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November 6, 2007
KD Elite Gi (Uniform)
Going from an 8oz student gi to a heavyweight gi is one of the most delightful experiences in a martial artist’s career. Many of us can remember the magic improvement we experienced once we had a gi that didn’t look and feel so much like pajamas. But as time goes on, it becomes more and more evident that not all heavyweight gi’s are created equal. Some are tournament cut, some are ventilated, some are so stiff that they leave red lines in your neck after training.
KD Elite seems to manage the best of a lot of different worlds. It has a normal cut (which I personally wanted), instead of the shorter tournament cut. It has intense stitch work, up to thirteen lines in some places. And it also has very comfortable cotton fabric. This is important for proper training as an uncomfortable uniform can lead to constant distraction and irritation. In many traditional dojo, fidgeting and adjusting is seen as a lack of focus and can be downright annoying to instructors.
One note on the cotton fabric – it does have some shrinkage the first time you wash it. I let mine drip dry and it still shrunk a bit. Nothing severe, but enough to make it notable, so expect a little of that.
Let me tell you something I liked about the KD Elite (even though it’s not at all important). Have a look at this bag it came in –
It’s got a shoulder strap and everything. I know, I know, Small amusements for small minds, but I liked it.
Back to something that matters – The KD Elite has a very nice fit. I didn’t feel like it was draping off of me, or that it was puffy and weird in any way. Normally when I get a new uniform I have to adjust to it, but the KD and I bonded very quickly.
Most of my uniforms are a size five, and my KD is no exception. I mention that because I’m always worried when ordering a new gi that the sizing will be different, and that I’ll find myself wearing a jacket better fit for tarping over a baseball field. The sizing here is very standard to the main brands, such as Ironman and Proforce. Karate Depot also includes a sizing chart, so even if you’re paranoid like me, you can rest assured you’re getting it right.
Ikigai108 gives the KD Elite…
October 30, 2007
Johnny Sockitomee
Yea it’s a funny name. But I would be remiss if I based my whole review just on that, right?
I have been plagued for awhile by not having a proper location for a heavy bag, and came to the conclusion that the hanging variety was just not an option for me. Luckily, the good people at Boxing Depot had a solution. Johnny Sockitomee is a freestanding striking bag made by Everlast. Johnny is mobile, accessible, and can take a hit. Here’s a look –
(You’ll also notice that Everlast decided to use a picture of me from my male modeling days here. I’ll be expecting royalties, Everlast).
I would also like to show you the compact way Johnny arrived. I was expecting a bulky, unwieldy mess, but this was well organized.
I hated to take it out of the box and ruin all of Everlast’s planning and effort, but I unpacked it anyway. Assembly occurred in two different stages – the base and the bag. The base assembly was no big deal and went pretty smoothly. The bag was a little more complicated. I was surprised to see that inside the red casing went three separate layers of foam and a plastic insert. I needed a little bit of patience and persistence while trying to build Johnny from the inside out.
After my construction efforts, I put the two pieces together and stepped back to admire my finished product.
The striking surface is adjustable and ranges from 3′ to 6′. The base is large and can take a substantial hit without moving around. This is especially true if you can place it on a rougher surface, like carpet (and be sure to fill it up all the way with water or sand). The bag itself is much easier on the hands than others I have used in the past, which is important if you intend to have children beating on it.
One thing that I really like is the spring-back action Johnny delivers. A lot of heavy bags just hang there and sway a bit when you hit them. This bag flexes slightly with your punches and comes back immediately. Such flexing allows you to establish a rhythm with the bag and work on speed striking, as well as power.
Johnny requires some TLC to get up and running, but after construction he proves ready, willing, and able. He is mobile and can fit into confined areas. The adjustability and material makes him ideal for strikers young and old.
