rogue2257

I agree. There is no realistic way that you can get an idea of how the class works out, the personality of the instructors, and even if you'll enjoy the atmosphere of the school. That takes several classes. Ten minutes isn't even enough to cover the basic kihon.

True that. Hydrogen peroxide works spectacularly well for getting blood off a gi.

I think its something that many practitioners don't think about. Training sessions tend to begin with the knife or gun in-hand, and the general assumption is that it will be that way, when it won't. Its kind of like people who view the conceal-and-carry laws as the answer to their prayers in protecting themselves. They feel comfortable being liscencsed to carry a gun on their person, and then just leave it at that. That's just the beginning. From there, you have to figure out where you will carry it on your person, and then learn how to deploy it when necessary. Otherwise, you just have a weapon that you think you'll be able to get to when you get cornered, and it just doesn't end up working that way. One of the popular retorts to the guy asking the Martial Artists the "what would you do if..." questions is the, "well, I'd just shoot you." I'd say, "Oh, yeah? Were is your gun right now?" When they move to deploy their fake gun, crawl all over them, and see how far they would have got. This can be a real eye-opener. Stellar points, as always. Got me thinking. In law enforcement training, there's a "21 feet rule." The idea is.... an attacker with a knife rushes an officer and they have to try to draw and shoot before the attacker stabs them. The rule is that if the attacker is within 21 feet when they begin their rush, the person drawing the firearm will NOT have time to draw and fire before they are struck by their partner. I've had arguments with a friend of mine, myself arguing in favor of martial arts training, where it's come down to "okay then I'd just shoot you." And I honestly remember being a little dumbfounded and not knowing what to say. It's hard to argue with bullets... or for that matter, a close minded individual. Martial arts training has always been about much more than simply martial training, with its philosophical and spiritual undertones (in karate at least), but we ought to practice what we preach. If we claim that martial arts training is about self defense as much as it is about self improvement, then we need to train that way.

That's quite a statement... one of the best in the entire world? Well. Glad you enjoyed it, in any case. Welcome to the forums.

Generally what happens with new people joining any of the classes that we run (we run a number of classes every week, and not all in the same place) is that an individual is allowed to try out a few classes, and if they've decided they're interested they'll begin paying the monthly fee. It isn't uncommon for new people to be given a free month of classes when they start paying. In terms of how they're treated though, they get thrown in the mix for warm ups, then one of the more advanced ranks typically takes them off to the side for the duration of the first class and orients them with the kihon and then they come back for the end of the class, at which point the majority of the class is usually doing kata, and they get to watch that.

When shaking hands, we teach that to show respect for the other individual (and to show that one is unarmed) we rest the left hand over the right forearm while shaking with the right. I can't tell you how many times I've inadvertently done that while meeting new people, even when I'm not in my gi, and it's always a little awkward. I get a little sheepish and I have to explain "its a karate thing."

Even if you don't always have the physical space to work out, you can run though your techniques, combination, and kata in your head. Almost every night falling asleep, I'm running through new katas over and over again in my head, drilling them into my subconscious, so when I do have the opportunity to practice at class I can focus on the perfection of technique rather than trying to remember the kata.

Despite being a practitioner of karate for the last 16 years, I've never been comfortable wearing my gi outside of class. I think it invites unnecessary attention to what we do. Of course, I've known plenty of people that will wear their uniforms all the way from home, to class, to the store, to the gas station, etc., almost as if wearing it is a badge of honor. I've come to feel the opposite way about it. I don't NEED to advertise that I'm a karateka, and I don't NEED to advertise that I'm a black belt. Like I've mentioned before, I'm always happy to have a serious conversation about karate or martial arts, but walking around, advertising oneself as a martial artist is just an invitation for confrontation and undue attention.

Well that answers one of my questions, thanks. If you're familiar with them, (and I'm making these assumptions based on the videos I posted previously) surely then, you've noted the striking similarities between the two forms. While the practitioners in the two posted videos are clearly of very different styles, the actual techniques that are being performed are very similar, up until about the halfway point of the kata. Of course, if you're more familiar with them than I am, and I'm incorrect in my assessment, feel free to enlighten me to the contrary.

