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I’m starting to watch a 6-episode miniseries on Netflix, starring Robert De Niro, titled Zero Day. It’s about an American political thriller centering on a devastating global cyberattack that implicating the highest levels of the US Federal Government. One of the characters is a NSA Operative named…Patrick O’Keefe. Kind of tickled me a bit when I heard the name, Patrick O’Keefe, which as all of you know, is the very same name of our beloved KF Administrator…Patrick O’Keefe. It always tickled me whenever I hear the name…Robert Mitchum…in old movies. I spell my last name differently than the actor…my name is Robert Mitcham. Maybe our Patrick is moonlighting as a NSA Operative…which would be so cool.

Absolutely!! There’s so much to Kata than memorizing the embusen. Because of that, drilling said kata over and over on the intricacies that belongs to said kata is critical.

That’s what’s great about a door. It opens to let people in and let people out. Meaning?? When one student exits out the door, a prospective student comes in the door. Please don’t misunderstand my coldness, but I can’t be affected either war because if I’m affected by whether a student stays or quits, then I’m not giving my all to the students who’ve chosen to remain on the floor.

I’ve racked myself more times that I care to remember. Each of those times I’d find myself curled up on the ground for about 30 minutes wishing I wasn’t so dumb. How many times have I smacked my funny bone while training with the Nunchakus or the back of my head or between my legs or the tip of my fingers/thumb?? So many times…it wasn’t that funny whenever it happened.

I just can’t reiterate it enough that we owe our students our complete respect, whatever their decision is, no matter how much we might be disappointed. You know, this might seem an unfavorable thing to say but you know what?? MA is just a thing…a want…not a need, like shelter or food. Our MA journey can’t be our students journey or even similar. Does a CI want what’s best for their students or what’s best for the CI??

I’ll pick Dr. Goodman’s brain a bit during our last follow-up for his recommendations. Such a bummer!!

Welcome to KF, John Moscato; glad that you’re here!! Sounds like you’ve an excellent background in the MA; can’t wait to read your contributions to our community here at KF. Even though I’ve an uncle that lives in Baltimore, MD, I’ve no familiarity with any Okinawan Dojos. However, Yelp has a list of 10 Best Karate Schools in and around Baltimore,MD that might be of some interest to you. Good luck on your search.

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.

Hopefully there’ll be no fighting between the two this Thursday like there was when these two faced each other. We’ll see what we see this Thursday.

Kata is as basic as it can get when looking for something to drill. Not saying that Kata itself is basic but drilling Kata requires a lot from the individual, and that isn’t basic.

Wife and I just finished watching the final 5 episodes. I witnessed some pleasant moments that surprised me. The very last scene was the perfect way to end this series. Wonder what, if any, spinoffs will come from Cobra Kai series?!

Yankees seem to be extending Manager Cashman’s contract; news expected soon. I’m on the fence with this one because imho he made some real bad calls during the World Series against the Dodgers. I was looking over the Yankees February transactions and it seems that the Yankees are trying to improve their pitching staff, which they need to. Yankee pitcher Marcus Stroman missed several workouts. Why?? He’s rejecting his role as a relief pitcher. Why?? He believes he’s a starting pitcher. GO YANKEES!!

Thanks, Brian!! How many pages is the book you already have?

Wife and I are going to get caught up this weekend. Our son, Nathan finished watching all of the Cobra Kai remaining episodes yesterday.

Not unless I was wearing a Red Man suit!!

Our Hombu was fortunate enough to have both multiple training rooms and floors, 3 to be exact. First floor was where the main dojo was located. Its floors were hard wood. Second floor held 3 training rooms. Largest of the 3 was the Hombu’s secondary dojo; its floors were also hard wood. Next training room, on the second floor, was for practicing throws/take downs/etc; its floor was full of thick wall to wall mats. These mats were on top of thick plywood sheets. Those plywood sheets were on top of car tires that were secured to the floor. That gave the floor that one was kind of floating but in such a was that footwork wasn’t hindered at all. We students all looked at it like a cow would look at a strange gate for the first time. But training on it was like trading on a cloud. Third room on the second floor was a free workout room. Its floor was hard wood. Third floor was nothing but offices and the like. No training was performed on the third floor. The Hombu, in addition, had a gymnasium attached directly behind the Hombu. Its floor was hard wood like a basketball court would have. The gymnasium was a multipurpose facility for whatever the third floor wanted to use it for at any given day. My dojo had hard wood floors at first. In time, the hard wood floors were replaced with wall to wall puzzle mats. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think we gave it quite a lot of thought about how we trained on the different floor types whether it be hard wood or mats or unique. Whether it be at the Hombu or at any networked dojo…we just trained without not giving much concern about the floors. I suppose we were careful at first, as anyone would be whenever encountering something that’s different, especially on the floating floor.

