Kensai

Depends. Do you want to be a good martial artist, or a great martial artist? Just my opiniuon. Take Care

"The Gracies have trained many more MMA stars then ever will come out of their family. Everyone seems to overlook that." Or martial artists dont consider sport fighting important. Take Care

But if he did, would it matter? It seems that the Gracies have something to prove, we all know they can fight. They should now be focusing on the art they created, refineing it and getting respect from the wider community. Not shooting off at the mouth. Is there anywhere I can get a clip of the fight? take care

lol. Tiger you are missing the point, once one has the ability to control Ki, the size and strength of one's muscles are not important. As you increase the size of your muscles, you prohibit the flow of ki. Look at the great Wudang and Aikido masters, they were not hugely musclar men, they were toned and fit yes.(as a healthy mind needs a healthy body). Yet they could easily dispatch a larger oppenent. You only have to read Sun Lu Tang's book to see this. Muscles and strength mean nothing once you can control your own Ki. If you tense your arms for a punch, then you stop the flow of Ki. Ki works best in fluid circular motions, even Hsing I punchs slightly arch. Like you said Kokyu relaxs the body, so tensing for a strike will not help.

three60roundhouse, I have always respected what you say, this is because I listen to what you say. Now, the Gracies dont have my respect. Mainly because of their beating of ALL other styles. I dont know why they had to do this, they abused their popularity simply to get people into thier dojo's. If you have to beat on one of the greatest Martial Artists EVER, O Sensei Ueshiba, simply because of my comments, then this is a measure of BJJ. But if you lose you lose, take the ref's dicision as final. I am sure that if it went in his favour the Japanese fighter would have been more than respectful.

I have had Ki "work", not all the time, but it does. Just looked at the page, it is an Aikido page. The Ki exercises work VERY well. If you can use them in training against attacks, than the actual defences, the techniques work a lot better if you see what I mean. All the "Cool Ki Tricks" I have done, and they really work. The Kokyu (breath power). When it comes to killing emotion, this takes along time. My friend studies Qi Qong, and the effect of his training can be clearly seen, even when sparring.

That is what I ment Endzone. All the best.

Sounds interesting, I am not a big fan of changing any of the traditional arts. But needs must and all that.......... Please dont create a sort of Dux Ryu hybrid. If you dont do this, you will always have my respect. Best of luck with your system.

Shotokan was never really TRADITIONAL in the Okinawan sence. I have studied Shotokan with the best teachers in the UK, namely Sensei Enoeda, and this is how I have formulated my opiniuon, though experience. Meditation, unfortunately will not give us the power to fly or create fire balls. Meditiation however does give us the ability to clear our minds, to get a state of Mushin (no mind). This gives you the ability to move quickly and react fast, this is what gave many of the great masters the aura of super powers. Also when in a state of Mushin, one has no fear, no love just nothing. So nothing is in the way apart from your goal. The Aikido Ki exercise's are to promote these abilties, to basically make you unmoveable. "Breath in the Unverise and breath out the universe" Sensei Williams.

Hurray the GRACIES keep losing. Ever heard of the the Gracie killer? Perhaps they can get off their horse, unfortunately the horse died years ago, along with the respect that other MA gave to BJJ. Take Care.

You have be 18 to be a black belt in my federation. I dont really think you should get the grade until you are 18. As you are biologically and mentally mature, and also if you really want to be a black belt you wont mind waiting. Take Care

I am aware of the use of Kiai's, in Aikido they are done silently, the shout itself is not important, it is just a manifestation of the Ki that you are trying to project. It is my understanding that Nakayama, believed that shotokan should follow a more scientific lines, not so much Ki. But perhaps I am wrong. Seiken No Itten is the use of the hara, it is very difficult in Shotokan, to begin to use Ki, as unfortunately is has move a lot more towards sports, especially the big unions like the KUGB and SEKU. Also the large exchanges in the hips and stepping. But to advance to the best in shotokan (which VERY few do) is to cast aside the idea of the use of the biscep for effective punching and the use of tension, as this only hurts the body in the long run. But to use better biomechanic's which is the closest thing to explaining Ki on a scientific level. Welcome back Tiger.

lol. Meditation is nothing. The skill is in the movements. Ki is alive not some dead entity that enters your mind ONLY when all is quiet. It is around us all the time, it is us. It is not the sort of thing that can be merely acquired! But looking at the list of your arts, you dont really use Ki, except in Kiai's. Which dont really focus Ki constantly. Meditation is something that must be taught, try going to a good Wudang Kwoon or Aikido dojo, it is not just a matter of sitting and thinking I want ki. lol. take care.

The Dim Mac or death touch, is less about pressure points and more about Ki/Chi meridians. A good book is Essential Anatomy for Healing and Martial arts, by Marc Tedeschi.

