johnnymac

Dude, you're in PA, you should come down sometime. I am in a class just a little south of Baltimore. We have been doing weekend sessions and stuff, so you should come check it out.

PAL you are right. It is more like jujitsu than karate. I have talked to Doshu about this issue with the kata, and what he told me was that the Shotokan kata weren't very well rounded, it was better if you had a little bit of everything. I don't forsee any great Saishu Ryu kata guys either, definatly not to the quality of Shotokan or Shito Ryu. However the exposure to such a vast array of kata is nice. I don't feel as stagnant as when I was studying karate. Always learning something new and getting new ideas, so it's kind of nice. John

Wait wait wait. What? Not that hard? 38 katas? I've never heard of a system having that many. Heck, mine has 12. Do you spend a long time perfecting every little thing, or do you just have to know the movements? That post made no sense to me. High numbers of kata aren't to bad. We practice around 70 of them. Just it's broken down over years. From white to black is 14 kata. Then after that it really slows down. But there is still a lot of kata. I know our head guy is practicing around 200 kata. It's kind of hard to explain how we do our stuff. Because we start off our classes doing punch kick drills, then do about 30 minutes of groundfighting, then do kata. But I guess it's not to bad, good mix system with about 50/50 standup and ground. The number thing isnt to bad, it's all based on how you break them up. Usually the rule for us is 1 kata every 2 months until black belt, then like 1 kata every 3 months for the black belt kata. My only complaint with Saishu Ryu so far, is that it takes forever to make any rank. But hey, I'm okay with that because I feel like the training I am getting is good.

I'm actually working on that today. Is there anything else you can think of that might be useful to have on there? John

Thanks for the input. I was thinking the samething about the 2 heads thing. Our linage is interesting because the founder trained with so many people. I was thinking about making something pertaining to that, but it's hard to have a good set linage when the guy moved around so much. It's one of the downfalls of having a active duty military guy starting a system. John

If anyone cares.. the Saishu Ryu website has been updated. I spent most of the day yesterday and some of today with Doshu Mertz working on the material. Just wondering if anyone would like to give me some feedback. John

LOL Red Belts in most Jujitsu systems are for 9th and 10th dans. I bet you got some funny looks.

Its not that they train you to take a hit. It's that for the most part TKD and Shotokan (and other styles) teach the point system of sparring. The people who practice these system have a tendency to lightly hit then back away (because that is what they are trained to do). When they are in a match with a Kyokushin person they still have problems getting out of that mindset, so when they run up and "love tap" the Kyokushin guy he just gets mad and pummels the TKD guy. That happens 9 times out of 10. Now there are some good TKD guys out there who actually train in the traditional (Korean TKD) ways which include taking more hits and not point spar. However for the most part TKD doesn't fare well in full contact bouts. You are severly misled if you think TKD practitioners train for point sparring. Any olympic TKD school trains for full contact. My school teaches nothing but full contact. I have visited a bunch of other schools in my area, and none of them teach point sparring either. I don't understand why everyone keeps saying that TKD guys train for point sparring and they can't take hits. I competed in the CT state open and in the Massachusettes TKD open and it's all full contact. Maybe you guys just have crappy schools in your areas or something. Sorry didn't mean to get off on a rant, but I have been hearing that way too much and I think that it's very misleading to people that have never studied TKD themselves. I feal that TKD is a very powerful style. My Sa Bum Nim told me about several tournaments they competed in in Korea where they were only open to TKD and Muay Thai because there were too many people from other styles coming in and getting hurt, becasue they only train for point sparring and not for full contact. I have to say I agree with Tomo. We have guys come into our dojo all the time who are black belts in Tae Kwon Do. I haven't seen a single one of them who can hold their own, esp on the ground. Kung Fu guys really do tend to be flashy, or at least in the Baltimore area. We have had a few of them show up as well, they didn't fare very well... John

i call my instructor Doshu Mertz. Doshu is a title that means leader of the way. Kind of like Soke, but a little higher.

I wear a Hirota belt. They are a little better quality than the Tokaido ones. It took about 15 years before my Hirota started getting worn, but it looks great now. Very nice and even wear. Tokaido tends to wear a little to quickly. John

Ji'in isnt to difficult of a kata. The beginning is the same as Jion, except the hands are exactly reversed. So the leg that is out is the one with the gedan barai, unlike Jion where the leg that is out is the side with the uchi uke. It's not to bad, the Shito Ryu version has and extra rising block and oi tsuki on both sides at the end. There is a copy of this kata on video at the k a t a site in my name block; if you want to see this kata. John

my all time favorite kata has to be a toss up between Paiku and Useishi. Right now I am working on Tachihouou, this kata rocks, and might be my favorite once I get it down. John

They are close to the same, however the training methods are very different. Believe it or not, TSD seems to favor lower stances that Shotokan, as well as their kicking method is totally different... I guess what I'm trying to say is that all because a system has virtually identical kata they can still be worlds different. Kind of goes back to the whole judging a book by its cover thing. Now which one is write and which one is wrong? I have no idea. They are both good for certain individuals. And don't anyone say anything about well their linage... GURRRRRRRR John

Is it me, or does the whole lineage thing seem to be kind of Shotokan specific. I mean most systems are like, oh yeah we're from that guy, but with Shotokan karateka they are like, well I am a 6th generation student twice removed directly under Funakoshi. LOL Lineage is important, but it seems like it's overstressed in Shotokan. I do agree with elbows and knees. Lineage is kind of secondary to training methods. I have seen some JKA guys who couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag. Reason being... poor training methods. John

Do you know if it's a valid system? Or if it died out with the birth of Goju. Also do you know the kata's associated with Naha Te? John

I was under the impression that Naha-Te is an art that isn't practiced anymore. However it was the basis for Goju Ryu. So it was probably similar, but not quite the same. Naha is a city in Okinawa. From what I learned when I was stationed at Kadena AFB in Okinawa is that pretty much every city had their own Te (hand art) at one time. However only really the more popular ones are still practiced today. That is why you have systems like Shuri Te and Naha Te. Happy New Year everyone. Johnny Mackie N

In Saishu Ryu we wear super heavy Gi's. Mine right now is nearly a Judo gi. All white.

I didn't think you guys had it. I thought your kata stopped at Suprainpei (Perchurin). John

anyone ever tried to fight a Saishu Ryu guy? First time I stepped into the dojo (and mind you I'm a nidan in BJJ) I was nearly killed. I was beat so bad that I was urinating blood for nearly a week and felt like I was covered in bruises. John

I thought Sensei Demura taught Itosu Kai Shito Ryu.

Are you in the ISKF? If so I know how Okazaki's tests go. I can give you some pointers.

Nidan - Brazilian Jujitsu Shodan - Saishu Ryu Karate Jitsu Shodan - Shorin Ryu

Where did the Shotokan Unsu kata come from anyway? It doesn't even resemble the Arakaki one. Personally I think this kata was developed out of the need for something flashy to throw off the Shito Ryu guys in competition. Because I have never seen any footage of Funakoshi performing it, and no record of anyone doing it in Shotokan really before his death. Just some food for thought (and hopefully a conversation starter) John

Do you know which Hakutsuru kata is in your system? I am kind of keeping tallies now on which flavor of Hakutsuru is in which systems. Thanks bro. JM

Shorin Ryu uses weapons. When I was training in Shorin Ryu we were using the Bo, Kama, Tonfa, Nunchaku, Sai, Katana, and Eku. JM