Modern karate, I believe, has strayed from the correct path, with many instructors separating the practice of kata and kumite. They think the two are not the same thing. I disagree with this point of view. When I started karate, in 1981, I enjoyed both kata and kumite, but we trained in them separately. It…
In order to improve your overall technique, you need to introduce the concept of “sinking” into your training. You must feel as if you are dropping into the ground, as well as adopting a dead-weight feeling in your striking limbs and a dropping/sinking feeling while throwing. With the combination of these concepts added to your…
Ryusei Karate-Do Canada would like to welcome two new members. Rick Going (left) and Kambiz Miranbigi (right) are long-time Chito-Ryu members who have now establshed the Ottawa Ryusei Karate dojo. Rick GoingRick is a third-degree black belt and has been a member of the Ottawa Chito Kai dojo, under Harvey Brown-Sensei, for 28 years. A former…
Most of us cast ourselves as heroes in our life stories. To achieve this exalted status usually requires us to ignore some inconvenient truths and put a spin on others. I usually present my decision to test for my 6th degree black belt in Japan like this: Sakamoto-Sensei had just finished an embukai (demonstration) where…
Here is a copy of an essay I wrote on the technical theory of Ryusei karate. I haven’t marked this up for the Web, since I have included parts of it in other Ryushu articles (such as Hard to be Soft). Click here to see a PDF of The Chinese Connection. —Peter GiffenBarrie Ryusei Karate
In June, 2006, I traveled to Kasukabe and Tsukuba City, in Japan, to join the Ryusei Embukai, attend a clinic by Sakamoto-Sensei and train with Okashita-Sensei afterwards. I was accompanied by two of my senior students, Warren Tresidder and David Waterman. On June 24, we were invited to witness a demonstration of technique by Sakamoto-Sensei,…
We would like to greet and wish all the best for 2007 to Ryusei karateka in Japan, the United States and Australia. In Canada, over the next year, we intend to pursue our course of technical development that includes a series of special clinics and production of a technical manual. We hold three official clinics…
On July 24, 2006, Matt Mannerow and I drove from our Ontario towns to Cincinnati, Ohio, to train with Roland Figgs-Renshi and exchange techniques and ideas about Ryusei karate. We arrived at 3:30 p.m. and settled into our motel room not far from the Figgs home. Figgs-Sensei met us at the hotel and then drove…
Food For ThoughtIn the course of my karate training, I made three pilgrimages to live at the home of and train with Tsuyoshi Chitose (1898-1984), 10th dan master and founder of Chito-Ryu karate: in 1977, 1979 and 1980. Each time I was humbled by the master’s openness and generosity, letting young, ignorant foreigners intrude on…
Oshi-zuki, or push punch (think the sequence in Chinto), is often taught as two oizuki (lunge punches) in a row. While this the right way to learn it, oshi-zuki is really much harder than this to do properly, and has applications that aren’t readily apparent in the basic execution. In fact, it’s not really a…
In January 2005, following a serious dispute with the Chito-Ryu Sohonbu (Headquarters), the membership of the Australian Chito-Ryu Karate Association elected to separate from the International Chito-Ryu Karate Federation and pursue independent research into the technique and legacy of the founder, Dr Chitose. This was a serious and tumultuous decision, as many of the voting…
Very early in their training, karate students are taught a basic punch called oizuki (lunge punch). It is used frequently in basics, bunkai (applications) and kata, and is usually executed in hangetsu-dachi (the Ryusei forward stance). The beginning student should step first and then punch – the base must set before the punch is executed….