DancingSteve

But yeah I have noticed that the website development is moving at less than a snail's pace. BushidoMan...its not so much ANTI-mobility but more focused on putting yourself in a position to deliver a 'technically' sound technique. If your heel is off the floor or your front foot springing forward to catch your opponent with your fist. Where is the technique in that punch? If your heel is up...the punch is technically weak right? So why should it deserve a point? The way I see it..and this is because I train and compete ITKF of course is that..when you make a point..it should be a technique that you would be proud of...an actual 'killing blow' without any contact. We also do not condone ANY contact to the head area...and minimal to the chest and below. Of course it happens..I've been knocked out before..but its not going to get you a point. We always used to call the other types of tournaments 'tip-tap' tournaments...lots more footwork..fast moving in and throwing out a reverse punch and tagging your opponents chest. If I wanted to play tag...I'd stay on the playground. If you want to test technique against technique..instead of how fast I can 'get' you with a closed fist..then you fight ITKF because any sort of weakness in the technique is going to get called. Just my humble opinion...Im sure you all have yours as well.

I have a very hard time believing someone who trained in karate and is a 4th dan can so blatantly disregard the value of kata. But thats just my 2 coppers.

The main conflict between people who want to say kata is ineffective and those of us who love kata lies in our purpose for training in karate. On your side, you obviously practice karate to be a good fighter. You want to practice it to fight other people. The theoretical 'fights' that we encounter during kata do not make sense to you and thusly you regard them as ineffective kumite practice. I started karate in 1987 when I was in the 7th grade. There were the kids who like kumite, and the kids who liked kata. You know who you are..I can obviously pick out who Tokkan was. I happened to like kata. I enjoyed envisioning the bunkai and perfecting the technique. Perfect technique and body mechanics/dynamics don't to a bit of good to work on your timing. Sparring doesn't do a bit of good for body physics and proper technique. The advantages are interchangeable, as are the disadvantages. I recently read a story in a Grappling magazine about how Traditional Karate students have one of the best 'mental' trainings for self-defense above all BJJ, UFC, Muay Thai practitioners. Notice I said self-defense..not kumite. Not point fighting...not UFC fighting. Self-Defense/Preservation. Because in practicing kata...and actually envisioning the bunkai..you defend your life and kill opponents over and over again in your mind. If you are TRULY immersing yourself in the kata. You gain a respect for defense, and offense...and by envisioning the bunkai you gain a respect for how it must be to actually defend your life...even if the situations are not ABSOLUTELY plausible in todays world. So the point of the article was that a Traditional Karate practitioner was much more mentally prepared to defend themselves, and much LESS likely to wade into a fight they don't need to. Whereas sometimes people who train in more hands-on fighting styles get a bit cocky or overconfident because they are all about 'testing' themselves against others..instead of 'testing' against themselves. So, fighting other fighters...gives you training in timing, what works..what doesnt...and you run the risk of becoming a one-trick pony. You also have the advantage of actually being tested by another breathing, thinking human being. So it really boils down to what I mentioned before. Do you train in karate for the mental aspect...or simply to be physically a better fighter than other people?