After all is said and done, Ikigai108 gives Johnny Sockitomee…
October 26, 2007
Shaolin Legend Live
Shaolin Legend Live is a DVD that will be released on October 30, 2007. The show features the Shaolin Monks, an interesting and amazing group of young men who intersperse acrobatics, death-defying sword stunts, and entertaining dance and fight sequences that loosely resemble kata, complete with kiai.
Throughout the show, the Shaolin Monks display their athletic prowess and stunts that make you a little nervous. Take for example the young monk who lays down across a board containing blade-up swords, only to have a board full of nails put across his stomach, followed by another man on top of the nails, followed by a slab of concrete that is broken over both of their bodies with a sledge hammer. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Neither is the stunt where one of the monks seemingly impales himself on what looks like a giant sai, only to be spun around by the other monks before jumping off of the blade with only an indentation in his abdomen.
There’s also plenty of breaking and even some lettuce that’s cut on a monk’s stomach. Yeah, you heard me. Lettuce. There’s also some breaking over certain body parts that make the entire live audience gasp (especially the guys) but I’m not giving details on that. You’ll have to watch for yourself.
Interspersed with meditative music (that makes me feel like I’m having an appointment with my massage therapist) and calming artistic imagery, the show provides quite a contrast when it comes to entertaining. There are a couple vignettes where the accompanying music is a bit too Americanized and funky; but overall, the show succeeds in taking the audience to another place entirely, one where discipline is inherently important if one is to survive some of the stunts that these Shaolin Monks conquer.
To be honest, I never would have rented this movie off the blockbuster shelf; but I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it. Although I was sent just a screener copy, the official DVD release will include bonus features including a picture gallery, show highlights, and a booklet on the history of the Shaolin monks and art. For more information on the upcoming release, or to purchase the DVD when it is released, visit Milan Records.
BBM gives the Shaolin Legend Live DVD. . .
Ikigai108’s take on the Shaolin Legend Live DVD
And then some monks came out and did rituals. It seems like there was a head monk there. And they did kicks and one monk brought out some lettuce and chopped it up on his stomach. They spun weapons around.
…Does it seem like I kinda jumped into my article mid-thought? Like I didn’t really give you any information on what I was talking about, or any context for what the Shoalin monks were doing? That is the same basic approach Shaolin Legend Live takes. At the beginning of the dvd you are thrust onto the stage with a group of Shaolin monks as they perform their trademark stunts. Don’t worry about knowing what’s going on, just try to relax and watch the tricks.
The physical prowess of the monks is unquestionable. Each monk displays impressive conditioning and flexibility. As they whip around the stage it’s clear they put in hours of practice. There is no room for error in the Shaolin routines. Furthermore, the "iron-shirt" stunts where the monks prove their toughness are very impressive. I would not want to be caught in between a bed of live swords and a plank of spikes. I could never do what the monks do, plain and simple. They are fantastic athletes. But I also could never do the uneven bars, or pommel horse, or the vault. The demonstrations put on are likely to remind you of gymnastic routines you’ve seen elsewhere.
In case you’ve never seen a Shaolin demonstration, i’m going to let you in on one of their secrets – Shoalin monks love to spin things. That’s right. Prepare yourself for a deluge of spinning weapons, from aluminum swords to rattan sticks.
BBM touched on something that I would also like to mention – the music can be very distracting. Some of it makes sense and flows well with the demonstrations. But sometimes there are just weird selections in the background. Have you seen The 5th Element? Do you remember when that space opera girl was singing on stage? Yea that song is on this dvd for some reason. Just when you begin to get absorbed into the monks activities, the music is liable to bring you back out.
Maybe it’s the traditionalist in me, but this dvd did not do it for me. I would much rather have heard about the history of Shaolin and Bodhidharma. Shaolin is said to have influenced martial arts all throughout China, Japan, and Okinawa. How about some information on that? And then after you’ve filled my brain with some good information, then hit me with some tricks just for fun.
This dvd just isn’t good for me. If I want to see Jet Li choreography, i’ll go rent Fearless.
