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OXTKD
OXTKD's picture

Hi My name is Ciaran.  I run Taekwon-do schools in Oxfordshire and have a keen interest in kata application principles havinhg attended many of Iain's seminars.  I am also involved with Patrick McCarthy's Koryu Uchinadi and host a 'KU study group' in Didcot (March 1st 2014 .

ltorres
ltorres's picture

Hello all,

my name is Luis and Ive been practicing shito-ryu since I was 14y. Is with great pleasure that I found the work of Iain and I will try to share and learn with you all.

Regards

LT

Steve Gombosi
Steve Gombosi's picture

Hello to all,

Steve Gombosi here. I've been training Matsubayashi-ryu pretty steadily since 1972, in the US, the Kanto region of Japan (Yokohama, specifically), and on (too briefly) in Okinawa. I'm not currently teaching (mainly because my Real Job had me flying 96 times last year, which makes it really hard to have a consistent class schedule). I've followed Iain for awhile, and I very much respect his approach to kata and bunkai. I'm really looking forward to learning a lot and widening my horizons in the process (no doubt at the expense of some of my more cherished preconceptions). I've dabbled a bit in Aikido (enough for an Ikkyu), too, as well as participating in a long-running but now defunct push-hands group organized by the (somewhat notorious) Mike Sigman.

Pleased to meet you all!

 

Steve

Timmy
Timmy's picture

Hi guys, Tim Jones here. I am from Chelmsford and I currently live and work in Bishop's Stortford. I recently joined the kyokushin club here. However, I have checked out and enjoyed a couple of Iain Abernethy affiliated clubs (with Paul Newman in Chelmsford and Gary Chamberlain in Loughborough - both great guys) and I always find Iain's articles and podcasts very interesting. I trained a bit in Tang Sou Dao when I was younger, but to be honest I haven't trained in anything consistently since I went to uni back in 2004. However I am now lifting weights and I thought it would be fun to get back into something!

Alessio1990
Alessio1990's picture

Hi everybody,

I'm Alessio and I'm from Italy. I'm 1°dan in Shotokan Karate and I started training when I was 10, now I'm 23... I have little experience but I'm really interested in Applied Karate and Abernethy's approach to Karate.. Forgive my English when I make some mistakes :)

Scott McCallum
Scott McCallum's picture

Hi, i've been a member of this site for a while but never got round to posting on here.....Time to fix that.

I've had an on..off relationship with the martial arts since I was 11 and trained at first at a shotokan Dojo in Dundee, Scotland the home of my birth.  I had an excellent Sensei. He, on the other hand, had a rather poor student. I continued to play with different styles as my life went on and began a career as a police officer in the summer of 1990.  My career finally took me to the wilds of north west England where my daughter, and sister-in-law,  began training with the Chojinkai Association, run by Sensei Doug James.  Through this organisation I became exposed to Iain's philosophy on Kata and began training in his Cockermouth Dojo.

I had the pleasure of having my understanding of Kata completely dumped on it's head which has resulted in a continued love of applied kata bunkai. After a woefully short time, the winds of fate once again blew me astray and my career took me overseas to Canada where I now serve as a cop in Alberta.  I have continued to be inspired by the use of kata and am now in the position of having the opportunity to pass on some of the love I have for this viewpoint onto the members of my current club.

  Which brings me back to this site and its plethora (and not a bad use of the word if I do say so myself) of information and modern context with a historical reference.

I look forward to becoming more active in the forums and learning a great deal from the telented individuals on it.

Stay safe

Scott

Adam Shaw
Adam Shaw's picture

Hi.

My name is Adam. Much like the previous post I am orginally from the UK but now reside in Canada, in Vancouver to be specific.  

When I was 15 I started training in Shukokai Karate. After a stint doing classical jiu-jitsu (or TJF "jitsu" as they called it) at university I ended up at a Shotokan club and reached 3rd kyu. Then I let my training lapse to focus on my graduate work. Then I got married, had a kid and before I knew it I was 30 and stupidly out of shape. So I've decided to get back into martial arts and rediscovering my passion for martial arts as well as burning off my "dad-belly"

I was 18 when I read Iain's books for the first time. Those books changed the way I looked at Karate and (seriously trying not to "gush" here) are the main reason I've remained a Karateka and proud of it. With that in mind I felt that joining this forum would be a great way to connect with the "bunkai-community" and keep myself focussed as I get back into training.  

I look forward to learning from you all.

