Montana

Here's my $.02 worth. As I understand it, the first organized system of karate that was developed on Okinawa was Okinawan Te, which is still being taught out there, but not to a great extent. From Okinawan Te, karate started branching out to sub-systems, the first being Okinawan Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito/Orthodox as taught by Soken Matsumura. This system is still very much alive and being taught. There are offshoots of this system as well, but many people in the Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito/Orthodox community are striving to not only preserve the art, but to regress backwards to the old methods of doing the art as opposed to going the way most arts are going, and that is the "new and improved" karate.

Edit out the movements? NO! Modify the movments to accomidate being overweight or "old" (I'm 58 and still do kata just fine)...maybe.

Maybe 20 years ago or so a father brought his 13 year old son into my class and asked how quickly I could teach him to defend himself. I looked at the boy and he had stiches over one eye (which was black and blue), and stiches on his upper lip. Worst of all, one of his top front teeth was missing. The father stated his son was being bullied at a private "Christian" school in town and the faculty wouldn't do a thing about it. The father said he took his son to a top notch Aikido sensei in town first, but was referred to me by that sensei for faster learning for self-defense. I accepted the boy as my student and he worked hard, learned fast and everybody was happy. I made sure the father and son understood my #1 rule, and that was that "No student of mine will start a fight, whether physically or verbally, and remain as my student." About 6 weeks later the father and son came into my dojo for the son's lesson and they were bouncing off the walls with excitement and pride. I asked them what was happening and the father told me the bully picked a fight with his son again that day and his son had turned to walk away as to not engage in a fight. The bully then turned his attention on a much younger and smaller student, and the boy turned and said "Leave him alone!" and the fight was on! Long story short, my student cleaned the bully's clock quickly, and efficiently, and did no more damage than was necessary to stop the bully's agression. The father was called to the school and the son was suspended for 3 days. Both the father and the son were happy as can be andtook the suspension in stride. I was very proud of my student for going to the aid of another and he remained in my class for several years afterwards. For me, that's what the arts are all about.

What you're describing is exactly what I'm used to seeing in tournaments for the most part. Good, solid techniques! To many American tournaments I suspect, are going the way of flash over substance. I don't like it, and refuse to support or condone it. If as instructor wants to "play" at martial arts, that is his choice, but for me the martial arts are all about reality and effectiveness.

I woke up this morning, rolled over and felt for a pulse...ahhh...made it to another day! Hey, at this point, that's pretty good! Well ok. I walked my 3 horses 1/4 of a mile to pasture. Sound easy? Have you ever walked 3 horses, weighing 1000-1200 lbs EACH, that are hungry and know they are going for food? It's like holding back a truck that's in drive with nobody at the wheel. WHOA BABY!!! lol That's a pretty good workout in itself!

EXCELLENT!

Well, I was 23 when I started training in Shorin Ryu back in 1975, and I'm still at it. So yes, go for it!

About 20 years ago I bought 4 heavyweight gi's from Century Martial Arts. At that time they cost around $60 each as I recall, and I'm still wearing them. I rotate these gi's around so no one of these gi's gets used exclusively, and I'll be they last the rest of my martial arts life! Sure, they're stiff (they'll stand on their own when they're new) at first, but wash them with fabric softner and toss a tennis shoe in the dryer with them, and they're not bad. They wear like iron and for me, are perfect!

I attended a local tournament last weekend as a spectator, my first in about 6 years since my back problems forced my retirement from the arts, or teaching anyway. The tournament was hosted by a local "for profit" school, and basically I can sum up the entire days as...I wasn't impressed! The tournament itself was run efficiently and well I thought, but I was shocked, appaled and dismayed by the level of competency I was seeing from the competitors. Probably around 2/3 of the competuitors were from the school that hosted the event and darn near 3/4 of them were black belts. They must have had at least a dozen kids ages 8-12 running around with black belts, which is one of my pet peeves about some arts. Regardless, I have never seen, in my nearly 30 years of judging tournaments, such pathetic examples of "black belts", or martial arts in general, in my life! Oh sure, there were a few that were pretty good, but the vast majority of them were weak, slow and just plain sloppy in both empty hand and weapons kata. Sparring was...well, sparring. The first thing I noticed when I got to the tournament was all of these people running around with light weight, aluminum bo's (staffs) that screwed together at the middle like a pool cue stick. I asked one of the competitors if I could see their weapon, and it was so light it felt like nothing in my hand. I'm used to a 6' hardwood (usually oak) bo. There were also a lot of people with aluminum kama, which again I asked someone if I could look at. Talk about flimsy, lightweight JUNK! One adult black belt competed with plastic..yes, I said plastic, sai's! ACK!!! So, on to the actual competition. About 95% ofthe competitors at this tournament, both in empty hand and weapons kata, weren't worth watching in my opinion. Flash, back flips, twirls, cartwheels and basically, terrible techniqes designed for flash, not effectiveness. It's probably a good thing I didn't attend as a judge because I would have left within the first hour out of disgust. Is this what tournaments are evolving into now? Flash over substance? I sure hope not!

