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Many of the people I talk to who are not well-versed in the martial arts think that earning one's (first degree) black belt is the goal of the martial arts. I have spoken with a couple of coworkers whose kids did karate or tae kwon do. "Yeah, they earned their black belts". And that was it. Our CI, on the other hand, tells students as they get into the green/brown belt ranks things like, "you don't start learning the really good stuff until you reach black belt". And "a first degree black belt just means you've mastered the basics". His school also reinforces this. At any of the adult classes, the first 1 or 2 rows of students will be black belts (or junior black belts) who are continuing to train. Our school currently has about 8 nidans, 3 sandans, 1 yondan and 3 godans who continue to train regularly as students.

Another round of testing done. It was another small one, as most of them seem to be anymore. We had one white belt kid that showed for regular class, so we used it as an opportunity to have her up in front going through material and offering advise on fixing things. This testing went from about 6:00 - 7:20 pm (by the time we got done with feedback afterwards). We started with some basics for warmups. We had a low green belt, a high green belt, and a high brown belt test. The high brown belt had to do three forms, all one-steps, sparring and board breaks. The others did their form, one-steps, and sparring. The following are some things that I saw. Hand techniques: I saw some low chambering, and it should be higher, crossing the arms in front of the face/neck area, but also out away from the body slightly, and not in like jamming oneself. I think of that crossing position as a defensive position in and of itself, and teach it that way. I saw some upper body techniques that were disjointed from their stances, and mostly from the low green belt. Good hand/foot timing (strike thrown and lands as the foot touches down) will help with this. I told them that stances help with power, and good hand/foot timing does as well. Getting this down will help with understanding how to generate power in the techniques even when not stepping into them. Along with this, I saw some "happy feet" in the forms, where they'd step into a stance and then fidget their feet around to adjust the stance before moving to the next, never really settling into the stance. I then went on to discuss comfort in stances, and how a practitioner must learn to "feel" when they are in the proper stance, and that the stance is done right (proper weight distribution, proper hip placement in regards to where the stance is centered, etc). I said they have to start developing that kinesthetic awareness of knowing where their body is and what it is doing in space. Some of the students are already starting to feel this, and some are rushing through things too much to feel it. Something else I saw was the pivot foot following the kick, and not pivoting during the kick or slightly before kicking. I told them they lose power and follow-through that way, as well as being not good for the knees. With that said, I did see power coming along in the forms quite well from last testing. They are starting to understand power generation, and hopefully the above comments will help them even more. Orange belt one-step #3....this is a takedown, and a couple of the students just "sat down" from the technique. I explained that the technique is a takedown (it's done with a step behind the attacker's front foot, like a trip, but also can be done as a reap at higher ranks). I told them that the attacker's job is to fall, and it should be a breakfall, with some slap and some noise, not a sit-down quietly. It means the defender is not doing it properly, and the attacker is not making them have to do it properly. I told the high green belt that she was using good footwork and body positioning in her sparring, staying bladed and not presenting big targets. I also heard too many apologies during sparring. A "sorry" here and there. I told them to stop doing that and just keep sparring. It's not uncommon to get someone jammed up, or bounce off their leg when kicking at the same time, and other such incidental contact. If something really untoward takes place, we'll stop the match and have a discussion about it. If you have to break momentarily for some reason, get reset, touch gloves, and go. The students did meet the requirements to pass, and they received their belts on the spot.

You're more than welcome to do so, but here is the draft ruleset so you can have the full outline. Competition Kakedameshi Draft Rules.pdf