The main problem now adays is..and Im not dogging any particular style or discipline BUT. Your rank..and your accomplishments are your credibility. Its hard to get someone in the door to take a class if they dont see something impressive. Hence the windows full of trophies...the GrandMaster Shihan, Shihanchi, Sifu Grand Dragon Sifu, Hokey Pokey Poo-Bah titles everyone wants to impose on themselves to give themselves more credibility. I am not kidding you..I saw this in our Township parade on the fourth of July. The local TKD club which had a lot of membership..good on him for that.. marching in the parade of course promoting their club. If my kids self defense classes had any more than a dozen kids in it..I might have done the same thing. But the sensei for this club was walking down the middle of his students. They were breaking re-breakable boards and play-sparring in the street. And he was walking in the middle of all this chaos...holding a python! I was like...wtf! Why a python. So my point being that karate instructors CAN and WILL get a little full of themselves and do some really ridiculous stuff to 'stand out'. Now enter in all these new-ish styles that have emerged in America...Theres a LOT. A lot of people who 'found' these styles immediately rocket themselves to something uber-impressive. 10th Dan. Wow...10th degree black belt! You must be great! I want to take classes from you! Actually...do this test. Next time you tell someone you do martial arts..and they ask what belt you are... If your a black belt..just say black belt. The next question will be 'What degree' Because just being a black belt isnt good enough anymore. When I started karate being anything above a black belt was like...oh my god..the craziest thing.. My instructor was a nidan, his instructor was a godan. I remember thinking if I made shodan..that was going to be my biggest accomplishment. No way was I ever going to be like those guys. Now people assume you can get black belt no problem...its those UPPER levels of black belt that are impressive. Just human nature I guess..but its sad. To prove that point I remember another story and then I'll stop hijacking this thread. I was again teaching the kids self defense classes underneath a TKD guy..(which is where I got the idea for my own program--I didnt copy..I just gleaned) anyways..he had these kids in the program who had been in his classes from a young age...all approaching brown and black belt level. Because essentially when you have a bunch of kids like that. Its hard to fail them unless they are really the suck. Anyways..none of these kids had really done anything super hard in martial arts..the classes were more games....silly drills like 100 kicks in a minute(they drove me crazy)...and self defense..and a little free sparring. They had never gotten that traditional sweaty class where the instructor was barking at them..and telling them. Withdrawing Side!, pull that fist back!...more hips! That kind of class. So I gave it to them. They hated it. But afterwards one of them came up to me and said. I liked that class Sensei...'When I'm black belt, I want to teach like you.' What struck me as odd was the 'When, not IF..or Someday...it was. When. Like they had a sense of entitlement to getting black belt. I dont know..maybe its just me.

The one thats garnered a lot of criticism is Kanazawa...yet another 'son' of Funakoshi. Recently promoted himself to 10th dan. Thats the shady thing that a lot of people are talking about. Not the Okazaki 9th dan. But you have to wonder about how these guys are justifying moving 'themselves' up to a new dan level...especially the 10th which has been traditionally when you die. FYI his organization is the SKIF.

Generally your not going to run into bad politics until you start trying to compare the different organizations and their head instructors. All these sub instructors of Funakoshi have split apart and created their own family trees so to speak. So when you talk about the different organizations your talking about the grandkids of Funakoshi's teachings. Some of the grandkids (us) are going to love grandpa no matter...the heads of our respective organizations are like our fathers...the other orgs are like uncles. Your going to have the cool uncles...and the nasty uncles. And they are going to fight like brothers usually do. When Funakoshi died Im sure they all had their own agendas and noone wanted to back down (being honorable and headstrong japanese men as they are) Basically the ITKF is Nishiyama, and the ISKF is Okazaki. The only funny thing I think about Okazaki is that he promoted himself to 9th dan to be ahead of Nishiyama. Usually 9th dan is reserved for when you die in Shotokan..but some of the recent factions have disregarded this tradition. Also..the ITKF/AAKF is recognized by the IOC as the governing body for Traditional Karate. Nishiyama has been recognized by the Japanese Government as a National Living Treasure and the US Senate recently flew a flag over Capitol Hill in honor of Nishiyama's birthday. These are all due to his international presence and contribution to the art of karate. In my humble opinion...Nish is the man...there is no other. But thats just one mans opinion. Anyways..back to the point. This is where most of the politic'ing comes from. If you train...compete....test. Have fun...dont worry about the politics. If you plan on running a dojo one day...you may run into some of it if theres a competing dojo in your city...but usually its minimal.

