sensei8

Psst...MatsuShinshii, I'm in Tulsa, OK TOO!! ::Hint:: ::Hint::

I wholeheartedly agree with both of you, JR 37 and MatsuShinshii across the board. I do believe that both my Soke and Dai-Soke knew perfectly what any title meant, and they both were very adamant about not awarding them to just award them for grins and giggles. Our titles have surfaced, and then said title would disappear, and then sometime later, that title might resurface; some might stay forever, and some might be shelved. All at the discretion of Soke and Dai-Soke!! Titles, like ranks, are immaterial next to knowledge and experience. Push us consider you, well, you better get really use to remaining said whatever until the end of time. "Did you come to learn or did you come for toys!!" ~ Soke Saitou

What's your opinion, if any, about Black's System??

Congrats on you being promoted to 5th geup; well deserved. Even with your testing mishaps, you still passed. This shows that no one ever needs to score a 100% in any testing cycle to pass.

Much of what I did see on the video was quite comparable to what Shindokan incorporates within its close range techniques, especially with the locks and such. Thanks for sharing the video, Alan!!

I didn't like the video because what was shown wasn't informative, but more of a strange promo of himself. Imho!!

Very interesting topics, thank you for starting it, singularity6!! The political engine needs a tune-up across the board. But how does one know what's the fairest criteria to support, and is that preferred criteria the correct one?? It's, to me, like Mechanic 'A' says this and Mechanic 'B' says that and Mechanic 'C' says another, but to whomever, they all sound good and quite plausible, even after doing some research, does one vote for in the end?? Picking straws?? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?? Gut feelings?? Hair on the back of my neck?? Paper, Rock, Scissors?? Flip a coin?? Sad and/or funny at the same time, those methods of choosing above, are exactly how choices are made by the voters at large. Elections at the SKKA, at the Governing Body of Shindokan, where I'm the elected Kaicho, are conducted via the Roberts Rule of Order, Nominations and Elections rules. As a matter of fact our entire nuts and bolts of how the SKKA is conducted is based on Roberts Rule of Order and our By-Laws. http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/roberts_rules/chap12.html Soke and Dai-Soke created our By-Laws, which have been amended quite many times through the 60 years history that the SKKA has been functioning, but still, SKKA meetings and the like are strictly in and through Roberts Rule of Order, with no exceptions!! Elections are held once every 4 years, depending on the office, whereas some offices are elected once every 3 years, and other offices are elected once every 2 years. Within our Executive Team, Administration Team, General Affairs Team, and the Instructors Team lies the bulk of SKKA's Higher Hierarchy; each and every Director and the like are elected to their respective office. Here's a small glimpse of SKKA's structure... https://www.karateforums.com/a-glimpse-into-a-hombu-vt36501.html?highlight=glimpse Please keep in mind that some changes have been made within the SKKA and our By-Laws since I first wrote the post that's linked directly above this paragraph. For example, both Soke and Dai-Soke have passed away, the attempted destruction of the SKKA/Hombu was staved off, new By-Laws and the like at the Restructuring of its Chartership, and the passing's of 6 members of the SKKA's Higher Hierarchy, to name just a few. What type of criteria does the SKKA fall into, from the criteria that singularity6 has mapped out?? Majority Rule!! This criteria has been satisfied by our Legal Team. The other criteria mapped out by singularity6 are perfectly plausible, depending on ones particular situation(s). Our Legal Team IS NOT comprised from any entity within the SKKA whatsoever!! Our Legal Team is an outside source; a Lawyer firm that's been contracted by both parties, SKKA and the Lawyer firm. No party of the outside Lawyer firm is ever allowed to become a student of any SKKA affiliated dojo, including, and especially, the Hombu for any reason whatsoever!! This provides both parties the highest integrity clauses possible.

Would you consider trying CrossFit training?? Having followed you in this forum, I'm quite impressed with your training, and CrossFit might be your cup of tea. I mean this as a very sincere compliment, Brian!!

Personal preference, I suppose. I more prefer hanging bags because I've, as of yet, not found a standing bag that provides me what I'm needing; standing bags are akin to a Bozo the Clown bounce-back, that, as a kid, you could punch it or whatever else, and Bozo would go backwards, and then forwards. My favorite hanging bag is a 500lb beast of a bag; provides me a lot of what I'm needing. I'm more of a to-each-his/her-own type of MAist.