A

Joe @ GRKA
Joe @ GRKA's picture

My name is Joe, and I've been studying Kobayashi Shorin Ryu in Michigan, USA since about 1988 or 1989, when I was in my early 20s. For several years, I trained 6-8 hours a day and paid for lessons by working in my instructor's dojo. Until about 2001, my instructor was part of Tadashi Yamashita's organization in the States, and through that association, I had the privilege of testing in front of Sensei Yamashita. In 2001, due to a move for school, I started training in the Matsumura Seito branch of Shorin Ryu. That only lasted a couple of years, though, because I ended up returning to my former home and resumed training with my original instructor. During my absence, my instructor had resigned from Sensei Yamashita's organization. Sensei Yamashita had been a student of Hanshi Shuguro Nakazato in Okinawa, and, although our dojo has never formally associated with Hanshi Nakazato's Shorin Ryu Shorinkan association, we adhere meticulously to Hanshi Nakazato's teachings.

For many, many years, my training emphasized punch-and-kick techniques with little attention to kata application. This focus made free-sparring fun, but training eventually became predictable and (I hate to say this) boring. In recent years, though, I've begun seeking out the practical applications of kata, and this quest for knowledge has inspired me and renewed my excitement for the martial arts. Divining effective application of kata is intellectually challenging, physically demanding, expansive of perspective, and just plain fun. Many thanks to Sensei Abernethy for sharing his knowledge so liberally and providing a place for like-devoted people to congregate!

Dana Bennett
Dana Bennett's picture

Hi, my name is Dana and I am brand new to this forum.  I live in a very rural part of Northern California with my wife, two dogs and a cat.  Not a lot of martial arts around here.  Myself and a Tykwondo school.  I am 52 and have been practicing karate, with some ups and downs, for most of the past 37 years.  Started out with Kyokushin but we have evolved in a slightly diferent direction. We spend much of our time practicing the kata and bunki.  I am enjoying this website and feel I have already gained some insight from it.

Amrullah
Amrullah's picture

My name is Amrullah, I am resident of Mumbai, India, and I am a Taekwondo(Kukkiwon/WTF) practitioner, deeply interested in self defense and history of Taekwondo and its ancestor art Karate,

Apart from it, I am a Computer Engineer by education and Web Developer by profession

I started practicing Taekwondo in mid-2008 but couldn't continue even till 2009, then i recontinued practice on January 2012 and reached red belt, (just a step away from black belt at the time of writing this)

Taekwondo poomsaes (korean equivalent of kata) always fascinated me, and I always wondered how those all spectacular movements in black-belt level poomsaes could translate into real life applications, I searched a lot on youtube, google for their applications (using search terms like "Keumgang application", etc.) but couldn't find some realistic applications. But one day i found a good taekwondo blog : jungdokwan-taekwondo.blogspot.in , which opened up a whole new world of Taekwondo for me. I found answers to many questions that I had in my mind. (That blog has links to other good martial arts blogs/websites, and this website is one of them, thats how i got to know who Mr. Iain Abernethy is)

Having realized that karate is one of the arts that heavily influenced Taekwondo as far as basic movements and forms are concerned, I also take great interest in karate and applications of its katas. I am strong advocate of this pragmatic and real-life approach to Karate/Taekwondo. 

Also, if anyone else on this forum, stays in mumbai, do reply to this post and let me know :-)

Shpend Ibrahimi
Shpend Ibrahimi's picture

Hi all,

My name is Shpend Ibrahimi and I have been living in the UK (London) for 17 years now. I have been training karate (GKR) for about two and a half years and now I've started training Goju Ryu (EGKA). 

Shpend 

TomF
TomF's picture

I'm Tom, and live in New Brunswick, Canada.  While I dabbled in Wado style karate in grad school until a knee injury (not karate) forced me to stop for a while, ensuing parenthood, inertia, and other priorities kept me away 'till my own sons became interested.  My boys started training with a superb Shotokan instructor, and I joined in perhaps 3 years later.  My university-age lad is now Shodan, while my 16 year old and I are each 2nd kyu.

I've become more and more interested in bunkai, inserting "meaning" into how I train.  Stumbled across Iain's work a couple of years ago ...

sampsi
sampsi's picture

Hi, I'm Chirs though my friends call me Sampsi, short for Sampsiceramus (long story, don't ask), I've trained in Shotokan with a strong emphasis on practicality for a short while now and am quite into the analysis of kata and seeing what works. I've taken a couple of months off recently but am back into it now and having fun. 