Chinese Arts are generally circular, while Japanese (or most types of karate) are more linear. But yeah...just go check them out. Remember when starting a style. If an instructor won't let you take a class or even a week for free, then he's not worth your time. A good instructor will know that he can keep you as a student if he gives you a sample for free. A bad one will want your money up front. No offense intended to any 'bad' instructors out there. *snicker*

Yes..very true Cross. A wrist grab can easily be translated into a lapel, hair, back of the neck, upper arm, etc etc etc grab. It can also be translated easily into a trapping motion AFTER a successful block. Rising, Outside, Inside, Knife Hand, Downward block moving into 'trapping' the wrist and controlling the arm. Takes a littl more more thought and practice..but its fun to take a class from very very basic stuff....to a bit more complicated over the course of 3 or 4 exercises...so by the time your finished you have taught them something that truly can be applied to real life.

A lot of the Shotokan bunkai would suggest multiple attackers against this one opponent. If you were a gang of say...American Whalers...trying to pin down this one Okinawan who had no weapons. And you rushed him to pin him down...he of course is lashing out with punches as you approach. I would say it is a safe assumption that grabbing his wrists and forearms to pin those quick punches down would be a viable option. Especially after you took a couple of those punches to the face and solar plexus. Secondly...I teach a kids self defense class and I teach probably no less than a half dozen or more ways to get out of simple wrist grabs. I will agree that on a man-on-man fight...the wrist grab is not the first technique. But as others have said it can occur in the middle, I've even seen it in the UFC..as someone is getting pummeled they grab the wrists to stop the massive pummelage.. Anyways..back to my point. If an Adult is going to grab a child...they are going to grab them either by the wrist, the arm, the hair...or of course the neck. Wrists are amazingly easy to hurt and even a child can bring down a bigger attacker with a good wrist lock..or at the very least escape.

I've seen plenty of effective fighters use the linear attack method to their extreme advantage. I'm not worried about categorizing 'best' 'worst' 'least effective' 'most effective'...Im just throwing out options. As I said..you CAN be a combination of both. What you MUST be is good at ONE or the OTHER, or BOTH...if you suck at them all...then you have some options to work with, and work on.

Not to hijack this thread but I will expound what I can about how I do side thrust kicks. When I move sideways in Kiba Dachi..lets say..moving right. Kicking with the right leg. I drop my left hand down in front of me obviously...and my right hand out extended along the leg. My hips are actually turned or more accurately 'pushed' into the kick, and a little toward the target. What I do to show beginners (not saying you are a beginner) how to get the 'feel' for a side thrust kick...is put your foot on the wall flexed to the side for side thrust, and push...if your supporting leg buckles, your not in the right position..if your butt pops out...your not in the right position.. Tuck your hips..tighten your side muscles, bend your supporting leg..when you get that really strong forceful feeling like your pushing directly off the floor through the hips and all the way out to the foot..then you've got it. What I also do...which inevitable ends in my clutching my knee in pain....is practice side thrusting a swinging back. I swing a heavy bag away from me so its moving back away from me, then swinging back in toward me. I try to catch the bag as it comes in with a front leg side thrust, as if an opponent is moving in on me and I STOP him with the kick. You'll learn quickly where the break in the chain is....its when the bag knocks you over and whichever joint hurts most.. I dont recommend this but for the truly foolhardy like myself..it can be good for timing and quick coil and thrust practice.

I too never broke a board in my training all my life until I started working with kids and young adults. It can be a real self-esteem booster and like the other guy said..A bit of fun. I've never broken more than one board...I really dont see the point. A 3/4 inch thick piece of pine 12inches by 12 inches (square) is the equivalent of breaking through a human skull. Or so I've been told. Tell a teenager that, and then teach them how to break the board. It gives them a whole different perspective on their potential. Its obviously something not to take lightly and teach the 'wrong' kind of kids that information but I can't tell you how many kids faces I've looked into after they've broken a board and just seen absolute amazement!