Between students and teachers?? I never!! The teacher/CI, sets the tone, good or bad. In my 53 years in the MA, I've never had a student get mad at me in any shape, way, and/or form...nor have I ever gotten mad at my students!! Again, the tone must be set by the CI!! No exceptions!! How?? It takes a human being to know how to act like a human being. If the tone is bad, then my first guess is that that's how that CI/Instructor was taught...in and through anger. Respect begets respect!!

Spartacus Maximus wrote... Solid post!! Not having the ability to explain the curriculum in such a way that THAT student can grasp both the methodology and the ideology. If not, that CI runs the risk of changing even the most minute detail from effective to ineffective. Lupin 1 wrote... Sold post!! Your opening phrase speaks well about this topic!! Taking that intelligent CI to the core of the problem, which is their delivery system of the explanations of the curriculum, and helping them to find their own AHA moment so that they, as you said, might lighten it up. I do a drill once a year at our Hombu, which addresses this very topic, with any and all current, as well as future, CI's/Instructors. Title of it is..."Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say!!" I play a 2 year old, to the Nth degree, who wants to make his very first Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. I'm on the stage center, and with me on a table sits the demise of their destruction...4 large loafs of bread...1 restaurant sized Peanut Butter and Jelly jars...1 spoon...1 butter knife...nothing more, nothing less...except a lot of imagination on their part as well as mine. Their simple task is to instruct me, start to finish, on how to make my very first PB&J sandwich!!!! Simpler said, but much more difficult than one, an experienced adult on the art of making a PB&J sandwich, might assume. These adults in this class are very accomplished individuals in and out of the MA. In all of the years, 26 years thus far, not one class has been able to properly help me, "Tommy", the 2 year old, make one, JUST ONE, PB&J sandwich!! The class is ended when I run out of bread...oh yeah...A mess of unbelievable portions is made of me, the stage, and whomever is near the stage. The funny thing...or the not so funny thing about it all, is I, as "Tommy" don't have to purposefully cause the massive complications the ensue in the difficulties of teaching "Tommy" how to make his very first PB&J sandwich; they, the CI's/Instructors, do it all by themselves. Each CI/Instructor take turns shouting instructions out to "Tommy", which the mess/disaster begins from the very first instruction...that never fells!! Shortly, multiple shouts of instruction are given to "Tommy", which everyone knows, to many chefs ruin the dish!! Yes, we have a blast at this class, but the points are driven home is such a memorable way for them to grasp, and they discover that in order to teach anything to anyone, they must always...Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say. The difficulty wasn't "Tommy", the blame wasn't "Tommy", the fault wasn't "Tommy"...NO...the difficulty, blame, and fault laid with the CI's/Instructors!! "Tommy" didn't have the knowledge and experience on how to make a PB&J sandwich, but the CI's/Instructors...ADULTS...did have the knowledge and experience for the task at hand. The adults couldn't properly pass their knowledge and experience onto "Tommy" in a understandable tone. YES...these CI's/Instructors, with all of their accolades and all, became frustrated and often times angry at "Tommy", like it was "Tommy's" difficulty, blame, and fault that "Tommy" didn't understand the minimum of what they were trying to teach!!!!! Why make "Tommy" cry?? These adults thought they knew so much, and they do, but they lacked the most basic of teaching skills...SIMPLICITY, aka, K.I.S.S.!! The MA is only as difficult as the CI/Instructor makes it. Get the CI/Instructor out of the way, the Student Body can learn!! After all, the CI/Instructor are the water that pours into the vessel in measurable measures!!

For me, and imho, this was a complete waste of time for both of them because it didn't provide anything of substance, whatsoever!! Was there suppose to be substance?? I really doubt it, no matter their cooperative and/or individual intents for this exercise. We all can assume all we want; reaching our own conclusions because we're on the outside looking in.

You might not be able to find the likes of those days gone by that are similar to the PKA days with Superfoot and Lewis. I've not seen things like that since the PKA of those days, as well as the days of Theriault, might be difficult to find. Not saying that you'll not find it. But if you do, please let me know so we two can enjoy them together!!

Solid post!! The small stuff?? To me, there's nothing small about Afib whatsoever.

