sensei8

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...SING IT WITH ME EVERYONE...Happy Birthday dear Danielle, Happy Birthday to you...and many more!! Have a good, safe, and fun birthday, Danielle!!

Have not...yet, but I will more than likely see it this weekend.

Man, I better be able to without a warm-up, or I'm in a world of hurt!!

There's the saying... "Often Imitated, Never Duplicated" The curious in me will more than likely watch it whenever it comes out to the silver screen.

I suppose that that's up to the courts to decide upon; others are just opinions.

Our Soke said that maturity had to be mastered first, and even then, that wasn't a guarantee. He spoke about there are two kinds of maturities on the floor: Maturity of Karate-do and Maturity of the practitioner/individual, and in that, the maturity of Karate-do is far apart away from the maturity of the practitioner. This becomes quite evident when one still struggles with any given technique.

I still have every single one of Bruce Tegner's books in my library; they were laid out in a systematic manner, and I found them educational. Until now, I've not looked at them in quite a while; had to dust them off, so to speak.

Over my 5 decades in the MA, I've done group and private. The dynamics were about the same, but I suppose that that's to the credit of our Soke and Dai-Soke; exceptional MAists and instructors across the board. The majority was done in a group setting; that was my mom's financial decision, from 7 years old to 13 years old, and I don't regret it whatsoever. The private lessons were when I was a JBB, ages 13-18 years old, and from Godan and up; however, they were private in that as a JBB, there was a solid band of roughly 7-13 of us. By my choice, I opted back into the group setting from ages 18 years old to 27 years old. Then, there's Godan and up, in which I was elected into the SKKA's Board of Regents, whereas there was 12 board members; private lessons were one of the perks of being an elected member of the SKKA. Albeit, those of us who were part of the Hierarchy were very much spoiled by Soke and Dai-Soke. The usual group setting was 25-40, in which, one might think that they'd be lost in a crowd, but they weren't whatsoever. Again, the type of the instructor(s) makes a very big difference.

Congrats, MatsuShinshii!! Boy or a girl?? Hope your grandchild's doing well, as well as Mom and Dad!!

My wife LOVES the Outlander series, both the books and on the TV; one of her most favorite.

Bulltahr was in Texas for business; the very next day he flew to Laredo, Texas!! What he does for a living is very cool!!

I suppose that ones age does catch up with you whether one likes it or not. As the MA goes, per what's a befitting MA style as one ages will vary on ones physicality. Some might go hard with, for example, Kyukoshin or BJJ. Then as one becomes older, for example, Shotokan or Kung-Fu. Then perhaps when one's much more senior in age, might consider, for example, Tai Chi Chuan or Fencing. For example.

Well, I've never heard about Yellow Bamboo, but that's alright because the world of the MA holds a tremendous amount of mystery, however, it does sound quite interesting.

Last weekend, my wife, Linda, and I meet with Bulltahr, Colin, over BBQ lunch in Houston, TX; thank you for the lunch Bulltahr, who was in town for business. We eat and talked and laughed for about 4 hours on a wide range of topics, and yes, we spoke about the MA too. Bulltahr has an enjoyable engaging way about himself across the board, extremely friendly, and I can see the three of us being lifelong friends in and out of the MA. His MA knowledge and experience showed through and through, which is always refreshing. We didn't train, but next time we will. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2933547246901961&set=a.1403944316528936.1073741832.100007401421221&type=3&theater

I honestly do not know what a way to long syllabus looks and/or feels like. I embrace the syllabus as it is, and never have given it a thought, for a second. Even when we discuss the syllabus, with it sitting on the table, I've never once thought and/or said..."Man, our syllabus is long!!" It's important across the board, but at the end of the day, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a thing, and it just isn't that important to loose sleep over it and/or its length. Whenever a student asks about the its length...and asks, Why? And they have asked from time to time... "The summation of 'Why' is to the summation of 'Because'!! Now please go train hard and train well!!"

