Ah, the young are so naive in their sense of superiority and invincibility. To bad they don’t have a sense of their stupidity, well if they did then we would not get amusing stories like this one…
Favorite line…”I had June sit on him”…
Confucius (551-479 BC) was a famous philosopher and teacher who lived in China nearly 2,500 years ago. His teachings were based on treating others in the same way as you treat yourself. He believed that peace and harmony are achieved by avoiding drastic action or wild thinking. He taught wisdom, love, courage, care, respect, and unselfishness. The Chinese and many other people have followed his doctrines for centuries. Confucius is the Latinized name of Kung-futzu. September 28 is still widely observed in East Asia as Confucius’ birthday. It is an official holiday, “Teachers’ Day,” in Taiwan.
This video will blow your mind. It very well demonstrates how to maintain control of a situation and your opponent. But it’s most important point is in the use of distraction.
Enjoy!!
Well there are a lot of ways to find out. You could visit your local biker bar and kick over a few Harley’s. Or, you could go patrol the ghetto streets of Detroit, DC or Baltimore. Or, you could find a group of hostile 5 year olds and see how many you could take…that’s what I did…
Well sort of…while I hope to never have to find out for sure (I can only imagine how the press would run with this!) but after taking a short survey I found out…
Kata is the synergy or technique and skill. Kata is a form of ritualized training in which patterned or memorized movements are done in order to practice a form of virtualized combat. Several kata are also done in “ura” denoted by the ura at the end of the Kata name. Ura indicates a different pattern of footwork that produces a spin on one foot for almost every move. The ura versions of the Kata were developed by Mas Oyama to improve balance and agility.
The northern kata have their origins in Shotokan karate, which Oyama learned while training under Gichin Funakoshi. The URA, or ‘reverse’ kata were developed by Oyama as an aid to developing balance and multi-direction combat skills. (some areas now phase out the prefix “sono”).
The southern Kata have their origins in Goju Ryu karate, which Oyama learned while training under So Nei Chu and Gogen Yamaguchi.
The kata Garyu (translation: Reclining Dragon) is not taken from traditional Okinawan karate but was created by Mas Oyama and named after the village where he was born in Korea. The kata Yantsu is also often believed to be an original Kyokushin kata but there is enough evidence to suggest it finds its roots in Okinawa before Oyama created Kyokushin.
Just put a little Jump Rope in your workout today…Stamina, Strength and Jump Strength!
I train in and teach Kyokushin Karate. One of the things that I love about my style is the simplicity of it all. Yes you read correctly. At its core Kyokushin training consists of three main elements: (1) technique, (2) forms, and (3) sparring. These are sometimes referred to as the three “K’s” after the Japanese words for them: kihon (technique), kata (forms), and kumite (sparring).
Technique is everything in Karate. Some may disagree with that but without technique you can not gain perfection. Masutatsu Oyama, once said that after 1,000 repetitions one could say that one could perform a given technique. Only after 10,000 repetitions could one say that one had mastered it. Some students may think that they master certain move more quickly however the premise is correct. To many student rush their training, like a race to the black belt, of course they could not rush their training if they did not have a willing Sensei. Part of the mastery of technique in the martial arts is a mastery of self, which leads to perfection of form. If someone tells you they attained their black belt in 2 years (730 days) or 3 years (1095 days) ask how often they trained.
Kata is the synergy or technique and skill. Performed correctly the student will visualize his/her opponents for each move and execute each step with the appropriate power, speed and focus. Masutatsu Oyama was slightly more generous with forms; saying that after 1,000 repetitions one could say that one had mastered a given form. Since Kata is technique in motion and if we focus on technique first this statement makes sense. I equate Kata to dance or moving meditation, like either the movements must be fluid and natural, which can only be accomplished with a quiet mind. When we first begin to learn a Kata we must think to learn the succession of movements but with continued practice the moves should become instinctive, second nature. Only then can the Kata begin to flow as an expression perfect technique in motion. Many discount Kata because they don’t see the immediate benefit of performing Kata, yet those with patience learn from Kata, clarity of mind, new applications of old techniques, and gain muscle memory for most situations. Kata is the core of training the Martial Arts mind and sense.
Kumite or Sparring is the goal for some students and the bane of others. Regardless of your motivation for practicing the Martial Arts sparring is critical to maturing your skills. Some students and instructors believe in full-contact sparring from the beginning, if you are in the Military or live in DC then I would agree, but for most students this can lead to very bad habits and flinching. Like training in Kihon and Kata training that progresses is better. I prefer to start students sparring with defined rules, including light contact, defend only, hands only, or feet only. In this way students are provided a safe environment where familiarity and trust is built with themselves and their fellow students. Trust is important. Most students have day jobs or classes and are ill served with facial bruises or broken bones. Control of one self means having the ability to inflict equally a light strike or rib crushing blow. While students need to understand what it feels like to get hit and how to take a hit, they need to be ready for it both physically and mentally. Sparring should be frequent and fun.
These are my thoughts and experience with the 3 Ks, be flexible and adaptable in your training for tunnel vision is something you want in your opponent not yourself.
All work and no play makes for a boring individual, so that saying goes. Well far be it for us to stand in the way of fun here at KarateTraining.org! Since our site rebuild our games section has been offline and our patrons have let us know, emails, phone calls, it was really overwhelming. So back by popular demand is the KarateTraining.org games section. You can find it in the top menu or by using this link. Unlike the old section you can now add comments. We are hoping our patrons will post comments with their favorite games and perhaps their high scores, unless you think you aren’t good enough to compete…chicken? 
Given that this is the anniversary of the Sept. 11th attack, I thought this image would be appropriate.
This is a sticker I found from when I was a kid, a long time ago. But it reminds me of what we any of us that were old enough probably though on 9/11, life is fragile. As time recedes we tend to forget these lessons, we tend to forget that life can change in an instant. Honestly we live in a very safe society, but that does not mean there is no danger or we do not need to be vigilant in our protect of the fragile life we hold so dear. So remember to handle your life and the life of others with care, because life is fragile and none of us know how long we will have it.
No longer do I need to stay awake all night to keep my family safe from Ninjas.
That’s right, no more peaking out the windows, or sliding down the hall! But perhaps I should have set the time a little earlier, like around 11PM.