Some take notes of passing text, while others take detailed notes, and others still take no notes at all. After all, the MA journey is YOURS ALONE!! There's no wrong or right when and if, you take notes or not. I'm in my 53 year in Shindokan and I've never ever taken notes at all. Why?? I was under Dai-Soke's tutelage almost daily, except on Sunday's, for 46 years; he passed away in 2010. Do I regret that I never took any notes? No, not really!! That's because what he taught me is etched into my brain for life. Years of drilling and being tortured by this taskmaster is enough to last a lifetime. Now, there's a book out that was written by Paul Walker...Lessons with the Master: 279 Shotokan Karate Lessons with Master Hirokazu Kanazawa A detailed and unique training resource! Paul Walker spent three years studying karate under the direct guidance of Master Kanazawa; this book is his diary entries of those years. Very detailed from cover to cover; a lesson from the Master, to be for sure!! Taking notes of this magnitude does have its advantages; the choice is of the practitioner, of course!!

This subject to me, and to most of everyone else, is a very sensitive subject matter, and in that, I try to be extremely careful, and respectful, as well as serious about this subject; never taking it lightly. It's both sad and confusing to wrap ones head around it, especially if were not somehow personally affected by it's consequences, and it's often times finality. I grew up with a mom that tried to take her own life while I was in Jr. High School. She had made it difficult for me to take things for granted because I never knew from one day or another if she was going to succeed in her suicide attempts. After a while, over about a years time, I started to become numb as well as insensitive towards her plight of depressions. My brother, Donald, and my sister, Ruth, and myself one time finally told her to either stop it or get it over. Yes, that was dumb and uncaring for us, however, imagine what she was putting us through on a daily basis; never knowing if she'll be with us any longer or not. Yes, she was going through something that was way beyond and above what we, as her kids, could solve. Our comforts just bounced off her and came back to us in sour verbal attacks!! We had no idea what to do to help her!! In time, and with the interventions of well caring and well meaningful professions, she received the help that she needed. Up until she passed away on an operating table, at 63 years old, 21 years ago this past June 1996, she was genuinely happy.

Sometimes that's just enough to appreciate the purity of any MA, no matter how different it might seem.

Being honest with oneself isn't an easy thing to do...honestly!! Bruce said it better than me, but you get the gesture.

And much wiser!! Once you get back on the horse, slowly but surely, you'll hit the ground with your feet running, almost as though you never slowed down.

I echo Brian's sentiments wholeheartedly across the board!! Won't know if it's something that fits your expectations until you visit it several times. And yes, welcome to KF, 6 finger fist; glad that you're here!!

Not sure if Alexa does it but I do find it quite cool to wake up in the morning and ask Google about my day. Reads off my calendar, the weather, then a quick run down of the new headlines. I want either bulbs or switches for me table lamps and thermostat. Been debating back and forth all day OK...I just got to get an Amazon Echoes soon!! I like what Danielle says that Alexa, which I think that Alexa is the name of her Amazon Echoes, I think, she reads off her calendar, the weather, then a quick run down of the new headlines. That is cool, and I believe that it could be much more helpful than a notepad.

Thank you, Alan, for your supportive words as well as your advice; they mean the world to me. I've had a few preemptive discussions with those who serve in the SKKA's Higher Hierarchy about what Dr. Childs has recommended. It seems that from what I can discern from these conference calls, that we're on the same page, referring to my roles as the Kaicho of the SKKA/Hombu, and this was quite refreshing because the prior Higher Hierarchy, for the most of them, were quite ambivalent towards a many things...God rest their souls!! I'll run a gambit of classes when I'm In-House at the Hombu, just to see what I do do, and then tweak it properly, with the help of many In-House resident Instructors whose ranks will range from Godan and up. Of course, those of the Higher Hierarchy will make their recommendations as well. I've ran several informal classes at my makeshift dojo, Kyuodan Dojo, and I did experience an episode or five where I was out of breath just after segments of 5-10 minutes in the introductions of my hands-on explanations, and my heart rates were near 193bpm. Good thing that Dr. Childs taught me 7 things to do to lower my heart rate and breathing.

