Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. The art was derived from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan judo in the early 20th century.It teaches that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using... more »
Goju Ryu (Japanese for “hard-soft style”) is one of the main traditional Okinawan styles of karate, featuring a combination of hard and soft techniques. Both principles, hard and soft, come from the famous martial arts book Bubishi (Chinese: wu bei ji), used by Okinawan masters during the 19th and 20th centuries. Go which means... more »
Hosts Jason Chambers and Bill Duff travel to Okinawa, Japan, the home of one of the most famous and deadly martial arts: Karate. Their journey takes them to a 600 year-old castle where they spend time practicing Iron Body Training. An ancient temple where they learn heart-stopping vital point strikes and go through training regiments... more »
Sunsu is the seventh hand kata in Isshin Ryu Karate. This kata was designed by the founder of Isshin-Ryu, Tatsuo Shimabuku. It incorporates several movements from other kata in the Isshin-Ryu syllabus, as well as from kata from other instructors, in addition to techniques and concepts Shimabuku favored. It was used as a dojo... more »
Kanryo Higaonna (March 10, 1853 – December 1916), also known as “Higashionna West”, was a native of Nishi-shin-machi, Naha, Okinawa. He was born in Nishimura, Naha to a merchant family, whose business was selling firewood, an expensive commodity in the Ryukyu Islands. He founded the fighting style later to be known as Gōjū ryū... more »
Kenwa Mabuni (1889 – 1952) was one of the first karateka to teach karate on mainland Japan and is creditied as developing the style known as Shitō-ryū. Mabuni was born on november 14, 1889 at Okinawa, Shuri in Japan. Kenwa mabuni was descendant of the famous Onikusukuni samurai family. To improve his week body,... more »
Ko-Bu Nunchaku is the first nunchaku kata that you learn in Okinawan Kobudo. It is a a kihon kata, based on basic exercises. For that reason, the practice of Ko-Bu Nunchaku gives you the fundamentals of Okinawan Nunchaku handling... more »
Kobudo is the study of the ancient Okinawan weapons, in particular the wooden implements. The word Kobudo means “ancient martial arts”, and many believe that weapons were always of primary study, with empty hand self defence secondary. For this reason weapons training is referred to as Kobudo. Strictly translated, the Japanese word Kobudo covers all ancient martial traditions,... more »
Koryu Uchinadi is a synthesis and contemporary reinterpretation of those classical fighting arts handed down from later part of Okinawas old Ryukyu Kingdom. Restored, revived and systemized by Patrick McCarthy, Hanshi 9th Dan, the legacy of Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo-jutsu can be traced back to China’s Qing Period (1644–1911) Fujian Chinese-based quanfa (kenpo) practices haphazardly... more »
An Introduction to Okinawan Kyusho and Kiko This video covers the basic theories for bunkai using the basic techniques (kihon-waza) found in the Classical (Seito) Kata as examples. It also covers how these theories relate to the form of vital point fighting called kyusho-jutsu or chibudi [tsubo-te]. These are the so-called “hidden techniques” (kakushi-te... more »
Seienchin kata is a traditional Japanese/Okinawan style kata. The name Seienchin is generally defined as either “the calm before the storm” or the “storm within the calm.” Seienchin was one of the many kata handed down by Kanryo Higaonna, a famous Okinawan karate master. It is a very old kata and its roots may... more »
Sokon Matsumura (1809 – 1899) was one of the well-known original karateka of Okinawa. He studied Chuan Fa (Kempo in Japanese) in China as well as other martial arts and brought what he learned back to Okinawa, where he taught a select few students and became a well-known master. He was appointed instructor and... more »
Taekwondo is a form of a Korean martial art and a combat sport, Karate is a form of unarmed Japanese martial art developed from fighting methods from the Ryukyu Islands, what is now Okinawa, Japan. Taekwondo uses mainly kicking techniques that are both strong yet graceful. Punching and blocking are taught as well. Kicking... more »
Taido is a Japanese martial art created in 1965 by Seiken Shukumine (1925 – 2001). The word taidō means “way of the body.” Taido has its roots in traditional Okinawan Karate. Feeling that the martial arts, particularly karate, were not adapting to meet the needs of a changing world, Shukumine first developed a style... more »