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空手の日, "karate no hi", or Karate Day, celebrates the meeting of karate masters on October 25, 1936, where the name 空手, "karate" was officially adopted for the art we know today. It also established the kyu/dan ranking system. In 2005, the Okinawan Perfectural Assembly officially established October 25 as Karate Day to celebrate this anniversary. Each year, karate-ka from around the world gather in Okinawa to celebrate, culminating with a massive group demonstration of kata in Naha, Okinawaa. In fact, the 2016 Karate Day celebration established a Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously performing a kata. This year, my CI and his wife went to attend the celebrations and to train with other high-ranking instructors in Okinawa. The video of this years' celebrations is posted below. The Uechi-Ryu contingent performs the kata Sanseiryu (三十六) at about 9:40 into the video. My CI is front and center in the contingent for most of that segment.

I'm thinking my particular system doesn't put a big WHOOP on tests and belt advancement. The testing sensei asks the students to do certain kata, various learned skills or techniques that he\she wants to see (usually ones you've struggled with), decides you know it, or not...and move on. There's not a lot of emphasis or making a big deal out of testing. The only time my original sensei really did anything special for a test was if somebody got their black belt. Then it was time to break out the Saki and TOASTS!

Thanks for sharing that interview. Really cool experiences there.

There are days where training is easy. There are days where training is hard. There are also days when training just plain sucks. Throughout your training you'll have ups and downs. You'll have days that things just "click", and your understanding of your art jumps to an entirely new level. The thing is, they rarely happen if you don't train through the suck.

Exactly. A certain amount of flexibility and diplomacy should be expected. Everyone's situation is slightly different, and understanding their situation definitely helps with the instructor/student and provider/client relationship. It is certainly within your right to treat everyone the same and be firm with everyone. However, keep in mind also that the customers literally pay the bills (whether you're looking to turn a profit or not), so you need to weigh how close you toe the line with each student (and/or parent). Fortunately as an assistant instructor who doesn't deal with the financial side of things, that's something I don't need to worry about.

I would perhaps send them an email or call them over driving to their dojo first, but I don't think it's odd at all to inquire about it. You don't ask, you don't get.

I'm not fond of the term "master," at all, because it's such a loaded term in martial arts. In other disciplines, "master" level means that you are an expert, certainly, but in martial arts, people seem to feel like "master" means you have learned all there is to learn and are as good as it is possible to be, and that just isn't the case. That's why I tend to only refer to people as masters of an art until they have reached a truly remarkable level of skill and understanding, and usually have trained up to 8th-10th Dan (legitimately), or passed away. That said, some people do reach a level like that at a much younger age and lower rank. Shimabukuro Eizo of Shobayashi-Ryu, for example, was the youngest person to be promoted to 10th Dan at the age of 34, and his peers at the time all agreed that was a legitimate ranking. My late Sensei was only a 5th Dan when he passed away at the age of 32, but most in the organization agreed he had the skill and understanding of a 7th or 8th Dan already, so if he wasn't already a master, he was well on his way. Kano Jigoro founded Judo at the age of 22, and many would consider him to have had a master's level of skill and understanding to do that.

Well, I could tell you all why we Okinawan stylists stand pretty naturally, rather than in a deep rooted stance, but they I'd have to kill you all. So, there's that aspect. Well, OK, I'll share. We stand rather naturally because we're a more relaxed and "natural" system. Shorter stances, relaxed posture instead of tense and tight, the entire dojo and training system is based around this concept. A huge part of it is the way Okinawans view themselves compared to the Japanese and Koreans. Okinawans are more Polynesian in nature, and appearance, than the Japanese and Korean people. Their way of viewing and doing things is different. their entire culture is different. Take a look at the typical Japanese or Korean dojo. Strict regimen, stand at attention when sensei speaks, lots of bowing and scraping, barked commands, loud yelling, punishment for infractions, etc. Whereas in some Okinawan dojos they're laid back, laughing, relaxed, not much for militaristic control, smiling, happy, butterflys dancing and unicorns singing. Oops, ignore that last part. Those are the very high sensei's doing that stuff. Anyway, the mindset of a Okinawan dojo is a lot different that that of the Japanese and Korean dojo, as are the techniques.

