Koryu is a catch all term for Japanese systems pre-dating the Meiji restoration, they can cover a wide array of skills. It's not a specific art but a way of defining certain systems. Taking on a Koryu may well be hard if you are training in another style without a solid grounding. Having things from your other art bleed into your koryu practice will make it difficult for you, you'll really have to work on compartmentalising things during your study. It can be very rewarding to study but there is a lot to take on board. If you want to know more then have a look at the koryu forum on MAP and read some of the articles here: koryu.com I'll be blunt now. Be cautious of starting up a dedicated sword art and thinking what you already know will be of use. I seem to recall looking your style up and going because it appeared a little thin on the ground as far as info regarding the sword elements. So I wonder exactly what you are learning. I'm not being a git here, I'd simply like you to start thinking about what you are doing so that you don't end up going "hang on a moment!" when you start training in another system containing sword. On top of that you may find it will be bad form to integrate your study from one system into another.
I'm afraid I don't know its origins, we just train it in kobudo sessions, i know some of the kata are okinawan in origin, but i can't say that for all of them, including katana kata, and unfortunately I'm not sure I can find any youtube videos of it, so far I've only learnt the first katana kata, I believe there are in total 3 katana kata once you get to the higher levels of kobudo training (not sure if those 3 include the presentation "kata" or not)
So if I could find a local Koyru based club I'd want to go in with a clear mind and try and somewhat ignore previous training? From the sounds of what you've said I'd be trying to learn something seperate rather than complimenting what I already do? but I'll check out the resources you've supplied there (thanks for those! =D) I'm definitely not planning on turning up to a dedicated sword expert and claim to know anything. A couple of sensei in my association do seem to know more than other about the katana, some have a dedicated interest in the weapon (collectors etc) some have studied dedicated sword arts alongside jujitsu, but some just know the kata we use, and I won't currently go as far as saying I "know" the first katana kata - I know roughly where to put my feet and which way to cut, and where I'm cutting on the target etc, but I'm still a "beginner" at it in many ways. Don't worry I don't assume you're trying to be a git, I can appreciate constructive criticism when its given, without criticism the learning curve will be slower, that is why I am asking here as to how go about this better. I spoke to the head of the UK battodo and he said that a lot of his students are very part time and just do it to improve their sword arts in their original martial arts, which often is jujitsu based. So I feel if I did go there on occassion he would know how best to impart some knowledge to help with what I want rather than me struggling along with a syllabus I can't train often as it were. But as said in a previous post, this is all at least a year away, after I get my Shodan, I'm just after some research, opinions and discussion =)
Koryu would compliment your study, in fact you may find it would vastly improve your understanding of your subject area. However you won't be pulling it off in your regular practice, it's not something to take back and share around. It'll benefit you as a Budoka and your own ability but it will take time and there are certain things that you have to take into account during your study.
Pickings are slim when it comes to koryu unfortunately. You're looking at London, Walsall or Yorkshire for koryu for the most part.
I doubt I could do anything weekly in London, certainly not until I get paid more and have more spare cash for such things... =( Thanks for the heads up on Locations though =)
You mentioned that you want to improve your competition game. What is it exactly you are competing in? Is it only "jujitsu" competitions in your own organization? Or are you looking to compete in things outside it? Is this an example of the type of competition? [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jQ3hmpOOH8"]Jikishin JuJitsu Nationals 2012 - Sparring - Kai Doole - YouTube[/ame] As an aside, that last site you posted appears to be teaching toyama ryu iaido and IMO is worth checking out.
That is from our nationals this year, which is the sparring, the Jikishin competitions are generally split up into Sparring (stand up) Ground fighting, Random Attacks, Kata, Pairs Demo and weapons kata. Its my stand up I want to work on competition wise - my striking is mostly fine (a friend is going to work on my hand work - but my kicks are better than most of the accosiation tbh - TKD Background and all that) But resistance throws are pretty lame, and because its only semi contact striking doesnt end up meaning much (the technical committee are looking at improving the judging so that someone who outstrikes an opponent but gets thrown once doesn't end up losing automatically - which leaves my kicks largely meaningless if they're not being scored and I'm not allowed to kick hard enough to make a physical impact - i keep pushing for full contact but its not been allowed yet lol) Random Attacks are fine (I'm on the UK team) and Groundfighting is good - got the gold this year, haven't started in the other categories yet, I'll leave those once I get too old to dot he fighting stuff =p I'm very tempted once my fitness is up to scratch again to try my hand in some amature-semi pro MMA, so better restistance throwing would help there - which is why I'm considering Judo.