This article springs from reading the book Ho Sin Sul; Conceptual Self Defense, by Daeshik Kim and Jung Nam Lee. On pp. 17-18 of that book is a section titled “Levels of Application.” Reading that section made me think right away about the use-of-force continuum that applies heavily to law enforcement, but also how there is a force continuum that applies to civilians as well. Although a civilian won’t be held to the same standard that a law enforcement officer would, a continuum still applies, and if instructors neglect to instruct their students on this along with teaching physical self-defense, they do their students a disservice. I have written a previous article titled Force Continuum for the Civilian Martial Artist, which can be referenced here: After reading this section of the book, I felt like it provided a framework to start from for an actual civilian use-of-force continuum. It could probably be better fleshed out, but it’s at the least a good place to start the conversation from. According to Kim and Lee, there are five possible levels of application: Escape, Control, Breaking, Take Down, and Final Response/Take Out. As a law enforcement defensive tactics instructor, complying with the use-of-force continuum is a very important aspect of training. As a Martial Arts instructor of the general public, I find it’s an important topic to present to them in order to do the best job I can in helping them protect themselves from an attack, and in a courtroom should their actions land them there. Reading this section of this book sparked a fire, and I hadn’t written anything in a while, so here we are. Brace yourselves, I’m going to ramble. Level 1: Escape Described by Kim and Lee on pp. 17: This level would be very low on what I would refer to as the “civilian use-of-force continuum.” If you can respond to an attack in such a way as to deter the attacker’s original intent, then that’s a win. Most predators are looking for easy prey; they don’t want to get hurt and they don’t want to get caught. Any sign of resistance, such as releasing confidently from a grab and getting into a defensive position, could convince them they’ve chosen the wrong target. What would be even better is learning to recognize pre-contact cues that would help you recognize that an attack is coming and move into position pre-emptively for a solid defense. At this point, enough has been done that going up the use-of-force continuum may not be necessary. Remember, I am discussing self-defense situations here, which are often ambush attacks, and not a mutual, squared-up challenge to a fight. Those are two very different scenarios. Level 2: Control As stated by Kim and Lee in paragraph two, pp. 17: At this point, we are looking at gaining control of the attacker as opposed to escaping. Perhaps this is someone who “just wants to fight” and so continues with their aggression. As Kim and Lee state, by gaining control through some lock or hold, we are in position to assess the threat levels and give commands to gain compliance. This is very much what I teach the law enforcement officers I instruct, as it is necessary to avoid excessive use-of-force while accomplishing the goal of apprehension. In the civilian instance, apprehension is not the goal. Escape is the goal. The civilian martial artist can use this position of control to determine what kind further force is necessary, with their safety as the primary goal. The civilian martial artist can still give commands to gain compliance. If compliance is gained and it is safe, we can hold until help or authorities arrive, or disengage and get to safety, and use-of-force can stop. The most important aspect of use-of-force is taken from this section: This is what I emphasize to not only the officers I instruct, but also to our students when teaching self-defense, and when teaching self-defense seminars. It is not impossible for the person attacked to have roles reversed and become the aggressor, depending on the circumstances. When enough is accomplished and an attacker is retreating, chasing them down to “teach them a lesson” can end up with an otherwise good person facing some charges themselves. These can be extreme circumstances, to be sure, often the stuff of movies, but it can and does happen. It is important to work in scenarios when training, and to provide opportunities for the practitioners to see where they have gone far enough in self-defense, and when they have gone too far. De-briefing scenarios afterwards is a good way to learn. Level 3: Breaking The last part of paragraph two, pp. 17, states: This is where we get to the point in self-defense where things are becoming really serious. Sometimes, something can happen so fast and a defender could be so afraid of great bodily harm or death that they commit to a technique 100%, and with such speed and conviction that a joint or bone gets broken in the process. If this is an unintended occurrence, a defender should be sure to articulate that in the wake of the situation. When sliding up and down the force continuum, it is important to not only be able to articulate how one felt when defending themselves, but also the words and actions of the attacker, especially one with weapons. If they say, “I’m going to kill you,” that would be important to articulate later on in justifying the amount of force you used. I placed emphasis in the phrase of the above quote for a reason; to emphasize that the most extreme use-of-force is not necessary in every situation. Again, it is important to assess the situation as it develops to determine how to continue. I know this is easier said than done, but it is still an important aspect to train. If a weapon is involved, control becomes even more important, and an attacker’s reluctance to relinquish that weapon may lead you further up the use-of-force continuum. A solid control hold may have to result in a break of the joint/limb, which could be easily justifiable. Even a person without a weapon who continues to fight and demonstrates intent to harm you may require that you break a bone or joint in order to get them to stop. This can be very easily justifiable. Level 4: Take Down Kim and Lee, paragraph four on pp. 17: If controlling the opponent in a hold isn’t working, a takedown may be necessary. It can be easier to control someone on the ground by limiting their mobility, as opposed to standing and the attacker still having some mobility. It’s important to note that this step can be reached without breaking a joint or limb in level three. The takedown could be one of two varieties. One, in which the attacker and defender both end up on the ground, with the defender hopefully in a controlling position, preferably on top. The other, in which the defender is still standing, and the attacker has either been forced down to the ground in a controlled manner or slammed to the ground via throw. Both have their pros and cons, and preference will likely be based on the defender’s skill level and knowledge base (BJJ/wrestler vs Aikido/Hapkido/Traditional Jujitsu). A slam could be disabling, but if it isn’t warranted, it could become problematic later on. If a weapon is involved, justification for a disabling takedown is much easier. Now, I would be remiss in stating the obvious here in that it would not be necessary to go through levels one, two, and three in order to get to level four to justify a takedown. This book was published in 1988, and since that time ground fighting has become much more prominent. Many skilled practitioners would be comfortable in taking an adversary to the ground from the start of a confrontation. One could also argue that a takedown falls into level two, control. It's important to keep in mind that use-of-force can be fast-changing and isn’t always fluid. Kim and Lee state in paragraph five on pp. 17 and 18: In the early days of use-of-force in law enforcement, it was called the use-of-force “ladder,” in which it was expected that you crawled up each “rung” of the “ladder” in order, one at a time (or that was the argument, anyway). It is now taught as a “continuum” on which one can escalate or deescalate at any time based on how the situation evolves and changes. A situation could very easily go from a simple escape, to a presented weapon and the need to defend life with deadly force. Always analyze and reassess! Level 5: Final Response As Kim and Lee mention here, this level is at the top of the force continuum. They speak of striking the opponent most likely while they are down, or choking them out, in order to neutralize them. When considering this course of action, it is very important to be justified in doing so. It may be that the attacker refuses to relent, or that a weapon is still a clear and present threat. Many things can come into consideration, and I cover those in my other article (size disparity, female vs male, age disparity, etc.). The authors don’t actually mention using lethal force, but this is the point at which it could come into play if necessary. It would be for the best if mere incapacitation could be achieved. As I have said previously, a defender must constantly analyze and reassess the situation in order to protect themselves other than physically. To quote Kim and Lee again: Conclusion I hope this has been informative and interesting to read, as well as helpful when considering self-defense. I love to delve into the use-of-force continuum and how it relates to self-defense. If it generates some discussion, that’s great as well. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Some fighters that have bases in those styles have performed well, but they probably altered their training to mimic MMA training more in order to accomplish those goals. They excel in their style first, then move up to MMA style training, and that helps to give credence to the base training they had in their original style, if they had success. I don't think there are many dojo-to-cage stories that omit the MMA training aspect.

