tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85023104024079388812012-02-16T03:26:18.413-04:00The chronicles of one karateka`s journey to achieve an empty mind.Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-12583583844612267922011-11-29T08:12:00.000-04:002011-11-29T08:12:25.412-04:00

If I had a favourite kata, Chinto would not be it.  I really like it, but the spinning jump gets me, especially since one of my Senseis decided to tell me that I could throw a Mawari-ushiro-tobi-geri in there as part of the bunkai.  Now, when I get to that part of the kata, I'm thinking "Mawari-ushiro-tobi-geri", but what actually happens is most definitely not a possible

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-46848738898191973352011-08-12T19:00:00.000-03:002011-08-12T19:00:24.860-03:00

Picture this: You're a kyu belt in a Chito-ryu dojo, and one day you decide to take an extended trip (go to college) to another city (half-way across the country). You really want to continue your martial arts training, but are unable to locate a Chito-ryu school in the area, so you evaluate the many schools available to you from the intensive research you did (the Yellow Pages) and pick a new

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-44506369129458209702011-06-25T15:05:00.002-03:002011-06-25T15:08:08.631-03:00

When I first started taking karate classes in my teens, the exercise that I found to be the most beneficial was the breathing and meditation at the end of class (mokuso). Now, I find that the breathing exercises are missing from classes.  I can understand why certain things are left out, especially when there are fifty kids under the age of 10 in the class, and getting some of them to "reflect"

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-84884708092859319772011-05-10T15:27:00.001-03:002011-06-25T15:08:32.171-03:00

This article was originally posted by me at okiblog.com. I highly recommend heading over there if you are interested in reading some great material about Okinawan Karate. The term "Kuzushi" tends to confuse a few students at our club. I hear a few people talk about how you have to "break your opponents kuzushi before you can complete the technique.". Let's get the definition of kuzushi out of the

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-2083446461778459872011-04-20T14:02:00.000-03:002011-04-20T14:02:36.991-03:00

There are only two or three times a year that members of Chito-Ryu clubs in the Maritime Provinces get an opportunity to see Higashi Sensei and train with him, so I plan on taking advantage of every Higashi Sensei Clinic I can over the next thirteen months. I'm told that it really helps if he sees your face often, as people have a tendency to let their nerves take over during their Shodan

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-63227192058011704572011-04-17T10:16:00.000-03:002011-04-17T10:16:38.404-03:00

Now there are a lot of Martial Arts blog posts about cross training (like here and here at My Journey to Blackbelt, and here at Martial Arts And Modern Life). I'm not a fan of training multiple styles of Karate in order to round out training, but I do think that training in different fighting styles would work, like Karate and Judo, or the more obvious, Karate and Kobujitsu. There are also a lot

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-69696123144117460522011-02-06T19:00:00.000-04:002011-02-06T19:00:51.555-04:00

If you learned everything you know about Karate from books and the Internet, then this post is for you. If you are a student of Karate, taking instruction from a Sensei in a karate school, then this post is not necessarily meant for you, but please continue reading. At this weeks class in Hampton, the senior students were going over Tehodoki-no-waza, and when we got to number five, there was

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-196403807087403222011-02-02T21:20:00.000-04:002011-02-03T09:38:03.005-04:00

So my 1st Kyu test was a success (Yay me!).  I now have a nice list of items, courtesy of my Sensei,  of things that I will need to improve upon before the end of classes this June. On top of that, I'll be learning all of the new Kata, kihon and bunkai required for Shodan. That doesn't really amount to a huge amount (Chinto, Kihon-Kata-San, which I already know, Nage-no-kata, and a few jumping

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-52143623871482170792011-01-20T11:23:00.001-04:002011-02-02T15:34:01.102-04:00

Niseishi translates to "twenty-four" in English. If you take a look at all of the steps in Chito-ryu Niseishi-dai, some of them can be a little hard to imagine that they are a single step, while other steps are simply just that; a step. I remembered reading an article a while back that said "Every move in Okinawan karate has purpose, no matter how small or trivial it appears". I'm paraphrasing,

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-29721660806218372292010-12-29T08:06:00.004-04:002011-01-01T13:39:54.556-04:00

I'm a huge fan of Kata. I remember how I felt when I first learned Ne-Sei-Shi-Sho/Dai (recently renamed to Ne-Sei-Shi in the new Canadian Chito-ryu Technical Manual). It was the first kata I learned in Chito-ryu that did not involve a lot of repetition, like Kihon-dosa-ichi/ni or Shi-Ho-Hai, and it required much more attention to detail than previous kata. One of the requirements for my 1st Kyu

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-14152093892377011292010-12-08T20:45:00.003-04:002010-12-13T15:32:24.338-04:00

I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but Chito-ryu went through a bit of a break-up a few years back. On one side is the International Chito-ryu Karate-do Association and affiliated clubs and National Organizations, which focus on continuing the teachings passed down from O-Sensei while attempting to modernize the style. On the other side are those clubs and National Organizations that

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-23315424186371251462010-12-06T16:20:00.001-04:002010-12-08T21:12:23.985-04:00

I began teaching in October at the Apohaqui Karate Club.  It's located in the Apohaqui Elementary School, for those of you who are interested.  Now, I'm only 2nd Kyu, but my students are all 10th Kyu, and if I can't convey the basics by now, then I'll be in for a real treat when I test for my 1st Kyu in January. So, anyways, I was doing a bit of research into the exact meaning of the concept

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502310402407938881.post-48119524886043596392010-12-05T21:26:00.000-04:002010-12-05T21:26:44.516-04:00

Yeah. I know. Just what the Interwebs need. Another blog. This won't be another "Hey, look what my cat horked up this morning!" kind of blog. This will be a blog strictly for Martial Arts, specifically (but not limited to) the Chito Ryu style of Karate, as originally taught by Tsuyoshi Chitose. Mushin (or mushin no shin) is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said

Terry Soucyhttps://profiles.google.com/111813529521268025482noreply@blogger.com0