Shorinryu Sensei

Do all instructors act that way? *ahem* well, since I've been an instructor since September of 1978, and I don't consider myself as acting that way...I'd have to say no. Unless I'm the only one of course.

I've been teaching classes since 1978 and have had this situation happen numerous times over the course of those years. This is how I've handled it. First of all, the student is trying to mess up my demonstrating a technique to the rest of the class. Possibly to see if I can really do what I say I can do, or maybe just to see if he can make himself look tough. Whichever it is, its' definitely not nice! Of course, I, as the person being attacked, don't know in advance that the student is coming harder than is required for an effective demonstration, but part of being the instructor is that you have to be prepared for just about anything at any time. When a student gets a bit overzealous in his attack, I return the favor and have had to hurt students that are trying to hurt me. Not severely, no, but enough that they damn well know that if I'd have wanted to, I could have done worse to them. However, when I demonstrate a technique, I normally don't tell them what it is that I will be demonstrating right away. I prefer to tell them to attack me a certain way, or with a certain technique, then I demo the technique as close to actual real speed as possible, and as safely as possible to my opponent. In the case of a rear choke, I expect them to apply a good, strong choke on me, but not crush my windpipe either. I will react with what force is necessary to break the attackers technique and counter with one of my own. I've not had to repremand a student yet for excessive force while demonstrating on me, but I have had to put people down harder than I anted to just because that amount of force was necessary to free, or protect myself. I generally use my senior student (2nd Dan) as an aggressor, because he's 6'4" tall, about 230lbs and pretty solid and strong. He knows I want him to attack hard and realistically, and obliges at every opportunity.

I don't know specifically what the ATA sparring/tournament rules are, but the TKD tournaments I've seen basically show me two people standing either at a distance, or close in, trying to kick each other in the head. No punching at all (which is stupid to me personally), no grappling, no groin shots and no take downs allowed. How does JKD or Krav help you in that sort of sparring situation, as they are more practically oriented? I guess my best advice is to try to kick your opponent in the head. That's all they seem to try to do anyway from what I've seen.

Let me get this straight...you're going to be competing in some sort of "World Championship" tournament...right? And you want us to give advice on what techniques to use??? Uhhhh...didn't you have to compete in other tournaments and place high to qualify to make it to the World Championship in the first place? It just strikes me as odd to ask a question like that. Maybe it's just me?

This is a good point. Striking the backs of their hands very fast and hard with a backfist (my personal favorite and fastest technique) and striking the small bones on the back of their fists with your knuckles has got to hurt, possible damage the hands. However, you also have to consider that if you're close enough to do that, then you're darn close to their punching range also...so it has its drawbacks also.

I know of one karate guy that successfully defended against 5 cowboys alongside the highway years ago, but I don't have enough details or firsthand knowledge to talk about it. Myself, I was in a fight against 3 guys in a parking lot back in 1987. To make a long story short, I nailed one guy hard right on the nose, the 2nd guy got a solid snap kick to his mid-section, and the 3rd guy didn't want to play with me, so I helped him get his bud's in the car and they drove away. Scared the hell out of me after I thought about it, but I had no choice in the matter. Purely self-defense.

Pinan's here. I've seen the Japanese versions numerous times of them (Heians) from various systems and although similar in looks often times, the execution of the techniques, stances and bunkai of many (most?) of the movements can be quite a bit different. I'm from the old school of thought and the versions of the Pinans, and all of our kata's actually, that we do are the oldest versions that we can find. Essentially, we're actually trying to go backwards to the old ways, instead of forwards to the "new and improved" ways as much as possible...which is what I prefer.

Over the years I've seen a number of systems, including some TKD, that use the "knife edge" of the foot to sidekick with, and I've always thought it was a good way to break an ankle, or tear tendons/ligaments. I suppose their philosophy is that because it's a smaller striking surface, that it will penetrate farther. To me, I think the disadvantages and dangers of it far outweigh the advantages.

Ahhhhh...ya gotta love Google! This took me about 15 seconds to find this info: http://www.desakarate.com/ http://www.dunnigankarate.com/ http://www.threebattles.com/ I can't vouch for any of them personally, but it's a start. Copy and past this exactly (including the quotes) into https://www.google.com and see what you get back..that's what I did. "karate, Edmonton, Alberta"

It I could actually sit in on a class of yours, I'd be much more able to do a comparison, but I'd say that we don't do as much physical conditioning (jumping jacks/pushups, etc) as it sounds like you do, and kata are at the end of a 2 hour class for about 30 minutes. The primary focus of what I teach is practical self-defense applications (about an hour of the class) and weapons are not taught until you get to your sankyu belt. I believe you need to be competent with your hands and feet before you tackle the complexity of weapons training. Speaking of class...time to go!

