A retreating hand never returns home empty could be restated as:

The hand that looks like it is going into a chambering position should not be a useless, lifeless, floppy, flailing arm devoid of awareness or power.

I didn't say the exercise was taught differently, I said that a beginning student and an experienced student might be training differently. When I train this exercise I especially like to have all of us hold light weights (say 2 or 5 pounds) in the hands while sitting in horse stance and "punch...

FWIW Master Takara showed me resistance training for sanchin strikes, circle blocks, and front kicks using a long and relatively thick elastic tube. For the training he'd hook one end of the tube over your thumb, toe, hand, or whatever and the other end around a ude-makiwara. http://www.tkri.net/ude...

You are right that medical schools don't spend enough time teaching this. But frankly who does? hmmm...some of those "alternative" folks methinks. :wink: If at all possible, get at the root cause and eliminate it. Don't just treat symptoms and send them out the door. - Bill All that is ol...

Notice that, like Gushi and Senaga sensei, Narahiro Shijno's torso/belly expands when he breathes out at the end of each step.

Until very recently, Western medicine has done a terrible job of investigating what can support a patient's own ability to heal himself while at the same time offhandedly dismissing the possibility that the knowledge might already exist. In an age when we're rushing headlong into national bankruptcy...

The placebo effect isn't sham. The palcebo effect is a documented change in the patient. If there was no change then they'd call it the placebo no effect. Acupuncture works on a number on conditions not just a few. From drug addiction to depression to knee pain to fatigue to nausea from chemo therap...

The "checking" also points out, to me, that this is meant to be a balanced development. Seeing the curve forward I think one could easily assume that the focus is on the abs and the arms - when that's not the case. The focus is on the entire body, not just one set of muscles.

Can I put in my 2 cents worth. Whilst training in Okinawa I was informed that it was necesary to adopt the "tilted/curved" position whilst using the jars to fully engage and develop the upper back, shoulders, and forearms. I.e. in the more upright position the legs tend to take the weight...

In my understanding, the jar training is a whole body experience that progressively stresses the body in preparation for a number of things. It is, in a way, another exaggeration training in the sense that one does not do jar training the way one fights. Jar training is like adding an amplifier to a...

No, I have videomag 19. That footage is from several years earlier. The videos I just posted are more recent.

I'd be verrrrrry interested if anyone knows where this video and its companions are distributed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP6-7vvIm8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpl4Ng-u ... re=related

All that conditioning does is to differentiate people who like to condition or are willing to do conditioning in order to achieve other training goals from those that don't or won't. However, given that conditioning is generally a more lengthy and less rewarding process for women, is difficult to ma...

When I last trained with Master Takara, Master Nakamatsu, and Master Thompson, each asked that we train this exercise. Each spoke about a focus on "coordinating your entire body." Each did the exercise very slowly at first. Each pointed at the legs and at their centers. Each did the exerci...

Why do we teach students to punch and chamber when in fighting the hands must always press forward?

Why would a beginning student punch on one side and chamber on the other?

Why would an experienced student do the same exercise?

Are they training the same thing?