bushido_man96

You're welcome, Bob. Karatekas talk a lot about wanting to see more of their peers in MMA. I'd love to see a guy like this in there. He's a whirlwind of striking techniques...just wonder if he has any kind of ground game.

I agree, Bob. I think with the way styles like Shotokan have come on, and made kata into how they are viewed, and the same hard-line thinking that deems them "precious," "scared," and "unchangeable" has led to that stagnation.

But what about when it interferes with karate training and becomes a particular instructors raison d'etre. In a typical hour, we would have 15 mins of warm up (including press ups, sit ups et al) then then 45 minutes of karate training including technique, kata and sparring! On Tuesday evening, this particular instructor was taking the calss, we had the usual 15 mins warm up then when it came to the session, we were doing 10-20 push ups everytime a child got there left or right mixed up, if he didn't think we were saying OSU loud enough. He even made us all do push ups when he didn't think a certain student was kicking high enough (until I pointed out to him at the end that that student had an injury)! Why didn't that student speak out, well 5 mins before he made us all do 20 for another student speaking out when they were trying to tell the instructor something (I couldn't hear what it was!). I worked out at the end that we had had about 15 minutes of karate and 45 minutes of push ups. Not exactly what most people pay for really! For the record, I have not problem with using discipline when its required, but in my opinion, dishing it out to establish authority where it isn't necessary and for such silly reasons is not constructive particularly where paying adult students are concerned. My main instructor is an 8th Dan and I have never known him dish push ups out, he doesn't need to however this 3rd Dan seems to enjoy the power! I think you have an instructor who thinks he's a drill sergeant, or something. If this many people in the class are messing up that bad, instead of making everyone do pushups, which just makes the person causing the pushups feel bad or embarrassed or both, and taking time away from everyone, they need to be separated and given 1-on-1 time to help them out. If worse comes to worse, just let these few trod on more slowly, and hold them out of some gradings until they are ready. Holding an entire class back doesn't help anyone.

I like that view. And I think that is an advantage that your art possesses; you thrive in the realm of continual, nearly perpetual, I'd venture to say, motion. You probably teach the style in that same way, too. But correct me if I'm wrong.But, in the Eastern based styles, we don't learn it that way. Everything has been basically taught early on in a more stationary manner, and then as you progress, you work into more movement and transition.

Boy, I missed this so badly. I feel so badly about missing out here, Bob. Here's a late happy birthday wish!

RIP.

That's good advise. If I had to use a knife, I think the best idea would be to let him know you have it by letting him find it in his side.

That's what it sounds like to me. Please correct me if I'm wrong, though. xo-karate.If this is the case, I don't see anything wrong with it. Success comes from having a plan, and having a plan is having a goal. In order to reach the goal, its imperative to have objectives that are met along the way to the goal. If giving yourself stripes is the way you recognize meeting the objectives on the way to your goal, then I see nothing wrong with this at all.

I sat at a table once eating breakfast with GM H. U. Lee of the ATA, and GM Bong Soo Han. If I would have had a brain in my head, I would have ran for a pen and paper...

Yes, I agree, and it can be good training to get the muscles to recognize that position and make it easier to get back into when needed. But, the author also kind of pointed this type of training out as the being the reason that many perceive the stances as launching pads more than landing gear. This kind of training is often accompanied by throwing techniques from these held stances, and when doing so, instructors will teach the "loading" of the hip and blasting of the technique. I know I've taught this way as an instructor. But it also tends to instill that idea of launching pad over landing gear.

Its a good idea, Dobbersky. Do it.I used to do it a while, while back, when I was still competing. Its good to see your own performances like that, because when you do it, and glance around at stances, arm positions, etc, there is only so much of yourself that you can see. Watching yourself on video, you can look and say, "oh, wow, I didn't realize I did it like that," or whatever. Once, back at my ATA school in my hometown, I did this with the class. I videoed each one doing their form, then did a video review with each one. I'd point out this or that to them and say, "here is what I am saying when you need to do" whatever it was, with stance, or kick or punch. They see it and the light bulb kind of pops on at times. Then, you can have them do the technique or stance and make the correction right then and there. Then you can even re-video and show them the difference. Its really good stuff, and now with the ability of most smart phones, you can video more readily, review it on the spot, then make corrections and do it again, and delete or keep what you want. The quality might not be as up to snuff as some nice video recording equipment can do, but its still feasible and pretty reliable.

10/24/2012 Dreadmill...I mean, treadmill: jog/walk for just over 20 min, 1.4 miles. Bike: 1 mile cool down, 4:51 min. Stretch Forms Do San x5 Songham 4 x5 Do San is the 4th form in our TTA curriculum. It moves in about the same I pattern as Bo Chuung and Dan Gun, with a steps out to the 45 degrees on the top part of the I, before coming back into line and and going back to the bottom of the I. I like this form, because it has some tight movements and turns, and I get a lot of power into it. Songham 4 is the dreaded camo belt for of the ATA, the 4th colored belt form. Its pattern is of a rectangle laying long ways, starting in the middle of the top part, going to the left, then back to the bottom, along the back line, up to the top line, then back to the middle and starting position. This form adds the "sparring stance," along with the reverse side kick, done in combination with a back leg round kick.

There was a duty knife course put on by our law enforcement training center this month, but due to my injury, I wasn't able to go. I wanted to so bad. Like, so bad... Maybe next time.

Basically, yes. He sees stances "as a result of motion." He also addresses the heel up vs heel down argument, but that would be for another thread, I think.