This is the true battle, the one of the mind. I have found that I dont really presieve my oppenent, look through them. Think that they are just an obstical, just another thing in the way. If they win, then they have done you a favour, in showing your weakness's. I know the feeling that ever time you move out to do something you are met with a barriage of attacks that you can do NOTHING about! Unfortunately the only advice I can give you, is "just do it!" like you said. This is the one battle you HAVE to fight on your own. All the Best.

Well, Aikido, is very different from its sister Japanese arts in that it focus's more on Ki, use and generation of Ki. The techniques are more like Jujutsu, as Aikido is based on Daito Ryu Aikijutsu, which is rougthly 800 years old. However, Aikido techniques also have a large influence from the Chinese Wudang, especially Ba Gua. Aikido pretty much covers the whole of the grappling spectrum, ground and standing. Also lots of weapons training. But I have also heard that the Gracies do train there people well and I cant fault that. There is NOTHING worse than a mcdojo!

three60roundhouse, I need to learn about BJJ, so anything that will help with that is much appreicated. BJJ, in my eyes, is a masterful and very scarey art, one of the few I would really hate to go up against. The techniques appear very sciencific and well thought out, the ground fighting is second to none. BUT I HATE the Gracies. From the UFC I have seen, the techniques work well in sport. Like most MA's any MA training is better than none, and against any man in the street a BJJ practioner would clean up. If it were me, I would really like a throw and run tactic. Bon, a martial art that can take on muiltiple attackers and not only win but walk away in one piece, AIKIDO! I have just got back from my lesson, having done two man attacks, and seeing some 3 and 4 man. But I dont need to sell Aikido it sells itself. take care

Thanks. All I say Punch is from the heart, it is what I really believe, if I dont like something I will tell you, if I do, then I will argue it until my dieing breath. Take Care

Submission figther , I was teaching you that it is O Sensei, not O'Sensei, my ignorance is only that I dont appreciate the varity of languages here, being English myself I dont really think about it. I was not attacking your ability to speak english. Why do I think that Modern Arts are worse or better than older ones. Its is difficult question and I really base it on my own opiniuons what others can you give, other than you own? I think that a martial art is a reflection of its grand masters. So Aikido is calm and defensive like its creator, shotokan is firey like Funkoshi. BJJ, in my mind, has unfortunately been tanted by its creators. I am not a big fan of the Gracies, I mean I cant doubt there fighting abilities, they are great, but for me the art is made by its principles. Any fool can hit a man, or lock a man, it takes more not to. The Gracies, attacking other Martial arts claiming that there system is best is well, annoying. This is why I have practicular issues with BJJ. But this is ONLY my opiniuon. Also without the traditional arts, there would be NO BJJ. three60roundhouse I dont eat cookies, but even the tinyest grain of rice can tip the scale. Take Care

Submission, I ment this as a joke. I will only get into a heated debate with you about it, so I wont bother trying to argue the point with you. Just a quicky though O Sensei was not Irish, is it O Sensei, not O'Sensei. Take Care

I agree with KSN, the more complete the system the more time it takes to learn and become natural. I dont really like cross training, mainly because I dont believe in it. But if you want quick answers then do something like Kick Boxing and BJJ, still a lot of hard work to.

Its nice to see that you are doing a proper "art" rather than those collection of moves that I like to call Kick boxing and BJJ. But did you ever think that these girls might actually be better than you, I mean you are playing by their rules and in their dojo. Perhaps you had watch yourself. Have fun!

Well, O Sensei created Aikido from Daito Ryu Aikijutsu, which dates back some 800 years. I dont really enough about Kano's judo, but as I understand it he created the "soft way", so that there would be less injuries of practicing Judoka. Between O Sensei and Kano there was always a small rivialry, but the both repsected each other greatly. Master of Aikido techniques, I would say that it takes a life time. But you could defend yourself against the average man, after about a year or so. My Sensei has been practicing for some 30 years and I dont think that she would say that she has mastered it.

Interesting, many of the great budo masters, considered Aikido to be the closest path to the way of the warrior, even Kano (Grand Master of Judo) sent his students to O Sensei, also they questioned Judo's budo when compared to that of Aikido. Do you do any sword work? katana, bokken? Bo, Jo or tanto? In Aikido there are NO blocks, we always move out of the way, I have not trained against kicks in the dojo, but I have when sparing with friends, and I seem to use the basic principles of whirlwind movement to pretty much get out of most nasty kicks. We do alot of grabs, firstly from Basic, which is standing infront of your oppenent, they grab then you do something, then "on the move", when your Uke runs at you to grab you, I find these more fun. Also Aikido does not have ONE kick, O Sensei considered kicking to place you off balance. Sometimes I really dont agree with this, but every Style has its weakness I would say that Aikido's is kicking.

Sounds like a really good mixture, I am sure very effective in self defence. I did bareknuckle kumite when I studied Shotokan karate with the KUGB. Good fun, as long as you dont get hit.lol So do you go more for blocks or evasions? Do you do a lot of High kicks?