Hi, new MAs enthusiast here! :)

[Kung Fu Wang]

I realized I was going to have to be responsible for my own training.

Sometime when people said that they moved into a new town and could not find the same MA school to train, I always wondered, why don't they just train "1 step 3 punches" for the next 3 years?

 

[Buka]

Sometime when people said that they moved into a new town and could not find the same MA school to train, I always wondered, why don't they just train "1 step 3 punches" for the next 3 years?

I believe any experienced Martial Artist would do that. Might be more difficult for a beginner.
I would hope that they’d do something to keep themselves in shape, though.

 

[Brian King]

Welcome to martialtalk Nachi! Thanks for sharing your journey so far.

Regards
Brian King

 

[Nachi]

It's a wonderful art and definitely has its strengths, but I believed there had to be more than just "hardness" in martial arts. I desperately wanted to and needed to learn softness haha, and it very much mirrored an internal journey regarding my whole life here too. Kyokushin is very much still in my blood, and I am still returning myself to that style of training every now and then, just not on a consistent basis.

I guess the similarities would be that Kyokushin does indeed have Goju kata in its system, albeit performed very differently. Not only technical differences, but the quality of movement is different too (much harder and less flow). Goju we soften alot more and focus on relaxation a great deal, but use appropriate tension. Power generated through first being relaxed rather than muscling through it. Very much deeper internal connection (with ground, feet, knees, hips and centre etc etc) rather than external focus.

That being said there are many Goju styles that seem more Go-Go rather than Goju haha.

Also Kyokushin we did zero bunkai and application (I think I can say there was just one time we did bunkai/application in my whole time there), whereas we focus on it quite a bit in my current dojo.

Kihon-wise much much more repetition (which can be quite hard on the legs!). My current dojo we do kihon just not as huge a variety and less volume.

Kumite was full contact (no punches to head) and is a style on its own. I'm still catching up with some of my old dojos for sparring practice. Current dojo we spar light to medium contact depending on who you're with, and sparring is not as heavily emphasised.

Kyokushin emphasises forging your spirit and the mental side, the spirit of osu and perseverance under pressure, so that has never left me. It's funny that I moved on from Kyokushin but find myself coming back to it in a fresh way, with a new perspective and trying to apply it with my new approach gleaned from years of introspection, solo training and my current system, deep relaxed and quality movement, learning fluidity and flow etc. I don't plan on returning formally, but would like to keep it in my life. To leave behind what I needed to leave behind, but to foster and nurture the benefits I gained from it. I even went to a Kyokushin fight night a few months ago (a night of many rounds of just sparring) just to see how I would go and approach it with my current state and trajectory, went really well and was insightful .

These are all generalities of course and differs depending on the dojo, but it's been my experience.

Ps. Oh also our lineage of Goju does kata quite different to other Goju ryu so that's another thing altogether haha

I am sorry for the late response O

That sounds pretty cool. Just like I would imagine Kyokushin

Thank you very much fort he comparison. I am also rather enjoying the soft aspect of Goju, or rather, the fact that it is balanced. There are times to be hard and times to be soft.

I suppose each has its pros and cons. We also don't do much sparring. But when sensei would have us spar hard (which we haven't in a while), it felt like it always ended with an injury or felt somehow dangerous. I'd like to work on our kumite in our dojo more, but not hard contact right of the bat.

I think the fact that you came back with a fresh outslook is very positive There was a saying about how you sometiems have to climb a different mountain in order to properly see the one you were climbing, or something like that, right? I think it is very true.

Since Kyokushin seems to focus a lot on the hard aspect, pereseverance and hard sparring, it makes me wonder: Are there also older people practicing kyokushin, or is it mostly the younger ones?

 

[Nachi]

I tend to be long winded, too.

I started in Goju. Greek Goju-Ryu.

It became too difficult to get to, an hour and a half each way by public transportation, I didn’t have a car at the time so I stopped going.

An American Karate dojo opened up in the town next to me so I went there.

