2 months or so into Shorin-Ryu

[Reverend Fist]

My 8 year old son had expressed an interest in karate and we signed him up for classes at the local rec center. He absolutely loved it so we signed him up at the dojo associated with the rec center classes. A month or so in, my 14 year old daughter asked to join up as well.

The kids looked like they were having a blast. I'll go even further and say that our sensei, althouh the kids are enjoying themselves, is no pushover. She expects them to work and holds them to standards. She teaches this class for love of the art, and it shows.

The dojo has an adult class immediately following the kids classes, so I thought why not give it a try?

Two months later, I really do enjoy it. There a camaraderie in all the classes, sensei shows a caring for all of her students. It's been a positive experience for the kids. The adult classes are, of course, a bit more involved, so for dad, I feel like I'm just finally starting to get my head around the very basic basics and starting to enjoy the classes a whole lot.

No questions here, just an intro. I have started to look a bit into the community and history and philosophy of martial arts, as well as the actual physical part.

Since i find being part of a community a great way to keep interest in something, I decided to join up. I've got some ideas for working myself into a martial artist, and will probably pick some brains to that effect in the near future.

Great board you have here. Seems to be fairly active and, thankfully, more inclusive than some I've come across.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Welcome to MartialTalk!

 

[Reverend Fist]

Thanks! I'm still wrapping my head around what martial arts is really about (open mind, Rev, open mind), and understanding that is helping me to figure out how I need to train in my own time.

That's probably the biggest struggle for me right now, funding time to train at home and determining where those efforts are best spent.

It's more involved than I initially realized, but that's not something to put me off, it's just an indication that this is a journey, not a task. It helps me realize also that, as a bleach-white white belt, I can be forgiven for what I don't yet know. I just can't expect forgiveness for not attempting to progress.

 

[donald1]

welcome! nice to meet you
if i have my facts correctly, shorin is a form of goju

 

[Reverend Fist]

I'm sure I'll stumble on a lot of facts, but I think Shorin Ryu is separate from Goju and maybe closer to Shotokan.

But I am new to all of it, I could certainly have my facts wrong. I can say that my sensei trained in Okinawa directly under Fusei Kise. Not sure whether that helps pinpoint the origins or lineage.

 

[donald1]

i found something i think might helpOkinawan martial arts - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[K-man]

welcome! nice to meet you
if i have my facts correctly, shorin is a form of goju

No. Shorin Ryu is one of the Okinawan styles. It was developed at Shuri and was originally Shuri-te. Goju was developed in Naha and was originally Naha-te. For the sake of completeness there was a third school at Tomari, surprisingly called Tomari-te. From here all else grew.

I'm sure I'll stumble on a lot of facts, but I think Shorin Ryu is separate from Goju and maybe closer to Shotokan.

But I am new to all of it, I could certainly have my facts wrong. I can say that my sensei trained in Okinawa directly under Fusei Kise. Not sure whether that helps pinpoint the origins or lineage.

Welcome to MT and great to have someone practising a traditional Okinawan karate style.

There are many similarities between Goju and Shorin Ryu because originally the three schools I referred to were pretty much within walking distance of each other and students were encouraged to visit the other schools. The principle difference in those days was the kata that might be taught.

Shotokan is quite different although it had the same kata. It is the karate that Funakoshi took to Japan and which eventually became one of the most popular styles. It is very much sport oriented where I hope your training will involve a lot more hands on training as traditional karate is.

Fusei Kise was a student of Hohan Soken, one of the top Okinawan masters from the early days. Hohan Soken was possibly the only master who taught Kyoshu, or vital point striking, to other than his own students so I would hope you will also find some of that in your training.

All the best with your journey.

 

[K-man]

i found something i think might helpOkinawan martial arts - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

I'm not sure that this article is all that accurate. For example it has Nagamine coming from Tomari-te where I am pretty sure he was from Shuri-te.

Choshin Chibana, the founder of Shorin Ryu, was a student of Anko Itosu, a student of Sokon Matsumura. That's a very direct line to Shuri-te.

Perhaps a better reference could be;
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōrin-ryū

(My reference to Nagamine is that the table shows his style as Shorin Ryu where in fact it is Matsubayashi Ryu.)

 

[Reverend Fist]

Thanks for the welcome, all. K-man, I appreciate your comments about hands on training vs sport. I know that Sensei tries to walk a line: of course for the kids, they like to compete, they like trophies and what not. The school is pretty decently ranked in the tournaments and all. But the focus on competition karate only comes for that choose to compete, and only leading up to the tournament. She does not teach the class to compete, but did support those choose to do so.

A lot of info I find on martial arts simply gives you a thousand reasons to avoid the dreaded "mcdojo" and a thousand ways to spot one. I know there are differing schools of thought as to whether schools should lean more towards competition or towards just teaching the art. From what I can see, she focuses more on the art but makes concessions for those who wish to compete. I think she splits the difference very well.

 

[K-man]

Thanks for the welcome, all. K-man, I appreciate your comments about hands on training vs sport. I know that Sensei tries to walk a line: of course for the kids, they like to compete, they like trophies and what not. The school is pretty decently ranked in the tournaments and all. But the focus on competition karate only comes for that choose to compete, and only leading up to the tournament. She does not teach the class to compete, but did support those choose to do so.

A lot of info I find on martial arts simply gives you a thousand reasons to avoid the dreaded "mcdojo" and a thousand ways to spot one. I know there are differing schools of thought as to whether schools should lean more towards competition or towards just teaching the art. From what I can see, she focuses more on the art but makes concessions for those who wish to compete. I think she splits the difference very well.

It depends on what people want to get from their martial art training. If people want to compete then fantastic, go for it. As you get older the thought of competing moves further and further from your mind. There are people here on MT who are fixated on competition, but they are generally a lot younger than some of us. Being told that, at 66, I need to compete in the cage with young MMA fighters to "see if my training is real" makes me laugh. My view is that competition style fighting is totally different than if you are training to defend yourself in the outside world as you will find out if you read through some of the threads.

Learning a martial art is a little like peeling an onion. Each time you take off a layer you find a new layer below. What starts out as a seemingly simple pursuit becomes an incredible journey. I hope you get the same enjoyment from it that I have, and Shorin Ryu is an excellent way to go about it.

 

[Dinkydoo]

Welcome.

The more you train the more you realise that martial arts take you on a very personal journey of development that, if you let it, will teach you a great deal about yourself. You'll experience those moments of great accomplishment and times where you feel as though you know nothing. Enjoy the ride.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Good for you. Keep up the good work.