I see the concept of zen as a way of trying to release our preconceived notions of what the world is supposed to be and seeing the world as it truly is. I think it is a long process of letting go of ideologies and (for lack of a better analogy) reformatting our hard disk to a new operating system. W...

Bruce - I also enjoy our discussions and welcome differing viewpoints. I think women will be more likely to drop out if they're learning techniques they don't have faith in and don't think will work than if they are being taught things that will take a little longer to learn but will actually work w...

I think what we are seeing is something akin to natural order biodiversity. [Kingom Phylum Class Order Genus Species] Kingdom: Martial Arts Phylum: Southern Chinese Class: Fukien Province Order: Hakka Family of Styles Genus: Hsing-I, Pakua, Bagua, Fukien White Crane, Southern Mantis, Five Fist Ances...

The only place I see power in power "beginner" blocks is in the kumites & the bunkais. The kata do not have these blocks. the down blocks in the forms are circular and re-directing. Are they harder to do?? I don't think do -- I think it all depends on what you train. I'm not sure we're...

Lee, that's true. But I think the vast majority of instructors out there just don't care enough. They see any adaptation of their curriculum as a "watering down" and that it will "never really be effective". Maybe they've lost the purpose of training an art. It really only takes ...

So what are we saying here?

That the only women who will be able to stay with Uechi are those that have either trained since they were children or that have trained in other styles and know how to "tough it out?"

Goodness -- that's not very encouraging...

Dana

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote The dance-kick-punch-to-music programs have been around for quite awhile and appear, to the beginner, as something they can do with a minimum of embarrassment. A person can sort of jump into a corner of the gym and follow alo...

Hey Bruce, It was good chatting with you yesterday. And I am now saying publicly that I will find a way to come down & train with you. Now - why traditional training... I trained judo for 3 years. Straight-up martial sport. My teacher was the son of the coach of the Korean National Olympic Judo ...

Hi Becky-- My best techniques tend to be the ones we aren't allowed to use in sparring class. http://www.xpres.net/~gmattson/ubbs/wink.gif Kicking the legs is always good. In sparring I sometimes hit guys with palm heel strikes instead of closed fists becuase I can transfer more of the energy of the...

Actually, according to Mr. Tomoyse sensei at camp last summer all 5 of the additional kata were 1st added to lengthen the Uechi demo portion of the local cultural festivals. I think that having students show their basics at the beginning of a test indicates whether or not they're still spending time...

Hey Becky, I know there are several women who read and choose not to post. I'm not sure how to change that trend. It's probably also due to the high attrition rate for women in MA. Particularly uechi. I've talked with folks who study other styles and they are often amazed that I study Uechi. Which t...

hmmmmm. Ian, it sounds more like you're pointing fingers at teachers than at students. Isn't it all in how it is presented? At the early stages students need things to be explicit. So while tata uchi and yoko uchi are implicit to you they are probably not so to a brand-spanking new white belt. Same ...

Phils,

No worries. I know that many times what we write is a little incongruous with what we're trying to express.

I enjoy our discussions and look forward to more in the future.

(back to regular programming...)

Dana

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote Therefore, my suggestion is to seek out the living masters in the style. They are here, particularly in Uechi, and you can tell by their instruction. They understand and have confidence in their ability. Listen to them. Befor...

at summer camp Mr. Tomoyose said another helpful part of training with the jars was to teach the student to keep their shoulders down (i.e. flexing the lats to connect the upper body to the hips)

Dana