In this case if a student has a limitation with using their legs. Would the focus be more on joint locking and hand techniques? I ask because soon I will be helping my instructor with teaching but I have to be careful here. Like I don't want to impose some generic skill set and saying it's either done like that or your not qualified. On the other hand you can have a person with one healthy hand and that hand can be capable of destructive power. This will compensate for their handicap. My biggest fear would be is of I give the student false confidence. This would probably haunt me for life. But at the same time a person's sincere effort as well as dedication should be acknowledge since it is a winning trait and one that is becoming rare. Adapt to what the student with a disablity can do, and not what can't be done. The remaining abilities will make-up for what the physical body can't. When someone is blind, for example, the other senses become much more heightened to a very sensitive ability. Teach THE STUDENT, and not the disability!!

Solid post!! May I ask you a question, instructor to instructor... Have you ever had a student(s) ever express their distain over the length of your syllabi?? If so, how did you explain it, its length??

Every student should be allowed the same opportunities as the other students no matter their limitations. If this saying is true, and meant to be of value, then live up to it. If not, then nothings of any significant value... "The Black Belt Mind" We, here at KF, are always saying that the belt doesn’t prove that you have skills or that you are the greater person. It is the mindset that you portray in having that belt, whatever belt it may be. White or black, having the mindset and attitude is the main reason why you deserve the belt. Most important is that those MAist with physical limitations are protected by Law in the USA, the American Disabilities Act of 1990... "The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA is divided into five titles (or sections) that relate to different areas of public life." Referenced from... https://adata.org/learn-about-ada I've been fortunate enough to have awarded a handful of disabled students to Shodan, and 2 to Nidan and 5 to Sandan. It's not what they lack, it's what they posses that counts because in my eyes they don't lack anything. Just who are we to say that those with disabilities are less worthy than we are who've no disabilities, especially in the MA?!!?! Again, the search should never be about rank, but of effective knowledge and experience. Imho!!

Often times, students express their distain feelings over the depth of the syllabus that their dojo has..."Does the syllabus have to be so long?!?", is their chief complaint. I do understand their concerns without equivocation! However, please allow me a moment to express my point of view over this concern. While the syllabus might appear to be quite involving, and oftentimes unnecessary, it's important to realize that the style of the MA, that the student's training in of owns own volition, is at its required length for a valid reason(s), whether the student likes it or not. Let's look at the overly involving syllabus in general. The syllabus is a vitally important element of said MA style. So much so, that without the syllabus, the concise whole would be lost to the students improving MA betterment. Yes, Bruce said..."Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own." May I stress that's admirable across the board, however, while the student is a student AT said dojo, the syllabus must be followed to the letter. I believe that the syllabus is that MA styles blueprint, and to deter away from it for ambiguous reason(s) drastically affects even the effectiveness of what that styles MA founder believed in wholeheartedly. "I just don't understand why our dojo's syllabus is so long!!" says the frustrated student. May I approach this from another angle; please bear with me. Remember, the student chose the MA style, and all that that includes willingly. The chosen MA style is akin to choosing a car; both have to be dependable. The syllabus is nothing more than another tool, however, an important tool that the CI utilizes with an unnerving precision to teach with and from. What the student does on their own, is the students business. So, we've the long drawn out syllabus and a car. Both are tools. One gets you hopefully a valued MA education, while the other gets you hopefully from place to place. Let's look at that car, for a moment. It's literally where the rubber meets the road as far as it's intriguing purpose; it's that very thin line from being a car driver or a pedestrian. That car, that the students driving around is a mechanical wonderment; hard to live without it in ones life. Now let's look at YOUR own car/truck. That very car/truck is composed of literally thousands of all types of parts. The more that industry improves that which takes us from place to place, the more types of parts that are being put into that vehicle masterpiece. Now, there stands before you...your pride and joy...your means of transportation...your car/truck. Whenever you need to go somewhere, it's there ready to take you wherever you need to go to in a moments notice. Thousands of parts making your car/truck operate like that fine tuned instrument. But what good is your car/truck if it experiences a mechanical breakdown?! Not much; looks good looking at it, but you bought that car/truck to drive, and not to just look at it. If the breaks go out or the transmission goes out or the fuel system goes out or if the electrical system goes out or the engine goes out or whatever else can break on your car/truck. But that's to be expected because mechanical things wear out...things break. Wait, what if you had a flat or ran out of gas, who's fault is that? Not the car/truck, but your's alone. Let's take it one more step. What use is your car/truck if YOU purposefully remove just one of the thousands of parts it takes it to run?? Take a wheel off; what good will that do?! Take the battery out; what good will that do?! Take the steering wheel off; what good will that be?! Take the brakes off; what good will that be?! Take one of the myriad of computers off; what good will that be?! Each and every part found and/or discovered in your car/truck is there for a very good reason, no matter how insignificant it might seem to be. That long drawn out syllabus is like it is because the MA styles founders and/or the CI and/or the Governing Body decided it's importance. Just like the engineers decided to put all of those thousands of parts into the car/truck that the motoring public drives around. The syllabus length is as crucial as those thousands of parts that allow your car/truck to run in tiptop shape. Take one of the legs off the chair; what are you left with?! An unstable, as well as incomplete chair. Take something out of the syllabus; what are you left with!? A possible ineffective proponent of the MA. Take just one part from your car; what are you left with?! A possible wreck waiting to happen. Each and every part that's found in your car/truck is as vitally important and critical as it is found in your syllabus!! What Bruce spoke about, is one thing, but only for when the time is favorable, if at all. Until that time, I'd rather have all of those parts [techniques], because one never knows when they might come in quite handy; better to have more than enough than to have not enough. So, before the student starts wishing for a much more deftly cropped syllabus, try to remember that what's in the syllabus is there for a good reason. After that, it's just not that important!! Did the student chose that particular MA style for effective knowledge and experience, or for rank?! Train hard and train well in the syllabus for cause!!

