Although we are a Shotokan karate based dojo, over the last several years we have been introducing many Shito ryu elements to our training. I personally find the shito ryu kata flowing and natural to perform.
We have 8 karateka travelling to Barcelona at the end of July and to say they are excited, is an understatement!
They have been practicing the pinan kata every day and sparring and practicing Yamani Ryu Bo regularly.
High Kicking Vs Low Kicking Everybody’s different, some karate-ka like high kicks, some like low kicks, but which one is better?
Tae kwon do, perform very high kicks, that are fast and powerful, some karate groups only practice kicking below the belt and some practice both high and low kicking.
I believe it’s all down to the individual involved. I personally wouldn’t recommend high kicks in self defence, but then again, I’m sure there are people who do recommend high kicks.
Really, it doesn’t matter what someone says or doesn’t say, because when it comes to self defence, you will do, whatever you practice! So if you practice head kicks, day in day out, there’s a high chance, that if you kicked whilst defending yourself, in a self defence situation, the kick will probably target the head.
I do not believe it when people say, ‘I only practice high kicks in the dojo, in a street situation, I would keep my kicks below the belt’ There is no time to think in the street! You will respond with what ever you have been practicing.
So, if you are practicing karate for self defence only (which I do not recommend), you must remember, what you practice in the dojo will be carried through to your self defence.
I personally do not practice karate for self defence only. It obviously plays a part in my karate, but because fighting is in no way my number 1 priority, I practice all sorts of strange things that I could never make work in a real situation, like ushiro mawashi geri (hook kick), age uke (upper rising block), yoko geri keage (side snap kick), shuto uke (knife hand block), uraken (backfist), etc.
I used to love kicking high, but it seems the older I get, the lower my kicks get, so I guess, it’s the lower kicks that I enjoy.
So, whether you kick high or low, get on the kick shields and punch bags, go crazy and make those kicks work, when they connect with a baddy!
Keep Kicking
Ossu
Linden
The Karate Way
Yamani Ryu Bo Videos
I have just uploaded some yamani ryu bo videos to my club website. They feature the incredible Shihan Toshihiro Oshiro. There are some great clips on the videos, the videos are quite old, but the quality of yamani ryu is clear for all to see! CLICK HERE For Yamani Ryu Videos By Oshiro Shihan The Video Below Shows Shihan Oshiro Demonstrating the bo kata, Ryubi No Kon
Shotokan Kata, Shito Ryu Kata & Age I have been practicing shotokan karate for well over 30 years and I love it. But, since training with shito ryu master Akio Minakami 8th Dan, I have had to re-evaluate my kata practice and I’m glad I have!
This is only my opinion, so please don’t lynch me. I believe shotokan karate has one of the best strengthening and conditioning kata programs for karateka, especially in their early development years. The shotokan kata are strong, direct, fast and focused. They develop strong minds and equally strong bodies, the kata are very dynamic and athletic.
But…………… Here we go………… This is where a lot of people will want to shoot me down and send me to karate hell.
I have introduced several shito ryu kata into our regular dojo practice. Seipai, Haiku, Niseishi (24 steps/techniques), Lohai Shodan (?????), Seiunchin (Marching quietly or Pulling. also written as Seiyunchin) and Annan (possibly named after a pirate or sailor named Chinto, or Annan).
These kata are very different to shotokan kata (at least the way Shihan Minakami teaches them), there are many circular movements, no Back Stance (kokutsu dachi), the moves flow from one to another, when shihan Minakami demonstrates a kata, he flows like water, but at the same time you can see and feel the power in every move.
My older students much prefer these kata, there is definitely not as much strain on the body, the main reason for this, they have shorter stances. Sanshin dachi (Hour glass stance), Shiko dachi (squat or sumo stance) and neko ashi dachi (cat stance) are used heavily in these kata.
This is where I get shot down again, twice in one article! I have added Seipai and plan to add some more of Shihan minakami’s kata to our grading syllabus.
