Several
lower body movements from the video
The
Best of Tadashi Yamashita
I
had never met Tashidi Yamashita, but had
read about him many times in the martial arts magazines and seen him in various
movies.
The
description that he personified old school intensity seemed quite accurate.
So
when it became available I purchased a Tashidi Yamashita self defense video
from Panther Productions.
What
I found was something I never expected.
I
don’t want to imply he did not demonstrate what he was showing most
effectively. What surprised me was how different his demonstration was from
what I thought Okinawan karate was. That was quite different for me.
Perhaps
it was me, but to me his demonstration of defensive technique was closer to
what I had come to expect from the Ed
Parker Kempo I had seen, and most unlike what I saw as Okinawan.
Not
perhaps that VHS tape was not representative of Tashidi Yamashita, and made
just to sell for the market. Not that I am suggesting a VHS tape should be used
for instruction. But from that point forward I did not look into what he was.
Then
finding this video clip of his technique :
1)
I realized it gave a clearer picture of who he was than the tape I had seen so
long ago.
2)
I found some of what he demonstrated as useful examples as I show in this blog
post.
3)
there is no question there is much showmanship in his demonstrations, which
also contain much extraneous material instead of simpler execution and just
finishing the attacker.
Perhaps
that was the aspect of that VHS tape I saw that did not appeal to me.
This
is the video where I found those lower body applications I wrote about.
The best of Tashidi Yamashita
Absorb
what is useful, then perhaps ignore the rest.
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