Isshinryu is an awesome style!

[Haze55]

32 one hour sessions gets you black belt in Isshinryu? I think not. I've been taking classes since last June, and I am only a green belt. Check your facts man.

[setboy]

sorry, but you are way off on the time to black belt in isshinryu.

i think someone ask how man kata isshinryu has?

open hand:

Seisan

Seiunchin

Naihanchi

Wansu

Chinto

Kusanku

Sunsu

Sanchin

weapons:

Tokumine no Kun

Shishi no Kun

Kusanku Sa

Chatan Yara no Sai

Kyan No Sai <-- not all schools teach this one

Hama Higa no Tuifa

[Chikara]

It takes 2 1/2 (absolute minimum) - about 4-5 years depending on the dojo. I've been doing Isshinryu and Kobudo (the weapon part) for 2 years now and am ni-kyu in it. I've had at least 500 1 hour sessions.

The weapon list isn't complete either. We were taught these:

Short stick kata

Nunchaku kata

Urashi Bo

Oar form (2 different forms)

Sword kata

Tonfa kata

Horseman's Form (from Bando, not taught to all, but to many in the east coast)

Our style is made up only of Goju-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu. Master Shimabuku also added Kobudo (weapon style) from one of his masters Taira Shinken.

There, hope that cleared some things up.

[BLueDevil]

Based on the responses I think you were McDojoed John

[Fu Man]

In all honesty, a person might be able to learn the 8 basic kicks, 15 basic upper body techniques, 8 empty hand katas and the necessary weapon katas in 32 one hour sessions. At most Isshin-ryu dojos, not all of the weapon katas are required for sho-dan.

However, with that stated, the person will not be able to perform the said techniques or katas at a black belt level until after years of training, especially without previous martial arts training.

Furthermore, the person's overall knowledge of bunkai, tuite, kyusho and self-defense strategy/tactics will be severely lacking.

[joesteph]

Tatsuo Shimabuku developed Isshinryu back in the 1950s. He was a master of both Shorin-ryu and Gojo-ryu. Before Bruce Lee talked about abosrbing what was useful and discarding that which was worthless, Shimabuku-san striped out most of the material from his two styles of karate and created a dynamic synthesis from what was left. . . .

Does anybody else here have experience with Isshinryu, Gojoryu, or Shorinryu? Can anybody else add anything about Isshinryu I left out?

I just selected these sections.

My introduction to Isshinryu as a teenager was not a pleasant one, due to an assistant instructor's improper teaching technique. What is interesting to me is that my hometown, Bayonne NJ, was used as Don Nagle's Isshinryu headquarters for this Eastern third of the US. The headquarters was right within walking distance from my home, and Joel Buckholtz (spelling?) was the chief instructor. (It's nothing new to have a NJ town be a national headquarters. Nearby Springfield NJ is the headquarters for the US Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.) I remember Don Nagle with local karate students demonstrating at my high school (then an all-boys school, Marist High School) at a Father's Club night that had sons invited to be with their Dads to see the demonstration. Unfortunately, before Nagle's death, there was a falling out with Buckholz, so I can't say what the present state of Isshinryu is other than that there are different dojos around offering their versions of it.

Some years ago, when I was in my thirties, a friend who had a green belt in Isshinryu tutored me. It was mainly fighting--and I mean we sparred bare-knuckled, supposedly controlling ourselves until reason prevailed and we got some sparring gear. This is one tough martial art. My forearms felt like iron (we did a lot of forearm smashes against one another's forearms), and we sparred the way he'd learned in class: you reach out and seize the other guy's arm/wrist if it's open, and then comes the kick or punch. I thought that that was the standard way of sparring until I took TKD, which was when I wanted to learn from a school under certified instructors. I think Isshinryu may even be good for certain body types, and if you work out with weights, which I did at that time, you develop a hardened body.

The vertical fist of Isshinryu (and the "Isshinryu snap" that goes with it) is interesting in that it's fast, is harder for the opponent to see (especially when rising up) than the horizontal fist, and is good for someone who isn't as rapid when maneuvering/circling as TKD will demand. It seems to make you want to keep moving forward, and two other students at the dojang where I train had studied Isshinryu in the past; you can spot all three of us in that we all seem to move in as though on automatic.

It's likely changed, but when I was a teenager, the black belt test included that the candidate wear no gi jacket, go through a special kata, be whacked at certain points at certain areas of the upper body during that kata, and show himself unphased by the strikes.

I realize that much of the OP was about how quick you can get a black belt, but John also asked, "Can anybody else add anything about Isshinryu I left out?" That's what I wanted to address.

[Ranpu]

The only martial arts I'v learned is Isshinryu but I never heard of becoming a black belt that quickly, even if you could, that just means you know the things needed, but you probably can't put them to use

Edited July 20, 2009 by Ranpu

[rudolph49]

What is the name origin of the "Montgomery" style fighting?

[Traymond]

Hmmm its true that Isshinryu has only eight katas that are core, there are also other katas such as enpi, seipai that are added into the curriculum as bridging katas...are you sure your a practicioner of Isshinryu...my cousin has been practicing isshinryu four 6 years and he is only a second brown...

Their are also two styles of kobudo that are mingled within such as matayoshi and yamashita.

[Gi-Unit]

It takes about 5 years to achieve black belt.