The Jets continue to put the Win in Winnipeg, tonight's 6-3 victory over defending champion Florida puts the Jets at 16-3, their 32 points are the best in the league with Minnesota and Washington next at 27. The Jets Morgan Barron scored two empty net goals in the third. It is rare to see a player score two empty netters in one game. They were the first two goals of the season for Barron, and his first career two goal game. Barron is a hard-working 4th liner who doesn't score much but does a lot of other stuff to help the team. He is one of my favorite players and every time I watch him, I see an honest effort. Wild win in St. Louis, two goals by Kaprizov, now at 13 for the season, third most in the league. He is clearly the best player on the Wild and one of the young stars in the league. Minnesota improves to 12-3-3, second place in the central behind the Jets. Lightning win in OT against the Penguins, Oilers beat the Senators 5-2 behind two goals by McDavid (8 and 9), and one by Draisaitl (14). Three games active as of this posting. The Rangers and Canucks tied 2-2 in the first, Islanders lead the Flams 1-0 in the second, and Ducks lead the Blackhawks 3-2 in the third.

Ken, I'm nominating you to be KF's Sports Reporter, if KF indeed had such a position. Your coverage is on point and well thought out, especially when it comes to sports. I've enjoyed your sports posts thoroughly!! Thank you!!

The Chiefs win streak has come to an end, losing in Bufalo on Sunday 30-21. It is the first loss for KC since Christmas Day. Their 9-1 record is still best in the AFC, though the Bills are kind of a quiet 9-2 and now have the tie breaker, so it could come down to the final week to see who gets the top seed. Detroit won again, as the Lions ate the Jaguars for lunch, 52-6. Eight wins in a row for the Lions and now they have the longest winning streak in the NFL, but still only up one game on the 8-2 Vikings. Minnesota is another team that has quietly been very good. As for the Jags, I question if Coach Doug Peterson will make it to the end of the season. Another loss for the Jets, now 3-8, they came up just short against the Colts 28-27. Other winners were the Rams, Steelers, Dolphins, Saints, Packers, Broncos and Seahawks. Chargers and Bengals are playing right now, Texans and Cowboys play Monday night.

Toronto's enforcer Ryan Reeves has been suspended five games without pay for his illegal hit on Oiler's defenseman Darnel Nurse on Saturday. Nurse took a nasty hit to the head in a collision with Reeves which lead to Nurse bleeding on his jersey and Reeves being ejected. Toronto won the game 4-3 in overtime. Reeves is a veteran of the league and a known tough guy. This is not his first ejection, or his first suspension. He famously was ejected from a game in 2018 for a late shoulder to shoulder hit that injured Capitals forward Tom Wilson. He was also suspended for some playoff games a few years back in a scuffle with Ryan Graves of the Avalanche. This five-game suspension will cost Reeves over 35 grand in salary.

Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, sitting next to each other, were in attendance at the Paul VS Tyson fight tonight at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

I'm on episode 9 now. Quite a few twists and turns.. good stuff!

OOPS! Sorry, typo..meant 100% agree...my bad.

What a comeback by the Lions on Sunday night!! They were down 23-7 and were clearly being outplayed with five interceptions by Goff, but a great 4th quarter with two long field goals that barley got in, and the Lions come all the way back to win in Houston, 26-23. Wow. They are now 8-1 and on a seven-game win streak. Kansans City wins again, now at 9-0. Another close win as they have had many this year but time and time again, they find a way to pull it out. The Chiefs have not lost a game since December 25. I don't watch the sports talk shows, but I imagine there is a lot of talk about a possible undefeated season for KC. A 17-0 season is unlikely, and I would think that KC is more focused on a third straight SB win than an undefeated season, I just don't see them going 17-0. Panthers beat the Giants and Jags lose to the Vikings, Jags might be officerly the worst team in the NFL, though they were completive against Minnesota. Long day for the Jets, another ugly loss, this time in Arizona. At 3-7 the Jets would probably have to run the table to get into the playoffs. They do have a bit of a favorable schedule, other than going to Buffalo. Other winners on Sunday were the Saints, Bills, Patriots, 49ers, Eagles, Steelers, and Chargers.

I'm rooting for Tyson, but I say Paul takes this. But if Paul doesn't pull this off, this needs to be his last fight.

My group, of which I'm in, is from 13:30!

