Hot answers tagged karate
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Here are bits that we do know:
Gichin Funakoshi, born and raised in Okinawa, is the man who opened the first official, public karate dojo, and he did so on the main island of Japan. Prior to that, it was mostly studied at night, in secret. This was due to Japanese occupation - making the carrying of weapons illegal. Like all resourceful people do, they ...
9
This is an interesting question, there isn't really any one right answer.
Asking them questions regarding their character is not really appropriate. They should have been training at a particular dojo for some time, and a lot should already be known about their character before they are invited to grade. Therefore asking character oriented questions at the ...
9
Everything that's physically challenging carries the chance of injury. Deal with it.
Running risks joint degeneration. Bicycling can be bad for sexual function and mobility. Hikers get lost and freeze to death. Tennis causes elbow pain. Soccer players blow out their knees. Baseball players risk concussions from wayward pitches to the head. Lifting weights ...
8
I am a huge fan of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching. It is what I used to be able to do the splits cold.
Ideally you need a partner for it, but most of it can be done by yourself although you will have slower or limited results doing it solo.
The premise of the stretch is to relax the target muscles, then force them to tighten and ...
7
There are several things I can think of that might help, depending on exactly what the underlying problems are.
Slow Repetition
The most fundamental thing I've ever seen improve speed is slow repetition. We say that "speed comes from repetition" in my Hapkido class and when I trained with a rapier we had similar expressions: you had to go slowly before you ...
7
Answer to the altered question
Still "Neither". Breaking occurs when the localized strain exceeds the elastic limit of the material. That depends on the geometry of the board, it's supports and the location of the impact and on the peak pressure applied.
The geometric dependence is why you want to get a good hit in the center.
Answer to the original ...
5
My Kung Fu teachers regularly address this in sparring classes, because in contests, those kicks are a common tactic to wear down an opponent with a good cover. Most of the time, it's to risky to cover the legs (because it makes you expose more vulnerable spots) or evade the blow, so it's good if you can just take it.
We are taught to briefly tighten the ...
5
Visit a couple of dojos that interest you and ask about their injury record.
Look for older students; once you cross 50, injuries count more and heal slower. Moreover you're more likely to have other injuries that complicate your practice.
Ask about training with injuries, and "opt-out". I can no longer do kneeling work, and when I visit a new dojo I ...
4
Here's the main problem:
Efficient, deadly moves are not pretty. They're mostly invisible.
Pretty, showy, artistic, theatrical moves are not efficient, or deadly. And they're very visible.
Now, from there, take an efficient, deadly, invisible move and make it pretty, show, artistic and theatrical. There's your recipe.
I'll throw you a bone: The punch ...
4
First, as an obligatory comment, you should not be dating the people you are teaching. This is a big thing on multiple levels, if for no other reason than that I have observed on multiple occasions that it prevents effective student-teacher communication. Especially when it comes to the topic of attitude and approach. Coaches need a degree of professional ...
4
My fundamental answer isn't going to change, but I will approach it from another angle.
You've identified a problem that many practitioners have to deal with. If they've never been involved in the world of sports, then they may not be used to the amount of focus that is necessary in fighting. It's a mindset centered on "what do I have to do right now?".
...
4
Edited for the differences portion of the question:
For the most part, TKD is TKD is TKD. A front kick in WTF looks like a front kick in ITF looks like a front kick in ATA, etc. Differences in execution are relatively minor, even if you go from TKD to a Karate flavor, the techniques are pretty much the same. The differences between TKD and Karate are the ...
4
I think that style is less relevant than Sensei. I don't practice either TKD or karate, but I believe that the most important factor in determining whether you'll take the kind of blows you want to avoid is the instructor (and the senior students).
Watch a few classes. In particular watch juniors sparring and look for evidence that they're being observed ...
4
Disclaimer: I have no medical background. Please consult your Doctor.
First and foremost, (and I really can't say this enthusiastically enough) Please consult your Doctor! His/her word will be much more valuable than anything you read here. Second, I suspect that it should probably be OK to start up again, but do so very cautiously. Here are some ...
3
"What does a black belt mean to you?"
"What would it mean if you did not receive your black belt today?"
"Are you ready to wear a black belt?"
"What is the difference between you wearing a white belt and you wearing a black belt?"