Ikigai 108 gives the Shaolin Legend Live DVD. . .
See the BBM Rating System for more information about ratings.
October 24, 2007
Crane Mountain Weapons
My search for a good bo was a long and arduous one. I tried a few of the major vendors but ended up with a variety of bo that just didn’t work for me. They either felt like this…
http://www.the-tree.org.uk/TreeTalk/News2/Big%20Log.jpeg
Or like this…
http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PCH2094.jpg
Sure, the kids enjoyed watching the twig bo snap as I performed kata at only moderate pace, but it was becoming an expensive trick. Eventually I decided to give Crane Mountain a try since I heard through the grapevine that they were good at making solid, traditional weapons.
My first stop was their website, located here – http://crane-mountain.com/. I browsed around and was surprised to see a great variety of weapons available, along with many different options for wood. On top of that, they used a rating scale to recommend which woods would be good for each weapon. I was easily distracted by the different accessories and plaques they had available, but ultimately decided to stay focused and work toward getting a good bo.
After picking the woods I liked, I called Crane Mountain headquarters. The experts there helped me narrow down my wood selection even more by explaining which would best suit my body type and what kind of money I would have to part with for more exotic woods. Ultimately I decided to go with Cocobola, an expensive and heavy wood (remember, I was tired of failure and bo snappage). I also asked them to pear it down to 1 1/16 inches, so that I wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the weight.
I had to wait a few weeks for my bo to arrive since all weapons are personally made to each custumer’s specifications. However, when it did arrive, I was not disappointed. The wood was beautiful and the craftsmanship quite evident. Here’s a little taste of it…
If you find yourself in a situation where quality counts, Crane Mountain should definitely be on your list of vendors to consult. You won’t find the same bargains as you would at Century or AWMA, but good luck buying a Bo off of them anyway, let alone rarer items like Nunti Bo or Tinbe/Rochin.
Ikigai108 gives Crane Mountain…
October 23, 2007
Karate-do: My Way Of Life – Gichin Funakoshi
Chances are, if you’re reading this that you have at least a passing interest in martial arts in one form or another. Maybe you train, maybe you used to train, or maybe you just like to watch the high-kicking, board breaking antics. Regardless of why you’re here and which style you might train in, the name Gichin Funakoshi is an important one, and one you should be aware of.
Funakoshi was the founder of one of the world’s biggest schools of karate, Shōtōkan-ryū, and he was Instrumental in bringing the original Okinawan martial arts to Japan and promoting and spreading the associated benefits to the land of the rising sun, and subsequently the rest of the world. This book is Funakoshi’s story in his own words, and despite being relatively short in terms of an autobiography (144 pages) he still manages to pack a huge amount of information in. Throughout the book his thoughts and experiences are related to the reader in the form of a series of anecdotes and stories from his colourful life, from sneaking through the back streets in the middle of the night as a young man for secretive training (and being mistaken for visiting ‘ladies of the night’!), to the second world war and destruction of the original Shōtōkan dojo, Funakoshi’s life is wonderfully depicted and paints a vivid picture of life in the late 19th/early 20th century in Okinawa and Japan.
If one had to find a fault with the book – and to be honest that’s not an easy job – you’d have to point at its brevity. It won’t take you a long time to read this book, and because of the way it’s written with anecdote following anecdote over the space of a few pages, it’s a real page-turner. It’s perfectly plausible to think that you could sit down one Sunday afternoon to start reading, only to find you’ve finished it before bedtime. Despite this though, it’s a delightfully entertaining and engrossing read, and testimony to the man who not only penned many of the original precepts of martial arts training which we still adhere to, but lived his life by them. Don’t expect in-depth analysis and insights into karate, this isn’t what this book is for and Funakoshi saved this for his master text, the Karate-do Kyohan. Instead enjoy a look back at the life of one of the true Fathers of modern-day martial arts, told in his own inimitable style.
TSDAdam gives this book a BBMReview rating of…
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