I thoroughly enjoy practicing these kata, so I don’t really care what any body says. All I know is, we are on this planet for a short time and if you enjoy practicing a certain kata, then you should be allowed to practice that kata, irrespective of style or association.
Anyway, there’s only two styles of karate, good karate and bad karate!
Shihan started the Biggleswade class with chokuzuki and the correct way to maximize the punch with the minimum of effort. Shihan explained the use of the knees, legs, body and their importance in karate kihon. We then moved onto mae geri (front kick). Shihan explained how the snap back is the most important part of the kick, we then practiced an exercise that worked on the snap back of the kicking leg. Mawashi geri (roudhouse kick) was next and the same principles were applied.
In the second class Shihan showed us how to apply his style of movement into Ten no Kata, emphasising the knees and flowing natural movement.
Everyone was very excited and came away with enough information to enable them to lock themselves away for twenty years, then practicing daily, what shihan had showed them.
Shihan Akio Minakami started his UK tour at Harpenden, near Luton Airport.
Harpenden Dojo 15/05/08
Shihan's may 2008 tour, started at Sensei Brian Owen's Dojo in harpenden. The first class was for all grades and it was great to see so many young karate-ka. Shihan demonstrated advanced basics, which he managed to explain in a way that even the young karate-ka understood. A great class to start this weekend of seminars.
The second class was simply inspirational! Once again shihan minakami concentrated on advanced basics, which we carried through to Kihon kata, Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan. Everyone at the seminar now understands how many different ways you can actually practice kata.
Shihan gave some of his brilliant philosophical teachings that included a story about a sword master and a tea ceremony master, where the point of the story was the karatekas attitude and state of being during training and fighting.
The more I see Shihan's karate, the more I realise the amazing level of his karate.
Ossu Linden The Karate Way
shotokan karate kids video
Shotokan unleashed has asked if I could add more video clips to the site, so I thought I would start adding video clips from our regular training classes. ShotokanUnleashed.com is free to join and anyone can upload their own videos, you can have your own blog on the site and add shotokan articles, events, competitions, dojo promotion, etc.
There are now over 9,000 shotokan karate-ka visiting the site each month and its going from strength to strength. They are hoping the site will become the number 1 site for shotokan videos, very soon they are going to start contacting shotokan sensei around the world, so they can add their own video tutorials, demonstrations, events, etc.
The video clip below is of some of our junior squad members at a recent training session, their ages range from 10 years to 15 and they all have great attitudes towards shotokan karate. Heian godan is performed first followed by some jui ippon and jui kumite clips of various shotokan karate techniques.
Ossu Linden
Shotokan Karate And The JKA Legacy Master Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) was the founder of Shotokan karate, but one of the main people to regulate shotokan karate into a system, was Master Masatoshi Nakayama (1913–1987). Master Nakayama was a senior student of Master Funakoshi and in 1949 they formed the Japan karate Association (JKA).
Master Nakayama helped form the JKA instructor training program (kenshusei), which I believe, was one of the reasons karate spread across the world at such an incredible rate. The senior sensei that graduated from the JKA instructor training program are now legends in the world of shotokan karate. Phenomenal Sensei, like Hirokazu Kanazawa, Keinosuke Enoeda, Yoshiharu Osaka, Tetsohiko Asai, Hiroshi Shirai, Masahiko Tanaka, Mikio Yahara, Masao Kawazoe, Takauki Mikami, Yutaka Yaguchi, Shiro Asano, Hideo Ochi, Shigeru Takashina, Fujikiyo Omura and many more!
The standard of the JKA instructors was so high, their success was guaranteed. Many of these supreme martial artists were then situated in different countries, where they organised and built organisations that were affiliated with the JKA. Now, at this time (1960’s early seventies), the Bruce Lee craze was sweeping the world, combine this with the sheer quality of the JKA instructors, shotokan karate exploded at a phenomenal rate.
The JKA have created a legacy that the whole shotokan world respects and looks up to. The Japan Karate Association is still very strong today, with instructors all over the world, thousands of shotokan dojo, millions of members and a karate standard that stays very high, across the world.
