hobbitbob

Which Shorin Ryu do you practice? I do Seibukan. We have a few Matsubayashi practitoiners here,as well.

" the last thing you want to do is shut off the blood flow to your friends brain and kill him" That depends, has he a cute girlfiend?

just received the book today. It is excellent!

On the other hand, a quick strike to the cricoid cartilage will disable pretty much anyone. Nothing mystical or "chi-like." Simple anatomy.

If you have difficulty with your knees, I would reccomend Shito or Wado, or, better yet, an Okinawan style. I did Shotokan for about twenty years,and my knees are shot. Shorin Ryu is much easier on them.

Impact training! An hour per day with a heavy bag/makiwara/any combination of the above.

Then ask your seniors. What did you practice before that has you so afraid to ask questions? On Shudokan: Is that the Toyama Kanken lineage, or teh Goju-Ryu lineage? I know of one Goju dojo in Yakima, but I thought they were IOGKF.

Repeat after me: "I am a beginner. I need help with simple things. In about three months I will be doing the same thing to help new beginners. "

The t-shirt: Check with your Sensei. The cup: The "boastfully large codpiece" is a permanent part of my Karate attire. I have taken enough shots to the groin that without the cup, I would be a tenor instead of a Baritone by now!

when in doubt,ask your seniors. It is what they are there for.

When in doubt...ask your Sensei!

Wow, what a completely disingenous statement. guaranted to bring in more students, and guarantee that the ones you do have get pounded when they go out looking for fights!

Rarely have I felt so honoured.

I have to disagree on this one. "Alpha Males" are fond of invading each others personal space and getting chest to chest, nose to nose, screaming at the top of their lungs at each other, pointing fingers in each other's faces, etc... before begning to swing. These are often bloody, brutal fights!

Practicing with plastic fast food knives works for me, especially since you can still be scratched quite nicely with the serrated edges on the things! It adds a small amount of realism!

John Sells' "Unante" , Mike Bishop's "Secrets of Okinawan Karate" and Harry cook's "Shotokan Karate: A Precise History" are excellent sources to find out the history of Karate. The Sells and Bishop books should be available at any chain bookstroe, the Cook book is a little harder to find.

On Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays I would take the shuttle from Campus downtown to the Metro station, where I would take the metro to catch a bus, to take me to the Dojo. It was an hour trip. After class I would repeat the trip, getting off the subway downtown and waiting 45minutes to an hour for a bus from downtown Baltimore to home. I would get home around 11:30 p.m. and get up at 5:30 to make it into an 8:00 a.m. class. I guess it all depends on one's priorities.

In Japan and Okinawa, and most of Europe, smoking is the norm. When I was an impressionable beginner, I atended a summer camp sponsored by the Colorado JKA, where one of the guest instructors was Osaka Yoshiharu. Imagine my chagrin when I saw someone I considered to be above reproach smoking! Now I know better. I think the habit is repulsive, but it doesn't make someone a bad person. Even in the US the habit is accepted regionally. In Baltimore it seemed like evreyone smoked! Yuck! Here in health conscious Colorado fewer people smoke, and there is a fairly comprehensive ban on smoking in public places. Smoking seems to be coming back among the younger set, which I find regrettable.

One of my favourite "street weapons" is a rolled up copy of the "Economist! You should learn to improvise.

It would depend on teh target, I would think. I side kick ot the knee or shin is a great first defensive weapon.

Never block with your nose!

A knife hand strike to the back of the neck, if applied properly, and at the correct angle, may cause damage to the cervical vertebrae, but it is more likely to just annoy someone. The same with the fabled "nose bone (which doesn't exist, by the way, the nose being made up of mostly cartilaginous tissue with only the first 1-1.5 centimeter being bone)" strike, It may cause blured vision and a a nose bleed, but many people simply fight through it. More effective target areas are the throat, to crush the thyroid cartialge, which brings about death via hypoxia; the side of he neck, stimulating the vagus nerve via striking the carotid sinus, which can lead to unconsciousness via rapid drop in blood pressure; the base of the skull, whic can lead to fractures of the occiputal skull, haemmorage, or disruption of the spinal cord where it enters the foramen magnum; The zygomatic arches, which may break, and lead to further orbital fractures, which may in turn lead to damage to the optic nerve; The area just above the pubic bone which may lead to rupture of a full baldder, causing intense pain and, if untreated, death via sepsis; The pubic syphysis, which if separated makes locomotion difficult, to say the least. these are some suggestions.

If you like weapons and aggressive technique, then try Uechi or Kempo. The Uechi people do things like Tsumasaki geri (kicking with the great toe, rather than the ball of the foot) and hardcore shin conditioning. You'll love it! If you are in Massachusetts you are in George Mattson country, and are likely to find some very good teachers!

Shooting them in the head or chest works, so does running over them with a steam roller. Don't hold your breath looking for the death touch (pun intended)!

Sprint training is a good idea too, since much sparring is anaerobic training.