Shorinryu Sensei

Hey pineapple...I'm 52 and know what you're saying. Do what I do...dump the kiddies on their buns! Despite the age difference, I find I'm still faster than they are, move smoother, react quicker...and in general, don't have to much of a problem with the "kiddies".

1. You have TERRIBLE ref's if they allow that sort of contact in a tournament...or is that allowed? 2. To get out of the match, just tell the center ref you concede (give up) or forfeit the match.

Okinawa Island of Karate by George Alexander. He also published a translation of the Bubishi, which is a waste of $'s IMO, and a whole series of videotapes (don't waste your $'s on those either), but the first book I mentioned is great if you're an Okinawan stylist.

Can we please lock this thread now and consider it dead?

OK, look at it this way. Say you have a tournament with 100+ competitors in it. There are 3-5 rings going at the same time,with 3-5 judges/ref's in each one. Our tournaments start at 10am sharp, and get over when they're done. This can be as late as 9:00 at night, or as early as 3:00 in the afternoon. Now, let's say we allow anybody to challenge a call. A sensei, any black belt or colored belt. Heck, why not let parents or even interested spectators challenge a call made by any referree or judge. What would you have? Total chaos, and a tournament that wouldn't finish before sometime the next day. Take for an example, if a friend of yours from your dojo is sparring and you feel that he didn't get a point that you felt he should have. You yell "STOP" or something and go to the center judge/ref and challenge the point. It would stop the action in that ring for probably at least 5 minutes. So, the contest continues. Again, you think your friend didn't get the next point fairly, so you yell "STOP" again. Another 5 minutes goes by, and off we go again. The next time it might be the other guys friends yelling "STOP", and yet another 5 minutes goes by. What I'm getting at here is that if you allow anybody to challenge a ruling, you're wasting a heck of a lot of time, and you're going to get the ref's pretty PO'd about the situation, and I personally wouldn't like it and would stop going to a tournament like that. I seldom take students to tournaments. It's purely elective and optional. I travel at my own expense and judge/ref tournaments without payment because the people that put them on are my friends. In the situation you are describing where lower belts (or anybody) can stop the action in a ring and challenge the ref's, I would...as a judge/ref...stop attending that sort of tournament. If my fellow inbstructors who also judge/ref felt thesame way,they would stop going also...and what sort of tournament are you going to have if nobody comes?

Everyone's given you good advice so far, but they've missed the most obvious, and in my opinion, the best place to go to help your kata get better. Ask your instructor for help. He knows the kata. He knows where you need work on it. And he should know how to make it better.

What? You don't wear your gi under your street clothes like Superman does with his costume? *tsk* ...darn kids these days.

Of course I'm going to be biased, but I always try to recommend Okinawan systems. they arent' as flashy as many others, are VERY effective in a street fight, and you just can't beat the origional! Now here you may have a problem. Many (not all) systems that are heavy into tournaments are VERY flashy and ineffective for self-defense. Think a Corvette with a lawn mower engien under the hood. Looks good, but doesn't work.

I agree with G95champ...I'm not a fan of contracts either. There must be a lot of martial arts schools in St. Louis that arent' big commercial schools. Check out health clubs, dance studios, gymnastics schools, adult education classes...go to a tournament if you can and ask questions. There could be hundreds of backyard dojo's in that large of a city. Don't discount them because they don't have a fancy place to train. some of the beswt training in the world might be in somebody's garage, basement or back yard. Also... Possibly, but don't bet on it. Just because an instructor is teaching children does not mean he can't handle adults easily enough also. If you were inferring that because you're a weight lifter perhaps, I'd suggest you think again. The martial arts is a pretty good equalizer against bigger, and stronger people.

To me, a master is someone that truly has mastered the system/style that he practices. This takes years...and YEARS of intense practice and study of their art. Not just a mere 10-20 years. Personally, I feel the term "master" is tossed out WAY to frequently in the martial arts. I've seen quite a few people saying they were masters, or their students call (or are required to call) them master...and IMHO, they were about the skill level of some brown belts...maybe 1st Dans in most other systems. Granted (before you all jump all over me), requirements differ from system to system, but if you are a master of anything else in life, you have a lifetime of work and study into that area, and most "masters" of the martial arts I know, don't.

One thing I'd liek to point out about a street fighter, and I view it as a weakness that can be exploited, is that most often they will attack with 100% expendature of their energies right from the first thrown punch and try to knock you out or take yo uto the ground immediately. If you can survive the first 10 seconds of their onslaught, stay on your feet and evade/block their attacks, they will tire themselves out very quickly, drop any guard they might have (most don't have a guard when the punches start flying), and are pretty easy pickin's from that point on if you don't give them time to recover their energy. The trick is surviving that initial 10 seconds. This is why we spar in the dojo. You learn to govern your energy output and to not waste anymore energy than necessary in a fight. Use this to your advantage. Let him expend his energy. Learn to move out of the way of his attack, or parry his attacks away from you. when he's tired, and this will happen quickly, then you can do what needs to be done...or just leave. I did that once about 8 years ago. A guy came at me hard and fast. I sidestepped his initial charge and he fell down. He came at me again and I pretty much just parried his punch and he fell down again. This went on for maybe 30 seconds (seemed a lot longer) and after his 4th time of picking himself off the floor, he was to pooped to continue. I just walked away without even trying to strike back at him. He was laughed and jeered at and pretty well embarassed. Not to mention the fact that a 45 year old man had done this to him when he was around 23.