After master Nakayamas death in 1987, the JKA split and has continued to split into ever smaller factions, but even though this has happened, the original JKA still remains very strong, with the honbu dojo being situated in Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, in the centre of downtown Tokyo.
There are millions of shotokan karate-ka practicing throughout the world and either directly or indirectly, they have Master Funakoshi, Master Nakayama and the awesome Japan Karate Association to thank.
I am no longer a member of the JKA, but I still see them as the ‘guiding light’ in shotokan karate and long may that light shine!
Sempai normally means the person who has been training the longest and therefore has the most experience. Kohai is the person who has been training the shortest amount of time. In the west, senpai/kohai does exist in some dojo, but as a general rule, if a western kohai karate-ka sees a weak senpai, in most cases, they will do all in their power to beat and show the dojo that they are better than the senpai, sometimes even embarrassing and humiliating them.
In Japan the senpai is always treated with respect, irrespective of physical skills, such as speed, strength, agility, etc. Once the senpai/kohai relationship is established, its for good!
There are obligations from both senpai and kohai, the kohai will respect the senpai completely and in return the senpai will help and guide the lesser experienced kohai as best they can, this relationship will continue for as long as both people stay in contact.
I believe, the nearest thing we have in the west to senpai/kohai, is mentor/apprentice, but even this cannot be easily compared to the Japanese system.
In Japan, sempai/kohai begins in school, in all the school activities, the older students lead the way and the junior (kohai) students receive all the mundane, boring and sometimes nasty jobs, fetching, carrying, cleaning, etc.
This practice is also very strong in Japanese business, but with so much western influence things are changing, in some companies the senpai have to perform and if they do not, they are replaced.
At many karate dojo in the west, where senpai is used, it is deemed as an honour and a privilege, but in Japan, it is a huge responsibility, not to be taken lightly.
What A Day!
One of our adult lady karate-ka is walking the great wall of china, all in aid of the charity below. Although we are not going to China, we thought we could help out with a few charity events.
The charity is Keech Cottage Childrens Hospice, which is a hospital just North of London, England. The hospital looks after terminally ill children and their families. All the children are aged 18 or under and the hospital does an incredible job!
Sue Singleton (our lady karate-ka) went to watch the children playing, at a local swimming baths, Sue said the children were laughing and joking, having a great time, just like any other child. The nurse then said to Sue, that several of the children would not be here in two years, Sue said tears were running down her cheeks. If you have children it’s very hard to even think about this terrible scenario, but this hospital think about it and deal with it every day, they are amazing! Last year the hospital nearly closed through lack of funding, if you would like to donate something, however small please donate on Sue’s page. CLICK HERE For Keech Cottage Great Wall of China Charity Walk
What A Day!
Our day started with a walk for charity and ended with an easter egg hunt and a game of soccer.
There is a local water reservoir near us, that is approximately 9 miles round. So we decided to go twice around the lake, starting at 6am. The walk was great fun and we plan to do many more, everyone donated whatever they could afford, at the end of the run.
What we didn’t realise, is the clocks went forward the night before, so numbers were low on the walk, but many people who didn’t make the walk, donated at the easter egg hunt later in the day.
We started walking at 6.30am and finished at 12 noon, a few hours break then the easter egg hunt, followed by a 2 hour game of football, kids verses adults. The adults obviously thrashed the kids, 8 goals to 5.
Thanks to everyone who donated to this amazing hospital and we all wish Sue the best, on her trek across the great wall of China. (8 to 10 hours walking per day)
Heian yondan is the fourth kata in the heian series, of which there are 5 kata. This shotokan kata, in most shotokan dojo, is the required kata when testing for 5th kyu (purple belt), although some shotokan organisations have a slightly different grading system.
Heian yondan has juji uke (x block), simultaneous double open handed strikes and blocks, kosa dachi (cross legged stance) is used for the first time, kakiwake (v block), hisa geri (knee attack) and a total of five kicks/knee attacks.
