Koryu Uchinadi!

[username19853]

So my old dojo used to teach this and I thought it was pretty cool. I've never seen a thread about this on here!

- What IS Koryu Uchinadi (KU)?

- How good or bad do you think it goes with some Karate styles?

- What do you think of KU in general?

Personally, I really like it and I thought it went great with Matsubayashi Ryu techniques. Although fights don't typically go exactly how Futari Geiko is practiced, It gives you quick think skills in a real street situation. You may not find yourself doing anything like the first 4 steps in one of the drills in a street fight, but you could be going at it and suddenly find yourself in the fifth step and know exactly what to do. It happened to me!

Would love to get some thoughts on KU, or maybe some better explanations than what I just provided thanks!

[Oshishinobu]

I have never trained in it but I have seen some of Macarthy sensei's stuff on line. Always thought it looked cool though giving a little more life to drills is never a bad thing. OSU!

[Wastelander]

While I like a lot of the material, and the general approach, I'm often not fond of the drills. The intent is good, but I find that the drills require a bit too much "drilling for the sake of the drill." By that, I mean that there is a lot of memorization and practice just to get good at the drill, and the drill itself is too strictly structured for my tastes. That said, my only exposure to KU has been videos and articles online, so I admit that it is entirely possible that I simply don't know enough about it.

[username19853]

Wastelander, I completely understand. I'd just like to point out one thing about the drills. While they definitely do take a lot of memorization just for the drill, I believe it's purpose is to create muscle memory. At the end of the first drill, you finish off with two knife edge blocks in the cat stance (as the defender) and two punches to the head (as the attacker).

As you get better at the drill, you'd finish off that part of it with each partner going faster and harder to create more of a "realistic feel" to the training. For me, this became somewhat of an instinct for me every time my friends would mess with me, or especially when I got in a fight 3 months after I started training. A fist was thrown towards my face, and I immediately dropped into a cat stance and performed a knife edge block. Each drill goes over a very wide spread of techniques to help make them useful in a wide variety of situations.

I completely respect your statements, I was just hoping to add some more detail to the knowledge you already have. Hope this helped.

[Wado Heretic]

I make use of the HAPV-theoretical model; it is very useful for developing an approach to self-defence which is relevant to the modern era, but without abandoning tradition. It also helps put some traditions in context.

Must admit, I use little else as I prefer my students to learn the process of Bunkai and apply it without my direction. The drilling approach does work, I have a few critiques regarding it but it's more a general critique than specific to Koryu Uchinadi, but it is not for me.

I have gone to a few seminars by Patrick McCarthy, and the experience has proven valuable and worth the travel and expense. There is much to be taken from his work.

So over all, I have had a positive experience in terms of the experience I have had, and would recommend trying it if some one asked. However, on a personal level, the whole system is not for me, and does not gel supremely well with what I do.

[yamesu]

One of my Kyokushin affiliates has started training with KU, and while I don't have any direct experience with Mr McCarthy, some of the self defence material that has come back into our dojo as a result has been quite valuable.