Sensei Tom OBrien

WOW is that true. Look at what Diego Sanchez did to Joe 'The Diesel' Riggs just the other night. Within about the 1st minute & a half Diego hit Joe with a right hook & before Joe could recover he finished him with a quick knee lift. Joe was knocked cold. Thanks, Sensei Tom

OK Konoko, I'll try to remember to do that. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Shotokan-kez, I love Shotokan & I love Bassai Sho. Shotokan is such a pure basic style. Straight forward go right thru you system. The stances are such that you can build a house on them & that’s exactly what you do. You build on those stances. We had a saying last week at the tournament - "Gyaku zuki all day long". That bo course sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I had seen those film clips of bassai sho & used them to critique my own kata. Technology is great we can all benefit from it. Thanks, Sensei Tom

I love Bassai Sho, not as much as I love Bassai Dai but I feel as though Sho is the neglected sibling of Dai. I don't understand why Bassai Dai is taught before Sho. Bassai Dai means 'storming the large fortress' & Bassai Sho means 'storming the small fortress'. Looking at it logically you would think that Bassai Dai would be the more advanced kata but that is not the case. No one seems to have a good reason for it either. It's just the way it is. Anyway I took home a silver medal with Bassai Sho last Sunday at the AAU karate tournament. The history of Bassai Sho is interesting also. Think of someone who was constantly beaten with a stick, pole or bo & devised a way to take the weapon away. I like the slow/fast aspects of the form. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Sorry Konoko. I'm not sure what I did wrong. Is it because you didn't see it yet & I ruined it? You mean mark it so, what, people know I'm spoiling it? I'm a white belt in these forums so if I do something wrong it's not intentional it's just ignorance. Do they show these bouts later in NZ? Please let me know what I did wrong so I don't do it again. Thanks, Sensei Tom

OK I think I'm in the right forum. Earlier Carl Parisyan beat Drew Picket in a blood bath. Both fighters showed good stand-up & ground & pound. Both were cut. It was a war. Josh Koscheck just beat Jeff Joslin. Josh can take down a tree. Jeff just couldn't keep him off although he gave a good showing of himself for 1st time in the cage. Diego Sanchez & Joe Riggs are going to fight next. This should be good fight. Don't nobody bother me right now. WOW! WOW! WOW! Diego just knocked out the 'Diesel'! WOW! Diego hit Joe with a right hook & then he hit him with a knee lift right away before Joe could recover & knocked him out! Unbelievable! It happened so fast. In less than a minute of the 1st round. Joe Rogan had just said that Joe thought Diego's stand-up ws 3 yrs. behind his + POW. Thanks, Sensei Tom

I think Chuck has the heavier hands & he will win. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Thanks obiwansbane. I still love it after all these years. Sensei Tom

We just came back from the AAU Karate Tournament. 6 of us went & we took 7 silver medals. I’m so proud of everybody that my head can’t fit thru the door. I won 2 medals in the old man’s division in kata & kobudo. It’s the 1st time I did Bo. I worked my butt off on that Bo form & I felt good because I did not make any mistakes. The 48 yr. old guy from TKD, Tom (who trained with me for about 2 mos. now) won one in kumite. Tom lost to a 6th deg. Black belt in his 2nd tournament ever. The red belt, Josh from TKD who came with me from my friend’s Dojang won one in kumite in the 17/18 yr. old, advanced div. he lost to a black belt national champ. Steve my brown belt won 1 ea. in kumite & kata in the advanced division. My son Ben, a purple belt, won 1 in kumite. He knocked out a green belt with a mawashi geri to the solar plexus & beat a black belt. Tournaments can be very crazy. Ben folded up this green belt so that he took about 5 mins. To recover & didn’t even get a point for it. When I said “He should get a point for that.” his family & friends asked me why. I responded “Because he hit him with a clean shot that’s why!” That same green belt won the div. Isn’t that nuts? Anyway it doesn’t matter because I told Ben “Look, if it was a real fight there would not have been any referee to give him 5 mins. to recover.” The important thing is he discovered his gyaku zuki & he admitted that he should also be doing kata. The martial arts are so wild sometimes. After the tournament I went home, took a shower & went straight to a wedding. Wow, talk about culture shock. One minute I’m in the middle of the chaos of a tournament & the next minute I’m in this really fancy wedding dressed in a monkey suit. I feel like a fish out of water. Then I find out this 23 yr. old girl, black belt wants to go back into training & she wants to train with me. Then my wife, who hasn’t worked out with me for 2 years, says to me that if Rachel comes then she is going to come back too. My wife was a yellow belt on the verge of becoming a green belt when she quit. Now tell me the martial arts aren’t nuts. I’m lovin it though. I took some pictures & I will try to post them. Thanks for putting up with my rambling nonsense. Sensei Tom

This Sunday is the AAU karate tournament. I am taking an 18 yr. old red belt in TKD from my friend's Dojang. I sparred with him last night. He kicks like a mule & I am just getting slower. We tried to acclimate him to traditional Japanese style tournament fighting. He should do well. There are about 6 of us going. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Congrats bearich. Keep on trucking. Sensei Tom