Good advise...except for the law school part. There's to many lawyers in this country already.

Literally HUNDREDS! And more "new and improved" ones popping up darn near every day.

Heck, if I'd have known there was going to be a test, I would have studied! These terms mean nothing to me, and I suspect don't to anybody else unless you're in the same system as you are. Am I wrong?

I saw no adversity...just a difference in opinion and perspective. Sure, friends is good. Got $100 I can borrow from you friend?

Thank you Patrick. I don't sweat the small things of life...there's to many big ones to worry about! We each have chosen our own paths and which way we want to go. Peace bro.

I mean if I were screwing with youJust to make sure you understand where I'm coming from here, the nunchaku is a weapon. Like any weapon, they have limitations and weaknesses in their movements. I would deal with an attacker with nunchaku as i would deal with an attacker with any other weapon, and that is using their limitations and weaknesses against them. They are not invincible and don't strike terror in my heart when I see someone using them (unless they're using them really BADLY!) I don't fear them any more than I fear a bo, sai, baseball bat, or gun. I have respect for them and what they are capable of doing, but I don't fear them because I understand them. So, freestyle, or traditional, if you confronted me with the nunchaku and threatened me with them, I would respond to the best of my abilities in defending myself against them.

It's amazing what you learn on this forum sometimes. I never even heard of that before...thanks!

Personally, I think you did just fine. You didn't hurt him like you could have done, you protected your daughter as you needed to do as her father, and I feel you were totally justified. You asked if we had any similar experiences. Years ago when I was a brown belt, I went to another city to visit my sister and her family. Her son Rob was about 10-11 at the time and was a decent kid. His step-dad, my sister's husband, was a likeable guy as far as I knew and we always got along well. Shortly after I arrived at their house, my brother-in-law left to grab something for dinner and a six pack of brew. When he had gone, my sister said "I want to show you this" and lifted my nephew's shirt up over his head. My nephew had severe black and blue bruises all over his sides from where my bro-in-law had taken a belt to him more than once. My nephew started crying at that point. Well, I just sat there thinking about what a you-know-what my bro-in-law was, then he came in the door. I didn't think, I just moved and grabbed him by his collar and slammed him against the wall. I'm 6'6" tall and at the time weighed around 220lbs. He was 5'9" and around 160 or so. I told him in no uncertain terms that if he EVER laid a hand on my nephew like that again, I'd put him in the hospital so quick he wouldn't know what happened. It never happened again, and they divorced about 6 months later. I do not regret doing what I did and wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I had to.

I'm trying to figure out where I'm insulting you Patrick. I don't see it. I also don't seewhere I'm bragging anywhere. I'm stating my opinion, as you are. We are looking at the nunchaku with different perspectives. Me, through eyes that see it as a weapon. You, that see it as a toy. That is not meant as an insult, but rather an obvious difference in perspective. For one thing, none of my students would do a "wrist flip" in my dojo unless it was before class, after class, or during a break. It's a technique that has no worthwhile application other than "for fun". What they do outside of class isn't my concern in the way of "flash". They are welcome to play with the nunchaku as much as they please on their own time, but not on mine. Where I see you as taking a weapon and turning it into a play thing...a toy. To me, it isn't elevating it, but rather, degrading it into something that is lesser than what it was. Again, a matter of perspective. There are martial arts out there that are doing the same thing IMO, by lessoning the combat applications and turning them into a sport. They are not advancing the art, but rather degrading them and making them into a "toy" martial art.

My system is under my name to the left, but it would be difficult to find an instructor of it as we are not a wide spread system like some others. It's the older style of Shorin Ryu, not the new and improved varitety. My students andI practice on Monday and Thursday nights from 6-8pm. As it is now, I have to scoot bck to work, but I'll be back on this afternoon for a while before class. If you'd care to check out our association website, its: http://www.geocities.com/rohai.geo/page.html You can contact Sensei Larry Mason via the website and ask him if he knows of anyone in your area that is teaching this system. There are also a few pictures of me taken back in 1978 with Sensei Kuda. I am also listed as #5 on the list of instructors and members of the association.

I teach out of a small health club that a friend owns in Evergreen (suburb of Kalispell), MT. As for a phone number, that wouldn't do you any good as it is a health club, not a karate dojo exclusively and the person that answers wouldn't be able to help you with anything. Basically what I'm saying si that I don't have a large, commercial dojo in the way that you're thinking. I have had those in the past, but found it wasn't to my liking. Might I ask why you want this information?

Those that want to learn from me come to my dojo to learn from me, not to a website. I'm not trying to teach the world, just my small little corner of it. I appreciate your skills PatrickGresham in what you are doing with the nunchauku, but I view the nunchaku as a weapon, not a twirling baton. That's where we differ. I can cripple or kill a person with them, not leave bruises and bumps because you twirled them wrong. As long as the people you teach realize that what you are doing is no different than twirling a baton and has little or no relevance to self-defense, then that's just fine with me.

Myself, I prefer checking out the 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner/GTX ads. I used to have one way back when. Sold it in '76 for $500!!!

I'll bet that's going to keep you up all night now thinking about it too.