SamsIAmz
SamsIAmz's picture

Hi everyone! I'm Sam and I live on the east coast (of the U.S.). Right now, I am a grad student studying Physical therapy. I love all things related to movement and motion, and the freedom our bodies have to experience the world. As far as martial arts go though, Karate is my passion. I grew up learning karate in an unaffiliated and open minded group. We did not always have the best technique, but everyone had great heart. When I was in undergraduate studies at college, I dabbled in various other martial arts including jujitsu, judo, capoeira, and kendo. Nowadays I have picked up Goju Ryu, but unfortunately as a graduate student I rarely much time. I still practice as much as I can though as I hold karate very dear to my heart.

I am looking forward to reading and discussing martial arts with so many experienced and knowledgeable people on this forum! I have been very impressed with the quality, opennes and forward thinking present on this website and forums!smiley

Sandro Reffo
Sandro Reffo's picture

 Cheers,

My name is Sandro and I live and train in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I have been practicing since 1988 from the tender age of 24 and continue to do so twice a week at 50. I have attended several of Iain's seminars and have found them enlightening. They have added to my  training on concepts previously touched upon and explored, but never to quite the depth that Sensei Iain has been able to demonstrate. 

Now I find that I, as an instructor, have to find a way to train my students in the established curriculum required for grading and at the same time impart a deeper understanding of kata and bunkai previously not understood (hence not necessary) for a more fulfilling practice.

Not sure if that makes this website a blessing or curse.( rhetorical comment of course).

Arctic Aidan
Arctic Aidan's picture

Hi Everyone,

I thought I had made a post some time ago but perhaps I didn't as I don't see anything with my name on it.

My name is Aidan and I live and study Karate way up in Northern Canada (Yellowknife, NWT to be specific). I've always been a huge fan of martial arts in general (largely due to being born in the Ninja Craze 80s) but only got into actually practising them after I finished University. Since then I've been trying to soak up as much as I can and while doing so came across Sensei Abernethy's work and it really helped set a direction for my Karate studies.

Looking forward to continuing to read forum posts and contribute where I can.

-Aidan

Bowmore91
Bowmore91's picture

Hi there!

So, my name is Lukas and I'm living in Germany, near Frankfurt am Main. I started Karate training when I was about 4 and trained for about 10 years as often as I could. My club was quite combative orientated. We did our share on ground fighting, multiple opponents and knife defence (all that starting in the kids group, was quite  early to be honest). Sadly I resigned shortly after being graduated to my 1st Dan and my club closed few months later.so after pausing with  combat sports and sports generally for a couple of years, I came to a taekwondo club and been there for a year till I got fed up with missing emphasizes on practibality, self defence or even fighting at all. So I became an eager students in an combatives group and had the luck to train with some awesome people like Lee Morrisson and Luis Guiterrez for the last 2 years. But I'm missing the Gi a lot and so I'm working within my old curriculum simultaneously and I am  now excited for my first seminar with Ian this year.

So thanks for reading this long introduction and I hopen I'll get a lot of input here and may be of assistance.

Best wishes,

Lukas

Mjlefou
Mjlefou's picture

Hello all!  My name is Matthew LaFountain from NYC.  I've studied several forms of traditional martial arts for the past 27 years, with a base in Okinawan Shobayashi Shorin-Ryu, recently reaffilited with Rendokan under longtime uchideshi of Osensei Eizo Shimabukuro, Hanshi Robert Weinburg.  Also, I studied Songshan Shaolin Gongfu and Qigong for four years under Sifu Hengxin here in New York, and (the first third of) the Yang Short Form of Taijiquan in the lineage of Cheng Man-Ching in Boulder, Colorado under the late Bantaan Faigao, and have taken classes in Systema, Wing Chun, BJJ, KFM, and many other styles I've considered studying (you have to love the options you have in New York).  

I'm interested in friendly exchanges of ideas and possible meet ups with fellow experienced karateka here in New York to safely practice the drills in Sensei Abernethy's DVD's and seminars and other drills exchanged from members on this forum.  I also speak and read some Japanese and Mandarin so I'm interested in addressing scholarly endevours with texts written by the great masters of our tradition(s) as well.   I will be attending the seminar in Watertown, CT in July 2015, so I am looking forward to training with Sensei Abernethy and anyone here who may be attending as well.

