Volume 1 MID-ATLANTIC KARATE SCHOOLS, INC. The Last Teachings by Chojun Miyagi Do not be struck by others. Do not strike others. The principle is the peace without incident. STUDENT TRAINING GUIDE STUDENT TRAINING GUIDE Handbook for New Students Mid-Atlantic Karate Schools, Inc. 50 Coffman Drive • Collinsville, VA 24078 Phone 540.647.5425 Welcome to the World of Martial Arts ________________________ 2 A Brief History of Goju Ryu Karate-Do ___________________ 3 Miyagi Chojun Sensei ___________4 Higaonna Kanryo Sensei ________6 History of USA Goju Ryu Association ____________________7 The Student Creed ____________ 8 Student Conduct _____________ 10 General Guidelines ____________11 Class Guidelines ______________11 Restrooms and Changing Rooms_12 Terminology ________________ 13 Counting_____________________13 Special Terminology of Karate __13 Commands ___________________13 Techniques ___________________13 Class Schedule ______________ 14 The Board of Examiners________15 The National Black Belt Club (NBBC)______________________15 Assigned Classes ______________15 Missing a Class _______________15 Extended Leave of Absence _____16 Promotion Requirements ______ 17 Ranked Student’s ________________17 Promotion Requirements (Kata) ____17 Assistant Instructor ______________17 Promotion Requirements (Kata) ____17 Instructor ______________________17 Promotion Requirements (Kata) ____17 Second Degree Black Belt’s _______17 Requirements (Kata) _____________17 Junior Ranger Promotion Requirements ______________________________18 THE STUDENT’S HANDBOOK Introduction i THE STUDENT’S HANDBOOK Welcome to the World of Martial Arts You can get anything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want. – Zig Ziglar You have entered the world of the Martial Arts. Many mysteries surround the oriental KEY culture. One of the most fascinating is the Martial Arts or “the art of war”. It is the Valuable information goal of this school to give you the absolute best in training, knowledge, application and understanding of the art of Karate. Before we begin, you need to know that the traditional role of instructor and student has become yet another part of history. Our staff is always available for you. You, the student, are the sole reason for this school’s existence and therefore we depend on you to help this school grow. Whenever you need more information, please don’t hesitate to ask questions. You must also understand that being a Karate student requires dedication. You have already demonstrated your commitment to yourself by becoming a student of our school. Nothing can take the place of practice. This manual is meant to serve as a reference book for you to refer to for information. It can never, and will never take the place of supervised training. We have learned from experience that no student will remember everything taught in class. It helps to have somewhere you can go to when you are practicing on your own. This is your handbook. I encourage you to write notes, questions, etc. in it. Occasionally this section of your Student Handbook will be updated. When you receive a new update, transfer any notes you may have made to the new copy so that this information is not lost. Sensei Jay Custin 2 THE STUDENT’S HANDBOOK How to Maximize Your Results One of the “secrets” of martial arts training that most instructors leave up to the student to discover is that you really begin to learn your techniques and skills when you begin to teach others. If you think about it, this makes sense. Before I’m willing to teach someone a technique I know, I have to make sure I can demonstrate it very well. If there is any problem with my technique (either the martial arts technique or my teaching technique) the best way to identify that problem is to show someone else. Another concept that advanced students have to struggle with is what is often referred to as “using Black Belt Eyes.” This is because once you’ve grasped a concept you forget what it was like to struggle with it. If you’re in a dark room and you’re trying to move around, you bump into things. When someone turns on a light, moving about the room becomes easy and it’s hard to remember what it was like when the room was dark. So if I’m a new student, how can I get to that point where I no longer struggle? Well the road’s still going to be difficult, but it can be made easier. First thing is that you need to be consistent in your attendance. It is said that you shouldn’t try to improve 100% over night; rather you should improve 1% every day until you have mastered your goal. A student only has the guidance of the instructor for the hour or two the student is in class. This is when the student is shown proper technique. It