Yasutsune Makoto

good to hear! must say i think you're rather lucky it connected enough to knock him off his course...cuz it might have been different had he penetrated your guard. but it wasn't so rock on!!!

All the "masters" I know with beer bellies are still super good martial artists who have just gotten older. I have yet to see one who is really out of shape...it would be kinda funny though, to see a "master" get whooped by a young black belt just because of poor conditioning...in a sad way, that is.

no kidding! I learned the hard way to give up the body to save the head. I've gotten three concussions in my tournaments, 1 from baseball, 2 from football (other than karate they were just tough luck). It stinks! But now I haven't got hit in the head for about 4 years, lol, I learned my lesson. I always get asked to go full-contact by kick boxers and army people I train with...and some masachists...but I never do. I let them go full, but after seeing what happened to my opponent in a bare knuckle boxing match at about 75% I decided that was enough of that. Ahhh, makiwara and kime training.

I know. But most shotokan dojo do tend to have a similar syllabus. I agree with you to an extent. But across organizations (AKJU to JKA for example) it's almost two different styles, let alone having the same syllabus.

Thanks! I'll definitely keep working.

Karate is a mixed martial art which includes grappling, throws, locks, chokes, strangles. As well as strikes. It always has been. If you're not practicing it that way you're practicing kickboxing, not karate. I agree that Karate does contain grappling, throws, locks, and so on. However, since training in an art that specializes in those techniques (Aiki Jujitsu and Brazilian Jiujitsu) Karate's way of applying them uses more energy than is necessary sometimes. Afterall, traditional Kodokan Judo contains punches and kicks...but it's still the weak part of the system. Karate teaches the throws and whatnot...but they are still the weakest part of most Karate systems. I do not agree, karate is 70% striking and 30% grappling, we may not have all the option that a Jodoka, BJJ or JJJ has but we have our thows/armlock and ground work arsenal and we practice it. that depends on your style and your instructor. they are great to cross-train together and i think that the weaknesses of one are the strengths of the other, as has been pointed out. I have studied both for most of my life and have only seen good things come of it.

I have quite a few friends in capoeria and it's pretty fun to mess around with. But, like others, I wouldn't trust it for the street unless you've had a good long time to get good at it. You can develop from it and if you like it keep with it!

best solution...get super good at both of them and have someone tell you what to do. No decisions there!

I think any bio on Funakoshi Gichin should mention that he and Kano became good friends after a demonstration that Funakoshi performed, and they proceeded to learn from one another. I'm not sure that the relationship in the arts really shows the relationship of the two men. The only obvious connection, as far as I know, is that the gi and ranking system in karate comes from the judo system.

Thanks, everybody.

This is Sochin from Shotokan karate, the stance is a sochin-dachi. I believe it may also be known as a fudo-dachi in some styles but i'm not certain. The easiest way to describe it is a horse stance at a 45 degree angle with 60 percent of your weight on your front foot, as I understand it.

here is a link to sochin, which I did on top of mount washburn in wyoming after the hike up there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J3pJhOfpY4 It's not the best i've ever done by any means but constructive critisism is welcome. So, help me out?

This show makes me hurt inside... Does america really think this is MA?

As far as visualization goes just fire up your imagination. For me, when I am in a stance, I am ripping the earth apart between my legs, and when i throw the punch my fist extends like a laser beam, breaking through the wall, the building, the cars outside, forever. My downward block cuts the floor in half. My toes rip the mats apart. Every ounce of energy extends through to the smallest point of impact, exploding from my fist like a blast from mega-man's rifle arm. I don't know how to train for it other than to just try and do it. Sync it up with your breathing, with the image of your power being light, and shooting the light out of your body. Slow everything down and feel all the tension in your body at the point of impact, all your kime, and have your focus be at the point of impact. Like your whole being belongs on top of your first two knuckles. For me, this is what karate is all about, the ultimate focus and transfer of energy, with all your body and spirit behind it. Into one single moment of perfection, followed by another and another. Constantly expanding and contracting. Extending your power and gathering it up again. I don't know if this answers your question. But I hope it helps if you try it.

well said

Are we talking about kiais or yelling? Sometimes a yell in jiyu kumite can really show you a lot of your opponent and set him on the defensive without exposing a technique... but a yell isn't a kiai, screaming kata people, i think, don't understand what the kiai is really for and I usually rate them lower. good point about the kendo and kiai is being a natural side effect of putting all you have into a technique.

for the same motion, maybe it isn't a technique to be used in a fight, but something to be practiced as an idea... What if the focus isn't on the drop, but on the quickness of raising up. In this case, it might be that the focus of that motion is to quickly ready yourself for the next technique, even when you are knocked down. However, I always thought of the drop as a manner to take someone down to the ground while escaping someone else...and then returning right to the battle.

good post... On a broader thought, everything that happens influences other things. Chinese styles developed from nature, karate style developed frm chinese styles, MMA developed from cross-training, exposing weaknesses in traditional styles, causing reform in those styles and re-evaluation of techniques. so the cycle continues.

I haven't been in a fight since I was 9 on the playground at my elementary school, and I don't want to. I'm sure others feel the same way but after seeing what happens during kumite matches, or on makiwara, or in friendly bouts around the dorm room, I'm flat out scared for someone to attack me. I know that I'll probably get hurt, there is no winner in a fight. But I know the damage I can do as well, and that's enough to make me do anything I can to stay out of that situation. As with Thaiboxer it's everything I do, and because of that who knows what's going to come out if I need to use it. Having no option but to fight scares me...may it never happen!

ahhh...i see what you mean. Ya, i've examined that as well in my own kata and my idea is that it simply doesn't look like it snaps out as hard as it does due to everything else that is going on. One day i'd like to get someone to let me hit them with it and see if they think it does anything...idea! If you need to get more snap on that, why not hit something? Doesn't your body find a way to maximize impact and perform at it's peak when you strike something. Like the punch is taken to a whole new level when students begin to strike a target as opposed to just air. Any ideas on how to do that?

super point...the core is a very important part. Don't neglect it!

I think it's because that's not what people do in tournaments, and a lot of people's critique of shotokan is based on the tournament style. Also, you need to get to a rather high level before you are taught those things, although some people begin to see them at much earlier stages in their training due to any number of reasons (i.e. books, intuition, accidental finding during bunkai training)

stay relaxed and remember that your body knows what to do. You just need to get your head outta the way and you'll have a great competition.

some of the bunkai for empi is really good, and brutal.

I think the reason it's hard for you to tell the difference is because they are the same action, only different rotations. Both are a crescent kick followed by a jumping spin back kick. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean...but i'm pretty sure Kanazawa can do it. I'm pretty sure that I have seen quite a number of people do it. Maybe our definitions of achieve are different. View the Unsu from this page, you should see how it is done here. But maybe you are looking for something different, please let me know. http://www.shotokan-arts.com/katavid.htm