始めまして! よろしくお願いします!

oaitchison
oaitchison's picture

Gday all from Sydney, Australia! I'm a 24 year old karate practicioner, have trained in a couple of different styles, but I'm currently training in Seido karate. I've been listening to Iain's podcasts for about a year now, it has opened my eyes to a world I didn't know existed! As a result I'm hungry for pragmatic training and pressure testing the techniques that for so long I thought were automatically effective, simply because I had learnt them. I'm really keen to hear from anybody in Sydney, whether living or just visiting, if you're interested in some cross training and exchanging ideas.

Mikeseishin-do
Mikeseishin-do's picture

Hi all!

My Name is Mike, 20 years old (Nearly 21!!) and I am from England, UK. I have been studying Karate for around 10 (ish) years, Shukokai (Shito-Ryu), I come from a club with much emphasis on self-defence, kata application, groundwork, practicable striking etc etc.... I also train in Jujitsu which is brand new to me but very enjoable and has complimented my Karate fantastically! I have a keen interest in Karate History,  Karate application in the street, Bunkai and teaching, also hoping eventually to do some competition refereeing which also takes my interest.

Very interested in dicussion and making like minded friends!

Pleasure to meet you all,

Mike.

Andrzej J
Andrzej J's picture

Hi everyone,

My name's Andrzej, I'm a Kyokushin stylist originally from the UK, now living and working in Germany. Started training in the 80s, but am now working my way back into it after a 10-year break, which is a bit of a challenge ... Looking forward to attending my first seminar with Iain in Dresden next month!

Osu!

AndyS
AndyS's picture

Good afternoon everyone from a sunny Lake District (South Cumbria) Will re introduce myself as haven't been on the site in a long long time :( My name is Andy (friends call me Muppet) Started training many moons ago only to let things slip as the rugby took over (True Cumbrian lol) Having being forced to retire from rugby and putting on far too much weight, decided to get back into things and started to train Shotokan under Sensei Aidan Trimble attaining 3rd Kyu. After I hit 40 n found kumite was for 20 year olds - hung up my belts never to return. Well - I hit 47 next month Have been back training now for 3 years and attained 1st Kyu - Hopefully 1st Dan in November. Look forward to making new friends and catching up with old names if not faces. Cheers everyone for reading yours in Karate Andy

Ian H
Ian H's picture

Greetings, all!

First, a thanks to Sensei Abernethy for all his efforts with this site, with the podcasts, with the books and DVDs.

My name is Ian (only one "I"... don't tell my father he used the "Engish spelling" though), from British Columbia, Canada.  I started Chito-ryu karate back in 2005 in my late 30's ... still at it, and loving every minute.  There's not an aspect of karate I don't enjoy, and I love learning new things and exploring new ideas ... even if the new ideas turn out to be really old.  I'm looking forward to some great discussions here.  I first learned of Sensei Abernethy when he did an interview for "KarateByJesse", which some of you may remember.  I've listened to all his podcasts since, some several times, bought a few DVDs, and now have signed up for the forum too.  

Great stuff.  

It's good to be aboard.

Jeremiah Walker
Jeremiah Walker's picture

Hello to everyone. My name is Jeremiah Walker and I am a resident in the state of Texas.  I currently work for the public school system as a teacher and spend most extra time outdoors by myself or with my family. We enjoy fishing, archery, and relaxing by the water.  

I began karate training shitoryu at the age of 11 and trained through to the end of high school earning my brown belt.  At the university level I participated in the Olympic-Style TKD club available at our campus.  After transferring schools I began training Shotokan in 1995.  The Shotokan system I trained in was a very watered down form of the kata, as my instructor focused more on American Kickboxing.  I very much enjoyed my time training with them and still try and give back as it was a great club to learn how to engage and fight in the sport arena.  

In 2000 I began traveling to Houston to train with an SKIF (under Kanazawa Hirokazu) club headed by Shadi Barazi and Kayarish Daylami.  I have been affiliated with the SKIF since then and grading are done under Manabu Murakami (SKIF International Liason).  

I enjoy very much meeting and working with other styles, groups, etc.  I have been fortunate enough to train Judo in some good clubs and have been training BJJ since 2005 under Jake Montalvo.  Both systems add a lot of working knowledge to my karatedo.  I enjoy competition (even though I know.... I know it is not the true spirit of karatedo), and still compete once or twice a year.  

Besides MA our club enjoys working outside together for philanthropical purposes and supporting our community.  

