A short while back I posted about things I did (or wish I did sooner) to improve my Kempo. One of the things I mentioned that caught some attention was my wish that I could go back in time and never point spar. Although I’m definitely feeling the love for a certain Shotokan site, I know someone is going to bring up their article Facing a Harsh Reality: Sparring Measures Skill (You just aren’t as fast as you thought), but there’s a bit of technical difference in the problem I see, and the premise they put forward. I actually agree for the most part with their article, as point sparring is a test of skill. They however think point sparring can be a reasonable test of fighting skill, as it shares many attributes with ‘the real show’. I disagree wholeheartedly, mainly for two reasons. Continue reading
A Blog I Admire
Years ago, I found this little Shotokan website that apparently grew out of a ‘usenet’ group. It was filled with thoughtful, incisive, and often heretical (at least to the Shotokan powers that be) articles presented with style. No, I didn’t always agree, but I was always interested. It had an archive of the forms, free. Can you sense that it might have inspired me a bit? Suddenly, one day it was gone. Thankfully, it has returned as a blog. It’s not the same as it was, but it has blossomed into a new entity containing much of what drew me there in the first place. I’m not a huge Shotokan fan, but much of what is found on 24fightingchickens.com applies to organized martial arts in general. I’ll know I’ve ‘made it’ when I start getting hate mail like he used to get…
