hobbitbob

I came across this today on Netscape. I find it interesting that this issue isn't adressed more often by those who are MA "hobbyists" like me. By "hobbyist" I mean we are not professional prizefighters! I recall an earlier thread on injuries where someone posted they had sustained retinal detachment whilst sparring with light contact, and I have had a skull Fx from accidental contact in Ippon Kumite. I do think that this issue illustrates the fallacy that to do MA implies one must go full out and that the only way to train well is to sacrifice teeth, etc... Any thoughts? http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/06/17/toughman.injury.ap/index.html

I started out in Wado in 1981, and stayed with the JKF Wado-Kai for ten yrs. In 1991 I joined the Army. Karlsruhe, Germany, my first assignment, had no Wado club. I trained with the Uni Shotokan club for those two years,and graded to Shodan in 1992 under the aegis of the Deutsche Karate Bund (JKA). My second assignment was to madigan Army medical Center, in Tacoma, Wa. The instructor of the Ft. Lewis Karate Club was associated with ITKF. I stayed in the Seattle area after leaving the Army in 1995, and graded to Nidan in 1996 (ITKF...confused yet? ). I went to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for my MA in history in 1999. WHile there I trained with the Baltimore Karate Club (ISKF), as well as practicing with the university TKD club. I graded to Sandan (ISKF) in August of 2002. All are JKA rank, none are from the same organization. I'm back in Colorado now doing a PhD (Go Buffs!), and have switched to Seibukan Shorin Ryu. I will grade in Okinawa next summer. Rumour has it that this will either be a grading to first or third, depending on how I do. Nervous...me..? Already! The most frustrating thing was seeing the difference in Dan fees. My advice to Shotokan practitioners is go with the ITKF! My Nidan fees were reasonable. The ISKF's Dan fees are ridiculously high. I'm told that the fees for Seibukan will be $100.00, regardless of what Dan I receive! Of course, the cost of flying to Okinawa is rather high, presuming our fearless leader hasn't declared war on Japan by this time next year!

Considering Ishin-Ryu Jujutsu is a hybrid style......

If self-defense is really important to you in martial arts and you want something with realism no kata crap,I'd chose the Muay Thai/BJJ/Kali. Sounds like here you'd have alot of everything that's realistic, muay thai kickboxing,grappling and weapons training. Hmmm....did you have a bad experience with Kata? Realism? Why yes, every self defence encounter I've had my opponent and I were wearing boxing gloves... I would reccomend the Hung Fut school. There is a difference between learning to beat people up and learning a martial art. Unless you are planning a career as a prizefighter with free complimentary closed head injuries, go with what you can do for the next ninety years or so,

I did TKD whilst at U of Md. mainly because the price was right (free!), and it was on campus. I did continue with Shotokan at the time, however.It was fun,and was a good group, with instructors interested in teachinga martial art, not a sport. Consequently we did what would be considered by many to be "Korean Karate." I will probably not ever return to TKD. Sorry.

Go with Chito Ryu. It is an excellent,and not very frequently practiced (in the US) style! It often seems like an Okinawanized Shotokan, which makes sense considering Funakoshi was very close to Chitose. It should be a pleasant change from the "brute force" mentality of Kyokushin.

Pros: Increased flexibility, somewhat more aerobic. Cons: Less attention to detail, paediatric yudansha.

I looked at your link, no mysterious Gisen Sho. I am surprised at the number of Shito-ryu kata listed, also at the mistakes (Gekkisai are a series of beginner open hand kata used in Goju and Shito (as Ten No Kata and Chi No Kata), no BO kata.). Did you mean Sesan, which translates as "Thirteen" or "Thirty?" Sesan is practiced in most styles of Karate,and is a Koryu (old style) kata. the Shotokan version of Sesan is Hangetsu (half-moon). The concept of "Crusades" is not a pre-modern Asian one, and is native to Western Civilization. If youa re thinking of a traslated kata that describves smashing of destroying, perhaps you mean Saifa, which is seen in Goju and Shito.

I find that the students I correct (they would probably edit "correct" to "pick on mercilessly") are the ones I feel have potential. the ones whom it is obvious do not care, I tend to ignore, hoping they will go away, get hit by a bus, fade into invisibility, etc...