There were two classes, beginners class and the regular class. I’d take the beginners class and stay to watch the regular class.

Once I was in the regular class I kept going to the beginners class as well.

The place was getting busy, it was the start of the boom in Martial Arts of the early seventies.

One day the instructor said to me, “Do me a favor and teach these six new guys how to tie their belts, the dojo rules and the stances we use.” So I did.

A month later I was the one teaching the beginners class. I was still a white belt but the instructor was in his office to answer any questions I didn’t know the answer to.

Then I started teaching the kids class.

Within a year I was teaching the regular class most nights.
I was a yellow belt then, and like you, some of the people in class were higher ranks.

The more I taught the lazier the instructor got. He gave me a key and I started opening up for him every day. I didn’t actually have a clue what I was doing but I knew how to explain what a movement was supposed to do.

Like you, I realized I couldn’t wait to learn more and would have to do it myself. There was a boxing gym that opened a block away from the dojo, so I joined. I’d train there until it was time to open the dojo.

My dad gave me the family car because he was getting too old to drive.

Now I was mobile! I started to go to tournaments to watch. Finally entered and got my butt handed to me. But I met people and they invited me to visit their dojos. So I went. Learned a lot and went on a semi regular basis.

Eventually, years later, like you, I found out about BJJ. I was still training in American Karate but studying JKD as well. My JKD instructor told me to come on Sunday for a BJJ seminar, so I went. That changed a lot of things.

So, as I was reading your post I was saying, “yeah, I know what that’s like. And, “I did that, too.”

And like you, I realized I was going to have to be responsible for my own training.

Ahaha, wow, that is fairly similar indeed!
Not to mention, my karate dojo also takes me around 1 hour 15 mins to reach by public transport, which I use (car is too old and not in shape right now). But I didn't switch scjools. I liked it there a lot, so I've been traveling like that for the past 10 years
But then when looking for a BJJ gym, I was looking for one VERY close to home

Thank you for the story!

Now I wonder, what art(s) are you still training in/teaching? If I may ask.


(Sorry for the late response, I had fairly busy weekend).

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Hi everyone!

I am a 33 yo from Europe who loves training and learning martial arts.

And as for my introduction, to say more than a simple hi, let me tell my MAs story
(It turned out to be longer then I planned, sorry. I tend to be long-winded.)

My main art is Goju ryu Karate I've discovered 10-11 years ago.
I fell in love and soon started to go to all the classes and assisted with the children ones or generally when needed.
As time passed, our instructors eventually got busy with work and/or starting families, and we took over their spots. Our main sensei teaches still, but has less time and unfortunately doesn't teach any advanced classes. Therefore, I gradually started feeling a bit stuck, not knowing how to improve, losing motivation.

Five years ago, just after obtaining my black belt, I saw a group of people demonstrate a Chen taiji form and I really admired it and wanted to learn. So next week I signed up for classes
I planned to do one class a week, just learn a bit for fun. But then covid struck, I had to change classes and met the head instructor of the school. He was really nice to me, I felt like I started getting a bit of a special treatment, which, however, meant he'd often make me stand in front of the class to be a reference or help people out. Sometimes for a group of people actually more advanced than me, which was honestly rather stressful But that stress and the teacher's constant corrections also pressed me to work harder and improve. In a positive way. Eventually I also started helping as an instructor and teach some classes and started trainig taiji more than karate.
However, I couldn't not see parallels between taiji and karate and soon taiji started improving my general skills, mobility and karate as well, which made me really happy and helped me find more motivation for both.

In karate, I realised that if I wanted to learn more, I couldn't just passively wait for sensei to become less busy one day.
I figured it is not him, but myself, who is responsible for my training and as they say: If there's a will, there's a way. And I was looking for one.