We all have setbacks in ranking. My set back was after Prof. Vee, my Sensei Jim Powers & Prof. Remy Presas all died. I felt like an orphan. I have been a 4th deg. black belt for almost 30 yrs. now. I never wanted rank. I felt that rank is really what’s inside you. Recently I acquired a 2nd deg. & I realize that I need the rank. In Vee-Jitsu you can promote to 2 levels below yourself. So I reached out to Prof. Rick Ricardi. Prof. Rick is 10th dan, head of Niseido Ju-Jitsu. He & Prof. Powers were senior most students of Prof. Vee. He told me that he had a new system & it was totally different. I reached out to Hanshi Wilfredo Roldan & we reminisced about when we fought each other 25 yrs. ago but Fredo is head of Nisei Goju which is a totally different system. I thought I was left out in the cold. Recently Prof. Rick & I resumed communications though & hopefully something will come of it. You got to hang in. Thanks, Sensei Tom

It's true. All of the tounaments in NY have eliminated nun-chaku & 3 section etc. because they have been outlawed. It's a shame because I used to compete in NY tournaments with nun-chucks. Too many punks have ruined it for us. I don't think I can advise you on how to get these weapons but 'there's more than one way to skin a cat'. Thanks, Sensei Tom

WOW cleung, if you are up there competing against guys like Kevin Thompson you are competing against the best. I can't do the gymnastics either because I'm too old. You are on the right track with the traditional. The gymnastics look good because they are flashy but the meat & potatoes are in traditional. A good strong traditional kata is for real. This is the stuff original karate was made from. This is the stuff that will work in a combat situation. Good luck in the future I'm rooting for you. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everybody's family is healthy & happy & we all eat lots of good food. Oosh, Sensei Tom

Hey cleung I can identify with your feelings about going up against much younger competition. I went to the FIMA Fall Classic karate tournament last Sunday. They had no 45 yr. & older div. so they bunched us together both young & old. I immediately felt that I was going to lose. There were 10 competitors. I took second place. Some of the younger guys just had no passion. I learned that a lot of it is in our heads. I'm 59 yrs. old so 'keep on truckin'. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Congrats to mustbenuts on his 1st tourney. You can't really expect too much the 1st time. It's all a bit overwhelming if you have never experienced it before. Like I said before, what's important is that we learn from it. We all get nervous & we get those butterflies flying around in our bellies. The important thing is to get those butterflies in the right formation. Thanks, Sensei Tom

OK we are going to the AAU tournament on 12/10/06. I promise I'll get some pics from there. There are 3 things that go on you when you get old. The first is your memory & the other two I forget. Nyuck, Nyuck. Thanks, Sensei Tom

We just came back from the FIMA Fall Classic karate tournament in NJ. Rich Faustini, of the Faustini Institute of Martial Arts, runs a good show. There were 250 competitors & we were done & out before 2:30pm. 7 of us competed. David Weiss, 8 yrs. old, took 2nd pl. in kata & self defense. My brown belt fought in the advanced div. for the 1st time. He beat a red belt & was disqualified for head contact against a black belt. It was a backfist & he barely touched him. In the kids divisions they are strict. I would have given him a warning & moved on. It's partly my fault because in my dojo there is no such thing as 'no contact' to the head or face. He took 4th pl. Another green belt came in 4th in kumite also. I took 2nd in kata & I felt good. They did not have an over 45 div so I competed against both young & old. There were about 10 competitors. Out of 7 people we took home 3 trophies. The important thing is that the students learn & the Ronin Martial Arts Club is respected in the tournament circuit. The only bad thing is that I took a camera & I didn’t take any pics. I get so involved in the officiating & competition that I totally forget. Thanks, Sensei Tom

I'm waiting for the decision between Forbes & Brewer right now. One Judge gave it to Brewer the other Forbes the 3rd judge gave it to Brewer. Wow what a great fight. It could have gone either way. The other fight between Bravo & Bundrage was won by Bundrage. He stopped Bravo in the 7th. Anybody watch 'The Contender' this season? They had some good fights. Thanks, Sensei Tom

You guys are right on the mark. The guys that are serious don't want you to make it easy. They don't want you to give it away. They want to work for it. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Nope, no tests or ranking. They do test for officials though. You have to take a written & performance test. The officials are rated as 'R', 'J' & 'O'. I am a 'J' rated official. Thats why, much as I hate to admit it, we need some kind of governing body to keep out the phony rip-off artists & keep it real. Thanks, Sensei Tom

Thanks for the reinforcement guys. Sensei Tom

Sohan, You are so right they were old fights. I probably saw all of them before. When I see good fights I do get excited about them and for the moment I forgot they were re-runs. I apologize to anyone who thought these were live. Just a crazy old martial artist getting into it like it was real time. See these are some of the reasons my wife calls me a 'maniac'. Thanks for keepin it real. The real action is coming 11/11 when Patrick Cote fights Travis Lutter. Sensei Tom

Way to go Zorbazan. Thanks for keepin it real. Sensei Tom

Hey Bushido, The AAU is great. I've been a member for about 30 yrs. now. They don't check your credentials. I'm talking about something like the Boxing Commision. A regulatory body that makes sure people are legit. Thanks, Sensei Tom