I'll stand by my post from nearly 4 years ago, but add some thoughts based on my own cross-fertilization experiences. TSD is really karate, and more. Put a TSD black belt in a shotokan class, they'll be able to follow right along and not see anything completely new or different. Forms, they'd have to follow along and navigate some subtle differences. But take a Shotokan practioner, put them in a TSD class, they probably wouldn't have done nearly so much jumping or spinning kicks, and their forms would look much more rigid, snappy, fast, even. The funny thing about the Americanization, it really is "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", bordering on cultural appropriation. If you look at a group like World Tang Soo Do, or even the videos with Pat Johnson- you'll see few, if any Koreans. Dojangs have Korean flags, Americans bow, use lots of formality and almost military etiquette, yell "Yes Sir" and mispronounce Korean terms, it's kind of embarrassing.

Let's say you saw this awesome kata and you really want to learn it. This kata is not taught in your school. However, there's a dojo a half-hour drive away that is of a style that teaches it. Would it be an unusual or odd to go to that school and inquire about it?

If your ever down in Melbourne Austrlia, I'm always happy to share my Goju kata whenever asked. All I ask is you teach me a kata in return as payment.

Your doing great Ken! How are you feeling since quitting?

As an instructor, with students paying for their time with the school, I feel I should offer as much to their training as I possibly can. I don't feel like spending the first 5 or 10 minutes of class sitting quietly and meditating is the most efficient use of that time. I'd much rather get them started on the physical training. If students would want to show up early to meditate for a few minutes before class, I would encourage that.

When it comes to a Roundhouse Kick (all levels) there is for me at least; 1. Top of Foot (Toes Pointed) 2. Ball of Foot (Toes back) 3. Heel of Foot 4. Shin Front Kick 1. Ball of Foot (Toes Back) 2. Heel For both Kicks it definitely depends on where I'm kicking and how much damage I'm trying to impart on my opponent. I don't have the greatest flexibility when it comes to roundhouse kicks, so I tend to go low and really sink the kick in. But on the same hand, I do a lot of fake kicks and strike with the heel into their calves or their hamstrings. Same evil idea with a front kick and I hit the back of the leg. The last round I fought, I threw both kicks and made them appear to have missed but struck their hamstrings instead and made them fight in Neko Ashi Dachi for the remainder of the fight.

It would probably be done early in Miyagi's life, so they'd recast someone to play a young Mr. Myagi.

Great news @KarateKen. I've missed a week of training, and am itching to get back into it.

I do think learning to spar with controlled contact without pads is very important to martial maturity. I enjoy sparring without pads. It also helps in conditioning, as the intensity will usually ramp up as time goes on and two good students start to get a feel for each other. Students can also give feedback about the contact level, whether to up it or dial it back. It's great for just training some toughness.

The name alone is worthy of nomination.

Thats good there are tonnes of comments about the benefits of consistency so am sure you know that! Hope it keeps going well

Congratulations again

I've never been a fan of pads of any sort, except for Bogu gear, which is similar to kendo helmet and a canvas chest protector, leather lightweight gloves. Full contact...literally. I'm old school, learn accuracy and control when sparring. Hit happen, people accept them as part of the "game", but every effort is to control your technique. The only time I've worn foot and leg pads/gloves was when my students guilt tripped me into entering a tournament that I took a few to out of town. I entered the black belt sparring in these big, clunky and bad fitting "booties" and a pair of foam gloves. Single elimination, I won my first two matches, then the third was against a friend of mine from an eclectic kung fu system. I'd never fought him before. Score ties 4-4, time ran out, and he got the 5th point. I ended up placing 3rd (my first, and only tournament as a competitor), then got 2nd in kata doing Chinto . I retired from competition after that.

I'm digging the Matlock too. Kathy Bates is a great actress; I love everything that she's ever done.

That's a long time, Bob! I hope I can pull that off, too!

One of the requirements I have for my students going for black belt is to go learn a kata/form from some other style and learn or develop applications for it. I have taught kata to people from other styles on a number of occasions, as well. My only real caveat is that I would prefer them to be at least an intermediate level in their core style so they have a foundation to work with.

