powerof0ne

I understand what you're saying no glockmeister, I think I was tired when I first read what you said. Too many McDojos handing out McBlackbelts with cheese these days.

I've seen the movie and know what you're saying but some of us have and/or train/compete the way you saw in this movie. It's a great movie to watch, that's for sure.

I thought most of Enshin's roots were in Kyokushin/Ashihara...? I'd be interested to hear of any other roots that Enshin has.

I didnt' train in an IKO branch but 10 bareknuckle and 2 with gloves for shodan...they didn't hold back on me at all. I remember not being able to get out of bed and walk around the next day because my legs were so bruised up. All of the people I fought also had extensive expereience in Muay Thai matches. I trained in a dojo that focused on Kyokushin and Muay Thai.

I'm positive, that yes, Elvis got his first black belt in Chito Ryu... In fact, click on that chito ryu link above and it will tell how he got his shodan and nidan under Slomanski. I even once read a story that Ed Parker had Elvis train under Slomanski to test how toughe he is. I may have read this on a Tracy kenpo site, it's been a few years. I can't really prove or dissprove that.

I'm talking about a side kick or a front snap or push(teep)..you can do it on the front of the knee or to the side..but you could do a dtae/muay thai roundhouse to the side of the knee too. This is Karate and other MAs 101...to do a low side kick against the knee. Kicking a Thaiboxer to the shin, though? I don't think so.

Thanks a lot for the tip!

Elvis Presley received his first black belt in Chito Ryu and Dan Inasanto also used to train in it.

NO arguing that he's a good coach.. He seems like a nice guy too which says a lot to me..I've met all too many "good coaches" that have produced great fighters that aren't great people. And yes, I've met Pat before...he really impressed me.

Were you in Muay Thai camp/gym in Bangkok? This happens a lot with us farlang/foreigners going into Thailand and sparring, the Thai thaiboxers want to "test" us. I'm just asking because I'm kind of surprised that no one else sparred you after that...and I'm also surprised you stopped a Thai with a leg kick. This is kind of looked like an inexperienced muay thai practitioner to the Thais...losing by a leg kick. I'm not doubting your story just a little surprised by it because a proficient Muay Thai practitioner usually has great defense against leg kicks.

....Find something that you like, if you like it you'll do it. You're not going to listen to people online. REAL muay thai has flashy kicks that have much power, knockdown karate has flashier kicks but usually not as much power, Savate is good stuff.... TKD can be but avoid any TKD school that has kids that are 16 and 3rd degree black belts...I don't care if they've been training since they were 4. Avoid the McDojo at all cost, no matter what style it is...unless you really want a McBlackbelt with cheese.

I'm aware who you are and I've read your blog before I came on this forum through an associate of yours that I believes posts on e-budo. My point is someone brought up Shorei Ryu being Americanized...Robert Trias is often credited as being the first one to teach Karae to haoles/white men/gaijin/round eyes/etc. in the USA. I really am not sure to how authentic Shuri Ryu is(I'd never study it)but Trias does have some credentials...but I'm also highly skeptical of to what degree his credentials really were. Anyhoo I'm kind of hungry and am going to get something to eat but I wasn't doubting your knowledge of the more historically legit history of what I believe to be REAL karate....I'm highly skeptical of Shuri Ryu and it's offshoots being authentic karate...americanized martial art of some sort..sure, why not? Japanese/Okinawan Karate? I really don't think so.

As a Shito Ryu stylist I must say that Shito Ryu has maaaaany kata but I was never taught a new kata every 2 or 3 months. Since I started Karate as a kid(i'm almost in my late 20s)I think I might have been taught around 40 something kata now but really only practicing 8 of those on a regular basis(Unsu, chinto, and paiku are my favs). I can understand someone's perspective on only doing 15 kata max, or whatever..because at least with me therre is no way I'm going to have really got down the fine points of 40+ kata, no way at all. I've been doing chinto for a long time now and still don't feel that it's "perfect".

Don't forget the possible Greek Pankration to India link...Pankration was recorded in Greece before MAs in India were and the Romans brought back Pankration then went around the world claiming land...with India being one of these places. This is a theory that has been going around for a while now. Hawarang coming to Japan and that's how jujitsu started? I seriously doubt that. If this was true I don't know why the founder of Hapkido would claim Daito Ryu then Daito Ryu denying he ever trained. I do think it's funny that Hapkido and Aikido use the same kanji and that Korea at one point didn't like "chinese characters" so tried to get rid of them and made it's own type of writing. In regards to Karate, it is pretty well known how much China's MAs influenced it...I mean look at Uechi ryu/pangai noon, the founder more or less took tiger boxing and combined it with Te. As for the rest I think you can find it on your own...This information isn't that hard to find.

BTW, there is such a thing as Shuri Ryu, it was founed by Robert Trias like I stated above and there is Shorei Ryu which has branched off from Trias's lineage...many have argued that Trias is the first person to teach Karate in the USA to caucasions. Remember, Hawaii wasn't a part of the USA for a while and that there is recoreded evidence that some Te was perhaps practiced by Okinawans or Japanese in CA in the 1890s....but was not being taught to the white man. (reference Joseph Svinth of EJMAS if you doubt me) I brought up Shuri Ryu because someone brought up Shorei ryu being an Americanized system and Shuri Ryu definitely is "Americanized". Yes I'm ery aware of such styles such as shoreikan goju ryu and shorei this and shorei that....when I hear about an Americanized Shorei my antenna goes to Shuri Ryu and the history of the USKA..with guys such as Tullners, Skipper and even Wallace at one time being affiliated with 'em. Then again you might have to actually research more to verify what I say and not look on some easily found Karate history sight on the history and evolution of Karate...