There are several ways you can 'create' or 'find' different lines of attack. You can be a circle fighter...who circles and circles and circles...moving laterally around the opponent, changing direction quickly, until an opening is found or created. You can be a line fighter, driving directly at your opponent relentlessly across the mat finding openings as you throw him off guard. You can also be a combination of both. You can also be a strictly lateral fighter. As your opponent moves in, move your back leg to the side...either to the outside or inside of his guard. Moving in quickly to attack. This requires dead-on timing or else they will adjust to your movement quickly. You have to wait until they have committed fully to their line of movement..Then quickly move to an angle either inside or outside of their guard and begin your attack. They will be too fully committed to change and it will give you all the time in the world to execute your attack. Just a few thoughts.

My competition katas are Kanku Sho, and Nijushiho...with Gankaku and Empi saved for tie breakers.

We ALWAYS used the ball of the foot for a striking area. But thats the beauty of worldwide karate dissemination. Do what you can with the hips, and lifting the knee. Your hips and knot of your belt should never turn away from the opponent and if at all possible, you should remain upright. Bending the back leg is great advice...but there should be some natural cushion bend in that leg anways..never lock your leg it makes you unstable.

Remember...Mawashi Geri Jodan means. Your OWN head height. Not Kareem Abdul Jabarr's head height. Now when bringing your mawashi geri around....remember however high you bring your knee in the coiling action, is how high your kick is going to be. So bring your knee up high to the side, tighten up your side muscles from your armpit down to your waist. Crinkling up your side as if you are bringing your armpit and coiling leg together. Lastly, learn to open your hips up like when you do a side snap (yoko keage) ...Open those hips up as your roundhouse arcs out to the target. Also remember...Jodan..means chin...facial area..not top of the cranium. Realistically...opening your hips up a bit should get you the last bit of height you need to reach the chin.

I am ITKF, under Nishiyama Sensei. What sort of specifics do you want to know? I am waaaay out of the competition scene due to college, marriage, kids, and life. But trained and competed ITKF quite some time in the early 90' s ITKF in general is Ippon Kumite...You will see a lot more scrutiny on weak techniques, as in...no tip-tap crap. If you throw a punch, your stance better be solid, and you better be within an inch or three of your target area or it will be ruled weak. Withdrawing side better be there, no flailing kicks, etc. I've competed both WUKO(old org I think) and ITKF and we always hated competing WUKO because we would get points scored on us with techniques we wouldn't even attempt to block in ITKF. It's a very different ball game. Most ITKF tournaments also have kata and Enbu competitions. Anything else??

You just get a board...and hit it. Anyone can do it really. It's very simple. The trick is convincing your fist that it can go through the solid wood. But isn't that really what karate is about. Convincing your body that with proper technique, you can defend yourself against ANY attacker. It's all a matter of perspective. With the smaller pieces of wood, rectangles..6 inches long.and 4 inches wide. The grain runs parallel to the shorter side. Its easier to break. All you HAVE to have...is a tight fist. Surely you know how to make a tight fist. Then you hit it with a hammer fist..on the fatty meaty part of the bottom of your fist, right along the grain..and it breaks. The tighter the fist..the less you will feel it. I've taught 6 yr olds how to break boards of this size before..so having a little booth on campus and showing college kids they can do it should be a breeze. Just remember...TIGHT FIST....

