Montana

I started when I was 22...I'll be 55 in November.

Do what your sensei teaches you.

I had frost on my car windows yesterday morning.

Primarily to keep in mind is don't just run at someone. "Only fools rush in" is a perfect analogy. What I teach my people is to maintain your defense and move forward, preferably at an angle and not straight at your opponent. if possible, circle them moving towards their weaker side. If their left foot's forward, move towards your right and visaversa.

I didn't vote. My sensei moved 2,000 miles away and as far as I ever heard, gave up the arts except to teach his children.

My command of the Japanese language is pretty much nil, so I can't say. We use English for the most part in class. We call it body shifting, or "Change of Body"...we use it a lot, and stress it as highly important.

Remember the thread in the weapons forum about defending against someone with two knives? http://www.karateforums.com/65279-hand-to-hand-vs-duel-weider-vt32429.html When you watch these videos of Segal, note how his body shifts away from the attack, and does his counter at the same time. That's what we do also in Shorin Ryu...that sort of shifting away and closing down of an attack. There is little energy drain, movements are relaxed and fluid, not hurried...timing is of course very important, and is learned. Although I don't like Aikido students falling over so unrealistically when barely touched, there is some really good stuff in those videos if you know what you're looking at.

It's nice having complaint students that want to get promoted.

Possibly, but I've always taken the opportunity to watch other classes and systems when possible and have judged open style tournaments for 25+ years and haven't seen anyone from any other system do it yet...or not quite like we do anyway.

Yep...winter's coming. 80's here during the day, 30's at night. Go from shorts and a tank top to a heavy coat...all within about 8 hours...gotta love it!

I also would recommend Okinawa if you want to really learn about karate. You'll find it a whole lot different than Shotokan and with a generally very relaxed atmosphere compared to the more (usually anyway) "militaristic" approach of theJapanese/Korean systems. There's not much "Yes sir, No sir" stuff on Okinawa, nor doing pushups for minor infractions. Those are more Japanese/Korean philosophies of teaching the arts. You'll find Okinawan masters, 8th-10th dan, to be approachable, friendly and wanting you to learn. However one thing to be aware of is that these Okinawan masters tend to show you something once or twice, and if they don't see you making the effort to do what they want you to do, they will start ignorng you...so you need to pay close attention and do what you are instructed to do, not what you're used to doing in Shotokan class. Be adaptable and receptive to a different way of doing the arts.

Yep, that's pretty much it. Takes some practice to maximize the "snap" from that position, but when you've got it...Oh BABY...it's powerful.

Yes, I read numerous descriptions of the TKD whip kick. Nothing at all like what we do. It's hard to explain really, but our "whip kick" isn't just one kick, but rather in the execution of the front snap kick and side kick (mostly). I have some examples of it on CD's from several sensei's of our system, but haven't a clue as to how to get them on the net...or whether I should or not. Not that it's all that big of a secret really, but it's rather unique to our system...possibly some other Okinawan systems. How do I explain it? First of all, all of our kicks come all of the way to the knee before going out to their intended target. Many systems I've seen don't emphasise this much, if at all...whereas we put great importance on that little detail. Once the kick is chambered at the knee (no, there is no pause there), from that point (the knee) is where the power for the kick comes from in a whipping motion. Very quickly out to the target...contact, then just as quickly withdrawn. Emphasis on returning back to the knee just as quickly as it went out. This kick is more of a close in technique rather than a distance technique. We work a lot of angles in our defense and counter attacks, so targets are normally the side of the leg...and both inside and outside of your opponents leg. That whipping motion creates a lot of power very quickly and literally can break bones. Since all of our kicks are low level kicks, the damage to your opponent occurs from the ankle to the lower abdomen. It's easy to demonstrate, but difficult to put into words. Did that help at all?

I wouldn't bet on that. I've never taken a TKD class, but have watched dozens and dozens of their classes (I have friends that teach TKD) and about the only similarity between TKD kicks and (some) karate kicks, is the foot leaves the floor and moves towards an opponent.

Doing a quick search on "whip kick", I see TKD does one called that also, but from the description...it's not even close to the same thing we do. It has to do with the execution of certain kicks, not a specific kick in itself.

I wasn't thinking so much of assumptions bushido...more like keep an open mind about how things are done, and WHY they are done that way. The blocks will be similar, as will kicks and everything else...but different...for a reason. For examples, I've seen some TKD'ers do a high block where their forearm is parallel with the ground. For some/most Okinawan systems, the arm is at a 45 degree angle to the floor, not 90. Another is the chamber of the foot when kicking, and the execution of a roundhouse kick. Another is our rather unique "whip kick"...I've never seen another system do it. It's a bone breaker. I could do a long topic just on the differences, and reason for those differences, between the Okinawan system I practice and TKD, and why we do them the way we do. Actually...now that I think about it...lol

My best advice for making the cange from TKD to any Okinawan system, is to keep an open mind. It's going to be different...WAY different if that Okinawan Kenpo is anything like what I do. One question though..... WHY???

One thing I've found effective against kicks is when they kick, slide/hop backwards just enough to not get hit (or at least not hard), then as their kick either comes down towards you (depending on what they're doing) or retracts backwards..lunge forward. Basically, follow the foot back to your opponent.