Best to all.

Ryan M.
Ryan M.'s picture

Hi all, My name is Ryan, and I live in the Northeastern United States. As a child, I trained in a sport oriented Taekwondo school, but had to stop training for a few years. I started up again when I was 16, studying a hybrid Kempo style at a local school. I am still training in this style, and I also practice a form of Tai Chi. I've been a regular reader of this forum for some time, got into Iain's articles, books and even a DVD, and I'm looking forward to contributing a bit in some of the discussions on this forum. Thanks for reading,

Ryan

Chikara Andrew
Chikara Andrew's picture

Hello my name is Andrew and I'm from Northern England. Was previously a member of this forum some years ago but haven't been active online for some years. I train in Shukokai Karate and graded to 3rd Dan last year. I have been interested in the practicle application of Karate since training for my 1st Dan and took an interest in Iain's work, including being a willing Uke for a number of demonstrations!

Having achieved 3rd Dan I am now considering my future, not in a position to consider branching out on my own, I am however allowed a considerable freedom to explore and teach techniques under my current Sensei. I am looking to crosstrain to see other veiwpoints but with a view to bringing them back to my Karate.

Andrew

MCM180
MCM180's picture

Hi y'all,

I'm brand new at karate. I train at a Shotokan dojo (Japanese Karate-Do) in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. I'm 41 and not terribly athletic. No prior MA experience. It's all uphill from here! 

I started training for self-defense to complement my natural paranoia. I already try to avoid, assess, be aware, etc. But those might fail and I might need to fight.

I work on a college campus and so I'm not allowed to carry firearms at work. (Yes, even in the US there are limits!) I teach a lot of night classes. Even when I do carry, I don't want to shoot anyone. So I need a non-lethal means of fighting. I'm hoping I get there with karate. 

I was going to train Gracie BJJ but the kids didn't want to roll around on the floor with sweaty strangers! So we started karate instead. 

I'm a big-picture guy and needed to know that karate has practical applications. So far I'm very pleased with Abernethy Sensei's approach and the usefulness of the forums. No ignorant style-pushing or -bashing.

Thanks y'all for such a helpful resource. I look forward to learning from y'all, and I hope never to offend you or waste your time. 

Yours,

Christian 

Gareth Piper
Gareth Piper's picture

Hiya folks,

Habitual lurker on the Iain Abernethy facebook page, thought I'd finally get posting on here. I live in Swansea in South Wales, and I currently practise Wado Ryu at Budokan Wales, and I also practise classical Japanese martial arts at a dojo called Mahoutsukai, based in Neath (currently a 5th kyu in both of these). I used to practise Muay Thai many years ago, and I also did a tiny bit of Shotokan when I was a nipper. Currently debating whether to take up Judo or possibly give BJJ a spin too, or maybe go back to MT...the possibilities are endless, haha! There's an awesome amount of knowledge on this forum, which I look forward to plundering and shamelessly ripping off in the future xD.

Cheers,

Gareth

senshido
senshido's picture

I've only just noticed this thread, so appologies for the late introduction.

My name is Iain Rodger, I am a 5th dan Kyokushin Karateka based in Scotland and have dojos in Oban, Lochgilphead and Stirling.

I have been the organiser of the Scottish Open Knockdown Tournament since 2010, which now takes place in Glasgow each year, usually in February.

Osu!

Marcus_1
Marcus_1's picture

Hi all, I have no idea if I have introduced myself in this post yet or not!

My real name is Mark, I have had a severe on/off relationship with the martial arts lately. I initially started training in Shotokan Karate in Medway towns (Rainham, Kent, UK) when I was about 9, after several moves I finally got my shodan at aged 14. Unfortunately after finishing school lots of other things "got in the way" (I am shamed about this). Anyway, I evenutally returned again and got my senior 1st dan. Then quit, life got in the way, I got married, had kids etc.

Anyway, now I am studying a style that is a sort of off-shoot of Kyokushin having started as a novice again and loving it, this is after having dabbled in Aikido and some JKD. I am loving the training I now do, it is realistic and very good (www.karatejutsukai.com).

My only annoyance is that I work shifts and find it very hard to train with my Sensei as regularly as I would like to. In my previous job I was a use of force instructor fo the UK Prison Service, now I work as something else within the UK justice system (more front line).

I love these forums as I manage to pick up so much from them for my own training and the podcasts are 2nd to none. 

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