Montana

I agree that this seems a bit "questionable" at the least. Do they have a link to a page we can all take a gander at? Or the name/location that we can google?

Interesting discussion. I worked as a caregiver for about 10 years. I've gotten very close to some of my clients and have helped them and their families thru the dying process. It isn't easy, nor is it "rewarding" for me. A few years ago my best friend died suddenly, and unexpectantly. He was 50 years old, former high school/college athlete, drank lightly, didn't smoke, exercised often and by all regards, in good shape. He was in his kitchen alone and had a heart attack caused by an undiagnosed heart condition. He left behind his wife and 5 daughters. The oldest daughter was 18 and preparing for college, his youngest was 6. I'm still struggling with that. My first wife died about a year and a half ago from Tongue cancer, usually associated with tobacco chewers. She didn't EVER use tobacco in any form, and alight drinker. She had 1/3 of her tongue cut out, chemo and radiation and declared cancer free. A year later she work up bleeding from her mouth and noise. They rushed her to the hospital and she died the next day. We were pretty close and had been married 17 years with 2 sons. I myself am now 71 years of age with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. It's considered a "good" cancer, as it kills you slowly. It could take as long as 20 years. I was diagnosed with it 7 years and the only way they found it was because I had an infected tooth. They did a blood test and my white blood cell count was very high. Normal is around 4000, mine is in the 80-90,000 range. My Dr says I'll probably die from something else, as I have no visible symptoms yet, but having watched both of my parents die of cancer and patients I've had, it's always on my mind. I've also had a mild heart attack sometime in my life according to a stress test I took some years ago. Everybody dies. Today, tomorrow, next year...it's coming. I've accepted this and don't worry about it. I live my life one day at a time.

My personal 2024 goal is to make3 it to 2025 without more physical problems!

All good responses, thanks! I didn't mean so much as martial arts are dead, but rather just getting sloppy and stupid now. SOOOO many people walking around that tournament with black belts, and after judging their kata and fighting skills, I just about wanted to cry at how bad they were for the most part. |Sure, there were some really good talented karateka there, but they were more of an exception than the rule. I made it a point, regardless of their rank, of meeting and shaking the hand of every GOOD person there and making sure I recognized them as such. For young kids I found some parents and talked to them also. I'm going to try to hit more tournaments as a judge this summer. They're fun for me since I can't teach any longer.

Lively discussion ya got here bud! lol Shorin Ryu is 50/50 hands/feet. Low kicks, fast hands, lots of body shifting as you get better. As for what is a similar sport? Volleyball maybe? Moving quickly, making quick decisions, legs to move, hands to counter. Sorry, best I can do...

WAAAAY back in 1980, my sensei moved from Montana to Minnesota with little notice, leaving myself and the rest of the class high and dry. After being on my own for about 8 years, but still teaching, I heard about a 4th dan (I was a Shodan) in Minneapolis thru my sensei, so I took the train one winter to work with him. He changed literally EVERYTHING from what I'd learned and had been teaching. I didn't like it, but hey, he's a 4th so he knows what he's doing, right? Sooo, back home I changed everything too! Couple of years later I heard about a guy named Ron Lindsey in Bastrop, Tx. A 7th Dan! I couldn't afford to fly to Texas to work with him, so he sent me some home made videos. Guess what? he was doing EVERYTHING the same way as I was ORIGIONALLY doing it! So, I changed BACK to what I was doing before. Couple of years later I hear about a 5th dan (Greg Ohl) in Minnesota, cvontact him, took another train ride there and worked with him for a weekend. Theres been a couple of others, notably James Knoblett (RIP sensei) of Seattle 3 times. It was tough living in Montana and not being wealthy enough to travel the world to learn. I feel blessed I got what I did! lol

For me, it depends on how cutes she is... Oh, wait! You mean as in a fight? Sorry I used to tell my student that your "personal space" is defined by that space between you and another and what makes you comfortable. If a person is verbally abusive, you need more space. If they're a trusted friend, closer. Body language is important. Learn it, study it, be aware of it. Aggressive and potentially dangerous people carry themselves differently when they're looking for trouble. They don't have to be big, burly, hairy men. They can be small, slight and normal looking,but looking for trouble! Learn to spot them in a crowd. I'd take my adult students out to a loud bar on a weekend, plain clothes of course, and just watch and talk about people. Look at different types. Look for things that you can tell about people. Back then, tattoos weren't as common as now, and were mostly worn by guys that were scrappers. Today EVERYBODY has them (except me).

