnymac

LOL, that is outstanding. You know that is total junk. Jigoro Kano introduced the belt system in the early 1900's. This whole thing is an urban legend and has no basis in reality. John

I appreciate the kind words, just the guy is so fast when you are there face to face. It's hard to get kicks and stuff in just because of the way he shoots in. John

OMG I got freaking killed tonight. Was going up for Ikkyu, and had to spar Doshu Mertz. The fight only lasted like 20 seconds and I had no control over the situation at all. I ended up getting rolled back into a full body rack with a headlock. Tapped out nearly instantly. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I could do? Here is the match John

I do have a video of it, this kata is from Matsumura Shorin Ryu, it's one of the highest kata. It's about twice as long as Supraimpei and way more complicated than Chatan Yara Kusanku. I always thought the longest kata in Shito Ryu was Haku Cho from Gokenki. John

well here's my 2 cents. I would get BB in TKD then walk away and practice Jujitsu. The reason for this is because at least you would have the satisfaction that you made BB in TKD, and that experience will help you in Jujitsu more than you know. John

There use to be a guy in Memphis named Don Crenshaw who use to be a great Shotokan instructor. If you want to keep them in the same system you should really look up Don. One of my old Shotokan instructors from a long long time ago use to train with him quite a bit. Heard nothing but good things. John

So you would make TKD into Traditional Karate?

http://www.saishuryu.com/terminology.php Some basic terms here.

in Saishu Ryu this is how our belts work. White (9th Kyu) White w/ 1 stripe (8th Kyu) White w/ 2 stripes (7th Kyu) Green (6th Kyu) Green w/ 1 stripe (5th Kyu) Green w/ 2 stripes (4th Kyu) Brown (3rd Kyu) Brown w/ 1 stripe (2nd Kyu) Brown w/ 2 stripes (1st Kyu) Black - Shodan Black - Nidan Black - Sandan Black - Yondan Black and Red Panel - Godan White and Red Panel - Rokudan White and Red Panel - Sichidan White and Red Panel - Hachidan Red - Kudan Red - Judan John

That is true, but it's still the real thing when it comes to combat.

Kunimura no Hakutsuru is the longest kata I know. It's over 250 step and takes about 3 minutes. John

I know this is going to be kind of off the wall, but have any of you guys seen bumfights? I got one of the DVD's from a friend of mine over the weekend, and I have to say from a real perspective it's not to bad. Just mentally block all the dialogue and just watch the street fighting. This is how actual fights look, not UFC or any of that junk. Anyway, if someone wants to see what real people's strategies and stuff look like, you might want to take a look at this. It's kind of a shocker, but it will put your training in perspective. John

some of the big names that I know and deal with are people like Tomohiro Arashiro, Tsuguo Sakumoto, Jerry Offutt, Masayuki Azato Ward, Phillip Porter, Shinohara Nobuhiro, Takazawa Masano, Scot Mertz, Cesear Garcia, Joe Mirza, Tsutomu Ohshima, Mitsusuke Harada, and a few other people like that. Hope this helps. John

I like Hirota karate gi's. They tend to last a little longer than the other brands that I have tried.

Saishu Ryu dosen't use padding of any type. We train like everything is for the street, so no padding, and no point system of sparring. It's all for submission or knockout. John