Montana

I've had the oppoprtunity to work with several top notch Shotokan sensei, and believe me, there are HUGE differences between the two systems. Nothing that can't be overcome with a lot of effort, but you'll have to relearn your entire way of thibnking, from stances to blocks, kicks to strikes, and just moving your body from Popint A to Point B is different. If you can make the adjustment, I think you're goibng to absolutely LOVE Shorin Ryu.

Speed without accuracy is going to be inefficient and inaccurate, but also having accuracy but not the speed to get into the target isn't going to work either. You need both.

1. A 6 year old testing for 5th Kyu? BAH! It's a sure sign of a Belt Factory/McDojo IMO. 2. I don't test a student until I know they can pass, so few fail. But to actually fail while doing the test? Nope...sorry, you failed!

Methodology...it's a wonderful thing. Our knife hand waza's are quite compact; no big wind-ups or the like. Everything in Shindokan is kept compact as our Tuite requires it. Shortest path between two points is a straight line. Same as Shorin Ryu...short, compact, strike, grab or block, all done the same.

I'm not sure what you mean by brand management, stuck in the past or no meaniful purpose, but I'm pretty sure that all of these applied to me when I had a commercial school. I advertised when I first started, with no results to make it worthwhile doing again. I abhor contracts, but see the purpose in them. Website? HA! Define brand management please. I got inb the phoebn book the 2nd year I was open...VERY expensive for a businbess, abnd I found it not to be worthwhile. What is #8?

I ran a commercial school for 3 years back in the late 80's and charged $40/mo for classes. My rent was $300/mo in a small, 1200 sq ft run down buildinbg in a run down part of town. I did ok during the school year, but classes dwindled to nothing in the summer time. I didn't use contracts, advertised primarily word-of-mouth and tried hard to keep expenses at a minimum. I didn't pay for insurance at the suggestion of my lawyer as he looked over my release of liabilkity form and told me as long as it was expressed, and not implied that injury could occur, the onkly way they could "successfully" sue me was to claim negligance and prove it. In the 30+ years of teaching, I have never even heard of a sensei getting sued, let alone successful at it

In my system anyway, instructors were allowed to wear black pants and a white top. The head of the dojo could wear an all black gi or any combination of black/white top or pants. In about 1990 or so at the nagging ofmy students and a discussion with my sensei, I allowed my students to wear black gi if they wanted. To me, the training was more important than the color of their uniform. Students can wear either all black, or all white...no mixing until they get their black belt.

I've never worried about beibng "tracked down"..why would anybody want to find me anyway? lol I live in the Spokane, WA area, as my profile states, and I'm origionally from (and miss terribly at times) Montana, hence my nic. If somebody really wants to know my name, just ask abnd I'll PM it to you. You won't find much on the internet about me as I don't have a webpage and think facebook is a joke and total wste of time (GASP! ) Due to cronic back problems and arthritis in my knees I am no longer teaching the arts after 30+ years in it, but I still get a little practice in when time and my body allows.

Agreed. To me, it didn't look like the karate fighter was using any type of techniques at all. More of a brawl from his perspective, whereas the kuing fu guy was using technique. Everybody fights differently, even within the same system. I've had kung fu stylists in my dojo and fought them, and yes, it's quite a bit different and has a different rhythm to it, but it certainly is possible to defeat them once you click on to how they move. Experience is a big factor in this and my guess is the karate guy wasn't very experienced outside ofhis own system.

I've found this isn't all that uncommon of a scenerio in the 30+ years of teaching. Maybwe not a BB, but often times higher kyu belt, usually brown. I say nothing and make the person wear a white belt like all beginners do in my class and teach them accordingly. If the person starts bragging in class about his prior experience and belt I will pull them aside and tell them they need to keep their mouth shut (nicely of course) because they aren't really showibng me any BB level technique in class thusfar. If they get mad and leave...OH WELL!

The problem with this is where you live. In California, if you even have a gun, you shoot "it" once...it doesn't die, you get sued and pay for the rest of your life. Hopwever, in Montana and Texas and a few other states, you shoot it once...twice...8-10 times, reload if needed and keep on shooting. Even an overwhelming force will stop if you have enough lead weighing it down.

