sensei8

Well, the Saints took care of business against my Cowboys quite handling at home with a dismal score of 44-19. Cowboys' defense was absent throughout the whole game, or it seemed that way. Hopefully the Cowboys defense shows up at home against the Ravens. The Ravens lost at home to the Raiders in a close game, so the Cowboys against the Ravens won't be a positive win. Go Cowboys!!

Shogun by James Cavell When I first read Shogun many, many years ago, the Japanese characters spoke Japanese. This 2023 publication has the Japanese characters speaking English, which truly, isn't my cup of tea.

Now, that's a very cool feature. Thanks for sharing that, Patrick.

That's a cool feature!!

Congrats, ashworth; well deserved!!

Maybe he should start wear a guardian cap during games.

Very sad in both accounts; both were valuable to their profession.

Matter of fact, we teach the ALL beginners to say KIAI when teaching them the Kiai. We do that because we want them to utter something, and uttering "KIAI" is far better than having them say absolutely nothing. A lot of times uttering "KIAI" lessens the shyness of many beginners. I get a chuckle from whenever a beginner is moving their mouth to the word "KIAI" but nothings coming out, as I'm walking behind them.

I read them all because the information/updates are very important to me. You and your team worked very hard and long hours to get KF where it is right now, and while you may do not have another 23 years in you, my/our gratitude will never be taken lightly, and these are not idle words.

I read them all Change is inevitable, and this KF change is very solid, more than solid. I echo what Brian has said...

So far, so good that I can see. KF looks so AWESOME and COOL!! Thanks Patrick and his team for all of the hard long hours!! One question, are the multiple emoticons of nearly each one a bug??

Cowboys season opener was on the road to face the Browns; Cowboy/s won 33-17. I did expect more of a game out of the Browns because last season they were 2nd in the AFC North, 11-6, and even though the Texans beat the Browns in last year's Wild Card Playoffs, the Browns seemed to have no UMPH whatsoever. GO COWBOYS!!

Self-control, patience, and confidence are what I've garnered from the MA.

Perhaps, even though a CI might train their students in one particular way, kiai's are as different as the practitioner, no matter how the kiai is taught. Short or mid-range or drawn out, they've, their purposes; real life or competition.

I'm very excited for September 5th but I'm also very nervous because of the unknown.

We kiai only during Kata. Yes, we understand the importance of the kiai and all that. We'd kiai away from the kiai as the time was called from whomever felt it necessary from time to time, which usually was whenever a student wanted to express themselves during kumite. Many tournaments' open kata divisions with the long drawn out kiai makes me cringe no matter its reason(s).

So sad!! My prayers and condolences go out to their family, friends, the entire Blue Jackets organization, and their fans during this difficult time.

Takes any NFL team to win anything, especially, the Super Bowl. Should the Lions make it to the Super Bowl, and the Lions lose the Super Bowl, it'll be the Lions and not SI's fault. However, a curse is a curse is a curse no matter who set the curse in motion, one has to believe in the curse. In Lions case, 66 years is 66 years is 66 years. Lions may have won 4 NFC Champions, pre-Super Bowl, but at least they are in the small fraternity of 11 other NFL teams that have never been in the Super Bowl.

Come Thirsty by Max Lucado

Well, you never know! They might break the curse!Curse or not, 66 years since earning an NFC Championship, way back in 1957, the year I was born, is quite a very long time of looking in. The Lions curse just might stand against time. 11 playoffs for the Lions, since 1957, came with quite some surprise back in 2016. The Lions made it to the NFC Championship after having bested the Rams and Tampa Bay, but the 49ers shattered the Lions dreams. 66 years is some draught!! But hey, the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year curse by winning the World Series against the Cleavland Indians, 4-3 games back in 2016. So, if the Cubs knocked off the curse monkey off their backs, then there's no reason that the Lions can get the curse monkey off their backs.

Great drills so far, very solid!! Balance is everything. One of the drills that I teach/do, or use to teach/do, is using an overhead pulley system. Takes a bit of planning as to where to install the pulley system, but the results are priceless. The drill is as such... 1) Attach the ankle-strap to whichever leg is being drilled 2) Hold the pulley rope in the same side hand as the leg being drilled 3) Slowly lift the kicking leg up into the chamber position constantly adjusting tension on the rope to maintain balance 4) Start extending the kicking leg towards some imaginary target, for example, like at a spot on the wall in front of you, ALL THE WHILE, start rotating your supporting foot. In our style, everything starts and ends at the same time, and our supporting foot is 180 degrees away from the kicking foot, as we emphasis a 4-count (Up, Out, Back, and Down)!! Very basic but it drills so many elements on how to properly chamber, in this case, the side/roundhouse kicks. This drill works great for both a lead-leg and back-leg side/roundhouse kicks.