Congrats on reaching 1,000 posts! Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made over the years, KarateKen.

I think you'll find that a lot of us tend to do kata when we are training by ourselves. It's a convenient training method for improving your skills while you're alone. If I have equipment, though, I'll generally go for drills that use the equipment, so it depends on what you have available.

That's a rough deal, Bob, losing a caretaker your comfortable and familiar with. Hopefully your next doctor will be someone you come to trust as well.

Received a disappointing letter today from Comprehensive Cancer Center that Dr. Oscar Goodman Jr, MD, PhD, my Oncologist, will be leaving on May 4, 2025 for unknown reasons. Both his dad and mom were Mayors for Las Vegas, NV. Dr. Goodman saved my life!! My Prostate Cancer is still in complete remission!! These past 3+ years under his care, I’ve come to trust him explicitly. I’ll miss his professionalism and warm bedside manner. I wish him the very best in the future!! My last follow-up with him will be on March 20, 2025. Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) will assist me in transitioning to a new Oncologist that’s under the CCC umbrella. Things like this happen from time to time, even though that doesn’t make me feel any better.

Our dojo has 2 floors - we have mats on the downstairs dojo, and hardwood (bamboo) floors upstairs. I find that it's harder to balance on one leg on the mats; I also find the mats tend to get slippery a lot easier than the bamboo floors. However, I definitely do not like falling on the bamboo floors!

