Uechi-Ryu.com

Well, I guess I might as well post an introduction.

I started studying Matsubayashi-Ryu (Shorin-Ryu) karate as a child, I guess about 8 or 9 years of age under Richard Lohrding in Panama City, Florida. Just before that I'd had a little run-in with another kid who sort of tried to mug me. I knew I had the size and strength to take him, but I lacked the confidence and know-how. After several years of training I tested for shodan (at age 16 or 17) but did not pass. Examinations were formal and rigorous, so I wasn't particularly surprised, or even particularly disappointed, as I recall. However, my teenage mind being the steel trap that it was, I decided that there were too many activities that competed for my time, and I should drop karate in favor of other activities. That was about 25 years ago. The only thing I've done consistently since then is weightlifting.

I live in Natick, Massachusetts now, so training with my old sensei and friends is not an option. Nevertheless, I revived my study of Matsubayashi Ryu several months ago and began trying to get back into shape for the kind of karate workouts that I remembered (intense workouts). After some soul searching about whether to travel a long distance for formal Matsubayashi training or to start over in another martial art closer to my home, I researched Uechi Ryu and visited Fedele Cacia's dojo at Gold's Gym here in Natick. I pretty much immediately decided to study Uechi Ryu under Sensei Cacia. This is where I am today.

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Mike

You certainly made a smart decision working out with Fedele. Good luck with your training and thanks for the formal introduction.

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GEM
"Do or do not. there is no try!"

(Please move to community discussion section)





Damn, your gonna evolve pretty quick.

<not needed>

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Mike

k

(Please move to community discussion section)

chop wood fetch water ........


:

very Zen of you

k

Mike

You give very thoughtful posts. Obviously you do what you do with much foresight. Keep it up.

Give my best to Fedele. Good man, great karateka, and nice car. Maybe with your weight training background, you can whip that boy into shape.

(Kidding, folks...)

- Bill

Obviously.

I've pretty much given up weight training myself. I learned weight training from football coaches, and in the weight room they were all about strength and mass, to the exclusion of all else. I was starting to get my 1 rep max bench press close to 400 pounds around the age of 40 when I realized it was time to do something different. That much weight is dangerous, and what the heck was I planning to do with this strength? After awhile it just seemed like a needless risk. Even worse, they didn't teach me to stretch my upper body, so now I'm paying a price for that.

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Mike

Your posts are thought provoking - even your introduction. I was thinking today about hard work like chopping wood versus weight training. I am 44, 45 next month and at around 40 years of age was also benching about 400 - when tearing my supraspinatus (rotator cuff) completely through slowed me down. I never went to get surgery as i thought that would slow me down more. Did a straight leg deadlift of 532 LBS for 8 reps last week - and realized that i just don't have enough common sense to be allowed near a weight room.

A friend of mine who is one of the best fighters I know - has a chiseled physique primarily from hard work - like digging deep holes in desert ground. Hard work provides many things weight training doesn't - not the least of which is : it does not feel so good - which is a form of mental conditioning. In a gym lifting weights you can control the pace more, there can be mental reward in the forms of looks or words from others as you do things like bench 400 LBS, there is climate control, the benches and machines are soft and comfortable. When chopping wood etc you are exposed to the elements, there is no subtle reinforcement, etc.

As well hard work provides variety so it is almost like cross training to go from digging a ditch to chopping wood to planting fence posts.

I only want "introductions" and photos of individuals, along with any posts relating to the introduction of the individual.

Any general topics or chat should go into the "Community discussion" section.

If you wish to move any of the "discussion" topics, please do so before this weekend. On Monday, I will delete any remaining "chat" topics.

also, please start a new thread with every intro.

Thanks for helping make our forums more interesting and helpful to new readers and potentially new posters.

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GEM
"Do or do not. there is no try!"