I have been trying to be persistent for quite some time at getting classes offered at various locations for extra money, and lately quite frankly for a living so I can tell it, it's not easy..and you just have to be persistent. A very good place to look is if your University has a Community Ed office. Classes for old people like "How to use Computers", and "Bowling for Beginners" Classes people take just for fun. You go to them and explain what you want to do, they usually have facilities and then people will actually sign up and PAY for your class (of which you'll get a little bit on the side) If you are going completely for the fun and goodwill of sharing your karate with others (IE..you dont want to make any money) Then your best bet is just to start off with a flyer, and a vacant room in the college. Do you REALLY need all the fancy pads and mats? I've taught karate in beautiful health club facilities..and also in a middle school classroom with the desks pushed to the side. It's the same karate. As far as grants...look to your college activities board...I know at a community college that I taught at..an actual PE course which they could take. (As an aside..that college had a bad, bad karate instructor there too but I got in JUST as they were firing the old one and they hired me right off the bat..but within 3 semesters they phased it out and added more 'dance' classes--bleh) Anyways..the student activities council had a form to fill out to register as a Student Club...this club actually got a budget of x amount of dollars to use every semester..and of course you were allowed to have fundraisers on campus which are usually a big draw. Here's a great fundraising idea. (I've done it for free but you could use it for a fundraiser) Go get a bunch of pine boards...about..4 inches by 6 inches. You can cut them yourself to save money. Out of a 12 foot board which costs like 10 bucks at Home Depot..you could get 36 of these little suckers. Make people put a dollar in a jar, and 'teach' them how to break it right then and there at the booth. Just make sure they make a tight fist...hit right in the middle of the board. If the board is 6x4 obviously its going to be a little easier to break than normal, and you'd be surprised at how many people will be surprised at their own abilities...AND you just made 26 bucks on that board. Give them the broken board and a flyer for your club and send them on their way. Make them take the boards and you dont have to clean them up later. I know..Im a genius.

I have trained in Shotokan since about 1987, still only a Shodan only because most of my training since 93 has been intermittent including teaching beginner classes here and there for extra money and trying to maintain a moderate level. When I was heavy into training I was very much into competition in Canada in the early 90's in Shotokan. Over the years I have also tried out some TKD classes and even worked under a guy who taught a self-defense program that was TKD based. The MAJOR differences have already been pointed out...I'd like to point out some minor differences that I believe point to something more fundamentally opposite in these styles. TKD wins hands down in kicks...when sparring TKD practitioners..I can RARELY get past that front side 'push away' kick. I'm just not that adept at anticipating it, and I'm wading in trying to nail that gyaku-zuki! But in all honesty, unless the TKD guy is really good...I'd say black belt on up, theres absolutely no connection in their stance..so If I wade in..maintaining my strong karate stance and root to the floor..they can kick me in the stomach, and I proceed to push them off their feet to the floor. The connection between the upper body and lower body TO ME...is lacking a lot. This is especially evident in the weak hand techniques....and very painfully evident when you make the crossover from trad TKD to sport TKD. Sport TKD is all about getting that kick out there fast and loose and making contact to the target area...but is it really a good kick? Like a previous poster said..it had slowed and weakened quite a bit by the end of the kick and it was easily avoided and countered. Also..now Im going to ramble a bit more..the katas..I learned the first few TKD katas and every time I 'turned' or shifted directions in a TKD kata...it felt so completely wrong. If I am facing the flags in a dojo..and I do ANY kata..I always turn to the 'inside' of my kata if that makes any sense. In TKD katas they routinely 'turn their back' on the group of attackers you are supposedly defending against. In other words..they turn to the outside, coming back into the circle. I KNOW there is bunkai to explain it..but its opposite. It was also attempted to correct me on my side kicking technique. If I am in a horse stance (kiba dachi) and am going to side thrust with my right leg. I cross my left foot IN FRONT of my right...hips do not turn left or right...bring my right foot straight up..and deliver my side thrust kick. When I took a TKD class..they explained it the opposite way. TKD way was cross the supporting leg BEHIND the kicking leg. Try it...your hips are now facing sort of to the left...now you lift your right leg up and try to use the twisting of your hips to put more force into your kick. I dont know about you...but I have NO stability when I do it the TKD way...and by the way I knocked that instructor on his buttocks when I showed him the Shotokan way... At the core of this...its OPPOSITE. Now if you've read this far..why not finish it out. When Japan occupied Korea..they forced them to take Japanese Karate...when the Japanese finally left...I THEORIZE...that a lot of things were directly made OPPOSITE of what the Japanese were teaching..to spite them. They've since been incorporated into the art and subsequently thats why they are there. Love me, Hate me..Flame me. Either way. It makes sense in my little world. Thanks for listening DancingSteve