Being a part of a huge international karate organization, when I got the opportunity and the means, I recently started to travel a lot to various international seminars taught by amazing senior instructors. It is incredibly inspiring, it gave me direction and more things to work on than I could actually manage. Not to mention I made many international karate friends Last but not least I also got new ideas on what to teach in our dojo and generally became very motivated again

Recently, sensei, being the kind and supportive teacher that he is, gave me and the fellow instructor a push and support to grade, since we traveled and trained dilligently. As a result of his inquiries, we were invited to fly to the UK as international guests at their organization's general black belt grading, where we successfully passed our Sandan (3rd dan) under a committe consisting of 6 senior instructors ranging from 7th to 9th dan, which was a big honor.

And because somehow I still found potential gaps in my training schedule, recently (6 months ago) I gave in to my curiosity about BJJ as I heard so much about it and also because I wanted to learn some grappling to compliment my karate. After the beginner course I switchted to a gi class, where I am (most of the time) the only woman.
Basically, so far I learned to tap well! But the instructor is really sweet and kind, the guys are nice, and although I am a bit worried about injuries, I am having fun


I am looking forward to learning and talking about martial arts, meeting fellow martial artists and learning from your experience

Welcome to MT!

 

[_Simon_]

Thank you very much fort he comparison. I am also rather enjoying the soft aspect of Goju, or rather, the fact that it is balanced. There are times to be hard and times to be soft.

Yeah that's exactly it, times to be hard and times to be soft. And learning the interplay and how they cross-inform each other is so insightful to explore.

I suppose each has its pros and cons. We also don't do much sparring. But when sensei would have us spar hard (which we haven't in a while), it felt like it always ended with an injury or felt somehow dangerous. I'd like to work on our kumite in our dojo more, but not hard contact right of the bat.

Ah yep, might be worth asking your sensei if you can work more on kumite a bit, but start with progressive drills that are more structured, and ease into harder sparring. Definitely needs easing into. I actually asked my instructor recently if we could work on more kumite and he was awesome about it, been doing lots of drills and he's asked me to take us through some drills for alot of classes.

A lot of people really struggle with sparring, and I think it's just the uncertainty, randomness and spontaneity that is hardest. It's a crucial step to move from structured drills to free-sparring or not even that but just to more spontaneous reactive training. But it needs a good bridge to it haha.

I think the fact that you came back with a fresh outslook is very positive There was a saying about how you sometiems have to climb a different mountain in order to properly see the one you were climbing, or something like that, right? I think it is very true.

Ahhhh, that encapsulates it perfectly. I'd never been able to word it properly but that's perfect, thank you

Since Kyokushin seems to focus a lot on the hard aspect, pereseverance and hard sparring, it makes me wonder: Are there also older people practicing kyokushin, or is it mostly the younger ones?

There are, but truly it very much does seem like a younger person's game... the majority of instructors in my old style have all had many many injuries and surgeries etc and it is quite hard on the body. That being said there are older practitioners that do try to alter things for themselves, but the methodology very much seems unforgiving. JUST from my experience and what I've seen.

Not to mention, my karate dojo also takes me around 1 hour 15 mins to reach by public transport, which I use (car is too old and not in shape right now). But I didn't switch scjools. I liked it there a lot, so I've been traveling like that for the past 10 years

Hey me too haha. One night I drive a bit over an hour one way to get to training, the other day is public transport (2-3 different modes) which is about 2 hours or so. It just becomes habit and can easily read, listen to music or podcasts. It's always a fun journey haha

 

[Buka]

Ahaha, wow, that is fairly similar indeed!
Not to mention, my karate dojo also takes me around 1 hour 15 mins to reach by public transport, which I use (car is too old and not in shape right now). But I didn't switch scjools. I liked it there a lot, so I've been traveling like that for the past 10 years
But then when looking for a BJJ gym, I was looking for one VERY close to home

Thank you for the story!

Now I wonder, what art(s) are you still training in/teaching? If I may ask.


(Sorry for the late response, I had fairly busy weekend).

I don’t train as much as I used to. Nowadays I do solo knife fighting drills, shadow boxing and my main style, American Karate.

 

[Simfers]

Welcome to the gang, Nachi! Have fun!

 

[Krisxylove]

Hi everyone!