Great replies, everyone!! Thank you for them!! The Pred wrote: I agree. The CI, in this regard, should, and must nip it in the bud immediately. Otherwise, the way back to pure understanding for all concerned might be lost forever. This is where the CI goes back, if not to late, to retraining said instructor(s) on proper teaching. Spartacus Maximus wrote: Solid post!! Not all black belts can teach, nor should they be!! It's a gift to be an effective teacher, and without that gift, there are no students. The ability of the CI, or any instructor, for that fact, weighs heavily on just how simple is simple...K.I.S.S., might be a MA maxim that should be considered across the board!! singularity6 wrote: This, from the aspect of a students point of view is important. Why? The CI/Instructor(s) are responsible to their students across the board, this includes, the teaching of the curriculum in such a way that it can be understood. Why? Student retention...for one!! Lose the students because they don't have a clue what in the world the CI and the like are saying. Trying to impress the student isn't why the CI is there in the first place. MatsuShinshii wrote: That's a fair question...how?? How did that CI/Instructor get in that position/grade in the first place?? Within the SKKA, those CI/Instructors under the constant watchful eyes of Soke and/or Dai-Soke earned both their ranks and their positions honestly. It's when the cat is away, the mice do play. These CI/Instructor opened their dojo's and somehow and sometime and someway, they started wandering away from what they were taught by Soke and/or Dai-Soke in time, and for them, their way served THEM. That new teaching muscle memory became their new teaching method. But CI/Instructor 'B', just wanted to impress everyone, including Soke and/or Dai-Soke so bad, that they forgot not only their place, but their idea of what teaching was. Impressing others is a vain and wasteful time. So they strayed away until Soke and/or Dai-Soke corrected their teaching abilities or they were banned from the SKKA across the board. Soke and Dai-Soke asked themselves that very same question...How in the world did they get like that?? Those CI's duly earned their ranks and positions...from Soke and/or Dai-Soke, nonetheless, but why their changes in their teaching methods?? Fix them or get rid of them!!!!!

Mastery, imho, is an assumption that is fraught with many delusions of grandeur. I will admit, in my tender youth, I was hooked by similar labels of mysticism in such wonderment because I, too, wanted to wear those badges, as a means of authority. It's great to know that those childlike interests waned away in time. By the time I earned my Sandan, I shortly thereafter, came to the epiphany that those unwarranted desires were completely unimportant to my MA betterment. I don't measure myself against other MAists as I use to because another MAist is just that to me...another MAist, and nothing more. I can stand on the floor with the most prominent MAist on the face of earth, and not be overwhelmed in their presence because that MAist that stands before me is just like me...a human being, and no one can convince me any other way. Respect is earned, and respect is a fragile thing, and respect isn't worshiping. In Shindokan, we've those unflattering labels, at the design of our Soke, and nowadays, I'm ashamed of these titles because they are so limited and so ugly. On the floor....I'm Bob...just that simple. During the days of Soke and Dai-Soke, ceremonies were their way of life, and in that, they made it our way of life it we were to be exposed to Shindokan in any shape, way, and/or form. Being introduced in any salutation other than Bob causes me to grimace and blush in embarrassment because it's not flattering whatsoever. Unfortunately, Kaicho is my official title within the SKKA, in which I therefore tolerate in within its official entitlement. But I loath it so!! For me to master anything, I believe that I must be perfect, and seeing that I'm the furthest thing from being perfect, I'm, by no means, not a master of anything. I can hold my own on the floor with anyone inside or outside of Shindokan. Oh yeah, I'm not unbeatable...just like any other MAist walking on the face of Earth, past, present, and future.

Thank you, everyone for your advice and support; neither will be taken lightly at all. I'll strive, this is just built in me, to continue to improve my quality of life across the board for my concerns. I do realize that my health situation ISN'T much more important than others, especially those who suffer from things that are much more terminal. If I seem to sound like my health issues are greater than someone else, please bring that to my attention. The thing that I'm the most vexed over is the much more awareness that I might have to entertain the possibility that my days on the floor might be much more diminished than what I'm so accustomed to. I've been told that I've a spark on the floor that's heightened due to my continued engagements with each and every student, and not a selected few. With the kids, I'm that one big kid!! And with adults, I'm that one big kid, but with much more resolve. I love to teach!! I love my students, internal and external!! The Student Body is what I live for; to improve their MA betterment!! To move their cheese constantly; challenging then to heights that they never thought existed. Yet, nowadays, I must learn to utilize instructors, both internal as well as external, in order to teach...to get my points understood...without me overly exerting myself more than necessary. Excuse me with what I'm about to post...I don't want any student, external and/or internal to express disappointment and/or disgust for the new role that I must take on the floor...the dependence of external as well as internal instructors. In teaching, one truly doesn't always do so much that they find themselves fighting for breath, but with Afib, that's exactly what I'll be experiencing whenever I exert myself more than necessary. With me, and the manner of how Shindokan tenets are taught...to learn Shindokan, one must experience it, and not in a passing notion...Resistant Training to name one!! It's not attractive to see and experience that I'm no longer that whippersnapper, but it is what it is; being totally honest about myself. AMA=Against Medical Advice...that I will not ever do because my wife and our kids are much more important than the MA, than my Student Body, and/or any assumed notion of expectations of any degree.