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Hudson1984
20th March 2016, 18:31
Hi all.

I'm Sam, 31.

I started shotokan as a child but as I got older pulled away from the arts. Couple of years ago I joined a kickboxing club and got back into training. I found the training pretty poor and techniques where awful so I made the decision to get back into shotokan, a decision I've been very please with and have just (today in fact) completed my purple belt.

Having learnt a few of the kata I thought that I'd like to round off my skills set and train more of the hidden moves in a more practical environment and have recently started judo. Now unfortunately my knees aren't fantastic which means competition isn't really on the cards so I'm train down the technical route of the bja sylabus and it's been a great learning curve but given me more ideas when it comes to bunkai plus the technical route allows me to train kata and techniques that whilst not being allowed in competition are amazing to learn

I love the training of both but I'd love to go further. I've been interested in traditional weapons training with a main interest being around katana and bo staff but I'm a little naive to what style to add to current training.

I'm happy to travel (I travel for work anyway) but I'd hate to waste a prospective sensei time with not being able to train weekly (if it's hundreds of miles away)

My question for the forum would be - is there a style that I could gain a good working knowledge of through regular seminars and as many training sessions as possible? Or should I stick to what I'm doing and just concentrate on achieving high standards there.

My goal is to train in Japan on an annual basis whereby I'd intend to take in as much as possible (hopefully coming home not being able to feel my legs!)

I would just emphasise that I'm in no rush. I'm not expecting a black belt/mastery/whatever in any short space of time. Martial arts is a life's goal and I'm happy with that. If I never attain the higher grade of mastery but still train my hardest I consider that a positive

Brian Owens
20th March 2016, 21:12
Welcome to E-Budo, Sam.

If you're interested in the bo (not "bo staff"), I'd first look into Ryukyu kobudo since it's strongly tied to karate-do. Your Shotokan sensei may know of a group near you that practices that.

You didn't say where you live, but on the katana front, Iaido is the most widely-taught sword system worldwide, although I don't know how your knees would handle that. It's something to look into at any rate. If the "bja" you mentioned is the British Judo Association then you could check with the British Kendo Association regarding Iaido dojo near you. See: http://www.britishkendoassociation.com/iaido/

Hudson1984
20th March 2016, 21:23
Hi there. Sorry about that,I'm based east coast of uk, there are a few laido places that I've seen locally but they aren't really great, difficult not being an expert but at the same time you know when something just doesn't look right.

I'd love to learn Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu but can't seem to get hold of anyone involved and to be honest I'm not too sure I'd be able to commit to it, I'd imagine you'd need to train really regularly and not being local and with a life etc you do of course have to be realistic.

I'll take a look into the bka though hopefully they'll show something which would be great.

I'd looked a little into ryukyu but the other weapons didn't really appeal to me (oar etc.) And can't exactly pick and choose one I get going.