amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 4, 2020 18:50:23 GMT
what martial arts were you guys taking btw?
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 4, 2020 19:03:27 GMT
We were heavily involved in something call Cha'yon Ryu. It is a mix of five different martial arts, and our Grandmaster is very proud of our lineage. He happens to also be a dedicated historian, so that makes things a lot more interesting and cerebral. Cha'yon Ryu means "Natural Way" and there is a heavy focus on doing martial arts moves in a way that won't hurt the body and can be sustained throughout a person's entire life. Our Grandmaster is 80+ and still practicing regularly, and his goal is for all other practitioners to be able to do so at 80+, too. //end soap box.
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 4, 2020 19:14:21 GMT
that sounds fascinating. a lot of the "gentler" arts tend to focus on aspects that make it easier on the body. some of aikido's past masters Gozo Shioda said "As you get older, your muscles weaken, and you can no longer lift and pull. In the end there's a limit to physical strangth, no matter how you build it up . That's why Ueshiba Sensei says that ultimate strength comes from breath power. In effect, it is based on natural principles. If the other person comes powerfully against you, and you respond by simply taking his power into yourself, there is no need to exert any effort."
it's always fascinating to watch the old past masters of any art work. where video is actually available (not always possible for some of them) it's tremendous what they were able to accomplish in their old age against younger, larger, and stronger opponents. //end geek out
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 4, 2020 19:55:19 GMT
so a brief run down of the martial arts i've practiced tae kwon do (got to blue belt) aikido (shodan) wild bunch tae kwon do (counted separately from above, qualified to test for black before leaving) judo (currently certified coach, nikyu or second brown) kendo (no rank, japanese fencing, was super fun) fencing (mostly florentine) jo (a significant amount of stick fighting, short staff, knife, and katana)
currently judo and aikido, though aikido does incorporate a bit of jo as well
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 4, 2020 20:14:01 GMT
Brief overview of Cha'yon Ryu (aka Kim Soo Karate, for marketing purposes): Takes movements, concepts, and forms from five different martial arts. * Karate (shudokan, I believe) * Tae Kwon Do (including some of the "old" forms that are no longer practiced) * Hapkido * Judo * Chunfa Kung Fu Like I said above, our Grandmaster is a historian by nature and was a journalist by profession for a long time. He also has all the obligatory "ooh, ahh, that's amazing!" history like having been an instructor in martial arts for the Korean Military in the late 50s, was a consultant for the martial arts portion of the Olympics when they came to Houston in the mid-90s, and establishing a strong student base in Houston in the early 60s. He says when he chose to go to Texas, all his friends asked him "Why Texas? No one teaches martial arts in Texas!" And he said, "I know. That is why I want to go to Texas. I will teach martial arts in Texas."
He has a pretty devoted following of students. It's crazy the number of people who have been training as his students for 20, 30, 40, 50+ years. His was one of the first integrated martial arts school and one of the first to be truly welcoming of female students. One of the only 9th-degree black belt women in any martial arts is in Chayon Ryu. (And she teaches in Austin and was our teacher for years. She's amazing and also a little scary.)
It takes over 5 years to earn your first black belt at our school. And in that time, you are required to do much more than just show up and practice. You have to help the dojang by keeping it clean and also by acting as instructors or assistant instructors, when appropriate. Every rank test includes a written test. The first ones are primarily just Korean vocabulary tests for the words you really need to know in order to follow instructions in the school. And as your rank gets higher and higher, the written tests turn into short-answer essays, longer essays, and eventually written research projects. Usually these assignments focus on the history of the different martial arts or on the physical science behind some of our methods.
I love, love, love this martial art. I honestly am not sure I can ever be happy practicing any other - which is unfortunate because the Austin school has basically closed down. T_T
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 4, 2020 20:30:08 GMT
judo has had 1 9th dan woman. and i'm a little annoyed at oklahoma judo for never recognizing that by allowing her name as an answer on our written test.
for judo we have a written test as well as a practical test, and points that have to be earned with a time in rank, points are earned by helping run tournaments, or competing in tournaments with additional points granted for winning matches.
aikido it's very much, this is the syllabus for what you are expected to know...and you test when sensei says you are ready to demonstrate.
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 4, 2020 21:31:46 GMT
Just like with PvP on games, I don't really like being forced to compete with people who are definitely going to be better than me no matter what I do. So I'm glad that Cha'yon Ryu doesn't do sporting tournaments of any sort. Sparring with someone way better than me is one thing, being graded on it with points is just absolutely a no for me. Master Kim Geary + Grandmaster Kim Soo on a video from 1998: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIUTkrNiiIgAnd yeah, I remember hearing about Keiko Fukuda (yes, I had to google her). She is very impressive.
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 4, 2020 21:59:29 GMT
as a certified coach, i'm almost to just take my points from helping the tournament run, but at the same time...i kindof enjoy competing, so it's a mixed bag, i'm just glad that as a heavyweight adult, my matches are usually the first ones so i can immediately hop off the mat and into non gi to start coaching the rest of our guys and kids, i don't have to compete, but i can if i want to, it's a great point of privilege, though i think i might start shifting towards kata competition as the kata are required for shodan.
for aikido, got to shodan, now to keep pushing forward as my end goal is to be teaching it.
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 12, 2020 18:20:35 GMT
rather excited, aikido is opening back up next week after being shut down due to covid-19
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 12, 2020 18:31:45 GMT
Are you going to attend?
We got lucky in that our Grandmaster recorded ten 90-minute lessons and threw them up on a private YouTube channel for all CYR students to watch.
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 12, 2020 19:04:23 GMT
for aikido, yes, we're moving our hand sanitizer to the front and making everyone scrub into and out of class, wear masks, and we've a big enough room that everyone can spread out and not encroach on other working pairs
judo we're holding off until august. while the dojo can open usajudo is being rather conservative about recommendations on reopening, and we agree with those recommendations. i really need to go out there with a camera and record some solo drills to send out to our students to work on in the meantime...
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 12, 2020 21:21:59 GMT
If you do record yourself, post a video here~ Or at least a link. Nothing proprietary to the system, of course, just the basic stuff that won't get you into trouble. ^_^
Maybe that will encourage me to take my 255lb out-of-shape-self outside and practice some forms, too. We can do a video swap.
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amanharan
SnoopyCool
you don't have to be perfect, just be better than you were
Posts: 37
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Post by amanharan on Jun 18, 2020 15:35:19 GMT
boom, got it.
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Post by JessieMB on Jun 18, 2020 21:35:57 GMT
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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