Both my Soke and Dai-Soke were born and raised in Okinawa, and like Noah states, "Japan nearly killed it", the Uchinaaguchi language of Okinawa by 1879 when the Japanese annexed Okinawa, and by the Battle of Okinawa of 1945, many Okinawans spoke Japanese, and for the sake of survival many Okinawans spoke Japanese as a way of survival because some Okinawans were killed by Japanese soldiers for speaking Okinawan. I'd say that both Soke and Dai-Soke spoke Okinawan Japanese. They spoke Uchinaagushi amongst themselves but spoke Japanese to us students. In time, they both learned English, but it was broken English, and to a lot of us young/teenage students, it was pretty funny to hear to us, which they didn't appreciate our laughter. When Soke and Dai-Soke moved to the USA, they didn't speak any English at all. They both did a lot of pointing and grunting at us students, which was interesting in itself. They quickly finally hired a translator, which did help. A lot of us long time students learned Japanese from them by us just listing and speaking Japanese correctly was through trial and error. A small inner circle of us students that spend a lot of time visiting them in their homes was priceless for learning Japanese. We'd sit for hours just listening to them converse with one another. Noah is dead right-on when he says, "I do think that learning the language of your martial art does provide additional insights into the culture, though!" But now, I'm so darn rusty with my conversational Japanese that it's both sad and frustrating because they've both been gone 16 and 14 years respectfully and I've had no one else to converse with in Japanese; it's the out of sight, out of mind. Oh, my speaking the MA terminology in Japanese will always be there for me because it's a very live part of my life.

Being in a band as a drummer just seems so darn COOL all the way around. I'd to the gigging too because the dojo can chill for a moment. Great news about your 7-year-old might be joining you all on the floor.

Every MA school are managed differently one way or another, to say the least. I owned/operated a dojo/MA supply store for well over 4 decades, as well having had the distinct honor and privilege of being elected to several positions, including Kaicho (President) of the SKKA, which was the Governing Body of Shindokan for over 3 decades. So, I've somewhat of an idea an understanding of just how a MA school is managed. First thing: A school of the MA IS a business. It should be treated as a business at all times. If a MA school has an overhead that must be meet monthly/quarterly/annually than that MA school IS A BUSINESS. Any business must be managed professionally in every aspect possible. A business must have a clear understanding of what a "Need" and what a "Want" is, and if not, the demise of said MA school will happen very quickly. Rent, ALL utilities, and supplies/equipment, for examples are NEEDS!! Anything else are WANTS!! I wrote several articles here at KF that addresses this topic. Hopefully, these two articles will answer some of your questions/concerns... https://www.karateforums.com/treating-your-dojo-martial-arts-school-as-a-business-vt47192.html?highlight=dojo+business https://www.karateforums.com/running-a-dojo-is-about-more-than-martial-arts-knowledge-vt48908.html?highlight=dojo+business

I'm not a Raiders fan whatsoever, but my wife is very much so a Raiders fan. So, the Raiders for the very first-time help training camps that the public was invited to on August 14th and August 20th for FREE!! Every seat was first come first serve in levels 1 and 2, meaning that levels 3 and 4 were closed. What fans had to do was get in line on the Raiders website. First time I got in line I was number 7,167. So, I bailed out!! I gave up any hopes of surprising my wife with tickets for any of the training camps. Then the Raiders informed fans that tickets were still available for FREE. BINGO...I was given 2 tickets for the August 20th training camp, and when I surprised my wife with those tickets, she was beside herself with glee. This is my first time inside of the Allegiant Stadium, and I have to say...WOW...A billions dollar stadium is a sight to behold. Due to my being in a mobility scooter, my wife had to get ADA tickets in order to sit in the ADA sections. So, we ended uo in section 107; great seats!! Level 1 was packed out, but Level 2 was quite empty with fans sprinkled here and there. Training Camp was scheduled for 6:30pm to 8:30pm, however, it started to our surprise at 5:30pm. Raiderettes were out in all of their glory and beauty. There were NFL referees and a chain crew. Concessions were aplenty. The foot-long Neon Hot Dog costs $17, we had a regular foot-long hot dog which costs a mere $9. Quite a show!! Let us not forget, the Raiders players and coaches and whomever else was on the field. I must say that how the Raiders conducted their training camps caused me to have a ton of respect for them in every way imaginable. If this is how they train all of the time, there's no way that the Raiders should end up where they find themselves end of season to end of season looking outside in for the playoffs. Unless the Raiders are their own worst enemy where they are strong in the first half and blown-up on the second half. They spit up the field running drills after drills. Each segment ended by the clock given to said drills, and were named by PLAY and its number, i.e. PLAY 10. Some PLAYS only lasted only 30 seconds and others just 1 minute long. Every aspect of football was drilled over and over and over. QBs, Running Backs, Receivers, Special Teams, Offense, Defense, and all of the others not mentioned here. There were NO REST TIME at all. The Raiders drilled non-stop the whole time they were on the field, and that was 3 hours. My wife and I had a blast of a time; one we will never ever forget. Enjoying one another and the atmosphere that surrounded us. Seeing many fans dressed out in their tribute to the Raiders, with some dressed in the most amazing cosplay attire. What saddens me is that I'll never be able to attend any Raiders home games ever. Not that I want to begin with but to go to a Raiders home game with my wife would mean everything to her...and to me. 2 tickets in Level 3 section average costs are $700 plus parking plus food plus souvenirs: a Raiders baseball cap costs $50. That would be one very expensive game to watch live. No, I'll watch the Raiders ON TV!! Unfair for fans who love the Raiders but can't afford a ticket to watch them live. Raiders VS the 49ers for their last pre-seasons game are this Friday at home. Thank you to the Raiders and the Raiders Nation for allowing fans to watch their training camps live those 2 days for absolutely FREE!! Hopefully, this will become an annual thing at Allegiant Stadium because that's the only way I could ever afford it, plus, it was a BLAST, and my wife's happiness is everything to me, and to see the glow all over her face is priceless. She took a ton of photos, and I took a lot of pictures of her in front of iconic things, like the Torch, for example. We had a picture taken of us with the Raiders mascot, Raider Rusher. Sorry for the long post!! For my wife, and for my wife only, I say...GO RAIDERS!!