Thanks for that. I might be missing something but from what I'm reading I'm still not 100% clear on what you need to work on. If its throws against resistance then training with some really good judoka will certainly help. You mentioned that your ground fighting is good and you won gold in your organization which is great. You also mentioned that you have an interest in trying some amature-semi pro MMA competition. If you truly have an interest in that then why not take a class or two in an MMA club and see if it meets with your expectation. For that matter, to keep yourself honest you can also take a class or two in a good BJJ club and roll with a BJJ black belt (or a purple belt for that matter). At the least, you will find out real fast how your skills measure up against people outside your regular partners/organization and again it will keep you honest with yourself.
I'd say the things I need to concentrate on are Cardio - which I'm sorting, Resistance Throwing - Which is why I'm looking at Judo as an option and my "boxing" which I've a friend who is going to help with (it's not quite pro training but its free and a start =p and as explained earlier my wrists struggle with power punches so I tend to use my hands to distract more than damage =p) This will all be after my Shodan which is my top priority until its done. If I do decide to try the cage I will spend some time at an MMA gym to work on some specifics and get a fight trainer to spot any holes in my game etc, but at the moment I'd say I'm fairly well rounded, with a good ground game which at the non pro levels of MMA is useful as without head punches you're not going to be finishing fights with knockouts =p I have rolled with a few BJJ guys when I visited a friend up near leeds a few months ago, we went to his club where it was an hour long no gi free roll session, held my own fairly well, not sure what belts people were though, and generally the ones I did bad at were because I was out of shape and could be bullied around by bigger guys =p at the end of the session i did do a couple of rolls with a older guy we both wore our gi and he was a blue or purple belt and I did pretty well against him, managing to tap him out twice - he was the only guy whose level I knew. tbh most of the lower level MMA around me is "think they're 'ard squaddies" who have no ground game in the slightest =p which I realise I should get complacent with such things, but something to bare in mind.
Fair enough. Please don't take this the wrong way and I'm saying this to truly help you. Many people think their skill set is better than it is especially martial artists (I lump myself in there too). As far as the BJJ goes again, please take my advice and take the opportunity to roll with a BJJ black belt and please pay attention this time to belts. There is a difference between a blue and purple belt and you should be able to see (and feel) it in skill level. I have a feeling it will be a different experience than your first and it will open your eyes to some things. Again I'm only suggesting this because of what you have an expressed an interest in doing and it truly is to help you. I know you have an opinion of "low level MMA" around you and my point is I think it is in your best interest to experience some higher level MMA (and/or BJJ) for that matter.
Nothing will be taken the wrong way sir, fear not. I'm quite blunt in what I can and can't do, I don't try to hide behind false pretenses, I know much punching is ****, and I know why, which is why I want to improve on that. Likewise with my resistance throwing - I might do ok against someone who doesnt know what they're doing, but against someone trying to stop me, and who knows how to do so, its another story lol. I will try and roll with a BJJ black belt given the oportunity, although off the top of my head the highest local BJJ guy is a brown belt (that I know of) I'm not sure about the guys belt colour, I shall try and find out - he was wearing a blue gi, and it was a different colour to his gi, but it could be a different shade of blue or a purple, but I shall ask my mate to check for me when I talk to him next. the others werent wearing gi's nor belts and the class was so fast paced that I didn't get a chance to ask, another problem I had was that I was quite a bit bigger than some of the people I rolled with, so while I tried to avoid it, sometimes my higher strength and weight probably came into play. I wouldnt expect to be able to beat many dedicated BJJ guys, purely because that is what they dedicate their training to, while it is but a part of mine, and the few chances I've been able to roll with BJJ guys I've always learnt from it. One thing is that I often did things they didn't expect, because I'd not been trained their way of doing things, my escapes or transitions and even some locks were different to what they were used to, which I found interesting. I don't want to get complacent regarding local MMA, as I'm fully aware that there is no guarantee I'll come up against a local squaddy =p the last couple of events I've been to there has been a load of foreigners come over to join in the fun. All the advice is greatly appreciated though ^_^
Sounds good and please report back how it went and your take away and experience. Brown is just fine and you'll find generally that your higher strength and weight won't be a real hindrance for them. It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders and good luck