I charged $20/test for many years. Around the 1990's I quit charging for tests. I paid for the certificates out of my own pocket and the student was responsible for getting their own belt.

Very important points, to be for sure. Imho, this post speaks directly to knowledge and experience, which both require maturity in techniques to be effective, and fear is what usually stalls maturity in techniques. Agreed! Fear needs to be addressed as it alone can decide the outcome of a fight. Fear can be overcome thru training IMO and repetition and having confidence in your training and experience. In real fights, I've been surprisingly calm and poised from beginning to end of the experience. I didn't choose the fights, the others did. Back in 1985 I was confronted by 3 men in their 20's I was 15 years older at least), average size, unknown skills, in a parking lot as I was leaving to get into my car. I had no choice in the matter but to defend myself. One swung first, dropped him in one punch to the nose (possibly broke it). #2 got a snap kick to the solar plexus and dropped, and #3 decided he didn't want to play. Shortly afterwards the adrenaline kicked in and I started having major shakes, but I surprised myself that I was very calm, relaxed and ready for whatever was going to happen. I was a long time shodan at that point. I've analyzed this fight for years remembering every detail of the event. It lasted under a minute, yet is as vivid now as it was then. I felt good, I felt ready, I felt confident and I had no fear in me.

I gotta dive into this size vs skill thing. OK, STATS: I'm 6'6" tall and weigh 250lbs. I have long arms and legs and hold a 4th Dan in Shorin Ryu Matsumura Kenpo (Seito) Karate. Now, I'm old (71) and have bad knees, bad back, numb right hand and a cancer. All of which have made me retire from teaching. However, if NONE of those things existed, and say I was 30-40 years old without those issues (sighing), I still believe, from the experiences I've had training with these individuals, that if I actually had to street fight a legitimate Okinawan master of my art, I'd go down like a sack of flour. As you know, your average Okinawan male is around 5'4-5'6" tall. If you, as a 2nd dan with 8 years of experience, in a fair fight, can't handle a larger person in a street fight, then I propose you need to rethink the system you're learning. My opinion...

Theoretically, the 2nd Dan "should" be able the larger, unskilled attacker quite easily. However, I know of several incidences where a 1-5th Dan black belt has gotten their butt kicked by someone with little or no fighting experience. One example is a young 18 year old 1st or 2nd dan dan, 6'2, about 180 or so that was a very skilled tournament (light touch) competitor and consistently had been placing 1st-2nd in all style tournaments. On his last day of high school a guy he'd been having problems with challenged him to a fight in an alley after school. This other guy had just 6 months of boxing. I didn't see the fight, but did talk to the martial artist. He got his butt kicked EASILY by the boxer. Black eyes, bloody nose and totally embarrassed as there was quite a crowd I guess. Proper training in a legitimate system "should" bring success in a fight as you've described. But as we all know, there are systems out there that look good, but don't work.

Suggestion: The next time you're sitting at your computer, look around you. What could you use to defend yourself? At a restaurant? Gym? Bar/pub? Walking down the street or in a store? Literally anywhere, take a moment and get your mindset into defending yourself if you had to. What could you use? As I sit at my computer typing this there is a lamp over the desk, ceramic cup, couple of AA batteries, printer, pens/pencils, books, backpack, reams of paper, framed pictures on the wall, VHS/CD on the shelf, chairs, etc. It's all about mindset and adapting your way of thinking and looking at things.

I'm not crazy about the curve in the handle. It's going to throw the balance off unless you're just going to hold it like a hatchet.

Basically, and literally, just about ANYTHING can be used as a self-defense weapon. When I was teaching, a couple of times a year we'd do a street clothes class walking out about town. We walk the main street, alleys, parks and empty lots. I'd talk as we walked about "what ifs this or that", stop and ask my students what they see that they might be able to use if they were in a fight. The obvious would be sticks and stones, but I wanted them to expand their thoughts. For example, a telephone/light pole. WHAT??? You can put that between you and your opponent and make them come around it to get to you, thus giving you an advantage as you're waiting and ready for it. Sitting at a table and the person across from you gets aggressive and reaches out. You have salt/pepper shakers that make good weapons, toss napkins in their face, squirt mustard/ketchup/TABASCO in their eyes, etc. The possibilities are really endless if you just open your eyes and teach your mind to think differently.

repetition repetition repetition Grasshopper.