I broke my left ring finger on my green belt (rokkyu) test when I snagged my finger on my CI's pants leg while blocking one of his kicks - that took a month or two to heal. I also jammed my right thumb at a black belt training session when I tried redirecting a partner's kick and didn't tuck my thumb in properly. That was sore for a month or two as well. Also, in my very first seminar with Master Thompson, I was doing ashikitae with my CI's younger brother, and kicked him in his forearm. I got a bone bruise that lasted about 2-3 months. Nothing that made me really stop training, but I had to adjust my training to deal with those injuries.

I really enjoy doing our 2-person drills with a partner who really pushes me to do my best. There are a handful of partners I truly enjoy training with -- they are strong enough, fast enough, and skilled enough that I need to be at my best to keep up with them. It's a real joy to train with partners that bring out the best in you.

You're doing great! Take it one day at a time. I have a little training diary that I make sure I do something everyday and fill it out.

It's 375 pages, but it's a really smooth read. Lots of stories and histories of the old masters with some notes along the way. It's not set up as just pages of huge blocks of text. It's really broken up and reads well. I think you'd enjoy it.

I agree, @Wastelander. I think it's tougher for some of us here to wrap our heads around the idea of talking to others about "life after black belt," as the most of us here are lifers anyway. As much as I'd like all my students to love the Martial Arts as much as I do, it just isn't the case. I do think by addressing goals much earlier in the students' journeys that we can perhaps up our retention level.

Not unless I was wearing a Red Man suit!!

Today is the day! The final five episodes are now available on Netflix. Let the games begin. Well, conclude, I guess.

They should have moved on the year prior, but that's the Jets for you. I think at this point in Aaron Rodgers's career, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I think he's too much of a disruption to be a positive addition to any locker room. If he wants to play, someone will sign him, and the Raiders could use a bridge QB with some clout to get a rebuild jump-started.

I like the idea of weapons sparring. In the above, it seemed rather fruitless for someone to punch someone in the head who's wearing a helmet. That aside, I think this is a great thing to work on moving forward. Just from watching, it didn't appear that they allowed strikes to the legs, or any kind of sweeps. This is an issue, as the rules tend to lean more "sporty" than realistic, but other rulesets could be implemented. The closest thing I've done to this has been SCA style fighting in the past. Lots of fun, although not a true representation of medieval combat.

Hehe, always liked that song...millions of peaches, peaches for free...

Congrats to the HOF inductees. Congrats to the Sharpe brothers on being the first pair of siblings in the HOF.

