armanox

I don't know.....I've hit myself a few times with sais...and gotten cut by them...I wouldn't recommend them for a starting weapon.

Actually, I've had a similar issue. I've been eligible for brown belt for several months now, and I've surpassed all of the requirements. I could in theory go and test at another school (same style and organization) to get the belt. After thinking about it, I decided that the longer it takes me to move along the belt progression, the more the belt will be worth to me. And, when thinking that it's still at least 2.5 more years before I'm eligible for black belt, I'm gonna have the brown belt for a long time when I get it, so why rush? Not to mention that I'll be all that much better when I get the belt. Also I get a certain satisfaction out of knowing that I'm better then some of the people above me, and that people comment on that when they see demonstrations done by the dojo.

Good statement. I agree entirely. And I now have a new sig line.

The only advantage that the summer provides me is that my injured hip is much more relaxed. The winter on the other hand, makes me want to train to stay warm, and doesn't leave my gi sweatsoaked at the end of class

odd that they would require competition for promotion though......never thought I'd hear that from an Iaido school.....

The flat 90, for lack of knowing the Japanese term (shame on me) is a stance rather similar to the cat stance. Rather then being up on the ball of the front foot with all weight over the back leg, the front foot is flat with a weight distrobution of about 70/30 (back/front).

Actually it is called Kobayashi Ryu because that is how he wrote it. The Kanji he used was 小林流, 小 being "ko" making 林 be read as "hayashi". The Kanji for "Sho", 少, was not used. Shorin Ryu would be written as 少林流, not 小林流. On another note it is redundant to say Kobayashi Shorin Ryu, as both Kobayashi and Shorin mean the same thing (little forest school).

I also prefer a cat stance. I've been known to also use a flat 90 as well.

In the style or taught at the person's school? My school teaches about thirty (30) kata, as follows: Warmup 1-3 Tensho Kihon I - V Naifanchi I - III Seisan Pinan I - V Passai Sho, Dai Kusanku Sho, Dai Chinto Jion Gojushiho Chatanyara no Kusanku Kopassai Sho Tetso and we just added (due to a recent Okinawa visit) Fukyugata ichi and ni Now, the style itself does not have Tensho*(1), Tetso*(2) nor Kihon III - V*(2,3), but does have other kata, such as Unsu and Wansu. I would imagine that there are a lot of schools that are the same way - there are kata found in the school that are not part of the styles as a whole, and kata that are in the style that are not taught in the school. *1 Tensho is a Goju Ryu kata. It's a nifty kata that Takeshi Miyagi teaches in his schools b/c he likes the kata, but is not used for grading purposes (lineage: Miyagi -> Lilley -> Simons -> Me). *2 While these kata are of the style (Mirahira created Tetso, Miyagi created Kihon III, IV, Sensei created Kihon V), Mirahira and company stated that no kata newer then 1950 will be accepted into the Ryu. *3 I remember Sensei mentioning that Chosin Chibana taught the kata we (our dojo) call warm up kata as Kihon I -III, and that the kata that we call Kihon I - II were Kihon IV - V. All of these kata are accepted as part of the Ryu.

In Shorin Ryu the roundhouse does not appear in any kata (nor is the roundhouse a traditional Shorin Ryu kick.....). A roundhouse to the head, while painful, is not practical. A roundhouse to the hip or knee will do PLENTY of dmg if done correctly.

Shorin Ryu (and every Shotokan school I've visited) teaches primarily the ball of the foot. But, depending on distance, etc; the instep and shin (and toe if you're not going to break it) are perfectly valid strikes

Cost: $5 per class, no testing fees, no belt fees, etc. As part of the Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate Association( Seitoku Ishikawa President). we do get invited to attend the World Tournaments in Okinawa. And, if anyone of us wished to go, Sensei would not charge us extra. He would probably drop the class fee on the individual so that they could afford the trip!

I've seen tidbits of the vids myself. I'll say this - they impressed me more then any other Shotokan related thing I've seen.

