Ryu Te?

[P.A.L]

it's a very traditional shuri-te style, i like it too,i looked into some of the web sites it seems to be a Kyan lineage of shuri-te. you found something great stay with it.

[Dragn]

I trained breifly with a ryute school here in Japan under one of Oyatas American students.

It was pretty full on. It really opened my eyes to how much Karate had been watered down in the Japanese and Korean versions.

The bunkai was very different to anything I had been taught in previous Karate and TKD schools, and far more effective.

Finally all those ineffective blocking moves started to make sense. Many of them arent even blocks at all!

If you're into a no nonsense self defense martial art, I would recommend it for sure.

[ps1]

Sounds awesome. I must say I am a bit envious.

[Dresden]

I have often heard my Sensei speak of ryu te.We are Traditional Okinawan Shorin Ryu and Sensei says Ryu Te is similar yet FAR more intricate and complex.Sensei is awesome[35 years practicing] and yet he dearly wishes there was a ryu te school around here.Dont let the opportunity pass you by even though I hear you may spend days outside the dojo holding pails of water with a book balanced on your head.{Smile}

[MizuRyu]

I plan on going for the long haul on this one. That's truely what I appreciate about this art is it's depth and history, it's what karate SHOULD be.

[MizuRyu]

So, another update here on the style and my training.

I'm picking things up really quickly and meeting some very interesting people. There are only 18 students and they come and go depending on the day of the week, so each class has about 10 students and 2 instructors. I've been doing a LOT of repetition drills (which I LOVE) and learned the 2 basic tuites (open hand locks), the 3 basic armbar drills, almost all of the strikes, kicks, and some VERY interesting mechanics. There are many very, very peculiar but MINDBLOWING sci-fi like concepts. "Tendon gliding", the 2 directional flow concepts and the like.

The 'tendon gliding' is VERY odd. You put your arm out like you're in 'ready stance', and have someone grab your hand like a handle and you pull them in. It's very easy. Then, you have then brush your arm from the top of the forearm to the bottom, catch, and have you pull. And all of a sudden your strength is GONE. It's a very weird feeling. Apparently, the brushing down the arm causes the muscles in the arm to relax by natural subsconcious reaction, then when you pull on the arm it literally saps the strength from the muscle by hyperextending. Lots of odd psychological tactics like this are used, and it's awesome! I didn't believe it until he did it, and my arm was just wobbly and weak feeling.

A lot of the techniques are very flowy and senseless LOOKING, but when you get deep into the concepts you realize that everything has a reality based purpose. I would watch them 'play' with an arm with the snake blocks and sticking and think "well you could just pull your arm back". Wrong. That's what the technique WANTS you to do, it's how it's made to work; with resistance. I think that's what really sets this art apart from the ones I've taken in the past.

The pain that's inflicted with some the techniques is unbelievable. I've blacked out twice from some of the points and gritt my teeth every day dealing with even the most basic of locks. For instance, in arm bar drill #1, it's not just an armbar. It's a tendon glide, elbow to the ribs, grinding forearm to the lower tendon of your tricep, and leverage generated from your wrist. It feels like your whole arm is being crushed. VERY painful, very effective. If you try to retract your arm in the motion, you'll pull yourself onto your own face, because the block sort of sucks you in and pulls you off balance severely. They really thought things out.

I'm going to take this art as long as a possibly can. Every day I spend in that dojo I leave with my mind full of things and fresh applicable knowledge. I learned a handshake pressure point that I showed to my father (230lb steelworker with a long boxing history) and he went to his knees. Very useful stuff. If you're looking for an art that really brings home the gold... check this one out for sure

[bushido_man96]

Sounds great, MizuRyu. I hope that I can find something like that someday. Keep sharing!

[P.A.L]

1- have you started any kata

2- does it follow the concept of blocking and hitting at the same time?

3- does it follow the concept of hitting a vital point before applying a lock?

[MizuRyu]

1- Not yet

2- Yes, and it heavily relies on not chambering your punches. When you do a low block/punch/cover at the same time, when you flip it to switch sides you can NOT pull your striking arm back, it must generate it's force on the upward motion. It makes the punches insanely fast and VERY hard to block or even see, since they start low. Lots of 'flowing' motions, so blocking/striking at the same time is essential. ALL of our techniques can be used 'straight out of the pockets', meaning your hands are in your pockets or at your sides when you're attacked. That's a core concept of the art. No fancy stances, fighting from natural position.

3- Not exactly. A vital point can be struck if the opportunity is PRESENTED, but you shouldn't seek it on it's own. As Oyata says: "It's not where you hit, it's how". We open up spots, but the only one I've done is punching towards their face towards one side (ie.jab to the left side of the face) and expect them to slip it (if they don't, still good lol) and when they do backfist/shuto them in the side of the neck. Their head will move to the side and open up/tighten their neck. A few locks are set up so if you have good position, you can apply pressure on a point itself along with the leverage, which are the most painful locks.

[bushido_man96]

2- Yes, and it heavily relies on not chambering your punches. When you do a low block/punch/cover at the same time, when you flip it to switch sides you can NOT pull your striking arm back, it must generate it's force on the upward motion. It makes the punches insanely fast and VERY hard to block or even see, since they start low. Lots of 'flowing' motions, so blocking/striking at the same time is essential. ALL of our techniques can be used 'straight out of the pockets', meaning your hands are in your pockets or at your sides when you're attacked. That's a core concept of the art. No fancy stances, fighting from natural position.

I LOVE this concept!! Man, I wish I had a place to learn this stuff. It sounds like it is a very down-to-earth oriented system.