One thing I did was make a phone call to 752-7283 to see if anybody had that phone number already. Why you ask? Well, in Montana, where I was at the time, and in Flathead county (yes, that's really the name of the county), the vehicle license plates started with a 7 (ex: 7-12345), so if you spell out that phone number using letters from your phone, it spelled... drum roll please.... 7-KARATE! An easy way for people to remember your number I thought. I lucked out and the number was available. Don't try calling it now as I haven't had that number in almost 20 years.

Thanks!

There are ALWAYS more than oen bunkai for any given move. On this specific technique you have: 1. the obvious blocking a kick and punch at the same time. 2. blocking a punch and groin/leg strike 3. blocking a kick and doing a strike to the head. 4. or the one nobody ever realizes unless you really study bunkai, is this is also a throw. How? Imagine a punch followed by a kick (or visa versa), you block then catch the appendage, then reverse the technique (just do the block again with the opposite arms) and it turns it into a throw that basically makes your opponent do a cartwheel in place and lands them on their head. The arm goes down while the leg comes up. It's easier to demonstrate than to put into writing, but it's a legitimate bunkai of he kata. Others?

Every few years I have some school t-shirts made (I always pre-order from my students so I don't have to many leftovers). One year I did black, another red, yellow, blue, etc. They aren't fancy and usually just have the Okinawan "pinwheel" (I always forget what that's called) that you will see under my name at the left on the back of the shirt. My oldest son has a fancy t-shirt making machine, so I always get a killer deal on the shirts! My cost is usually around $5, I sell them for $10. I always get about 5-6 for myself.

To me, the martial arts are all about self-defense and improving your ability to do so, and making your self into a better human being. Self-defense is all about improving your ability and increasing your chances of saving not only your life, but the lives of others if you so choose. Sport martial arts is playtime and has little relevence to self-defense. It's a game to test your skills on a given day as compared to the skills of another in a controlled environment with rules, referee's and judges that can stop the contest at any given point if they determine the rules are not being followed. Do they have similarities? Of course they do, but their end goals are different. The martial arts goal is self-preservation, whereas martial sports goals are to win trophies and recognition.

What I was referring to was that you had earned a brown belt in Shotokan "more than 15 years ago", then what after that? Private training? What's that? Re-runs of the Green Hornet? Look, the way I see it, you took what...2-3 years of Shotokan some 15+ years ago and have been dinking around with this and that ever since forming "your own system", and now you're asking for our blessing essentially so you can go out and teach others your new and improved special art? Sorry, but that's exactly how I'd define a McDojo, and I wouldn't encourage, nor endorse it.

Funny, I just posted a reply to a thread in the karate section which might apply to my opinion on this thread. http://www.karateforums.com/mcdojo-are-you-one-vt40659.html

Ball of the foot first. It gives you more "grip" to the floor than the heel and is a little harder to get swept. The heel has no "grip".

ZenDoRyu? Gotta love Google. Looks like it's an offshoot of George Dillman's organization...so IMO, beware!