At the University of Akron, here in OH, I took a karate class that was taught by the late Hanshi Anderson of the Kwanmukan system (the system I'm in). I think it was worth one credit, a phys ed requirement, if I recall correctly. I believe there was also some sort of self defense course offered, but I don't know anything about it.

Of course there isn't always a 1:1 translation for the empty handed techniques, but sai techniques tend to be more similar to open handed techniques than any of the other traditional kobudo weapons, in my experience. Occasionally, just for the fun of it, I'll attempt to create kobudo versions of some of the traditional empty handed kata. That's all starting to get away from the point I was originally trying to make though. Even with translating empty handed techniques into weapon techniques, there is significant variation from action to action. The katas I first mentioned, Hamahiga no sai and Yaka no sai are incredibly similar, if you carefully look at each of the individual actions as opposed to the stylistic differences between the two practitioners. Furthermore, you see very very similar sequences between many of the sai kata that I've seen. Of course, I might be wrong, and this isn't necessarily accurate across all sai kata, but that's just the observation I've been able to make from viewing various kata from various styles.

You know, that's an interesting concept that I hadn't considered before. With the knife work we've done we've practiced disarming an attacker wielding a knife, both empty handed and with a knife of our own, but not retention of the weapon should someone else attempt to disarm. It would definitely be something worth practicing.

Good for you. Hope you have fun with it.

A notion that has merit, certainly. On the other hand, look at the traditional empty handed kata. They're only so many ways to punch somebody in the head, but there's a lot of variation from kata to kata. You don't typically see the same sequences repeated over and over, to an extent, certainly, but not the way I've seen with certain sai kata. I suppose though, that that could be something far more common amongst the kobudo kata and I've just not had enough exposure to the various forms to notice.

This has always been a huge pet peeve of mine. I remember seeing a video on Youtube awhile back (I looked again and it had disappeared) where the practitioner kiai-d for every single hand action that he did. It looked and sounded utterly awful. I have to regularly explain to the kids in class why long long kiais are not necessarily better than short, spirited ones.

As much as I love my nunchaku, and I do LOVE my nunchaku, I admit I struggle with the notion of actually carrying them around for a number of reasons. It's something I had briefly considered for a time and decided against, and I'll tell you why. First, there's the issue of concealment. It is far easier, and much more logical, to carry a knife for personal protection because a knife is simply far far easier to conceal. I know we were hypothetically discussing cold weather, and thus having coats available, but even so, it would be more difficult to conceal and subsequently draw (under stress) a pair of nunchaku than a knife. Secondly, I think the public perception of someone that carries a knife is very different than someone that carries around a pair of nunchaku. Carrying a pocket knife is hardly uncommon, even as a tool, not necessarily as a weapon. But someone that carries around nunchaku on the other hand... Even I, as a martial artist that regularly practices with nunchaku would start questioning the judgment there. I would have to wonder if this person is trying to show off, if they're just "playing karate," or what exactly their intent is in carrying a weapon that most people have seen only in movies. On the other hand, I've always shied away from advertising myself as a martial artist to the general populous, as I'm sure many of you do, and carrying nunchaku hardly helps with that goal. I get so tired of people asking inane question about martial arts that I just don't talk about it. "So can you beat me up?" "So is karate better than kung fu?" "So can you teach me how to kill somebody with the death touch?" ...etc,etc... I'm always willing to have a down to earth conversation about martial arts, but in my experience, it unfortunately doesn't usually turn out that way. So finally, on top of all the rest of that, even for those well practiced with nunchaku, it is far far easier to use a knife. The nunchaku is a complex weapon, and when it comes right down to it, sticking the pointy end of a knife in somebody else might just be easier.

Personally, I have to recommend the heavy gi. I used to train in a light one, but I wouldn't use anything but the heavier material now. The heavy is a stronger material, so it'll last longer. On top of that, when you do your punches and kicks well, the gi makes a nice popping sound that you just don't get with the lighter material. Of course, I have to tell you how I lost my lightweight gi. I was sparring another black belt in class and right in the middle of the match, he ended up stepping on the very bottom of my gi pants as I was stepping backwards and the pants tore all the way up to my thigh (I'm a tall guy, so that's quite a ways.) It wasn't my most spectacular moment in karate, to say the least. Funny though.