I recently had the opportunity to watch an hour demonstration at a local "Art in the Park" which featured local artists (lots of them around here) and craftsmen displaying/hawking their wares. Anyway, Saturday afternoon they were hosting a martial arts demonstration from the largest club in the area. I'll withhold the name of the system so as not to start any inflamatory arguments. I've seen this groups demo's numerous times, and they never fail to frequently mention that they, and their organization, are the "Ultimate in martial arts"... What this system consists of is a "break a board and get a belt" mentality where flash is good, the more patches on your gi the better (this space for rent), no head punches allowed (why?), kicking to the groin is considered "dishonorable", black belts as young as 8, and the list goes on. Essentially, IMHO, a belt factory...but a sanctioned, well established international belt factory! Anyway, my senior student and his two high school aged kids (also students of mine) and I attended this demo and all we could do the entire time was shake our heads at how open/exposed they were when they did their self-defense techniques, how robotic their movements were, how silly it looked to have the 8 year old black belt doing self-defense techniques aginst an adult black belt 5 times his size, and how basic in technique their "advanced" kata were. I wanted soooooooooo BADLY to walk into the middle of their demo and say "Listen, what you are doing is so much CRAP!"..."You are taking these people's money under false pretences!"...but I didn't. They talked a lot about their proficency at tournaments and proudly displayed many large trophies of their successes at them. When they opened up the demo to questions from the audience, my senior student asked them "Do you attend tournaments that are open to all systems, or just your own? The instructor replied "We attend ONLY (inset name of worldwide organization here) tournaments." Then my student asked "Why?" His reply was "If we competed in open tournaments outside of our organization, we would dominate so much that they wouldn't invite us back again." I almost lost it at that. I've been a judge/referee at open tournaments for over 20 years, and believe me, the majority of these guys wouldn't make it to the 2nd round! Like many of you, I am proud and confident of the system that I have chosen to devote my life to. I have confidence that what I have learned in the last 30+ years works in a real life situation, and that knowledge has been put to the test several times during my training. It hasn't failed me yet. I admire anybody that loves their system and devotes their life to it, but to openly state that they are doing the ultimate in martial arts, when that art is full of so many holes and obvious flaws, that a blind man could see them, just amazes me to no end. Thoughts?

Speaking from my own observations and experiences only here, this is what I've found from people that are "self-taught". When I first moved into this area back in 1985 and started teaching a karate class in my basement, word spread quickly (small town Montana) about me, and being a high school teacher I was bombarded daily with kids telling me about Brian...another "instructor" and high school student, that was "Fantastic!" and teaching out of his parents garage. I met Brain a few days into the school year (he was a senior) and found that he had taken a few months of classes from a blue belt Chuck Norris System instructor, and a few months worth of classes from a local 7th Dan San Sou instructor. He told me he felt he knew more than they did, so started training on his own from videos (pre-DVD days) and books. As chance would have it, Brian's father was my wifes boss at the hospital and we were invited over to their house for dinner a few weeks later where I had the opportunity to talk at length with Brian about what he was doing. He invited me out to his garage where he had an impressive collection of every martial arts weapon that you can buy from a catalog. I asked him if he wouldn't mind showing me some things that he was practicing, and he eagerly agreed. Well folks, all I can say is...YUCK! To say he was sloppy would be a gross understatement. To say his technique had no power would be like comparing a very expensive sports car of your chosing, to a lawn mover. And this kid was teaching, and PROMOTING about 10 other high school kids! He was more concerned on looking good, rather than proper function. Blocks were nearly non-existent, no chambers (to the knee and back) for kicks, punches were wild and unfocused (as was everything he did). I have run into several other self-taught people through the past 30+ years...not one has ever impressed me of having any technique above possibly a very low kyu ranking, yet considered themselves very good...right up in the black belt levels. They all have the same inherent weakness's and flaws in their techniques...stances, blocks, power, etc. You can't learn that stuff without a sensei telling you where you're making your mistakes and correcting your flaws.

Agreed. I've ran into many self-taught martial artists over the past 30+ years and one thing they all have in common (I'm not saying you do) is very weak technique, sloppy, exposed, poor stances/foundations, no understanding of what they are really doing (the mechanics) and the list could go on. Instruction from a qualified teacher is essential to iron our deficiencies and short comings in order to progress and improve.

I've never heard the term either. Maybe this is just a way to obvious, but I assume your sensei is tell you that you are doing this...right? Ask him/her what it is and how to correct it.

Do the kick very slowly and hold it at the end of the kick for as long as you can without leaning your body very much as a counter weight. It will improve balance and also strengthen the leg muscles.

Trying to disarm a person with two weapons is where you made your mistake. Instead of disarming them, use your speed to get in and out with very strong and fast blows/jabs, low kicks, etc to upset their balance. Angle your attacks to their weak side (their left side if they're right handed, etc) Your legs are longer than their arms, kick low and fast. The thing that most people don't realize about defending an attacker with a weapon is that the attackers entire concentration is on using that weapon pretty much exclusively. They rarely kick. That can be used to your advantage. You don't want to get close to them unless you're attacking, and you need to move as fast as possible, and as efficiently as possible. Forget fancy kicks, complicated disarms (unless the opportunity presents itself and you can do it safely). We've done this same sort of scenerio in my class, plus in my sensei's, and his sensei's class. It can be done.

Would you mind clarifying what you're saying here please?