If you train in a style like Shotokan Pinan Shodan is Pinan Nidan and vice versa. If you train in an Okinawan style Pinan Shodan is Pinan Shodan and Pinan Nidan is Pinan Nidan. The reason... Pinan Shodan is viewed as more difficult than Nidan and thus they swapped the order. Solid post!!

TIME!! If ones not willing to put forward the necessary time, whatever that might be, required, then their MA betterment is an illusion, at best. I could list a list of criteria, but for me, time is paramount!! Time equals in achieving effective knowledge and experience. Don't chase rank!!

I haven't studied Isshin Ryu but they are not the only art to strike with the thumb to the outside of the hand. We actually strike this way as well just not vertically. Shindokan does it too!! One of my most favorite techniques!!

If you train by yourself, how will you correct your mistakes?? How will you know that you made a mistake?? How do you gain, even just the smallest fraction of improvement and recognizing it before it becomes a bad habit?? Without a qualified watchful eye over you, the trails and tribulations of going about MA training might have more than it's share of potholes on your MA journey. It can be done, going about it on your own, but extremely difficult to receive the necessary quality and effectiveness. Train hard, train well!!

Man's creative, that's for sure. We like to reinvent the wheel so that it's either improved and/or it is their version. I watched my daughter take a karate class, that wasn't Shindokan, the horror of it all, and to my amusement, as I watched them run through all of their kata's. Guess what I saw?? Every Shotokan Kata, however, with a one something or two added to each said kata's, with names like, Flying Dragon 1. Interesting!! Their founder has an extensive Kyokushin background, for what it's worth.

FLASH...ALERT...URGENT!!!!!! There are plans to remake the epic and iconic, Enter the Dragon!!!!! But who, just who, can do justice to Bruce Lee?!?!??!?!?? Here are some links about the remake... https://deadline.com/2018/07/enter-the-dragon-bruce-lee-remake-david-leitch-deadpool-2-john-wick-warner-bros-1202431792/ https://www.joe.co.uk/entertainment/enter-the-dragon-remake-reboot-bruce-lee-191676 http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a862388/enter-the-dragon-bruce-lee-remake-controversy-director/ The internet has been flooded with stories and reports one after another since the story broke wide open. I wonder what Linda and Shannon think about this?? Will the director of the remake make mockery over Enter the Dragon?? I love the Deadpool movies, but if the remake of Enter the Dragon is done in the Deadpool similar manner, I fear that'll not do the original any justice. What do you all think about this??