I am a 33 yo from Europe who loves training and learning martial arts.

And as for my introduction, to say more than a simple hi, let me tell my MAs story
(It turned out to be longer then I planned, sorry. I tend to be long-winded.)

My main art is Goju ryu Karate I've discovered 10-11 years ago.
I fell in love and soon started to go to all the classes and assisted with the children ones or generally when needed.
As time passed, our instructors eventually got busy with work and/or starting families, and we took over their spots. Our main sensei teaches still, but has less time and unfortunately doesn't teach any advanced classes. Therefore, I gradually started feeling a bit stuck, not knowing how to improve, losing motivation.

Five years ago, just after obtaining my black belt, I saw a group of people demonstrate a Chen taiji form and I really admired it and wanted to learn. So next week I signed up for classes
I planned to do one class a week, just learn a bit for fun. But then covid struck, I had to change classes and met the head instructor of the school. He was really nice to me, I felt like I started getting a bit of a special treatment, which, however, meant he'd often make me stand in front of the class to be a reference or help people out. Sometimes for a group of people actually more advanced than me, which was honestly rather stressful But that stress and the teacher's constant corrections also pressed me to work harder and improve. In a positive way. Eventually I also started helping as an instructor and teach some classes and started trainig taiji more than karate.
However, I couldn't not see parallels between taiji and karate and soon taiji started improving my general skills, mobility and karate as well, which made me really happy and helped me find more motivation for both.

In karate, I realised that if I wanted to learn more, I couldn't just passively wait for sensei to become less busy one day.
I figured it is not him, but myself, who is responsible for my training and as they say: If there's a will, there's a way. And I was looking for one.

Being a part of a huge international karate organization, when I got the opportunity and the means, I recently started to travel a lot to various international seminars taught by amazing senior instructors. It is incredibly inspiring, it gave me direction and more things to work on than I could actually manage. Not to mention I made many international karate friends Last but not least I also got new ideas on what to teach in our dojo and generally became very motivated again

Recently, sensei, being the kind and supportive teacher that he is, gave me and the fellow instructor a push and support to grade, since we traveled and trained dilligently. As a result of his inquiries, we were invited to fly to the UK as international guests at their organization's general black belt grading, where we successfully passed our Sandan (3rd dan) under a committe consisting of 6 senior instructors ranging from 7th to 9th dan, which was a big honor.

And because somehow I still found potential gaps in my training schedule, recently (6 months ago) I gave in to my curiosity about BJJ as I heard so much about it and also because I wanted to learn some grappling to compliment my karate. After the beginner course I switchted to a gi class, where I am (most of the time) the only woman.
Basically, so far I learned to tap well! But the instructor is really sweet and kind, the guys are nice, and although I am a bit worried about injuries, I am having fun


I am looking forward to learning and talking about martial arts, meeting fellow martial artists and learning from your experience

I absolutely love your story. Very interesting and inspiring, thank you

 

[Nachi]

Thank you very much, guys! Sorry I am late with responses. I have just returned from two weeks in Okinawa, where we had a huge karate event. Full of inspiration yet again

 

[_Simon_]

Thank you very much, guys! Sorry I am late with responses. I have just returned from two weeks in Okinawa, where we had a huge karate event. Full of inspiration yet again

Ahh that's so awesome, was it the Budosai?? I've been keeping up to date with how they're going, looked like an incredible event!!

 

[Nachi]

Ahh that's so awesome, was it the Budosai?? I've been keeping up to date with how they're going, looked like an incredible event!!