I've been teaching classes since September of 1978 and I realized early on that few people are willing to make the commitment to training in the arts to become really good martial artists. Oh sure, you get your students that show up for classes 2-3 times/week and while there, train hard and do well, but I'm talking about REALLY making training a commitment on a daily basis. Commitment to training in your chosen art shouldn't be a 2-3 days/week, but rather should be something you do daily if you really want to be good at it. Daily training outside of class doesn't have to be 2 hours of basics, kata and drills, but rather can be something simple. Every now and then I ask my students..."How much training have you done this week?" Most wilol say "Ive been to very class this entire month!" or such. Which is GREAT! "But, how much training have you done outside of class?" As an instructor, I can tell a difference between those students that train outside of class, and those that train only in class. Especially in the early months of training, it really shows from class to class in the improvement in their technique, speed and power. Martial arts training needs to be a daily routine at some level. Run thru a kata when you get a few minutes. Practice your basics (wax on, wax off) as you go about your daily lives. Just to give you an example of outside training I do on a daily basis: I work in an office building (my really job that pays the bills) that has 3 floors. Due to the design of the building when I get to work and leave for the day, I generally take the elevator instead of the stairs. If I'm alone in the elevator, which is the norm, when the doors close I will run thru a kata sometimes, or other times assume a stance and whip out as many punches, blocks or kicks as I can before the elevator stops at my floor. At home (this drives my wife nuts as she has no interest in the arts) I habitually turn lights on/off at the wall switch with my feet while doing a slow, well controlled front, side and sometimes back kick. I will walk from room to room doing blocks, kicks or punches. I will spontanously do a spinning back kick, backfist or elbow, concentrating on my technique and stance. My wife leaves for work about 30 minutes before I do. If I'm ready to leave but still have a few minutes, I will run thru a kata or two before I walk out the door. Doing anything along that line will improve your overall martial arts ability and keep your mind and body sharp and prepared. Thoughts?

Exactly my point.

At a ripe old age of 58, I've probably broken, sprained or jammed all of my fingers at one time or the other and yes, believe me, it hurts! The thought of grappling with someone with a broken or severely sprained finger isn't pretty, and would certainly stop me if my opponent continued to attack the damaged digit. The thumb would be the best, but trust me, any finger is good. Especially if your opponent grabs you and you have access to prying out a finger and give it a good twist or bend. Short of being on drugs and not feeling any pain, I think it would successfully stop most people from wanting to continue, especially if you're still yanking on that finger AFTER it breaks!

Dictionary.com defines test as: 1. the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial. 2. the trial of the quality of something: to put to the test. 3. a particular process or method for trying or assessing. 4. a set of questions, problems, or the like, used as a means of evaluating the abilities, aptitudes, skills, or performance of an individual or group; examination. All of these apply to martial art belt testing I think. Basically, a test is a way of evaluating what you have learned and retained, and being able to demonstrate that knowledge to others at a specific moment in time. So when you successfully demonstrate your knowledge and ability to to regurgitate taht knowledge in front of your sensei/testing board to their satisfaction, you've PASSED! Great, huh? So what's the problem? The one problem I see is that for that one exact moment of time you were able to demonstrate your retention of specific knowledge and abilities of information you were given over a specific time period. But coudl you do the exact same thing, with the exact same degree of "perfection" say...a month from now? A year? Maybe (hopefully)...and maybe not. I don't want to mention any names, but there are systems out there that once you've passed a test to attain a certain belt level, then you no longer are required to practice or test on the same material...ever! For example, in my chosen system for our first belt test the kata Pinan Shodan, the basic blocks, kicks and punches and stances, and proper walking techniques (moving forward, sideways and backwards from those stances). If I were to assume (we know what that means, right?) that my stdentsknows this material later on because he/she already tested on it, and I never look at it again as a testing criteria, and the student knows that, then chances are those particular techniques will begin to deteriorate. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely! Building your skills as a martial artist is like building a house. if your foundation is weak from the beginning, the entire structure is weak. If your foundation weakens anywhere along the way, the whole house is weak and could collapse at any given time. You must keep a strong foundation at all times and practice that foundation repeatedly for as long as you train. Without a strong foundation, everything else is weak. The testing process ALWAYS needs to include the foundation techniques and principles of your chosen art.

My thoughts exactly! If not for self-defense, then you might as well take up break dancing, gymnastics or knitting in my opinion.

Ahhh shucks. I'd like to thank all the little people that helped me be who I am today. Without them to stomp on on my way to the top, I'd have never made it. Thanks...now, where's my trophy?

Its not so much a question of 'dont work' or even 'cant work'. We can always find examples of where they have worked for people in self-defence. The question is, are they the safest, most reliable thing you can do under the circumstances? Imagine the Kyokushinkai fighter being shoved from behind by his opponent's mate just as he's throwing a kick. How much more disruptive to his balance would it be if he's throwing a high kick at the time rather than a low kick? Imagine that, instead of fighting on a clean flat mat, he's in a bar in which the floor is wet in patches with spilt beer and occasional bits of broken glass? Imagine that the penalty for going down on your posterior is not that the fight is momentarily stopped by the ref, or even that the opponent wins the match, but that the assailant and his mates close in and kick you unconscious or worse. And so on and so on. The gist of it is that the requirements of self-defence are very different from those of the sporting arena. The two scenarios require very different tactics. Mike Exactly! Good post.