Bear with me--this is a long one... Kakedameshi means "connecting/crossing/hooking to test," depending on how you interpret the first portion of the word, and as the translation suggests, refers to a method of pressure testing or sparring. Masters like Motobu, Nagamine, and Funakoshi wrote about it in their books, and while some schools still practice it, today, it has fallen out of fashion. Indeed, there are many people who have never even heard of it, or misinterpret it, believing that it refers to "street fights." This is unfortunate, as kakedameshi is a far more appropriate method of sparring using kata movements than the long-range sparring developed on mainland Japan, which became the popular sparring method for karate. That more popular method is very poorly suited to the classical methods of karate that are contained in the kata, however. Rory Miller, an expert on violence and personal security, has actually addressed this before, saying; "When I look at their kata and kihon, they have possibly the best body mechanics for infighting that I've seen... then they choose to test it at sparring range, where it sucks. Or, worse, point contact range where it sucks AND it screws up everybody's sense of distance and time." So what is kakedameshi, exactly? Well, defining it is difficult, as it can be approached in a variety of ways and it isn't a competition format (yet, although I'm working on putting something together for that). In general, though, it is a method of sparring where the participants remain close, and attempt to maintain at least one point of contact with each other at all times. Nagamine Shoshin described it as being like "very aggressive Chinese pushing hands competition," because the opponents touch their arms together, and attempt to manipulate each other through limb control while utilizing that connection to feel what the other person is trying to do, and avoid or counter it. We also know that strikes, locks, chokes, and takedowns are meant to be used in kakedameshi. All told, what you end up with is something like a blend of pushing hands competition and Muay Thai clinch sparring--if you look up those two things on YouTube, and keep in mind to add joint locks and chokes, you will have a reasonable idea of what kakedameshi is. It is a specialized type of sparring, certainly, as it doesn't account for longer ranges, or specific habitual acts of violence, both of which you should be including in your pressure testing methodology. Since most karateka only spar at point fighting range, or kickboxing range, however, this specialized sparring method becomes very important, especially for those concerned with self defense, as the majority of self defense situations occur at close range. From my perspective, kakedameshi can be approached as a spectrum, although you could broadly classify it as kakedameshi-ju (soft kakedameshi) and kakedameshi-go (hard kakedameshi). The soft approach is not really meant to pressure test, so much as it is develop skills. Neither partner is trying to resist anything with strength or speed, but rather trying to find ways to avoid or redirect, while staying relaxed and going with the flow. The idea is to develop tactile sensitivity, to be able to tell what an opponent is doing by touch, and to help figure out when you can best apply certain techniques at that range. Kakedameshi-go, on the other hand, is where participants actively resist and counter each other, as one would expect from sparring, and while they are still intended to remain at close range, connected to each other, relaxation and flow aren't the emphasis. Of course, these are not two distinct approaches, but rather a spectrum from one to the other--one might begin kakedameshi-ju, and over the course of a training session, add more resistance, speed, and power, to transition into kakedameshi-go. Even within these approaches, one can be fairly granular. Perhaps, you need to specifically work on getting to a particular joint lock, for example. Kakedameshi-ju is a good start, but you may also want to isolate your session so that you are only allowed to use joint locks, and perhaps your partner can do everything, or perhaps only strikes, if you are trying to counter those, or just their own joint locks. By picking and choosing the specific technique sets used in the session, you can isolate methods that need to be focused on for improvement. As I mentioned, this is not the be-all, end-all sparring method. When people think of "sparring," they often think of one type of training, when it should really be a variety of methods used to cover a variety of ranges and skills. Kakedameshi allows you to focus on developing your close range fighting methods, especially those found in the kata. Point sparring and kickboxing-style sparring give you the chance to focus on long range strikes. Randori (grappling sparring) gives you the chance to focus on just the grappling methods of your art. MMA-style sparring allows you to blend all of the ranges together. "Bully sparring," self defense scenario sparring, and bodyguard sparring, give you the chance to work those same skills in a specific context that karate was meant for. If you only do one type of sparring, then you are limiting the development of your skillsets, but by combining them, you can become a much more well-rounded martial artist.

NFL award winners are as follows: MVP - Josh Allen Coach of the year - Kevin O'Connell Assistant coach of the year - Ben Johnson Comeback player of the year - Joe Burrow Offensive player of the year - Shaquon Buckley Defensive player of the year - Patrick Surtain Offensive rookie of the year - Jayden Daniels Defensive player of the year - Jared Verse Walter Payton man of the year - Arik Armstead Salute to Service award - George Kittle Air and Ground players of the year - Josh Allen and Ja'Marr Chase Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 - Eric Allen, Jared Allen, Antonio Gates, Sterling Sharp

Close range fighting IS Shindokan!! Close range fighting takes a lot of nerve because not many are comfortable with being nose to nose with their opponents/attacker. Watch a MA tournament. What do you see a lot of?? You see a lot of backing up/away from an advancing opponent/attacker. Why?? Their afraid!! Why?? They’ve not matured in their techniques yet. It takes time to feel very comfortable in close range fighting.

I think it is rather common in a lot of types of businesses, people who own the place making fake reviews to prop it up. Corruption is everywhere. I once had a friend who asked me to write a bogus review of a restaurant he worked at because he was furious about the ownership but did not want his name on it because he would get fired and it would hurt his chances getting a job somewhere. I didn't do it and we eventually stopped being friends. I didn't appreciate the suggestion that I should lie about my experience as a customer so he could make his boss look bad. Ridiculous. I've never personally experienced or heard about it in MA. I hope they bust the person impersonated your wife online to serve themselves, that is outrageous.

I actually think it's pretty widespread because enforcement is rare, I suspect that is within the martial arts world, too. You really have to be very blatant to get caught, so I suspect most don't expect there will ever be any repercussions.

Professional sports sure is getting a lot of black eyes one way or another. Seems the rage of the page isn’t welcoming the goodwill that should come with pro sports.

