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I will present a judo view of sparring, which will be partially applicable to a kickboxing situation. Judo has two key principles:
mutual welfare and benefit
maximum efficiency
As applied to sparring, the first principle means that you both need to get something out of your time practicing together. If there is a large strength or size disparity (adult v. ...
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It's similar to the concept of shaking hands with your right hand. The majority of people are right handed, so when shaking hands you present this hand and clasp to show you do not have weapons. With a sword, a right-handed person draws faster for combat with the sword on the left side of the body.
In this example, the draw motion continues directly into ...
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There is a famous zen story, one of the variation is this…
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a
university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on
pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is ...
answered Aug 7 '17 at 12:56
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12
As a short answer, I'd say that it comes down to trust and pattern recognition.
Respect the level of experience. During sparring, if the woman recognizes the patterns in your attack and defends with the right moves, then you can increase your intensity. If she's lobbing punches and kicking when there's no chance of connecting, ease up.
If you don't want a ...
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The Japanese term "sensei" isn't so much a title as it is a form of respect for those who have paved the way for you in some way or another. It is often given to teachers, but also to doctors, lawyers, politicians and even members of the church. It can even be used when referring to artists, or basically anyone that has mastered an art form or a specific ...
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Not really. Bowing is mostly a Japanese phenomenon. Even then in Shorinji Kempo (a japanese style) we don't bow but rather put our palms together in a traditional Buddhist greeting.
In Chinese arts they tend to make a rough yin/yan with the hands. In boxing you touch fist with your opponent.
As for when to bow this also varies. Generally it's some ...
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The short form of the answer is that it is entirely dependent on the organization and its standards and customs.
For the longer answer, start by looking at the way the word "master" is used in English and notice that it has several meanings that are only loosely related. "Master" can mean "teacher", it can mean "lord" especially when referring to the "...
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Yes
Of course it is appropriate.
I am struggling to find a reason why not to do it if you are keen on it. It is a piece of nice calligraphy which would be enough to display as an art piece regardless of whether you abide by it or not.
Besides, it is your home and you should be able to decorate it how you see it.
I could not find a higher resolution ...
answered Feb 2 '17 at 11:22
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Competition, in a club setting, should be all about learning: for yourself and them. Thus,
Help them!
Against a weaker opponent, your goal should be to make them better. So, allow them to practice on you their techniques. Let them manage distance, ring craft, and techniques. If you see weakness there, point it out (either with a well timed riposte or ...
answered Jun 1 '17 at 9:30
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8
Quite frankly, yes, that's basically exactly what you do, ask them to stop giving you advice. If you want to be nice about it, thank them, but say that you really need to concentrate, and the talking is distracting you.
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For this question there is only one person to ask:
Your trainer(s).
Is it okay for them or not?
If it is okay for them, always have a normal belt, just in case you do classes or training somewhere else.
P.S.
Have a look at the class.
Do they all wear traditional white gis and plain belts, some kids maybe striped belts? Then the answer will be rather ...
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At my kyokushin karate dojo, one of the instructors is nearly 80. He's physically incapable of performing most of the techniques he teaches. Like, one of his knees doesn't really bend anymore, so he can't even kick at all. But he still knows what a proper kick should look like. And he was an actual school teacher for ~50 years, so he's very good at ...
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You've answered your own question. It's etiquette. Right-hand means you don't expect to use your sword. Left-hand means you're ready for action. The Samurai had loads of rules and etiquette to abide by. This code of conduct is called Bushido (the way of the warrior). It's a lot like the Western concept of Chivalry.
In modern terms, it would be like carrying ...
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I'm a Taekwondo Master, but having met plenty of martial artists over the years I've been referred to as Sensei by Karateka (along with their traditional "oss" shout) and Sifu by Wing Chun practitioners (with a wrapped fist gesture). In all case I normally bow in the way I have been taught and (if meeting them for the first time) say "just Andy is fine". ...
7
BJJ inherits this treatment of striking in rolling from judo. Strikes were removed from judo randori (free play) because Kano could not figure out a way to train them safely. Only relatively safe techniques were used in randori to allow full-force practice. Striking and defending against striking were relegated to kata (prearranged exercises).
The basic ...