Yeah, that's strange to me too considering that most of Norris' background is TSD and TKD...he also has a black belt in bjj under Machado. I know he has a black belt in Shito Ryu, not sure what Dan and whom he received it from though(always wondered). I'm not a fan of Norris's movies or Walker, Texas Ranger but I'd be a fool to say he can't fight. Your friends that do TKD that laugh and say he can't fight are schmucks, enough said.

Bruce Lee was pretty remarkable. Not to insult him or his legacy, but keep in mind that some of the things told about him are pure legend. Others are exaggerations and some are actually true. Often after someone dies they become larger in death than in life. Bruce Lee and Elvis quickly come to mind. Anyway, my point is that you can look up to him, and learn from his teachings, but don't get so awe struck that you dismiss other systems and teachers. Just as there are many horrible styles and teachers, there are also great teachers and styles. Take the time and do some more research, you'll be suprised at what you find. Also, just my opinion, but you might want to look at a traditional style like Uechi-Ryu or Gojo-Ryu to get a great foundation. Once you do, you can then apply Bruce Lee's teachings to go even further. But a solid foundation would really help you in the long run. You bring up an excellent point which I fully agree with and I must also add that Dan Inasanto studied Chito Ryu and American Kenpo before taking up study with Bruce Lee. I've seen too many people with a year or less of study in an art try to take up other arts with the end result resulting in bad technique in both arts...and bad techniques period. .

I don't know where to start here... Someone mentioned something about people not being able to train full contact because of broken bones? Well, generally in Muay Thai, Vale Tudo, Pankration, knockdown karate(kyokushin), etc..(*full contact*) you don't spar right away. The more advanced you are the less limitations in sparring is how it should be done because an advanced student knows what sparring is about and has TECHNIQUE. I have rarely in my martial art training history seen someone get KO'd or a broken bone in sparring..yes, I've seen it happen but it's been RARE to say the least. I've yet to have my nose broken*knocks wood* and I don't even wear a boxing helmet or any type of Daido Juku bubble mask helmet..nothing. I do however make students less then a brown belt level wear some type of head gear. I have had 2 private students that fought for me a few times in Muay Thai and I must admit I trained them harder and sparred them then any other student...but it was private and I also k now how to control my technique... Of course accidents can happen but they shouldn't happen by an experienced individual often at all. The worst I ever hurt someone was when they were holding Thai pads for me and held the pads for a head kick but for some weird reason dropped the pads at the last second which resulted in my shin across their face. It wasn't even in sparring...was in pad work, go figure.

It is good quality but what I don't like is how stiff the silk belt is...I know, I'm being dumb..eventually it'll get more "worn"..but I've had it for about 2.5 years now...dab nab it. It's a Kamikaze and my other belt that I have is a Satin Shureido and it is a lot more worn..didn't take that long at all to get "worn".. Have any of you had a silk belt before? This is my first silk, the others have been cotton or satin.

At least worth checking out but I stress to any Karateka to not take up kickboxing or muay thai until you've been at least a shodan for a while. The reason I say this is from my own experience...You have to unlearn some Karate habbits to really learn kickboxing or Muay Thai. I still train and teach karate and muay thai but the first 6 months of muay thai were rough for me. Unless you're training at a dojo that has some type of kickboxing taught by the sensei....

Kicking a Thaiboxer to the shins is effective? I think you'd be better off kicking against their knee... The last time I competed in a Muay Thai fight I checked my opponents leg and body kicks 2 or 3 times and he didn't kick me after that...my shins are much harder then his were.

In the camp of Muay Thai I'm under you're not supposed to throw your arm down as a counter balance while you kick once you get to a certain level... I also know that in some camps they don't do this at all but I will say that I did do this for years. I still see many knockdown karateka stylists doing this "habbit"... It's a habbit that will eventually slow you down when throwing a combination: jab cross*1 2*, rear leg head roundhouse...for instance the kick delivery would be very slow because of throwing your hand down after you throw the cross. It also telegraphs that you're throwing a roundhouse kick.

is Shorei Ryu related in lineage to Shuri Ryu? aka, Robert Trias? If so, just google Robert Trias, go on e-ebudo and talk to people that actually know something about karate. Don't take my word for it since we have "experts" on here that know everything Talk to people on e-budo such as Harry Cook, Bustillo, etc.

Chi Do Kwan TKD is supposodely heavily shito ryu influenced more so then most of the other Kwan that were more Shotokan influenced. The problem with the Korean arts claiming Hawarang lineage is that really only one can and not 4: TKD, TSD, Hapkido, and Hwarang Do. Claiming Tae Kyon is almost silly since this art was almost extinct(at the time the main TKD kwans were formed) and if you have ever seen Tae Kyon it barely resembles what "old school" TKD looked like. Many problems arise from Hapkido's history of being from Daito Ryu aikijujitsu. The main problem being that Daito Ryu doesn't aknowledge the founder of hapkido training in the style. I would suggest looking up old Black Belt magazine articles on Herb Perez, a few years ago he did a pretty good job(it was a 2 or 3 part article)on the history of Tae Kwon Do. This was something I respected a lot from a former Olympic TKD gold medalist.

Try telling that to these guys: http://www.samuaythai.com/ i said kickboxing not muay thai... there is a difference you know If you wanna split hairs how could what your instructor do, be called "traditional kickboxing"? "kickboxing" isn't that old at all and most of it is somehow derived from Muay Thai and similar arts(bando, khmer boxing, etc.). A Karate based style with kata that also does Kickboxing isn't really that traditional... I have no problem with something that isn't "traditional" but calling something that isn't traditional seems odd to me. Finneys Kickboxing will teach you how to fight and you should check out that Muay Thai link, that is probably the Gym that I contacted when I was in ST. Louis(really creve couer).