About our Karate

WHY SHORIN-RYU KARATE?

Shorin-Ryu Karate Called "The Ultimate in SELF-DEFENSE" Is a well balanced self-defense system and do to its age and the fact that it is used to a certain extent by our American Military and Special Purpose Combat Teams as well as Special Law Enforcement Groups. Proves its Validity and Quality. We also believe this means that it has in the past; and is still being tested today in "real time" REAL Combat !

WHAT ABOUT KATA?

The original combat martial arts contained no complex formalized movements and were simple to learn. This is a truth that no one wants to admit because nearly all modern martial arts use a pre-determined series of kata (Long sets of complex patterns of movements with “hidden” techniques) that modern day karate instructor’s can’t even agree on, or even seem to know the same ones. These supposedly once learned act like a dictionary to help you remember all the complex made up crap that you just learned kind of like a dance routine this is modern karate’s Idea of forms training. World famous Bruce Lee would not accept this and instead broke with the new Japanese "tradition" for modern karate and trained in a free-form manner. He did not know that the precedence was in his favor. In reality he had stumbled upon Jiyu Kata or Mukei (No form). For Bruce it just made since. Anyone who has been instructed in Mukei feels the same. Long complex set patterns for training did not occur until karate was transplanted from Okinawa to Japan in the Edo period during the 17th Century In little Okinawa, Mukei was an important method of training until 1902, when Yasutsune Itosu taught school children. He wanted a way to teach school-age kids so they would remember what they had been taught and so he would not have to worry how they would use what they had learned. Only being taught the movement and not the applications, they would not be able to use it to cause mischief and violence. When Karate was transferred to mainland

Japan

, it was this "institutional" version that went with Gichin Funakoshi and the others.

The older version of karate training still exists here in America with the last people who have been taught the complete art of Shorin Ryu Karate (Shaolin Way) which includes: Tode Sakugawa’s Karate, Bushi Matsumura’s Suide, Jigen Ryu and Gotente, the Minamoto and Motobu family's style of Bushi Te. We still teach the original Mukei kata, and we teach Yakusoku and Jiyu Kata. It is common for most students these days to have been trained by another teacher in one of the modern karate “styles” before coming to our system. We welcome every one that wants to learn. We may well be the last of Okinawa’s native systems to be instructed in the truly ancient and most traditional manner. In America this is one KARATE School that has chosen to continue the ancient traditions and ways we teach Jiyu Kata. All Yudansha (black belts) practice Mukei with all Waza (techniques). This allows the practitioner to react in a spontaneous and natural manner.

Who can learn Shorin Ryu?

EVERYONE CAN! However we recommend Children start Adult Curriculum Shorin-Ryu around age thirteen as we do not award Black Belts in Shorin Ryu to anyone under the age of eighteen, however we do teach special childrens programs that utilize the basics of Shorin Ryu with educational properties to enhance life and safety skills based on age grade level and child developement.

Then What Do you Teach Children?

Lets face it children do not learn the same way as adults nor do they have the same compacity for understanding or required Disciplne, reflexes, power, or speed etc! to learn adult Karate? This is one of the reasons that Yasutsune Itosu changed the kata for children, and the reason why kata was taught to children without the Bunkia (Applications) This difference in progressional or graduated learning is why we have different levels in School and Children start out in Pre School, and Kindergarten rather than in High School or College.

This is also why teachers who work with and teach Children have Special Degrees For that purpose. So wouldn't you think their Karate Instructor Should to? A Black Belt does not give someone the required Knowledge to teach children. A Black Belt is a tangible symbol (a Goal) that shows a student has learned the Basic,s. Today however you will find many Instructors neglect to; or just don't get the extra training needed to teach Children. That is why you will find many children who will tell you "I Used to take Karate but I quit because it was boring." These later turn into Adults who say "I took Karate as a Child but I don't remember much about it". ( I'll bet you Know someone just like that!.) This is why we offer specialized age Appropriate Children's Curriculums and this is what sets our Instructors apart from everyone else's. Please See under Children's Classes. According to most Government and Educational resources, children are exposed more and more everyday to violence from the media as well as movies and real life. Children spend 80% of their time outside of school. 94% of the U.S. voters think that it would be better if children and teens are included in after-school activities that allow them to learn and experience new things. Do you Agree? Email us your thoughts!