This brings up a good point, and a personal pet peeve of mine. Whether in the dojo or a competition, a REAL bo should be used. I absolutely HATE light weight weapons and "twirling". I've been a center weapons judge at all style tournaments since around 1980 or so and any competitor that comes before me with a broomstick or such lightweight weapon will not recieve more than a 7 (out of a possible 10) from me for a score. Twirl it once in your fingers, and the score starts dropping. Swing it over your head one handed...drop another point. I'm a traditionalist and hate to see the ruination of the arts into a sport and for play. But hey, that's just me.

You have been set upon the path of wisdom. Very good Grasshopper.

in Shorin Ryu, Kobudo is a totally seperate art and has it's own rank. You can have a Yandan black belt in karate, and a Nidan black belt in kobudo.

Just looking around my computer room I see a can of pc cleaner anda Mr Clean sprayer, pens/pencils, cell phone, couple of rifles, some wood flooring boards (I'm putting in wood floors in most of the house due to my wifes allergies), coats, books, flashlight, calculator, briefcase, pictures hanging on the wall, wall clock, cd/dvd's, tape dispenser...oh yeah, and two 80+ lb black labs that will lick and attacker to death! That's just in this room. In the kitchen iof course are knives and various other weapons of mayhem. Get the idea? Just about ANYTHING can be used as a weapon.

I understand your pointa, but you also have to keep in mind in the po9lice videos that the police have rules they have to follow. If thety are to aggressive, then they can get sued, lose their jobs, face public redicule, and even go to jail. However in the first video the attacker was much larger than the officer and he was justified in pullibng his weapopn...as would any cop that was alone and faced obviously over matched physically. I prefer, and have been successful both in the dojo and on the street, witgh being generally a passive/counter fighter. With my physical size makinbg most of tghe tiem larger than my opponents I would have to be very careful being to aggressive or I would end in in cuffs instead of my attacker.

That's because he's working thru the school system. It might also apply if you were teaching for a health club or such. in general, while not working for anyone but yourself, no mandatory background check would be done.

Good point!

I'm 6'6" tall and weigh 260 lbs and have been pretty passive all of my life. Shorin Ryu karate is a more passive (like Aikido) system in a fight in general. Sure, we can be aggressive if need be, but generally the system is designed to be a counter-fighter system, not an aggesssive (ATTACK! ATTACK!) system. If you look at the majority of kata, generally you will find that a block is done first followed by an attack. And yes, I understand a block can also be an attack, but by nature a kata is defending against an attack by letting the attacker strike first, redirecting the attack and following it up with an attack of your own. In a fight, whether in the classroom or on the street, I MUCH prefer the other person be the aggressor That's my style and for over 30 years it's worked just fine for me. If being aggressive is more your style, that's ok. I have students that would rather attack and I let them because it's their nature and preference.

I admit I run a pretty informal class. We bow in/out at the beginning and end of class or if we take a water break (2 hour classes). That's the way my sensei and his sensei ran their class. I really don't care for the militaristic "YES SIR/NO SIR!" mentallity...but that's just me.

In the USA, no background checks are required. Heck, you don't even have to know anything to teach the arts! It's pretty much an unregulated occupation/hobby.

A fair question, but with no real definative answer I'm afraid. I've seen soft kungfu kata win, hard shotokan kata winners, and yes, TKD winners also. Sometimes a good old, well done traditional kata wins, sometimes a more modern, made up kata. It's not so much which system wins in a tournament, but rather how the kata is performed and executed.

This is true. Most Okinawan masters taught a watered down version of karate to the GI's in the 1940's-60's because the GI's were in Okinawan for usually 18 months or so then were redeployed usually back to the states. It wasn't really until the late 60's or 70's that the masters saw that Americans were really serious about their karate training when they started coming back to Okinawa to train, and the masters started giving American karate-ka more detailed and indepth training. That, and wounds and bad feelings from the war were fading and not so vivid in the Okinawan's minds.

I think it depends on whether you're talking about sport/competition sparring, or a real, self-defense situation. In sport, especially point sparring, you need to mix it up and sometimes be aggressive, sometimes passive. In self-defense, it depends on the situation. Are there multiple attackers? Is your opponent physically larger and stronger than you? Does he have a weapon?

Personally, I don't like either of those methods of testing. Having a set number of hours of training does NOT necessarily translate into being prepared or ready for a promotion. Everybody learns differently and at different rates. As for testibngtwice a year and having to wait 6 months ito test again if you fail...BAH! You might correct yoru flasws after a failed test and be ready in a WEEK, and have to wait 6 months? I test my students daily by watching what the do and how they are progressing ibn class. I hold no formal tests, but rather when they are ready I give their their promotion.