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Newbie
Name: Chris Lucas
Join Date: May 2005
Age: 26
Posts: 4
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Shindo ryu Karate
Hello all im new to this!
I have trained in this art! I know all of the instructors but two. A female and a 3rd or 4th dan male.
Right what can i say, well i started training in this style when i was 13. I had trained in a previous style of karate called se sen ryu when i was 11, that club got shut down. My instructor (mark shelley) was a second dan at the time. Before the club shut he started training with steve grayston as he was unhappy about having the club (se sen ryu) dumped on him. He shut the club down and continued training with steve grayston. After about 6 months i rang mark shelley and he told me he has opened up a new club - but of a of a different style - Shindo ryu. I then started to train in this style. The style itself is very good, it is heavily based on wado ryu, quite traditional, not much kumite (sparring). Mark shelley is a very competent, technically excellent instructor, i rate him highly. The style i guess is a belt factory! Some people do get their black belts in two years. This is ok if your ability is above average and you are older than 12 or 14 say. But there are people who have graded for black belt and whose ability is soooo very poor. For example Bradley Grayston, steve graystons youngest son he is a 4th dan. In september 2002 i think, he graded for 3rd dan (aged about 13!) then 2 months later his father awarded him 4th dan! I mean a kid of about 13/14 who is a 4th dan! Thats totally ridiculous, there have been people who have been training that length of time who are 3rd dans still! Oh and another thing this bloke George Hedges - in 1997 he was a 2nd dan today he is a 7th dan! Within 10 years he has gone through 5 dans! His ability is poor, he is no good technically, he has a fair amount of knowledge, shame he cant put it to use practically. As for the founder i shall go through his grades according to what grade he when i went on courses and given a course certificate/grading certificates.
1. April 97 he was 8th dan (not sure when awarded)
2. Sometime before november 2001 he was awarded 9th dan
3. Quite recently he was awarded 10th dan (dont know when as i was kicked out of the style!)
As you can see within the space of about 8 years he has gone through 2 incredibly hig dan grades, TWO YEARS to progress that quickly! You would expect him to have such an amazing ability but he doesnt. Mark Shelley i believe is the only instructor worth looking at - im not saying that because he was my teacher, but beacause its the truth. When i used to train with steve grayston the lesson would be structured as follows
Lesson starts 8pm on a wednesday (usually a little late)
1. 10minute warm up
2. 20 - 30 minutes of kihon waza - basic techniques
3. 20 mins of paired work
4. 15 mins of kata
5. A chat for about 20 minutes on japenese/okinawan culture, language (pronounciation of words, what is the japenese for speed...e.t.c) and even what was on tele the other night. Grayston likes to pride himself on his knowledge of japenese and the culture. Seriously though, i paid to train in karate, not learn about their culture, it is interesting. The language is important but we dont really need kneel - seiza and talk about it. He would waffle on about how to say "my name is" or "i would like" - do we really care about this, is this relevant to karate, not particularly! Its like he was saying, look at me everyone i know a little bit of basic japenese therefore i am worthy of my 9th dan (as he was at the time). Its not hard to find a japenese phrase book to learn this! anyway i digress!
The lessons lasted an hour and a half, costing £5.
Peoples abilities were quite poor i guess, little was done to correct them. My instructor mark shelley corrected everyone at my class no matter what grade, everyone there was of a good standard. You go to steve graystons class and notice that the people are not as good, instantly. As with most things, your ability depends on your instructors technical ability and ability to teach. Sadly steve grayston lacks in both parts, i do not believe he is worthy of his 10th dan. So what if he knows alot, you need to be able to express what you know to a decent standard if you are a 10th dan! I would say he was a 5th or 6th dan at a push.
Grades are often handed out both dan and kyu.
If you do well at a grading (poor in my opinion!) you may well be awarded the grade above what you were grading for.
Dan grades are given in honour of your ability sometimes. You may have been a 1st dan for half a year and you continuing to progress well (again in my opinion - poorly) and you could be awarded 2nd dan. Take Biscoe sensei, he trained in kickboxing for a couple of years, he gave it up then trained in Shindo ryu. He came to the club in about 2000/2001, when i got kicked out in 2002 he was a brown belt 1st tab (san kyu) 3 years late he is a second dan. so he has been training for nearly 5 years and he is that grade! He is a nice chap, but cannot kick at all and looks quite sloppy.
I first started training in martial arts aged 8 for 8 months in aiki jutsu, gave it up as we didnt kick (i was just a child)
Then in september 1994 aged 11 i trained in se sen ryu karate with mark shelley for 2 years, i achieved orange belt. Then i trained in Shindo ryu with mark shelley in august 1996 i started from white belt, and achieved my black belt in december 2002! I trained for 6 years in shindo ryu for 6 years before attaining black belt and had trained for about 8 years in martial arts altogether, i know im worthy of my belt! I only graded when i wanted to.
I wanted to be excellent not average.
After black belt you learn nothing new other that a few kata and pair work.
There are 21 kata in shindo ryu but only about 17 are taught (probably as Grayston doesnt know the advanced kata such as Neko no kata, useishi, ananku, unsu and gojushiho).
There are not many kihon waza either. You basically have a few techniques which you will probably end up not being very good at and a few kata that you are not good at too! A man called who i shall not name as he is my current instructor and i havnt asked if i can name him, joined the style in about 2000. He saw what was going on, people passing gradings who should not have been put in, people being awarded grades or titles who were not worthy of them. He did not like what he saw and decided to speak to Grayston about it, in a polite manner. He told Grayston what he thought.
My current instructor said he would continue to train in the style as he liked the social side of things! Grayston appeared to have no hard feelings towards him. Then my instructor was told to leave the style - he was kicked out. I had private lessons with him as has trained with many well known people and has various different grades in different martial arts, judo, ju jutsu, kali, kickboxing and karate. Somehow shindo ryu found out i was having private lesson with my current instructor and they said i had to choose between them and him. I chose him as he doesnt award grades to people and is very, very skilled. We dont train for grades, we train to become skilled. Grades are nice, but you shouldnt train just for the grades. After all if your in a style like shindo ryu and you are awarded grade after grade then because you are progressing so quickly wouldnt you then begin to feel that the grades are worthless especially if its happening to everyone one else around you!
So if you want to train in this style then do, as its fairly good apart from the politics. Train with mark shelley. Or if you wish to train in the art i train in ( a mixtue of karate, kickboxing, kali, judo, ju jutsu) let me know. Sadly its Essex only - basildon and dagenham way.
Any further questions - let post them and ill answer them.
If you want me to prove what i have said - let me know and i will!
I look forward to hearingyour comments
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