Looking at it from another perspective i can't see how it is different from jit jitsu really: some people say they do Gracie Jiu Jitsu, some Brazilian jiu jitsu, some (i think) say American jiu jitsu now; 10th planet jiu jitsu etc. They are all similar but slightly different and adopt different mores. eg 10th planet jiu jitsu is always nogi and has totally different names for most techniques or positions; older school Gracie jiu jitsu a white gi is mandated; lots of other 'Brazilian' jiu jitsu clubs you can wear what you like etc. But they all accept each other as jiu jitsu. On the same note if the art that is taught in Tang Soo Do is fundamentally the same as 'karate' and was originally rooted in karate then it doesn't seem unreasonable to call it karate. For TKD it may have started from shotokan but it has diverged so much that it is clearly a totally different style and they wouldn't be called karate by them or anyone else.

In my opinion, there's really no room to play semantics on the word "master" if your school has that as an official title. If your school says a 5th dan is a master, then that's when you're a master. By the way, I think titles like Master and Grand Master may be more of a Korean martial arts thing, as 5th dan in some Japanese arts confer the title of Renshi (which does not translate to "master"). "Master" in titles - whether in martial arts, among tradesmen, academic degrees - doesn't mean you know everything. But it does imply a certain level of authority in the relevant subject.

I was going to return to the gym today (have not been there in a week) but I woke up and my low back was hurting so I decided not to go. Might see how I feel Thursday and then go back.

I don't know if this is still going on, but there was a time when the Chicago White Sox were being sponsored by 7-11 and part of the promotion was starting home games at 7:11 pm.

Happy Birthday, Bob! I'll always cherish the time we spent on the mat together. Keep fighting that good fight!

See this is my point though. It is developed karate just because it doesn’t look like the original style doesn’t mean that it’s not karate. It just means it’s not the original karate system. To me it looks like karate because it is karate. It just doesn’t look like the original system of karate because it has been built upon. I train in and teach the American version so the version I do does not look like MDK version either. Does that mean it’s not TSD? Well no it’s not the original. It is a modified version of it. It’s the same concept for me.

Personally, I would treat it as an extra test, which is how my late Sensei and his Sensei treated promotions done while visiting the Shorinkan honbu dojo on Okinawa. Basically, if a student wants to test at a camp or while visiting another dojo, they can do that if they're eligible, but only AFTER they've been tested in my dojo first. I know that may sound a bit odd, but my late Sensei and his Sensei had higher standards than most in the organization, and I try to do the same, so a test with other instructors probably wouldn't cover everything that it should.

Yeah best to take it easy rather than have something get a lot worse! For me i find that single leg exercises like lunges etc. are good for identifying weak links / working smaller stabilising muscles etc but as a flip side to that the way they can identify the weak links is through something feeling less stable etc. Without a base of strength from the heavier compound lifts i find that has a tendency towards injury. From a personal example i started to add in bulgarian split squats a month or two ago to my own training. Weight wise i know the number i am lifting is substantially below the maximum i could lift doing the exercise BUT i am trying to build familiarity in the lift / technique at lighter weights where the likelihood of injury is a lot less. Means i can get comfortable in the movement etc and feel the weak points working without overly straining myself. Might be worth thinking about that and adding in some more compound lifts : no-one every complained that they were too strong for their sport / martial art; squats, deadlifts, presses etc. build a good strength base that can be accessed for the other sport.

Just a side not, he does Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu. We don't generate power through our hips like a lot of other systems do.

I'm not trying to "play politics" or claim that "mine is real because that's what I do." It's more so the fact that Koreans took what they learned from the Japanese and made it their own. That's what's key here.

The class requirement scales up for each grade. 0?8Kyu 20 classes, 2>1Kyu 48. We have a minimum attendance policy of attending twice per week, so it's really based around this. 40 classes would be at least two terms, which is on average, how people progress.

I'm looking forward to it. I never watched anything tied to the Karate Kid franchise until the Cobra Kai series was brought to Netflix, but now I am hooked.

NIghtclubs are definitely a big one, i'd say some choice words but I don't want to get in trouble here. lol

My wife and I were discussing the procedure yesterday evening. It's a 2-3 hour outpatient procedure, you have significant activity restrictions for 5 days afterwards (no strenuous activity, no driving, careful going up and down stairs), and then you can begin resuming normal activity afterwards. You'll continue to be on blood thinners for about 4-6 weeks afterwards.

Often, if the weapon intentionally touches the ground, you tell the judges so they know not to deduct points from you. I once saw a competitor tell the judges that if he hits himself (in the head, groin, etc.) that this was intentional. It got a good laugh. Of course, he didn't mess up and did just fine.

Nice! I'm happy to hear that you found something that works for you, even if it might need some modifications.