I use the 3 strikes, and you're out rule myself. Depending on the severity of the unruliness of course, I generally warn them once...then a second time. Third time, they are sitting out (again, depending on the severity of the infraction) for anywhere from 15 minutes, to the rest of the class. If this student is continually unruly in EVERY class, they are gone...period! I don't have the time, nor the patience to waste on someone, adult or child, that isn't there to learn.

Agreed! You sound bitter about the call, but as a judge at tournaments for the past 20+ years or so, I'd make the same call if I saw that. And most judges that have been doing this for a long time will see that sort of technique, and make the call accordingly.

You'd spit on them? I'll assume that remark was meant as humor...unless you have AIDS of course, then yes, it might kill them...eventually. I agree with Ironberg, in that the first thing I'd do, if all they wanted was my money, is give it to them. If, however, they wanted to fight, a lot depends on how they are standing in regards to you. In front is much easier to deal with, but surrounded isn't imposible by a long shot either. Personally, I'll fight only when there is no other recourse.

I'll agree with Ironberg on this one. Military training is designed to kill, not to get your opponent to submit generally. Plus, the psecial forces personel would be using weapons and every dirty trick in, or out of the book, including biting, scratching eyes, etc. They are also fully trained on where and how to use a knife effectively, so the chances of them going to the ground weaponless are slim at best i would think.

You know tommarker, it's sometimes scary how I read your posts and ALWAYS agree with you! On a more personal note, a couople of weeks ago the local contingent of Army Reservists returned from a years tour in Iraq to a hero's welcome. Parade, yellow ribbons on every tree in town (that's a lot of trees here!), partys and celebrations. And you know what? all I could think of that whole day as I watched them roll downb the street in the Welcome Home Parade, was all those Vietnam vets that I served with that came home to virtually nothing. If any of them, and all vets and active service men and women that are reading this...a GREAT BIG THANKS!!! You are appreciated!

Generally when I fight my students, I try to fight just a little above their level so that it forces them to work harder, thus improving (hopefully) their skills. However, if I get a student that is feeling their "oats" a bit, getting to cocky, or intentionally hurting others during sparring, then I will give them my best shot and so far, pretty much dominate the fight. I do have one student, my sempai (senior student) that is a 2nd Dan BB, and he gives me a real run for my money every time. He's beatend me a few times, which I'm quite pleased with, but a lot of the time I can hardly get in on the guy because he knows all amy tricks! lol Plus he's about 12 years younger than I am...but still, I'm a sneaky old bastard that lives by the motto..."Age and treachery will overcome young and skill"!

I've never seen (or heard of) a man fighting a bear before in a martial arts sort of fight, but I've had the opportunity to work with young grizzly and black bears in the past through a woman I dated, and believe me, if a man can use karate to defeat a bear, then he's fighting a VERY old, sick, crippled, drugged or PET bear...not a "REAL" bear! Think about it for a moment. A bear, ANY BEAR, has far more muscle mass, fat, larger bones, strength, raw power, and yes, (paw/arm)speed..than ANY man has. Ask anyone that has had some good contact with a bear, and he will tell you that bears are incredibly fast with their front paws, and trust me...I'm 6'6" tall and weigh 240lbs, and I have no doubt in my mind that any bear, if it wanted to, could knock me on my feet in an instant and pretty much do whatever it wanted to do with me, and there wouldn't be a darn thing I could do about it. Assuming of course I didn't have a large calibre firearm handy of course. But hand vs paw...nope, there's not a shread of doubt in my mind that a bear can easily, if it wanted to, subdue and do whatever it wanted to do..to a man. ANY man!