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Origin of keikogi, and Japanese left-over-right dress tradition
The uniforms of karate, aikido, kendo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sambo etc are derived from the uniforms of judo, which were themselves based off of everyday Japanese clothing. As such, the tradition of wearing keikogi jackets left-side over right was likewise adopted from the traditional way to wear ...
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I'm not sure why you feel the need to adapt your sparring to women specifically.
I always try to adapt my sparring to the person I'm sparring with: make it interesting and challenging for them if I can, and let them do the same for me.
Always agree on the level of power (which can be implicit with people you know, but with smaller/less powerful people than ...
5
[...] how to respectfully address masters of other styles.
In exactly the same way as you would do in any other setting: politely ask them.
If you do not know something, you seek knowledge. You read books, ask those more knowledgeable as yourself (like on this site ^_~), and if all else fails use the scientific method. The latter is deviating from the ...
answered Dec 16 '14 at 7:48
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There is a nuance in the question as posted. Ultimately, this practice may have to do with cultural differences between Brazilians who are more loyally subservient to a team, dojo and instructor, while Americans tend to be more centered on personal achievements and accomplishments as evidenced by some discussions on Reddit about this issue.
Cross-training ...
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Yeah, don't be that guy. You don't want to show up at a school asking for a fight. Even if you make it perfectly clear it's "just sparring", many people will see it as a challenge, and you're going to get a lot of angry looks and possibly get hurt.
As I understand it, you're interested in an exchange of knowledge. You're not looking for a fight. You're ...
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1. Seiza gender differences
The prescribed gender differences in seiza one sometimes hears stem from traditional Japanese seating etiquette, analogous to sitting sidesaddle/astride in equestrianism, or with legs crossed/spread on a chair.
These differences are echoed in texts on other traditional Japanese practices which involve seiza e.g. buddhism, chado, ...
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The traditional way to sit for men is indeed with 2 fists in between.
Women can choose to close their legs but should definitely not be forced to.
The placing of the hands is with your hands facing each other, placed on the end of your Judogi. You put your elbows outward.
When you bow you simply place your hands in front of you the same way they are placed ...
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This sounds like it's probably Cantonese or a related dialect. You're going to be best off finding someone who speaks the language to tell you the exact meaning, though whether it is "correct" is often tradition based and may be specific to the region your style comes from or the actual lineage itself.
The bit I can tell you:
"Shifu Hao" is a basic ...
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In Mandarin, "hao" means "good", and is used as a greeting. (As in "ni hao". "Ni" means "you", but can also be replaced by a title, in this case Shifu.)
The end of class phrase is probably "shi fu xin ku le". Literally, it means that Shifu has worked hard, but the implication is that you are thanking them for their hard work.
https://chinese.yabla.com/...
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It should be fine to ask why techniques are performed in a particular way. Good practitioners understand why and do more than blindly follow what they have been taught.
Good teachers will be able to tell you why. A poor answer is something like, "our style has always done it this way". Keep in mind you may not have sufficient experience to understand the ...
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I don't know from personal experience, but I did have the opportunity to ask several high-ranking Aikido-ka. Two admitted never having heard of the practice, three others are aware of the practice but do not ask their students to perform it. Of them all, they offered several guesses for explanation, and this is what they offered:
It is purely a ...
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Answer to a previous question:
"Some schools cross the big toes, some don't."
Then there is this discussion on a kendo forum.
And the Wikipedia page on seiza:
"...big toes sometimes are overlapped..."
In any case, in my Aikido dojo (where I am the chief instructor), there are no rules regarding crossing the toes.
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Kōichi Tōhei in his Book of Ki: Co-Ordinating Mind and Body in Daily Life (1976) states only:
"rest one big toe on top of the other"
when describing exercises from seiza position.
Historically in Japan, there was a formal prescription that if big toes overlapped, men sat with the left over the right, and women vice versa, but this is not followed ...
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I just went through my bookshelf and the first book I found which talks about this is Chino Susumu's はじめての合気道, which says:
Point! 両足裏は親指が軽く触れる程度にして座る
"Important: place the front of your feet such that the big toes can touch each other lightly" (my translation). The photo this goes with shows the toes next to each other. This matches the instruction I ...
4
When I was studying Tae Kwon Do -- if you want to be ultra polite...
Explain the situation to your current instructor and if possible get permission and a reference letter.
Even if you don't talk to your current instructor..
Approach the new school very carefully. Perhaps calling first and explaining your situation. Some old schools used to mind, most ...
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