sensei8

Collectively?? No. Separately?? Possibly. Individually?? Hopefully. The attainability of peace amongst us Shindokanists is a highly complex as well as debatable issue. Shindokan techniques are not meant to earn points or trophies or things of ego but to end confrontation. This was what the latest hierarchy of the SKKA wanted, and that thought was completely alien to the entire student body because that was not what Soke and Dai-Soke/Kaicho taught us. We fought hard against the latest hierarchy changes because their leadership was laced with conflict, war, chaos, violence, turmoil, and unrest; pick any one of these antonyms that suits best. What we were exposed to was tension, disorder, and hostility at their leadership. Shindokan means “The House of the Heart Way”, under the SKKA new leadership, both the Way and the Heart was broken, and the infrastructure of the House that once stood, quickly collapsed. Our Soke lived in a time of Okinawa when karate wasn’t taught openly, not structured for mass learning and not separated into styles. My Soke only had one core student, the rest of us Shindokanists, once he moved to the USA, were students under the then his assigned Kaicho, with the Soke’s every watchful eye, diligently overseeing our every move. Whenever Soke did teach us, it was understood that we were not his students directly. I never really understood Soke’s mind set regarding us. After all, Soke and his student came to the USA to establish first his dojo, then established the SKKA in the USA, accepted USA students, promoted USA students, and accepted money from USA students but treated us USA students from afar. We had to go through Kaicho in order to speak directly to Soke; not many got that close, especially at first. Even the chosen few of us that were eventually accepted by Soke were still not his students at all. Shindokan didn’t spread widely. Soke had no desire to build a large organization, nor did he aspire for a global federation. Soke didn’t adapt to competition or sport, but in refusing to change, he preserved something rare, to separate Shindokan from the modern trappings. Is the Shindokan heart still there?!? Let me give it to you straight face to face…has Shindokan really disappeared, just another dying style?? Ever since the Shindokan civil war, and the permanent collapse and closure of the SKKA for cause, the disbandment reached at its peak, the Shindokan dojo network splintered, more like an implosion that not one dojo survived intact as before, but more like a leper colony going our own martial art way. Since the closing of the SKKA, the last hierarchy of the SKKA have been ostracized, and we’ve cast them off to such a degree that to us Shindokanists, they never existed. I still keep in touch with the student body as well as many Senior Dans but not as often as I would have hoped for. We all have truly gone our own way!! My own memoir has stalled once again because a memoir is not the place to write for revenge. What the last hierarchy did still hurts, and like a festering wound, it might never heal. The fact that there will never be peace as far as the SKKA is concerned haunts me unceasingly and weighs heavily on my heart. What’s done is done, and there’s nothing that can be done to change neither the scope of the situation nor the final outcome. But for the love of me, I just can’t shake this thing of profound sadness and remorsefulness that’s taken a permanent residence in my mind.

Raiders are going to need more than a HC, even from the ranks of the Seahawks because he won’t have the talent of the Seahawks. Hopefully the Raiders won’t squander their draft picks.

Martial Arts aside, and as important that MA training is, and you know you’ve got my support across the board, the death of your friend and that situation that surrounds, you can only do whatever you can do, and no more!! Hopefully, the 3 of her youngest will be living together soon.

Sorry to hear that; condolences to his family, friends, and students. He was a force to be reckoned with in Hapkido. RIP!!

Maybe, and it’s a stretch, Belichick didn’t receive the required votes as a punishment because he moved down to the college ranks. Yeah, it’s a stretch!!

Love your heavy bag workout, Brian!! You ever add jump spinning back kicks to your heavy bag workouts??

8X Super Bowl Bill Belichick not receiving the required 40 votes out of 50 to be inducted into the NFL HOF as a first ballot entry does baffle me to the Nth degree. There have been 59 Super Bowls and Belichick has won 8 of them. Belichick knows more about football than anybody else. If Belichick doesn’t deserve to be on a HOF ballot as a Head Coach then no other Head coach should be. Imho!!

I was pretty right on the money when I doubled if the Broncos would beat the Patriots without Bo Nix quarterbacking. Oh yeah, 2 missed FG’s sealed the Broncos fate. Patriots win the AFC Championship and move to the Super Bowl. Imho, the Rams secondary are to blame for their loss as the Seahawks got 1 first down after another and another and another; couldn’t tackle if there game depended on it. Seahawks win the NFC Championship and move to the Super Bowl. I’m a man of my word. I lost my beat with my friend, Dwight, that if the Seahawks reached the SB, I’d not call his Seahawks the buzzards but I’ll address them as the Seahawks for one full year, as much as it pains me to do so. According to the ESPN Analytics the Seahawks are favored by 60.2% and the Patriots are favored by 39.8%; Seahawks VS Patriots?!? I don’t care one way or another.