is the time spent practicing at home that all the difference, but not any practice. Most of use have heard the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” This is not entirely true. “Perfect practice makes perfect”. By this we mean that your body will “learns” by repetition, but if the technique is not practiced in the same manner each time, or worse yet, incorrect technique is practiced each time, the skill will NEVER be mastered. But if the student practices slowly the best possible technique, paying close attention to execution. The next important thing is to get a training partner. This is a golden opportunity that few capitalize on. If you have someone attending the class then if you miss something, your partner may have caught it. If you miss class for whatever reason, your partner can fill you in on what you missed and vice versa. And if you miss class, your partner will call you to let you know what you’ve missed. This has an added benefit as it builds a feeling of “belonging” and that someone missed you. So where do you get a training partner? That’s the easy part. We encourage all students to sponsor another student. The sponsored student received 5 weeks of classes free. All we ask them to do is pay for their uniform, belt and handbook. You get a friend of yours as a training partner and both of you have someone in the school that you know. Also, since you started at the same time, you will most likely remain in the exact same class for your entire martial arts “career”. If you have any questions, ask one of the instructors. They’d be HAPPY to help. 3 THE STUDENT’S HANDBOOK A Brief History of Goju Ryu Karate-Do Chojun Miyagi founded Goju Ryu Karate in the late 1920’s. He was born on April 25, 1888 in Naha, Okinawa. His teacher was Kanryo Higaonna, the founder of Naha-te. "Go" means hard, and "Ju" means soft, hence Goju Ryu is translated as "Hard and Soft Way". It is a blend of Okinawan Te (hard) and Shoalin Kung Fu (soft) with emphasis on the White Crane style. Other Chinese influences include Pakua Chang, I Chuan and Tai Chi Chuan, which Sensei Miyagi studied on several trips to the Chinese mainland. Goju Ryu is a close-range self-defense system, characterized by circular blocks, joint manipulations and kicking techniques to lower body targets. Dynamic tension and breathing are major elements in its training, incorporated in many of the kata. On October 8, 1953, Sensei Miyagi died of either a heart attack (the most popular explanation) or a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 65. Following this, four of his senior students opened their own schools. Seiko Higa carried on as Sensei Miyagi's immediate successor; Meitoku Yagi formed the Meibukan, Seikichi Toguchi the Shorei-kan and Eiichi Miyazato the Jundokan. Later, in 1963, Meitoku Yagi would receive his gi and belt from the Miyagi family along with the Menkyo Kaiden and officially become head of the Goju Ryu system. An offshoot of the Okinawan Goju Ryu system was Gogen Yamaguchi, who studied with Chojun Miyagi and promoted the style in Japan, forming the Japan Karate-Do Federation Goju-Kai. One of his students, Peter Urban, introduced Japanese Goju Ryu to the United States in 1959, later forming the U.S.A. Goju Association. Gosei Yamaguchi, the son of Gogen, followed in 1964. He moved to San Fransisco and established the Goju-Kai Karate-Do U.S.A. Miyagi Chojun Sensei Chojun Miyagi was born in Naha City, Okinawa on April 25, 1888 to an aristocratic family. They were in the import/export business, and owned 2 ships that made regular trips to Mainland China, placing them among the wealthiest families in the area. He began his formal training at age 11, in the dojo of Ryuko Aragaki. At the age of 14, he was first introduced to Kanryo Higaonna, and after a period of doing chores for Sensei Higaonna to earn his place, was accepted as a student. Training was very severe, with large amounts of running and strength exercises. It is Miyagi Chojun Sensei said that he sometimes passed out performing Sanchin kata, so demanding was Sensei Higaonna on his student's performance. He trained for 13 years in this manner until the death of Kanryo Higaonna, developing into a powerful karateka. Sensei Miyagi then traveled to China, no doubt an opportunity afforded him by the nature of the family business, not to mention the luxury that wealth gave him in being 4 THE STUDENT’S HANDBOOK able to pursue his art full-time. His quest was to locate Master Ryu Ryuko, whom Higaonna had studied under. He was unable to locate him, though, but did pick up some of the local arts of the Fukien area of China, notable the kata Rokkishu, which was instrumental in his creation of Tensho kata.