Great video. Hard to imagine actually being in a situation like that though. I have to imagine it would be incredibly difficult to break out of the initial shock of the situation.

I just found these videos on Youtube about the nicho tanbo and I'm utterly fascinated. I'd never previously heard of short staffs being utilized in kobudo aside from the jo. Of couse, I'm aware of Escrima and other martial arts using some short staffs but not necessarily any Japanese arts. Does anyone actively practice with the hanbo/tanbo? It seems a relative rarity in terms of available information. I've not been able to find anything in the way of nicho tanbo kata online, (the way the weapons are shown utilized in the videos below, and how kama, sai, and tonfa are generally used). Anyone heard of these being used like this for traditional forms, or practice with them in class? I think it's something I might like to get into. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn3uaqgb0pc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_H-qYMRHDE&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i13KfILluY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ87WasqzQk&feature=related

From what I've seen, a lot of the sai katas seem to have extremely similar sequences, if not the exact same sequences in many places. Of course, this is just the observations of someone that doesn't have the opportunity to learn them from a regular instructor.

You know, I forgot to mention Funakoshi's books because its been so long since I've read them. both Karate-Do Nyumon (basics) and Karate-Do Kyohan (advanced) are excellent overviews over Shotokan Karate. Some of the teachings in there are very very traditional and aren't necessarily relevant to modern training, but the concepts are still there. (When I mention traditional training I'm referring to the type of training where you get hit with a sword when you're not low enough in a stance, or a sumo-size individual jumps on your back to make your split stretch further, the sort of thing that would have lawsuits all over the place.) Any any case, I'd definitely recommend both of those books as well.

That's fairly similar to other versions f the kata I've seen. Hand actions are all the same, but the steps are a little different. Anyway, thanks for sharing all the same!

Sorry, I hate to ask, but what does MT refer to?

I have to agree here, a lot of the most basic techniques learned in karate (deep stances and the standard defends in particular) simply have no place in kumite. After all, have you ever seen someone in a true deep kiba dachi (horse stance) in kumite? Of course not. It's just impractical. The notion that simple, or basic combinations may be better in kumite is hardly without merit, but the expectation that traditional karate techniques belong in kumite is absurd. Everything is much faster and more free flowing. Those sorts of techniques belong to kata, where they can shine.

I'm sure your situation is frustrating, I can definitely relate to the notion of wanting to train and improve more and not having the means to do so. In the last year or two I have done significant training outside my school in the areas of kobudo and kata because there are certain things we simply don't get around to learning during the regular training hours at my school. Now, some people will tell you that you need a teacher to be able to properly learn and understand any sort of martial art and that attempting to train without the direct instruction of a teacher is pointless and not necessarily beneficial to your understanding of the martial art in question, a notion that I only partially agree with. I agree that one needs a strong foundation (basic techniques, stances, understanding of bunkai) that can really only be learned from and corrected by an actual instructor that can look at your technique. However, based on my own experiences, I can tell you that is unquestionably possible to learn without the direct supervision of a teacher through the use of books, videos, and the internet. Youtube has been an invaluable asset in picking up new kata for me, but I'm admittedly a very visual learner and I can quickly pick things up that way. On top of that, since you're a practitioner of Shotokan Karate (which is what I practice) I have to recommend the "Best Karate" series of books by Matayoshi Nakayama. The books are extremely detailed, containing pictures and a very clear explanation of each technique. They range from the application of basic techniques and kumite all the way up to the most advanced of Shotokan style kata. If its kata in particular you're looking to improve, the use of videos freely accessible on Youtube in combination with the books I recommended should get you where you want to go. Of course, once you've learned a form, perfecting it is another matter entirely, which is admittedly difficult to do without having someone to watch and critique. I've always found that videotaping yourself performing a kata is a reasonable substitute for another's comments, assuming you can be honest with yourself and what you need to work on. It is admittedly an extremely humbling experience actually seeing yourself perform a kata on tape because it often looks very very different than what you think it may in your mind's eye. Of course, you can always post videos of yourself online asking for comments as well (something I've done myself). I know there are plenty of people on this forum at least who would be happy to give you additional pointers. Of course, all that in mind, nothing is truly better than having other people to train with.