The Tae-blyech! forms are an excellent example of how, in the quest to "Koreanize" TKD any aspect of martial arts has been removed from TKD. the Chang-Han and Palgues are excellent forms, and stress good technique. The Tae-Icks! are easy....of course modern TKD goes for "easy."

It's not possible to end Tae-yuck 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 8 in the same spot you began. These may be the WORST forms ever invented.

Where is the "vomit" icon?

The concept of "the ring" is pretty much meaningless for those of us who practice karate as a method of self-defence and personal growth. I sincerely doubt that any of the techniques I have used in self-defence, which usually included damaging or destroying joints and blood vessels, would be allowed in a sporting arena. I don't beleive in "freindly punch-ups" in the pub. If I am going to fight, it is because the other choice is my dying!

I'm curios which organization you practice with? SKI is strong in Ireland, as is the group affiliated with Mr. Okazaki. The difficulty comes when someone decides to move and continue practice. Suppose you were to go to university in the US and, as a practitioner of SKI shotokan, you found yourself at a dojo affiliated with the ISKF? "Thank you for that wonderfuul round of Kata and Kumite, now please put on this white belt, or alternately, you can pay us $500.00 to re-test to Shodan." I have experienced this. My Shodan is from the Deutsche Karate Verbund (JKA Affiliate). My Nidan is from the ITKF,and my Sandan is from ISKF.

Our BB classes (monday and Wednesday nights ,7:45-9:30...or whenever we finish, usally 10;30ish or so! ) are opportunities to really tear apart Kata and extract self defence aspects (i.e.: Bunkai and Oyo). We do alot of partner work, and there is a lot of experimentation.

Would that this were so. Often the political splits have further implications. ISKF students, for example, are prohibited from atending seminars by non-ISKF people. What about recognition of Dan grade? For a long time neither Nishiyama or Okazaki's group recognized Dan ranking from Mr. Dalke's group, and still will not recognize rank from Mr. Kanazawa's group.

I don't believe so. I think that sprirtuality refers more to overall sensations of the numinous, whereas religion implies hard doctrine. Mircea Elieade addresses this in several of his books.

Speaking as a confirmed proponent of Japanese and Okinawan karate, I would have to say that Kenpo is a very fine martial art! I have always been very impressed with Kenpo practitoner's footwork,and with their eagerness to innovate. Having said that, I would have to add that, like TKD, Kenpo suffers from a large number of McDojo owners. Make sure the person you would train with is legitemate.

Why not just go the whole nine yards and create your own style, buy a certificate on Ebay, name yourself tenth dan,and open a McDojo?

The advantage to point stuyle sparring, in my non-humble opinion, lies most with its cardiovascular conditioning benefits (rather like wind sprints). Other than that, its pretty worthless. Back when I did tournaments, I would quickly kick my opponent in the thigh, or some such, take the warning for illegal contact,and count on having just intimidated the poor bugger! Its all about winning and losing, not about karate.

I began on February 6th 1981. I received Shodan in June of 1985. That's about average.

This was a major pioint of discussion at the Shotokan e-group a year or so ago. There is a tendency for prople with Woff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW) to be prone to suffereirng from ventricular arrythmias induced by percussive injuries to the chest. I have taken care of a few kids who have arrested due to this. In most cases the percussion to the chest leads to the developement of ventricular fibrillation due to a re-entry mechanism present in those with WPW. They posess increased amounts of conductive tissue in the aterioventricular junction, if I recall correctly,and electrical impulses can "re-enter" the ventricular conduction pathways, setting up lethal arrythmias. Ninjanurse, can you help me out here? Anyway, they enter vfib that is recalcitrant to electrical conversion, as well as to drug therapy like epinephrine and lidocaine. I have read of studies where calcium channel blockers were shown to have some utility, but by the time the patient reaches the ED, the ecfficacy of Ca++ channel blockers is doubtful. THis post in in danger of deteriorating into a critique of the new ACLS guidelines, so I shall quit while I'm ahead!

Some day I will tell you about the class I taught last term on Medieval Christianity! Arrgh!!

Fireka...you made sense...are you feeling well?

You would be surprised how many "Christians" haven't the foggiest ideas about basic tenets of Christianity. Rather like how many martial artists haven't a glimmer of understanding about Budo.