Check this out… What do you think?? GO COWBOYS!!

Whoa!! I got to check that one out. Thanks, Brian!!

To all of you that have shared your MA injuries…OUCHY!! I feel your pain!! Glad you all survived your injury/injuries.

Great topic!! Thank you, Noah for starting this topic!! One of the most fun I’ve ever had with my Kobudo training. You ought to try it without any pads, that’ll get your attention quickly.

Great topic!! Thank you for starting it, Brian!! You make a lot of great points!! Yes, it’s quite disheartening whenever a student stops training after earning their Shodan. I’ve always encouraged my Student Body that Shodan isn’t the end of the road in their MA journey but that it’s only just a new beginning. A new beginnings that’s not thwarted with unreachable new goals but a new beginning that’s filled with new and exciting things to learn and to excel in. Unfortunately, no matter how much the CI encourages a student to continue MA journey past Shodan, those students still ended their MA training at Shodan. I’ve never been one to pressure a student in any regards. Ask a few times, then drop it!! I can’t stand pressure salespeople. Ask me once, maybe twice, but after that, don’t ask me again. If a customer, and our students are our customers, have no further interest in what you’re selling, then drop it. Harping over and over will only push that customer faster out the door. Closing the sale is an art in itself, and pestering a customer is a big no-no. Like the song The Gambler by Kenny Roger’s reminds us…”You got to know when to fold them, know when to hold them, when the dealings done.” Student wants to guit after earning their Shodan?? No problem…no skin off my knuckles…have a nice day. Student wants to quit, that’s ok because that’s the harsh cold truth about teaching the MA: students quit all of the time. A CI should not just feel disappointed when a student quits after earning their Shodan but at anytime a student quits, no matter the rank. I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter to me when a student decides to quit their MA journey after earning their Shodan because it does matter to me a lot. As their CI, I also have the responsibility to support and respect that students decision 100%, no matter what their reason(s) might be. Imho!!

Yesterday day was SB 59 where the Eagles were victorious over the Chiefs in New Orleans with a final score of 40-22. Who’s to blame for the Chiefs loss to the Eagles?? That might not be that simple of an answer to question but those answers will vary from person to person. The buzz around the internet seems to rest on 5 Chiefs to blame for their loss to the Eagles at SB59… 1) Andy Reid 2) Patrick Mahomes 3) Jawaan Taylor 4) Nick Bolton 5) Travis Kelce Of course, like a captain should, Mahomes blamed not the offensive and offensive lines, he blamed himself. I’m sure that the 5 individuals listed above had something to do with their loss one way or another. However, the Eagles played like they truly wanted to win, and as far as they were concerned, the Chiefs weren’t going to stand in their way from getting their hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Who do you believe is to blame for the Chiefs loss to the Eagles at SB59?? Perhaps the word “blame” is to unfair and uncalled for.

My deepest condolences to the family of the one who dies in the business jet crash that Ken is referring to. I decided that there’s no way I’m ever going to get on an airplane. I don’t need to get anywhere that fast or that bad.

To the Eagles: Congratulations To the Chiefs: No 3-Peat Chiefs had no focus on both sides of the ball. Eagles overwhelmed the Chiefs secondary; total focus on both sides of the ball. Until SB 60…until next year!!

Super Bowl 59 is upon us with the Chiefs VS Eagles; kick-off at 3:30pm PT. Here’s what AOL.com has to say about this SB outcome… “As defending champions, sportsbooks currently have the Chiefs as 1.5-point favorites. The game is expected to be high-scoring, with an over-under of 48.5, according to sportsbooks. The two teams combined for a 73-point shootout in their first Super Bowl meeting.” We’ll see what we see when the dust settles down!! GO CHIEFS!!