Very nice, this looks like he knows his stuff. The reason i say this is because it flows and he is relaxed, also, something I noticed on all the other videos, is peoples head bobbing up an down. If i am not mistaken your not supposed to bob up and down when changing from one stance to another (at least we aren't in kung fu). To me this guy video is the only one that really impressed me. The other guys aren't bad just not super impressive. The last guy would have been better to me if he wasn't so stiff. But that could be the difference in Chinese and Japanese arts, we(Kung Fu) are taught to be relaxed. Karate is not meant to be tense. It should be relaxed. When I locate it, I'll post the interview with Seikichi Iha Hanshi(10th Dan, Shorin Ryu), where he talks about the tension in Shorin Ryu.

If you are going to be using a katana you should be wearing the proper clothing to accomidate it. While a karate obi *can* accomidate an iaito (i've done it before), it's not designed to, and is far from appropriate to use. An iaido obi + hakama is the way to go in my opinion (unless you're poor like me, in which case it's the karate obi + bokken, not hakama + iaito)

Do tell us how it went

That comes from the clips that appear on wonder Okinawa. The bo kata, Gyosho no Kun, was created by Takeshi Myagi, 10th Dan. I don't have a clip of him doing it available on the computer to post at this time, I'll try to get one (I have it on VHS!). I do have a clip of some of his students doing that kata though, and I can post that. http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/armanox/Shorin%20Ryu/th_Gyosho.jpg

I can't say I didn't enjoy having a black belt with 1/10th the posts. It was quite enjoyable for the time - it made me feel appreciated around here. I guess I should have taken a screen shot while it was there.

I'm inclined to agree left then right. And swords are the reasoning to my knowledge.

I can add Itosu no Passai (Passai Sho) to the list! Woot!

Did you ever get the clip?

Japanese styles, (mainly referring to Shotokan) tend to be hard. They also tend to include long stances, that, while not good for mobility, develop strength. The forms tend to be vary similar to Okinawan forms. Many Japanese styles also favor tournaments. ( for Shotokan's Tekki Shodan, evolved from Shorin Ryu's Naifanchi Shodan) Okinawan styles (referring to Shorin Ryu) tend to use more circular blocks, but usually have a straight forward attack. They also tend not to emphasize on a lot of kicks, but knowing a few to use targeted at the legs. Some styles, like Goju Ryu, utilize heavy breathing techniques, others do not. Okinawan styles usually do not require tournaments, but do not discourage the practicianers from entering. Many Okinawan styles are also seen as not being flashy in the forms, but rather focus on combat over flash. Okinawan styles tend to be very kata oriented.(Click here for Shorin Ryu's Naifanchi Shodan) Korean styles (Tae kwon do) tend to use a lot of kicks, that may be directed at various targets (head). They also tend to have forms that resemble the Japanese origins of the form. Korean styles, of the three countries being referenced, tend to be the most sport oriented. Of the various styles, I have far more experience with Japanese and Okinawan styles then Korean. I also assumed you mean karate to be martial arts of decent from Okinawan arts, vs Chinese arts (Wushu, etc) and traditional Japanese arts (Juijitsu)

Once again, relax. Also, if you mess up a kata, keep going as though the mistake was supposed to be there. Look confident. Keep you kata timings good - some parts are meant to be slow, others fast.

Hang on a second. The five Pinan kata were created by Anko Itosu, in Shorin Ryu, in Okinawa. Funikoshi changed the name to Heian when he took his Shorin Ryu to the Japanese mainland, thus the birth of Shotokan. But Itosu did NOT introduce Shotokan into Japanese high schools. The closest that he came to that was proposing that Karate be taught to in Okinawan schools. Just my input. UPDATE: Little bit of research - Yatsume Itosu is the Japanese reference for the Okinawan known as Anko Itosu.

Stance wise I generally use a cat stance in sparring, because it's my most familiar stance. I also like utilizing it due to kicking ease.