You said it all right there. If you have poor balance in kibadachi, I would imagine it is present in your other stances as well. It might just be more obvious to you when you're in kibadachi. You can't get very far with poor balance, and it sounds like he's holding you to a higher standard. I've said it over and over again to our students, and I'll say it to you: Worry about yourself, not those around you. Most people have enough to deal with when it comes to fixing their own faults. Different people receive different feedback based on what the instructor thinks they need at the time. Some people receive negative scores and work hard to convince their instructor they deserve better. Other people get negative scores and become disheartened and give up. It's all a dress rehearsal for your Dan test anyway, which is just a rehearsal for your Kodanja test, etc I'll agree (as usual) with tommarker on this. One thing you have to understand here is that nobody on this forum has seen you in a class, or during a test, but if you know that our stances are weak, that alone can lower a testing grade in my opinion, and the higher of a belt you are testing for, the more it will affect that grade. I will allow sloppy stances on the first test (yellow), but there had better be improvement on the next test, or they won't pass..period! As for your asking questions in class, I encourage my students to question me and challenge what I say to them. However with that said, I expect the questions to be useful and pertain to the subject at hand, not random ramblings about things that aren't relevent at the moment. That wastes class time. Also, I've seen schools that don't allow, or encourage questions. Some down right expect you to just do what you are told and keep your trap shut! I don't like those myself, but I've seen it. My best recommendation is to make an appontment with your sensei if he's real busy and just plain ask him... "What do I need to improve on to get my test scores higher?" "What is holding me back in your opinion?" "What are the chances of your giving me some one-on-one help to improve?" For one thing, those questions will send a definite signal to your sensei that you want to improve, and will usually impress the heck out of him. You sensei is your most valuable resource for improving yourself in that class. Use him!

As others have said already, a lot depends on what system you chose to study, and what that particular dojo emphasises and teaches in class. There are many schools and systems out there that I personally feel are next to worthless for street self-defense unless their opponent stands like a post rooted into the ground, closes his eyes and says "Go ahead...HIT ME!" Then yes, they would work fine for self-defense purposes. Basically, any martial arts system is SUPPOSED to be designed to protect yourself from the average person on the street in a confrontation, but many arts have switched their emphasis to sport/tournament type techniques, which aren't very applicable in a street confrontation, so beware of those and look at a system with a critical eye. I wouldn't recommend listening to the instructors opinion when you first go in to watch a class, as most will tell you their system is perfect for street applications, as I've seen many times before...and most just aren't now days. As for low blocks not being able to defend agaisnt kicks...hogwash! We spar full contact using Okinawan boju gear, and I routinely block full force kicks with my arms. Low kicks are blocked with my legs/shins (yeah, it hurts until you get used to it), not by bending over and blocking with my arms. You should NEVER bend over to reach to block a kick...it exposes your head nicely for a punch, but I see people do it all the time.

I wrote a bit in there, but have to go. I'll try to expand on it later if I can.

My interest in the arts started back in the Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris era of the late 60's and early 70's. There were limited opportunities to take classes where I lived, but I had the opportunity to work with a friend of mine while stationed in the Army in (West) Germany in 1973-4. After I got out of the service in eptember of 1974, a friend of mine was taking classes from a new instructor that had just moved to my town. He had recently gotten out of the Navy and had studied for several years on Okinawa under the head of the system. So, in January of 1975, I started along this long, interesting path we all call the martial arts. Now, why did I start in the first place? And why have I stayed with it these many years? I guess I've always been fascinated with what the huiman body was capable of doing with the right training. Take gymnastics for example. I'm constantly amazed at what these people are capable of doing. The same with the arts. One slight twist of the body, or a bump here or there can toss a person on the ground, or cause a lot of pain. Oh crap...gotta go...I'll try to get in ehre and write more later.

Good advice. also, you can expect an outlay of cash ranging around $3,500-5,000 or more for space rental, trophies, insurance, advertising, and God knows what else pops up. If you give out small, cheap trophies, people will leave with bad feelings and won't conme to another of your events possibly. I've seen that happen several times. Most promoters of small tournaments that I know tell me they usually break even (+/-). See if a local judo club might help with score/time keeping for free in exchange for the same thing from you when they do one of their tournaments. I've done that before and it works GREAT! Have you talked to your son's sensei about this? That's a good place to start. If he can't help you, ask him for someone that can. If they attend tournaments, he should be able to give you names of promotors that "should" be willing to send you info on what you need to get started. I'd say that from the beginning stage of planning, to the actual tournament day...will be about 9 monbths to one year, so don't rush. Also, get sponsers. Talk to motels in your area about discounts for participants, and restaurants. Make a participants handbook of rules/regs to send to other dojo's that might come. In that book, put sponsers advertising...it will help defray some costs.

You've been gone???

I supose everybody's definition and idea of what "American Karate" is will be different, so here's my idea. I beluieve American Karate is sonmething that American's took from traditional Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, etc martial arts and either attempted to improve it (that's up for debate of ocurse), or taht has already been mentioned, combined several arts together and called it a generic name...such as AK. It's not much different that what America has been doing for its entire history. Taking others ideas and running with them and changing them and calling it their own.

I wouldn't recommend the leg weights myself. Added weights make your legs harder to stop the kick before they reach full extension, and could cause you to tear ligaments or muscles in your joints and legs, possibly causing permanent injury.