Matsubayashi-Ryu

[scohen.mma]

Hey everyone! It's been a long time since I've been on this site. About 2 and a half years ago, I moved away from Long Island, NY to Mt. Lebanon, PA. I haven't really done Karate since. I joined the Marine Corps Reserves and I'm waiting for an official ship date.

Now why I'm writing this. Matsubayashi-Ryu is my life. I love it more than anything. The only bit of it that I've been able to do is what my Sensei in NY taught me. He was also kind enough to send me a DVD where Takayoshi Nagamine demonstrates the Fukyugatas and Pinans, as well as their Bunkai. I still remember most of what my Sensei taught me, but I don't practice as often as I'd like to, nor do I have someone to help me in all aspects of the training I'm able to do alone.

There are two Karate dojos near me, one teaches Taijitsu and the other teaches Shotokan. My question is, which one (I'm leaning toward Shotokan) would be more beneficial while I'm away from NY, and is it even a good idea at all to pick up another MA, even if they are similar, if my ultimate goal is to continue my study of Matsubayashi Ryu?

Thank you so much in advance!

[Nidan Melbourne]

Congrats on joining the Marines.

Probably go with Shotokan would be my recommendation. Even if Matsubayashi-ryu is your life, maybe shotokan can help give you different ideas on how to train.

[Wastelander]

If you are expecting to be moved by the military soon, then I don't see any point in trying to pick up a new style in your current area. You likely won't be around long enough to develop a good base in it, and it will just confuse your Matsubayashi-Ryu unless you devote a great deal of time to replacing your Matsubayashi-Ryu habits with Shotokan habits. Personally, I think you are better off practicing what you already know--if you have the time to consider joining a new club, you have time to train on your own, and if you love it as much as you say, that shouldn't be a problem.

All that said, it probably wouldn't hurt to go in and train with them a bit, now and then. Not to pick up their style, but to get motivated to train harder, and get some partner work in. Maybe they have sparring classes you could come to, which would be less style-specific.

[wagnerk]

Personally, I would say go and train in Shotokan as going by what you've said re the kata's they are more aligned with it.

Fukyugatas, I believe are the Taikyoko kata's (most Shotokan school's really only teach the first one) and the

Pinans are the Heian kata's.

However just be aware that there will be differences between the two arts, especially the implementation of the forms.

[sensei8]

First of all, welcome back!!

Because your life will be directed by the Marines as far as where you'll be stationed, I would choose whichever style you desire based on the parameter of where you're stationed and how long you'll be stationed there. Choose the style that drives your passion, and in that passion, hopefully the style can be found wherever your stationed.

Not all same styles teach the kata's exactly the same, and different styles that teach similar named kata's might not be taught the same. The differences might not bother you at all, but then again, the differences might confuse your muscle memory enough to make the training difficult.

Instructor 'A' might differ from Instructor 'B', even though they're in the same style AND from same governing body.

Good luck!!

Thank you for your service!!

[CredoTe]

If you are expecting to be moved by the military soon, then I don't see any point in trying to pick up a new style in your current area. You likely won't be around long enough to develop a good base in it, and it will just confuse your Matsubayashi-Ryu unless you devote a great deal of time to replacing your Matsubayashi-Ryu habits with Shotokan habits. Personally, I think you are better off practicing what you already know--if you have the time to consider joining a new club, you have time to train on your own, and if you love it as much as you say, that shouldn't be a problem.

All that said, it probably wouldn't hurt to go in and train with them a bit, now and then. Not to pick up their style, but to get motivated to train harder, and get some partner work in. Maybe they have sparring classes you could come to, which would be less style-specific.

Agreed. As a fellow Matsubayashi-Ryu practitioner of 25 years, you're better off training on your own using the Nagamine videos as reference. I also own a copy of that DVD series, and they're great for reference.

If you choose Shotokan, IMHO, the differences in how they move and perform techniques and the concepts behind them are different enough that it will most likely disrupt your established skill in Matsubayashi-Ryu. "Taijutsu" is just an umbrella term that basically means "body technique/body skill/combat skill". IMHO, sounds to me like the Taijutsu school might be some sort of free style school that teaches bits from an array of arts.

Mt. Lebanon PA looks like it's close to the Ohio border; Matsubayashi-Ryu is fairly prevalent in Ohio, so I would imagine that there's a school somewhere within driving distance of Mt. Lebanon. You might have to do some searching, but you should be able to find one.

[devil dog]

First off, SEMPER FI!

Second if your joining the reserves you'll be right back in your state after boot camp and get stationed at a reservist base close to where you live so what you have in your town will be what you will be stuck with after boot camp. It's too bad your not getting stationed at Lejeune in NC. There is just about every flavor of MA you could ever want. No Matsubayashi Ryu when I was there but just about everything else in the way of Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, etc. martial arts.

I agree with Credo. Depending on how close you are to the Ohio border there is a huge Matsubayashi Ryu presence. Our Soshi said he took Matsubayashi Ryu in Cincinnati OH when he was a kid and I know there is a huge presence the further noth you go.

I also agree that Shotokan (Japanese Karate) has stark differences from Matsubayashi Ryu (Okinawan Karate). The stances are deeper and less natural. They tend to pay attention to the level/plain of your head as you move from one technique to the next and their Kata although similar is different in it's practice. However if you do not have access to Matsubayashi Ryu any MA can be benificial to you. I have studied several arts and they all have their benifits and I got something out of all of them. Believe it or not you will actually learn things about your own art like it's strengths and weaknesses through the study of others. I believe it helps make you a more well rounded MAist. But thats just my opinion.

Anyway good luck Marine.