The Tenets of TKD: Courtesy: Treat others with respect, be polite, encourage a sense of justice and humanity, and being helpful to your fellow man. "The Golden Rule." Integrity: Do the right thing, and do the thing right. I've often heard it said that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. Being honest, not lying, and putting forth your best efforts in order to benefit others. Perseverance: When things are going right, going smooth, and come easy, it's easy to keep going. Perseverance is doing so when things aren't easy, aren't smooth, and you'd rather be doing something else. Setting goals and following through with them to the end. Not giving up. "Patience leads to virtue or merit." Don't be "the little engine that could." Instead, be "the little engine that does." Self-Control: In actions, words, deeds, and thoughts. "With great power comes great responsibility." As Martial Artists, we have a duty to those around us to exercise self-control. We should be seeking to make things better around us. Indomitable Spirit: "Seven times down, eight times up!" Training in Martial Arts can drive our bodies to the breaking point at times. Indomitable spirit is what keeps us going. A mental strength to keep trying and to keep working, even when our bodies say "stop!" Doing what's right, even in the face of persecution. These are very brief descriptions; I'm sure pages could be written on each, and probably already have by better people than me. But these are but a glimpse into our dojang tenets.

That makes sense, thanks for the clarification. I do see the value in the training, and it is worth incorporating into our training.

Thanks! Points of contact are huge when you're at close range, so it makes perfect sense that you'd have experienced that in BJJ. I know I did in Judo. The lack of respect for the strikes in my example videos is mainly because we were going light, and keeping it playful. When you ramp up the intensity, and start making a bit of impact to the face, it changes the dynamic, for sure.

Cowboys can hire and retain all of the coaches and coordinators they want to because of how Jones controls every aspect of the Cowboys, nothing will improve due to their pageantry moves. As a Cowboy fan, it sickens me to no end. GO COWBOYS!!

@DarthPenguin, school size in the state of Kansas is categorized by 1A-6A, with 1A being the schools with the smaller enrollment and 6A having the highest enrollment. This year, we dropped from 2A to 1A. For the purposes of wrestling at the high school level, 1A, 2A, and 3A schools are combined for regionals and state tournament. Kenneth competed in their league tournament today, but it did not go well. He lost his first match getting pinned in the first period, and lost his second match getting pinned in the second period. I thought he had something going in the second match, getting a position he wanted, but the opponent did some slick reverse and threw him right over onto his back. Both were upper classmen, both juniors if I recall. One might have been a senior. The way the cross bracketing fell, he didn't get a chance to face the other underclassman in the bracket, who I think he would have beaten handily. But, we've got some more work to do yet, and regionals is a few weeks away. That will determine if he can get into the state tournament or not.

I just read through your prior 2019 post @Wastelander and it was really interesting! I can totally see how that would be an excellent training activity. Only question i would have would be on how applicable it would be to competition. I think it would work fine from the purposes of people competing, and allowing for development of skills. Not sure how it would translate to a competition that may be spectated (and not sure if that is something you would be aiming for anyway - though if trying to grow the art maybe you would be?). It strikes me that it may end up somewhat similar to watching a bjj competition which unless you are really into bjj can often be very dull as you just see two people hugging a lot and don't pick up the technical intricacies (obviously there is the odd exception but i am sure you get the point). What just came into my head though was how it might be really really well suited to building interest via seminars etc. I am thinking of stuff like Ian Abernethy's work where he travels a lot and teaches his techniques and is pretty well known. I could see a place for something similar with Noah Legel's kakedameshi courses!

Haven't run into this too much in my training, all of my head instructors have been kind of old school, and I think a lot of those students get weeded out early on, though I have seen the occasional one who thinks they can skim by. We had a student who was promoted to brown belt and then did not show up for class for a couple weeks. When he came back, he got some public shaming about his lack of attendance which included "if these were the old days, I would have all the students surround you, pin you to the ground, take your belt off of you, then you would be told to change your clothes and leave." But since that outdated, it did not happen, he was told that if he didn't get more serious, he would be demoted in rank. Students where we train are expected to be more dedicated the higher the rank, and brown belt is where that kicks in the most, causing many students to quit. I don't know this for fact, but I think it is in part to see who is serious about getting to black belt. As to a larger point, I think that issue of wanting instant gratification is becoming more and more common in the culture, especially among young people who grew up with cell phones and everything right in their hand, just a click away. There also seems to be, among all age groups, an increased problem with entitlement. At least I have noticed that here in the United States in recent years. Lots of people don't have the patience and just want what they want right away and don't care how it impacts anyone else.