So I think we're clear that the main drawback on running a school is on age to open a business, and the other drawback is insurance/liability. And these are both important considerations, too. But, what's wrong with a 10 year old earning a black belt, then perhaps grading to 2nd dan in 2 and half years (time requirement in my style), being a 2nd dan by lets say close to 13 years old, then 3.5 years down the road, at close to 16, being close to eligible to 3rd dan. So, by the time you've got a student getting of age to open a school at age 18, they've got a bit more rank, more experience, and have matured more, and you'll have a very competent 2nd or 3rd dan ready to teach, and likely be able to promote their own students through to 1st dan. This isn't the perfect scenario, and it isn't the only scenario, and as I mentioned earlier, this scenario won't apply to every student, as every student is promoted on a case by case basis. I just don't see why one has to get old before ever becoming a master.

Wow, that was something else. The Sheriff's office I look for has a High-Tech crime unit, and they do some pretty cool stuff, most of which I can't begin to understand. A department with capabilities like that could come in handy.

The pace of the fight might not be the same as a men's fight, but as far as skill level goes, it should be up there. I'm sure White will do what it takes to quickly cultivate a group of competitive female fighters to make the exciting and fill the seats. Santos and another gal used to fight quite a bit, but I'm not sure if they still fight or not. Was it Corano, or something like that? They were both pretty fun to watch, and if they still fight, that would help White, too. All in all, I think this is good for the Martial Arts in general. Kathy Long revolutionized women's Kickboxing years ago. Who knows?...maybe they'll get her and Cynthia Rothrock to commentate?

Yes totally agree. Although kata training is good for a variety of reasons, this is one of the limitations if the gap isn't successfully bridged between it and a more free model of sparring. Seconded. Making that transition to sparring and self-defense is important to cover. I've been guilty of referring to stances as "techniques all their own" in forms, because its the first thing that becomes lazy and forgotten in forms. Students are more worried about the punching, blocking, and kicking, and the stances become lost in the muddle. Also, in regards to forms training and stances, we train that we want to see those stances, so when the student lands in the stance after a technique, we want to see that stance, and make sure it is "right and good." This naturally causes a bit of a pause, hindering the idea of landing and transitioning just a little bit.

My TKD uniform is white. I was in another school for a while that wore white tops and black bottoms. My Combat Hapkido uniform is black. My suggestion is to worry less about color, and more about training.

When Bob and I had the chance to train together, we worked on some blitzing defense together. I've never really been blitzed like that before, so it was a new experience for me. The main thing was getting off the line. The tough part, as opposed to getting off the line at a 45 degree angle, is getting over the aggressiveness of the blitz itself. It can be quite an imposing sight with a big barreling at you that fast. Another option is to jam the blitz. Its less artful, and may require in a bit more of a physical sacrifice, but if you rush in, close the distance with them, and end up hip to hip or chest to chest, it shuts down the blitz.

I do believe what you are saying is felt strongly about kata in Goju. However, kata training wasn't always that way, and I don't think there are some kata that counter others. I think if you dig enough, you can probably find something to that effect, but I don't really think some where developed for that purpose. There are lots of speculation as to what the katas were originally meant to be for when looking into applications, but I think it can be a stretch as to say what it originally did.

More that I never considered it that way. We can do the same things as other people for a long time, but when we hear things put in a different perspective, a light bulb can come on. I've never sparred in anything other than a "sparring stance," with feet around shoulder width apart, body slightly bladed, slight knee bend, and hands up. Not a "stance" per se in many styles, but the ATA did adapt a "sparring" stance into their curriculum that you could say lives somewhere between a back stance and a high middle stance. I've thought for a while as stances being transitional, moving between techniques or even for leveraging a sweep. I learned to throw techniques from a stance early on, and still teach that way early on. Its just that the "landing gear" terminology Redmond used to describe the stances makes my mind look at them differently now than I did.

So it sounds to me that you are saying every kata is as important as every other kata, but at certain times only certain kata are taught, and not everyone taught the same kata equally. Am I understanding you correctly?

Yet another topic idea retrieved from Redmond's book, Kata, The Folk Dances of Shotokan. On pp 107-108, he is discussing one of his principles of excellent kata, and is elaborating on strong, flexible stances. In this section, he refers to how stances tend to be viewed as the platform, or launching pad, from which we deliver techniques. The example he uses is the reverse punch in the front stance, driving off the rear leg, turning the body and engaging the hips to fire the fist. This idea makes sense to me; how many of us as instructors set students up in a stance, and then proceed to teach techniques from the stance, fist on hip, use the hip, fire the technique out. Punches in front stances, often time knife hand strikes or middle blocks in back stances, etc. In forms, every technique has a stance. But, Redmond likes to refer to the stances as a landing gear as opposed to a launching pad. He said he takes his view from watching two Karate experts spar one another. He said "the very best Shotokan sparring champions of old" didn't assume rooted positions, but rather put their weight on the balls of their feet, and moved swiftly into stance after stance, like landing gear. He goes on to explain how the body moves forward and backward or sideways, and the feet have to move to catch us in this new position. It makes sense to me; after all, walking is nothing more than controlled forward falling. So, Redmond sees the stances as the result of motion, as opposed to a posture from which to launch a technique. I think he has some good thoughts on this, and it makes sense to me explained this way. Other thoughts on the matter?

Perhaps getting a bit off topic but a lot of people seem to forget that Gen. Choi's TKD was originally for the military and I think it'd be a good explanation for why the training (and the use of standardized forms) is the way it is. You learn the forms in a set order and set way and also don't really find a parallel to the idea of bunkai in the training because it was about training up a platoon as efficiently as possible ready for combat. I agree. Very good points.