Isshinryu Self Training.... Any good books?

[isshinryu607]

Hello. I used to be an Isshinryu student since I was 7, but then when I was 11, my sensei had to shut his dojo down because of personal issues and he could not get insurance for his dojo. I'm now 16 and just starting Taekwondo, but I have not totally given up on Isshinryu. I've tried to look for books to self teach myself. I've looked at this new book called "Essential Isshinryu" and "The Encyclopedia of Isshinryu", but have not actually read in them, just saw them on Amazon.com.

My question is, is there anyone who can tell me a good isshinryu manual including katas, techniques, belt requirements, etc.?

(And if anyone has read the books above, are they worth getting?)

[Toptomcat]

Self-training from books to any meaningful degree is impossible without a very thorough base of initial training. Training from video is better, but only slightly. Find a local Isshin-ryu dojo or give up on it entirely.

[KarateGeorge]

Yeah, self-training books and videos can be a good supplement to training with an instructor, but I wouldn't consider them a replacement for an instructor. That goes for any style.

[Kuma]

I'll be the odd one out and disagree. If he's had a few years in already, he might know a few things. And if he doesn't want to give it up, that's admirable. When I was deployed overseas, that's exactly how I learned as I didn't want to "give it up" while I was gone.

My vote is keep attending your normal classes, but do your Isshin Ryu kata religiously.

[isshinryu607]

Well no one really answered my question yet.

I know it's not the same as being tought by a sensei, but I just want a reference book for learning new katas and techniques. My girlfriends father is a 4th Dan in isshinryu so maybe he could help me out too. I am NOT giving up on Isshinryu even though there are no dojos in my area.

Anyway, has anyone read "Essential Isshinryu" or "The Encyclopedia of Isshinryu"?

Are there any good isshinryu guides?

[Toptomcat]

There are some very good reasons that we're responding the way we are: training without an instructor is immensely difficult for the simple reason that you're never sure when you've made a mistake. You can misread a passage in your book and practice the same poor middle punch thousands of times over the course of years, magnifying and ingraining the same mistake until it can't be corrected without untold grief...where a simple correction at the beginning of the process would have saved you the pain. And really, poor form on individual techniques is far from the worst thing that could happen- self-trained students can develop some pretty wrongheaded notions about fundamental concepts, or actually injure themselves with some dangerous flaw in their execution. However, if you absolutely cannot be dissuaded, here is my advice.

Value video over text. It offers far less room for misinterpretation: if you are a close student of body language and if the video is of reasonably high quality you can imitate the form you see as precisely as you are able. Isshin-ryu's founder, Shimabuku Tatsuo, appears to have a good deal of extant video of him available, which is fortunate: see here and here. And don't undervalue YouTube and similar free video services, there's a lot of learnable stuff there.

When looking for texts, a useful rule is to look for those authored by the style's founder or their prominent direct students. Shibamaku does not appear to have written a great deal- or at least not a great deal of his writings were translated into English and widely disseminated- but the Dynamics of Isshinryu Karate series, Isshin-ryu karate: The ultimate fighting art, and Introduction to The Original Isshinryu Karate System, to name a few titles, appear to have been authored by those in a position to speak with authority.

Actively experiment with what you learn. Sparring is the ultimate sanity check: if your methods have flaws, they will translate directly into bruises, revealing them to you. You're training in a taekwondo school, which is good- it means you have a place to engage in properly supervised sparring with appropriate safety gear, with opponents of varying ability. These are ideal conditions.

Try hard to find some local source for Isshin-Ryu: the difference between learning from a book or video and learning from a live teacher cannot be overstated. Check local YMCA and free public martial arts programs: you might also check local military bases and communities considering the style's historical association with the Marines. Use social-networking tools: find Isshin-Ryu forums and online communities to try and locate a local teacher.

[isshinryu607]

Thank you. That helps. I know what you're saying about learning a technique wrongly. But like I said, my girlfriend's dad (who happens to teach at the Taekwondo doje where I take) is also a 4th Dan in Isshinryu. He said if I ever need help to come up and he could help me out in TKD or Isshinryu. So it's not like I'm completely hopeless there. Belive me when I say there are no local dojos! Not even in the cities around me. It's really ridiculous.

The reason I was going to buy "The Encyclopedia of Isshinryu Karate" is because it was written by Tatsuo's son in law, grandmaster Angi Uezu, 10th Dan. A direct student of Shimabuku.

But this book "Essential Isshinryu" looks really good too. So we will see...... Thats why I'm searching and searching desparately for an answer.

[BDPulver]

Being a student/teacher of isshin ryu myself some of the books that use to be out are no longer out.

Ive been studying the art for over 25yrs, attained my ranks and still see my teacher when I can.

The problem with learning from a book, sometimes the way the author describes it might seem confusing so you try it how you interpid it. Then you meet someone that studies the style by a instructor and sees the mistakes.

The other problem is not every school does it the same. I'm part of the IWKA which tries to keep the teachings as close to shimabuku as possible. My teachers sensei is Mr. Duessel who trained under Tatsou and was the last one to train under him before he died. So he keeps looking over his old notes and movies to make sure he is doing the particular art to how Tatsou taught it.

I will say this though, if you need to look for books you might have to check ebay, I think they where written by harold long. Theres 3 of them.

When I can find and paste it, I'll get his website cause he has some useful info.

[KarateCroft]

Any of the ones by Harold Long

[Vertical_Fist]

If I were you, I'd find a local dojo. Not saying that it's impossible to learn the arts from books or videos but mainly to be guided and mentored by Sensei. I own a few videos myself. I have one called "Isshin Ryu Karate's Tatsuo Shimabuku", Master Shimabuku is seen demonstrating all 8 empty hand katas, the two sai katas, the three bo katas, and the tonfa kata. It's only 30 minutes long, filmed in the 60's but... its MASTER SHIMABUKU! Which makes it PRICELESS for any Isshin-ryu student! There also is a (10 part) series of videos that you can purchase through Centruy Martial Arts called Isshin Ryu Karate With Master Angi Uezu. For those who do not know Master Uezu was one of Master Shimabuku's top students, served as Master Simabuku's representative to the United States to conduct training and seminars... as well as Master Shimabuku's son-in-law. I think these videos can do nothing but contribute to ones discipline. The Order of Isshin-Ryu has a page on their website that contains many books and dvds, try checking those out.