I would like to see how you would against that as from I was told there were bits taken out of the Sai's so he was going from it and was not rehearsed. Plus I need to be in front of him and see what he has to offer. GaryWado You should try training with him ( and Paul Perry ) before ( as you see it )say he is wrong with that he is teaching, plus what he is showing, is it done as a basic movement. So when you have it working right, it can be done standing up and if you was to feel to power this man has ( He is just 5'4'' ), which is not just from standing still. What you see in the video does not show in the best way what he has give when it comes to power technique but I guess not everyone will see it that way.
JSKdan, I agree with you 100% that more often than not you can not appreciate the true depth of the lesson from a video. Also, demo is demo at the end of the day, but with regard to the first clip and my point about the swordsman, I think its demos like this that let the side down when they don't really have to. Appreciating entirely that none of us are Kuroda sensei when it comes to swordsmanship: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVuGDcggm44 We could at least seek to apply some authenticity behind it. Here is an example of Wado's Shinken Shihara Dori "defence against a sword" admittedly there is no sai and also the swordsman is not up to Kuroda's standard (but who is?), but at least he is trying. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DihSCjm0IX8 Gary
GaryWado You are right as you did not say anything was wrong, guess it was the way I read it. Two good video's They both are different from the one I posted as the first one is with boken and not with live blades. I think the one I posted would be more what the real think might look like, I could be wrong as I have never seen a fight with swords and happy never too. As it does not all look clean cut but most at least for sure works ( got with the sword got a little carried away and went mum and dad on it ) The second is good but I am not sure I would be so happy to have a blade passing so close but I guess have to wait for the last minute with a sword or just RUN
Respectfully JSKdan, it wouldn't. Why? - because in context, anyone who had such a sword would, sure as eggs are eggs, be very good at using it. The kuroda vid was far more "real" imo despite being with bokken. And... tbh - I would be very surprised if the sword used in the demo you posted was "live" as you put it. Shinken are truly "razor" sharp, and need to be treated with utmost reverence (for your own sake) - neither party would be happy with it being thrown around as shown. My Batto sensei let me handle his shinken once, but prior to doing so said this - If you drop it, don't try to catch it - you will lose your fingers in the process. He is swordsman of 20+ years but still treats his shinken as if he was handling unstable dynamite. Gary
JSKdan--Mr. Perry's resume as posted on his website is impressive, but.... his sai vs. sword display in the clip you posted is still laughable. Gary Wado--The first clip you posted was interesting if highly stylized and thoroughly choreographed. The second clip.... well at the risk of being redundant... comedy gold. The moves on display were ridiculous, especially that little leap/pirouette and crouch. And when he does position himself to control the weapon, he doesn't. He leaps/pirouettes and crouches. And was that a fart at 2:30? .
Both clips are choreographed because they are kata. My reason for posting them was to give an example of how a sword should be more correctly used during a demo. As for the comedy gold of the leaps and pirouettes etc., I cant tell you why they are there, or what purpose they serve, but a can let you know a little more about Shinken Shihara Dori. When Otsuka created Wado, he did it following a lifelong of study of a "Koryu" Bujutsu called Shindo Yoshin Ryu - As such he was expertly schooled not only in hand to hand combat but also the weapons of the era. To cut a long story short - when wado was registered with Butokukai (in 1939), numerous paired kata (with their origins in Shindo Yoshin Ryu) were detailed as part of the schools "Technical System" - Shinken Shihara Dori (defence against the sword) being one of them. Later, as part of the promotion drive to introduce Wado to north America and Europe, Otsuka did a number of demos (with his son Jiro) and Shinken Shihara dori was one of the highlights (there are clips available on You Tube) - probably because it looks impressive to the layman. As I understand it, although it may have been taught to some of the early Wado students, it was never really part of the main Wado teaching syllabus and Otsuka stopped teaching it quite early on. Truth is, very few Wado schools practice it today (especially in Japan) - even fewer correctly. I have never done it, and I can understand why it looks a bit silly to the non Wado trained eye, but from my study of the other wado paired kata - I can assure you that there would be very good reasons why these kata are approached and executed the way they are. Gary
For my money, Kuroda is one of the best martial artists alive. I was going to offer him up as a New Master but seen as he is not a Karateka that would not be in the spirit of the thread. Gary
It isn't just his sword, it his footwork and everything else. Extremely impressive. In fact, it is almost hard to believe anyone can be that good. His students that I have seen in various clips and videos always look superb as well, so he must also be a very talented teacher.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwUvCui8Dhc&feature=related"]YouTube- Kawasaki sensei in action[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ql8hl-9POo"]YouTube- Norio Kawasaki sensei clip[/ame] norio kawasaki, mikio yahara's assistant and usual demonstration dummy, and a tremendous karateka in his own right
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCz1f8ruhTM"]Andre Bertel - Asai Karate Seminar (Shibuya, Tokyo. January 2010). - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwT1kLY0UF8"]Shotei-Dai performed slowly by Andre Bertel - YouTube[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrlcggQQSvo"]Andre Bertel - Asai-ryuha kata: 'Kaminari-arashi' - YouTube[/ame] Andre Bertel, former deshi to sensei Tetsuhiko Asai, and foremost exponent of Asai's "soft" blend of karate (which i'd like to learn someday)
Found some excellent pics of former all-styles team member Billy Higgins in his international competition days. His club, Sei Do Kan, website has some great shots of '70s competition.
Fish of Doom Re: Andre Bertel The man's talented, no doubt about that, but I just hate to see people slapping others around to demonstrate their skills. That's not mastery, IMO. Gary
well, he could be hitting them full power instead, slaps and light touches are just a simple demonstration that the techniques have merit. don't know if you've ever watched yahara perform, but he hits people for real during demonstrations. besides you can clearly tell that bertel already knows the people in the video, and that they're in good terms with one another. that gives you a little wiggle room to hit each other in training, IMO
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DEVYxsihlE"]YouTube- karate[/ame] Sensei Shinzato Katsuhiko, 7th dan in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu.