Cultish, or an ego trip.

I'm of the mind that if you present a problem without proposing a solution, then it's nothing but pure Grade A whining. In this thread, it's "don't call yourself sensei." In another thread, I got into an almost week long back and forth with another member about the use of shogo titles. Okay, so many people don't like any of those terms. What's the solution? Do we want karate to be more like BJJ, where the formalities are completely done away with? If we want to keep the formalities, then 1) what titles should instructors have, and 2) how should new students be taught to address the instructors if it's pompous for the instructors to tell them? We've some million dollar questions here that need to be answered.

Unfortunately it’s the current rage of the page and has never really lessened. Yes, this has infected the MA schools pretty much in every community that I’ve ever lived in or ever visited. Nowadays students want a fast food MA across the board. Earning anything in the MA is such a rush, especially from parents. Whenever a CI allows the customer is always right mentality to root in the school, the ends not far away. The customer is NOT always right because the schools integrity is at stake!! Every student must earn everything and only the CI decides that, and never the student, parents, or the man in the moon.

Solid points Ken!! Here’s my 2-cents. The Bills ended the Chiefs perfect season in November. Nonetheless, in the playoffs against the Bills, the Chiefs chocked up a 3-0 record. Chiefs are a 3-point favorite and at home. With being only a 3-point favorite, the Chiefs need to be hitting in all cylinders. If not, the Bills will return to the SB for the first time in more than 30 years. My pick is Chiefs over the Bills.

Fortunately I haven't met many karateka who have a Shogo Title, but from the ones I know have simply said call them Sensei or whatever title they had, no need to make a fuss. over which. One Kyoshi I've met said he doesn't care if we address him as Sensei or Kyoshi as both are terms of respect. My Shihan has the same attitude to naming conventions. Because his view is that mistakes happen, and if we have visitors or guests from other schools "Sensei" may be the only one they know and use. I was told by a well respected Australian Martial Arts figure; that a Shogo Title is special thing awarded and should be well respected if your awarded one. And that they educate others (when asked) on why such titles exist, but don't place them on a special pedestal. But when they say to students "its ok if you still call me sensei, but you can also call me Kyoshi" it is a reminder for themselves to remain humble. He also explained that each level was similar to a qualification at University (college) - Shidoin/Bachelors, Renshi/Honours, Kyoshi/Masters and Hanshi/PHD.

I agree with you here, but it wouldn't be strange for a CI to feel a sense of guilt for providing such student the skills used to commit untoward actions on others.

Most of the instructors I have interacted with, especially the ones who have been awarded shogo titles, prefer to be called "Sensei". We always refer to our CI as just "Sensei". Any other (full) instructor is "<name> sensei". The exception is our CI's father, who we refer to as just "hanshi" - he doesn't insist on it, but we just do it out of respect. When the head of our organization visits, he simply asks to be called "Sensei". I have yet to run across an instructor in our style who insists on being referred to by his/her shogo title.

So relieved that you, Kara, and PJ are safe. My prayers for all that are being devastated by these wildfires and to the families that have lost a loved one. That picture is very scary and by only Gods grace, the winds didn’t go your way. Santa Ana winds are still blowing strong, which is a legend in Southern California.

Fraud is definitely a concern, but it is frustrating that many people seem to feel there is a link between popularity and legitimacy. This is something I have seen time and time again in the martial arts world--people who think that if an art is legitimate, it will be popular, and if it is popular, it must be legitimate. I have actually faced that quite a bit with regard to KishimotoDi, personally. All I can do is keep publishing information and putting out video content, and encouraging others to do the same. I don't think you have wasted your time, at all! It is definitely sad to lose a rare art, however. The "not knowing what you don't know" aspect of the knowledge bell curve is pretty common! Yeah, not everyone is a writer, or thinks they have much of value to write, even if they do, but books absolutely help. I'm sure time and resources are barriers to entry, but there are usually options available to learn at least a little bit of what there is to learn about rare systems if you really want to. Uchi-deshi programs are definitely rare these days, and I think most of them are in fairly popular styles. Maybe that will change. Cross-training is absolutely important for a well-rounded martial education, but it's really unfortunate that competition seems to be the only way for a style to gain mainstream popularity. I understand why, but the combat sports communities have done a good job of convincing people that traditional martial arts don't work in modern combat sports, so people with an interest in competitive fighting aren't likely to seek out traditional arts. With regard to KishimotoDi, specifically, it shares 3 of its 4 kata with other Shuri-Te lineage systems, but it is quite distinctly unique in movement and power generation, so the crossover isn't as significant as you will see in modern karate styles.