37 seconds!! If you blinked, you might’ve missed it. That’s all that it took the Penguins to score 3 goals in the opening game against the Oilers Thursday night. That was the fastest 3 goals in Penguins history and the fastest 3 allowed goals by the Oilers. Penguins won that game with the final score of 6-2!! GO KNIGHTS!!

Ah…no thanks!! I’ve read the same thing about NFL team and MLB teams hiring MAists to help the team with whatever is necessary. However, while the money is tempting, I’m not a Raiders fan and it’d turn my stomach to help them. Oh, my wife would love it!! If I was crazy enough to help the Raiders, I’d wear a Cowboys shirt and hat!! As far as the HC merry-go-around goes, I’m shocked that they fired McDermott after all, he did get the Bills to the Divisional Round unlike some other NFL teams didn’t make it to the playoffs. Bills so ungrateful; I understand if the Bills had a record like the Raiders, for example.

The Rams vs Bears was another back and forth game. That last TD for the Bears was the fault of the Rams secondary to force the PAT for going to OT. Rams get the coin toss but turn over on downs. Then the Bears drive but their red-zone failed. Rams drive to get to FG range and Mevis, the Rams place kicker, who wears number 92, a number usually reserved for linemen, known as The Thicker Kicker, biggest place kicker I’ve ever seen splits the uprights for the win!! With Nix out, I don’t see the Broncos beating the Patriots. As far as the Seahawks vs Rams, I just don’t want to see my friends Seahawks go to the SB, let alone win the SB. So I’m supporting the Rams in that one just like I did today because my friend, Dwight, didn’t want his Seahawks to meet the Rams. I always call his Seahawks, the buzzards, and Dwight always calls my Cowboys, Cowgirls. I told him that if the buzzards make it to the SB, I’ll not call the Seahawks buzzards for 1 year. But if the buzzards win the SB, I’ll not call the Seahawks buzzards for 2 years…I’ll call them the Seahawks!! I see Patriots vs Rams in SB LX with the Rams winning SB LX. Of course I don’t care for any of those teams anyway because I’m a Cowboys fan, which means I’ve lost my mind.

I thought for sure that this game would’ve been closer than it was. Patriots win over the Texans 28-16. Patriots advance to the AFC Championship game against the hosting Broncos. With Nix out, the Broncos will have an uphill battle!!

Well, some Divisional NFL games today, January 18, 2025… The 14-3 Patriots host the 12-5 Texans for the AFC Divisional Playoff, kickoff at 12:00 noon pacific time on ABC. It appears that both teams are an equal across the board with the Patriots are slightly favored to win: Patriots 50.9% and Texans 49.1%. Should be a barn burner of a game. The 11-6 Bears host the 12-5 Rams for the NFC Divisional Playoff, kickoff at 3:30pm pacific time on NBC. This game has the Rams as the heavy favorite to win. Rams 61.3% and Bears 38.7%. Might be a lopsided game; like the 49ers and Seahawks game was. One never really knows the outcome of any predictions because predictions are just that…an educated guess. On another note…How will the Broncos fair in their upcoming AFC Divisional Championship game with QB Nix out with a broken ankle on the second to last play in OT in a QB sweep to the left that ended up being a 2 yard loss. Nix will have surgery this Tuesday.

The Raiders are my wife’s problem and the Cowboys are mine…makes me sick. I agree!! That Toronto game was a great win from the comeback; 3 goals in the 3rd quarter was nice…so was the OT win!! GO KNIGHTS!! Knights update: Knights defeated the Predators for their 7th straight win. Predators were favored for the win by 52%. Knights will host the Flyers this Monday; puck drop at 5pm. Even though the Knights have won 7 games straight, let’s see what happens after the All-Star break.

Quite a fantastic post; I always enjoy reading your posts!! You sure don’t need to apologize for not posting in awhile because real life has priority. Your thoughtfulness is always appreciated. Zach going into high school is quite exciting for sure. My high school days are far behind me but my high school days weren’t always fun. My kids, who are all grown up with their own families was great all the way around. Our son Nathan was a star in high school and our daughter Krystal loved playing the flute in high school. We lived in Oklahoma back then and that’s why I hate snow. Glad that Zach and you are still training in the martial arts. Good luck with you Sandan Testing Cycle in May!! You both are turning out to be effective MAists across the board. Your other travels and your blade smithing are exciting to read about. I’ve never been to a NHL game and I’m all thumbs whenever it comes to things like gardening or carpentry or things like that because I can’t draw a straight line at all. I’m sure Zach will understand when you miss his scouting class/events. Just remember, 7 times down, 8 times up; that’s the MA way!!