"Imagine you are in a fist fight - the other person has just started throwing the first strike, and you haven't started ...
3
First, we must understand what it means to "create" a style: someone learned martial arts from someone else, perhaps several someones, fought a little in competition or in the street, made some changes to what they were taught, and gave it a name. We're not talking about wholesale development of a military training program, enlisting experts from multiple ...
3
Important disclaimer: Reading this answer, or any answer to this question is no substitute for getting actual training on stage combat from someone who knows what they're doing. Staged combat can be dangerous when performed incorrectly.
The elements of getting stage combat looking good are reasonably simple, although actually doing it well is another ...
3
As you mentioned, there are a couple of different bunkai that are applicable here. My favorite is to have your attacker perform a cross grab on your right wrist. This makes the first move an escape (your left arm comes across and under the right hand of your attacker and "brushes" it off of your wrist as your right hand pulls back). The next move is a simple ...
3
Aikido, judo and karate are all complementary arts: One (karate) focus on strikes, the others on avoidance, control of the opponent, and using body physiognomy to control/throw. Judo works from grapples and Aikido from a distance. As such, they are all good additions to each other.
Whatever art you chose to do, remember to "empty your cup" before ...
3
I would say that if this is something you'd really like to do you might not want to let your back stop you but read further for details. If this something you're thinking of doing to help your back (but you're really not that interested in), I'd say, maybe not the best of activities. Of course you need to work with your doctor and understand your ...
3
I believe dmckee is right when it comes to the physics of board breaking. I might not have his physics credentials, but I've still studied a bit of it myself and would have made the same argument. Whatever technique you are using to break that board, if the strain is greater than the local resistance of the board, it will break. This is influenced by the ...
3
Uh, Great Question: I love it.
Let's go.
The main thing to understand is that your are in charge of how you train. So if you would like to train light contact, or no contact at all, you should be able to. If your club does not respect that, they are not worthy: Martial Arts nowadays is not as it used to be in terms of need. We need it less for warfare ...
3
I've been training Karate for the last 11 years.
You get hurt sometimes, accidents or clashes happen. You get over it. I've had a few injuries over the years, broken foot, hand, ribs, all from accidents. It happens. You try to learn from it (block with your hand closed!) and carry on.
Our Dojo is very strict on having control, which should be a factor in ...
2
Aikido is not simply about locking and throwing, it also has striking (atemi waza).
Aikido complements a lot of other arts; once you have practiced some of the Aikido techniques you will find it very beneficial to your karate blocks (uke), and you will find some of the same Aikido concepts buried within your karate bunkai.
2
I have a friend who is very near to taking his black belt in Karate and he started Aikido with me just under a year ago.
So far he has found it to complement his Karate very well and often demonstrates how techniques can work together in his Karate lessons.
In learning Aikido he has found it easier than me as he already has a base in some of the concepts ...
2
No art is the ultimate art. Any martial artist should strive to be well rounded. A good striking art, good ground skills, good conditioning, being able to control your technique and having a true martial arts dojo and great instructor so the martial art phylosophy part is not left out is what I recommend. Any part of the equation left out leaves a hole in ...
2
Stage combat is multidisciplinary. You have to know both enough of the martial art or fighting style you are trying to emulate, and you have to understand the restrictions of the stage, and the audience view point. You use these things to hide your cheats, and your non-contact fighting.
The details of the different aspects vary based on whether the staged ...
2
Tom Kurz' book, Science of Sports Training, has a chapter on speed training. Some of the major relevant points for your question:
Sports fall into five groups according to how they require speed. Your training falls into the first of these, "demanding maximal manifestation of all three components of speed [reaction time, time of a single movement, time of ...
2
Just a small note: I am not a fan of using wrist and ankle weights when training in martial arts for a couple of reasons:
It places a large amount of weight out at the ends of long levers (arms/legs), which makes it really easy to hyperextend the joints when doing any kind of technique at speed.
Contrary to popular belief, training with a heavy object can ...
2
I think I have something similar. For myself, my current conclusion is that I lacked skill in entry. The idea of "speed" is more of a method to enter within range where I have the advantage. The strategy I have chosen to implement this is less of speed, and more of moving in a way that does not set off someone's reactions.
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