Oh, you guessed right!
It was, indeed amazing. I am very happy to be a part of organization that gathers not to compete, but to learn and share. And to make friends all around the world. The Budosai had an amazing atmosphere that is hard to describe. There were so many amazing teachers and people and it all carried a very positive vibe. On top of it, I got to visit Okinawa with its beatiful culture and nature. I already can't wait to next time

 

[_Simon_]

Oh, you guessed right!
It was, indeed amazing. I am very happy to be a part of organization that gathers not to compete, but to learn and share. And to make friends all around the world. The Budosai had an amazing atmosphere that is hard to describe. There were so many amazing teachers and people and it all carried a very positive vibe. On top of it, I got to visit Okinawa with its beatiful culture and nature. I already can't wait to next time

Oh geez that sounds just incredible... and really heart-warming considering all that has happened... so cool. And yes seems like such a supportive and respectful group. What an amazing experience

 

[Nachi]

So you do know Yes, there were some unfortunate events, but everybody has made their choices and as a result, IOGKF holds strong together. I haven't been training long enough to say stronger then before, but the people, with the example of the senior instructors, are very supportive of one another and it is indeed a pleasure to be a part of such an organization.

I have been traveling quite a bit for the past year and I can say that whatever dojo I visited, the students, and even the top instructors have been incredibly nice and welcoming, offering assistance, etc.
Everyone is saying that IOGKF is like a big family and it is no exaggeration. So I really love going to any international events (and national, of course) I can make it to
Since the Budosai just now hosted over 700 people from 45 countries or so, we would unavoidably run into each other even outside of training. It feels awesome to walk the streets of a city on the other side of the world, meeting familiar people, also from different parts of the world, and randomly joining them for a night at karaoke or a bar, etc. I am very happy to be a part of that

Not to mention, it is a huge advantage that the best instructors travel when invited to teach at gasshukus, so we can relatively easily learn from many different people with high grades - 7th-9th dan, who have spent their life improving their karate and share their knowledge. Everyone focusing on something maybe a bit different and happy to answer any questions.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

Hello, and welcome to MT!

 

[_Simon_]

So you do know Yes, there were some unfortunate events, but everybody has made their choices and as a result, IOGKF holds strong together. I haven't been training long enough to say stronger then before, but the people, with the example of the senior instructors, are very supportive of one another and it is indeed a pleasure to be a part of such an organization.

I have been traveling quite a bit for the past year and I can say that whatever dojo I visited, the students, and even the top instructors have been incredibly nice and welcoming, offering assistance, etc.
Everyone is saying that IOGKF is like a big family and it is no exaggeration. So I really love going to any international events (and national, of course) I can make it to
Since the Budosai just now hosted over 700 people from 45 countries or so, we would unavoidably run into each other even outside of training. It feels awesome to walk the streets of a city on the other side of the world, meeting familiar people, also from different parts of the world, and randomly joining them for a night at karaoke or a bar, etc. I am very happy to be a part of that

Not to mention, it is a huge advantage that the best instructors travel when invited to teach at gasshukus, so we can relatively easily learn from many different people with high grades - 7th-9th dan, who have spent their life improving their karate and share their knowledge. Everyone focusing on something maybe a bit different and happy to answer any questions.

Phenomenal... that's just awesome.

Yeah it is all really a shame how it panned out... and the childish way people have attacked others.. even saw a comment the other day saying "They're no longer following x so not true karate", and I was like wwwow, the immaturity of that statement... but anyway. I'm proud that you guys are moving forward and focusing on learning, growing and developing karate and are so committed to the students and the path as opposed to just one person.

Loooved seeing a clip of all 700 of you doing Sanchin kata together... just wow. Something special. I'd so love to be a part of a massive camp like that.

 

[Nachi]

Phenomenal... that's just awesome.

Yeah it is all really a shame how it panned out... and the childish way people have attacked others.. even saw a comment the other day saying "They're no longer following x so not true karate", and I was like wwwow, the immaturity of that statement... but anyway. I'm proud that you guys are moving forward and focusing on learning, growing and developing karate and are so committed to the students and the path as opposed to just one person.

Loooved seeing a clip of all 700 of you doing Sanchin kata together... just wow. Something special. I'd so love to be a part of a massive camp like that.

Yes, it is a shame, indeed, especially since the reasons were all weird and it was all quite emotional and hard, especially for those involved personally. But from what we heard there was really no better way to go, really, given the circumstances. Probably no other reasonable way, either. And our chief instructor got a lot of much needed support from the other seniors.