Am curious about this - from the description it sounds very like a 'question mark kick'. Is it the same kick in execution of if not i am curious how it differs - always good to learn some new techniques I have no idea what a question mark kick is. Like I said, come up to the knee first straight out like you'd be doing a front snap kick, then twist the leg so it roundhouses to the persons knee, side, stomach, etc.

I had to reach out to other sensei within my chosen system to learn, as my sensei moved out of state abruptly and left our class hanging. I was one year as a shodan at the time. I was in a small town (12,000 people) in north central Montana with limited financial resources and I was pretty much on my own with the remnants of my sensei's class. I found a 4th dan sensei that my sensei knew in Minnesota and took the train there to work with him for a weekend. He literally changed EVERYTHING that I had learned. After about 2 years I heard of a sensei in Texas that was a 7th dan, contacted him and we talked several times over the phone (pre-internet days). He sent me 3 VHS tapes with some GREAT stuff, and changed EVERYTHING back to the way I originally did it! boy, was I PO'D! Then I heard of a 6th dan in Seattle and he was hosting a weekend seminar for the head of our system, so I drove there to attend that. I did this twice over a 6 year period. I was pretty desperate if I wanted to continue in my system.

Depending on how your opponent is standing and what area you are going to be striking, all of the stated weapons are options. One thing I'd like to point out about Shorin Ryu vs other systems that I've seen over the years is the way we execute a roundhouse kick. Most systems I've seen telegraph the kick really badly. It leaves the floor and arch's around in a wide circle. Ours does it differently. Envision: How do you do a front snap kick? Whether front leg or back, it "should" come up to the knee first then forward to contact, right? Our roundhouse does the same thing. It comes up to the knee first, THEN starts it's curved path to it's target. To your opponent, it appears to be a front snap kick coming at you, until it curves over/past your front snap kick defense and gets you. I've pulled this on karate, TKD, TSD, Kempo and a variety of other disciplines and it usually surprises them because it's deceptive as hell! Try it and let me know how it goes.

The 5 Swords is pretty much the same as we'd do, however, more likely we'd use ONE hand to block the punch by stepping inside the punch and simultaneously as throwing your block you'd be throwing a punch to either the face or the solar plexus. Followed up by other punches, kick to the groin/knee, etc. We tend to like to shift to the side, as Kempo does, then move inside an opponents attack and counter. Sorry, no videos.

Your students are your best advertisement. Word of mouth.

My original sensei charged a whopping $30/month for the first couple of years. He taught in his living room of a 1 bedroom duplex. When he bought a house he had a small single car garage that we insulated and tossed old carpets on the floor (it was in Montana and the winters are COOOOOLD!) After a year or so he decided to teach for free because he had a good job and didn't need the money. Our small class of about 15 students dropped the first month down to maybe 10, the next month down to about 7. What we found out is that if people don't have anything invested ($$$) in their training, most put no value in it. Personally, I loved it because I was a poor college student! lol I taught in many different locations, but my favorite was in my basement when I had full control, no rent, easy access, etc. I liked a small class and had around 15 students, which was good. Quality over quantity.

EXACTLY!

If he's Shorin Ryu, we don't use hips to generate power. Just an FYI. If I was testing him for a dan rank and he used hips, he'd fail. What's the reasoning behind this, if you don't mind me asking. I generate power in my techniques using my hips, so that's why I'm curious. Using your hips in punches and kicks does generate more power, but it also throws your weight off balance or can leave you exposed if you miss. We generate out power in Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito (we call it Kenpo now) with speed and technique. Balance is stable, and if you miss you're still stable. Tomato-tomatoe

AGREED! You'll do what you practice. It's ok to take it slow and easy while you're getting comfortable with the movements, but once you have them, I, as your sensei, expect to see the speed and power that's supposed to be there.

If he's Shorin Ryu, we don't use hips to generate power. Just an FYI. If I was testing him for a dan rank and he used hips, he'd fail.