Thanks for starting this thread, Ashley!

How are you performing the Lunge? Tbh Lunges in my opinion are actually an important thing to do, because you are loading your joints and forcing the muscles to engage in positions that are less than advantageous in comparison to say a Squat. Thats why people feel stronger when doing squats, because their centre of gravity is closer to that of a standing person. Whereas lunges are (in a way) an exaggerated step. I have a shotty knee myself, but with lunges I teach people instead of doing a "Full" normal rep is to work up to it. Also being able to do a lunge, is a factor to preventing falls as your body is stronger in different positions. But you do need to ensure that you are doing it properly.

So recently a couple of friends of mine were recently to Godan (5th Dan) in Shorin-Ryu. But from memory one was a Wado Practitioner and the other was a Shito Practitioner. Now I don't know much about Shorin-Ryu's History along with Wado or Shito. So What I am asking is what are the similarities and differences between Shorin-Ryu and Wado/Shito?

Both have a strong foundation in Shorinryu (more Chibana than Kyan), but life any style, there are subtle differences that really define the stylistic lenses. As the parent style, perhaps they somewhat have the ability to look at their grand/children and day, 'hey, I'm happy with that'. For example, I tell my students up until 4Kyu we're rally just learning Karate. From 3Kyu it should be obvious of the differences between Shorinryu and other styles, and from 1Dan it should be clear they do Matsubayashiryu not Sho/Kobayashiryu. Just my thoughts!

When we spar, adults are only required to wear hand pads. We are encouraged to wear mouthguards, and shinpads + footgear are optional. Students under 16 are also required to wear headgear and footgear. I'm with you, sparring is about learning to get around/past your opponents defenses with light contact. Generally adults should be able to control their techniques so as to not injure their partner. However, in sparring the unexpected often happens (someone steps INTO your attack instead of away from it), so some padding definitely helps avoid injuries.

I'm not very sympathetic to any of my students that are losing interest of getting on the floor. That's that student's responsibility to get on the floor so that that student can increase their MA betterment. I can't force a student to get on the floor when they really don't want to; it's their MA journey. Only exception to that is a student who has some physical and mental limitations!! Those students need the space to manage their physical and mental limitations to the best of their abilities. I'll just stay in contact with that student just to see how they are doing and offer any help that I can. There's an old saying that goes something like this..."You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force the horse to drink the water." Patience goes a long way. If after some time, and the student finally decides to end their MA training due to physical and/or mental limitations, then I'll respect their decision and let them know if they want to just talk or whatever else, please don't hesitate in getting in touch with me. But if said student just wants to not train and whine about it, I've got nothing for them. You have to want to train. Sure, I'll try to get to the real reasons as to why their feeling that way and try to encourage them. However, I've very little patience and tolerance for those students that don't want to be on the floor. I'd rather that student just go away because I've other students to tend to who want to be on the floor. Cruel?? Perhaps.

I think this is a great way to approach kata training in general, but I always add a caveat to it. I wouldn't necessarily encourage students to change things right away; any kind of changes should only be made if and when necessary (and reluctantly), after an extensive amount of study into the how's and why's of it's original intent. Change for the sake of change benefits nothing. A change made due to the physical limitations of aging, an accident, or even in relation to body style and physical capabilities, can benefit the practitioner, and also provide others with an option to explore should they see the need to based on similar circumstances.Soid posts!! If the change has been deemed effective by those who have made said changes to said Kata, then the question remains. Is said change effective? If the change is proven to be so but the practitioner isn't effective, and this is vital, than the practitioner is at fault, and not the change. One has to make it effective. and this takes a deal of maturity in technique.