And yes, there were, and still are many attacks on the social media, some of them quite ridiculous. It is not from everyone, so it is hard to know if everyone sees us the same way, but... it does seem a little like their organization holds together on the basis that we are bad and they are better for chosing their path.
It may hold true for those personally involved and the direct students, but... I feel like people of my generation, who have not even known or even met the master, haven't been present to the events, haven't lost anything and only gained, have little to say about others' loyalty. Yet they would write about courage in following the master, although they just took the opportunity to become his student, in name. No courage involved whatsoever, no loyalty on their part, yet they would pat themselves on the back. Gosh.
I know someone personally, who acted the opposite of loyalty and respect, took the opportunity to gain access to the master and the organization and would spout about loyalty, respect and courage.

We do our best to not be like that and go on caring about our organization and training. I am not sure if that is what bothers the others. But it works well and I am proud to be where I am. It is a shame there was such a split, but it wasn't the IOGKF who wanted it this way, so there is nothing to do about it, just trust and follow our teachers.

And yes, training together like that was really awesome. Everyone doing their best on their own among like-minded people, nobody stepping out of line. It does have its charm
I hope to be back to the next Budosai in 5 years when IOGKF celebrates 50 years

 

[_Simon_]

Yes, it is a shame, indeed, especially since the reasons were all weird and it was all quite emotional and hard, especially for those involved personally. But from what we heard there was really no better way to go, really, given the circumstances. Probably no other reasonable way, either. And our chief instructor got a lot of much needed support from the other seniors.

And yes, there were, and still are many attacks on the social media, some of them quite ridiculous. It is not from everyone, so it is hard to know if everyone sees us the same way, but... it does seem a little like their organization holds together on the basis that we are bad and they are better for chosing their path.
It may hold true for those personally involved and the direct students, but... I feel like people of my generation, who have not even known or even met the master, haven't been present to the events, haven't lost anything and only gained, have little to say about others' loyalty. Yet they would write about courage in following the master, although they just took the opportunity to become his student, in name. No courage involved whatsoever, no loyalty on their part, yet they would pat themselves on the back. Gosh.
I know someone personally, who acted the opposite of loyalty and respect, took the opportunity to gain access to the master and the organization and would spout about loyalty, respect and courage.

We do our best to not be like that and go on caring about our organization and training. I am not sure if that is what bothers the others. But it works well and I am proud to be where I am. It is a shame there was such a split, but it wasn't the IOGKF who wanted it this way, so there is nothing to do about it, just trust and follow our teachers.

And yes, training together like that was really awesome. Everyone doing their best on their own among like-minded people, nobody stepping out of line. It does have its charm
I hope to be back to the next Budosai in 5 years when IOGKF celebrates 50 years

Yeah very well said... truly, it was all very weird and I feel like it was simply verbal or even translational misunderstandings when it came to who had what roles... yes alot of self-righteousness and holier-than-thou posturing... honestly I can't stand the word "loyalty" even being used in martial arts... just sets up a toxic breeding ground of guilt-tripping and cultish control stuff...

Nakamura Sensei just seems like the nicest human alive too haha.

I'm truly glad you have found your people and it sounds like you have a very healthy perspective. Awesome to chat with ya

 

[Nachi]

Yeah very well said... truly, it was all very weird and I feel like it was simply verbal or even translational misunderstandings when it came to who had what roles... yes alot of self-righteousness and holier-than-thou posturing... honestly I can't stand the word "loyalty" even being used in martial arts... just sets up a toxic breeding ground of guilt-tripping and cultish control stuff...

Nakamura Sensei just seems like the nicest human alive too haha.

I'm truly glad you have found your people and it sounds like you have a very healthy perspective. Awesome to chat with ya

Yeah. That I agree.

From what I've seen, he absolutely is I believe his karate, personality and charisma is why the majority stayed in IOGKF.

Thank you very much. I was surprised you actually guessed and know about all these events!