sensei8

No I'm not seeing a PT or similar, as you suggest, but I'll bring the possibility to my cardiologist. Sounds quite intriguing, and one that I must look into. Thanks, Liam for the advice!! OK... Walked up and down the stairs at my apartment 50 times...up...then down...equal 1, and so on and so forth.

If seniority has to be established between same Dan ranks, then there's the tenure to consider; Date of when a student began training AS WELL as the date of when a student earned said Dan rank. For us at the SKKA, each and every member of its student body has a Hard Card on file with anything and everything that relates to tenure and the like. For example, within the SKKA, there are several Hachidans. So, we reference the Hard Card to find out of the Hachidans who's the most senior. And in that, Greg and I are both Hachidans, but from the outside looking inside, one wouldn't know, for sure, who's the most senior Dan rank between us. But if one looked at our Hard Cards, they'd discover that I started 6 months before Greg did, therefore, I was Senior to his Sempai within our relationship on the floor.

Yes, there's a sound when a tree falls...anywhere because it's impossible for the felled tree to not make any type of sound when it comes in contact with the ground or whatever it might be. But does the tree become self aware that there's no one there to hear that it's fallen?

Very nice display of Kata's, Shizentai!! Every time you backed up, it appears that you're going upward, and you got smaller. Each time you jumped, I ducked down for you. Still, away from the illusion, solid Kata's; thank you for sharing!!

But of course: The technique is the delivery system of the concept; I wholeheartedly concur. The painting isn't a painting until someone says that it is, and in that, the concept isn't a concept until someone demonstrates that concept.

I've trained in Makawara for a long, long, long time, 53 years; it's a staple tool for Shindokan!! The why...above all things, the Makawara teaches when a technique is incorrect; it'll let you know immediately. Without the Makawara, I might as well not even do Hojo Undo training at all...ever!! To the how...well...that might take awhile to post here because the 'how' involves quite a lot of 'hows'. Don't be in the MA for over 5 decades without having a lot of 'how's'. Let's me just say this...I do more than enough of 'how's' in order to get the job done.

Welcome to KF, Tyler; glad that you're here!!

Again, I thank you all for your supportive words, they mean everything to me; these aren't idle words!! Today: Swimming: 45 minutes Cardio: Walked up and down stairs at the apartment I live at...50 times For the next two day... I'll be going to the gym for an hour and a half at one of the sister locations of the gym I attend.

Oh yeah!! It went the way it was suppose to, and had it not, well, you still would've done the right thing at the right time!!

While they didn't accept/honor your Ikkyu at first, the power of the floor revealed quite a many things about your MA journey. And in its time, not your time, you received your due rewards. Now that that's over...train hard and train well!!

You know what else I love about Sumo?? It's the pageantry as well as its formality that I love, and admire right before the explosion of their clashed battles!! Give me quite a rush!!

I agree with you Brian and Tempest; better to have that leaky faucet than not because one drip/technique/idea/etc leads to another that another than another and so on and so forth. Flowing will come, and while it comes, or when it comes...BE THAT SPONGE, and soak it up as though your life depends on it, because one day, it just might!!

As John Lennon sang it so well..."Instant Karma's gonna get you...gonna get you right in the head...you better get yourself together...join the human race...what in the world are you thinking of..." Japanese strongly believe in Karma; it's the Yin and Yang of the MA!! I believe the mindset of Karma exists; the opposites do attract! Can't have one without the other...do bad...bad things are repaid upon that person...do good...good things are also repaid upon that person...or better way to say it...Murphy's Law, and then some. Be careful for what one asks for because one just might get that which is wanted; whether the 'it' is bad or good, and Murphy prefers the bad. He's a mean man!!

Whenever I first read the books loaned to me those many years ago, my very first thought after reading them was that it was kind of like the concept of Shu Ha Ri...to obey [shu], to digress [Ha], and to separate [Ri]...and in that order. Then comes the sound of one hand clapping! One concept, Koan...One concept, Shu Ha Ri; the same, yet differently.

I'm wondering, since the passing of Bruce, just how watered down is JKD nowadays?? I ask because, and while Bruce encouraged his student to take what is useful, and discard the rest, how EASY it is for JKD to be watered down over time??!!??!! JKD, to me, at times, doesn't look anything like what Bruce founded, and I know, that might be a great thing as well as it being along the lines of "expressing oneself honestly", so as that practitioner can create to just create nothingness from something that was something/effective.

Listen to your heart!! It can be quite difficult to choose one from another and it can be even much more difficult to train in both at the same time because, one style might dominate both learning's unconsciously, and it's difficult to serve two styles; one will program the learning while the other might try to change the dominate program/style. As Brian says...what a conundrum to have!! Have you decided yet on which one or if both??

As Brian says, one's got to start somewhere, and getting the basics of the MA might be the way to go before searching for the MA style that's rare. And if Kalaripayattu is only obscure because it's not available to just anyone wanting to learn it for whatever reasons, than possibly, it'll die out before its time.

Yours will be the first one, Brian!!

In Shindokan, we DON'T treat the block as a block or a strike, but only as a receiver of a technique directed at us. In that, we're deflecting whilst receiving any said technique, and when we receive said technique we're absorbing the energy of said technique.

Fantastic article, Noah!! To me, both the concept and the technique have to be given their rightful time and respect from the practitioner. Is one greater than the other? No, that wouldn't be fair to either. For example, what came first, and which is more important, the chicken or the egg; can't have one without the other. Concepts are that idea! Techniques are that idea coming alive! Can't have the day without the night...can't have the Yin without the Yang!!

Excellent article, Heidi!! And as I'm always fond of saying...Proof is on the floor...for everyone. Whether it's the con artist or the innocent, the floor reveals everything in its own time, and the con artist can't avoid it.

I believe that the fight more served the fighters more than either of the styles because a style can be deemed as only as good as their representative. Example, JKD is only as good as the practitioner because no JKD practitioner can execute JKD like its founder, Bruce Lee. Imho!

Thank you, all, for your kind and supportive words. Went to my PCP this afternoon, and he's very pleased with my taking a more positive and proactive ownership thus far. At weigh in today, I weighed 307lbs...2 pounds more off my frame. My next appointment with him will be January 3, 2017, and he set for me a weight goal of losing another 20lbs off my then; not a problem because as of today...19 pounds in 27 days. He still wants to do a colonoscopy next year, BUT, first I have to be off Eliquis, which is for blood thinning, in order to to that. Reason, if a polyp has to be removed or a gland or whatever, I could bleed to death being on blood thinner. To get off the blood thinner, I have to have a successful Heart Conversion procedure first...meaning, I could be on blood thinner for the rest of my life. Without Metoprolol, for my blood pressure, AND Eliquis, I could suffer a stroke from a blood clot. No gym today!! Swimming:30 minutes!! Had to reschedule my Echo sonogram from November 14, 2016 to December 12, 2016. Hated to do so, but I had to; I'll have the funds by then. My current insurance sucks, but I'll have BCBS starting in January. Time to do some Core work!!

I completely understand that the bottom line of any P&L has to be meet daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly for said school to succeed, however, at what costs? It's not always about the revenue, and how much can be generated by what's offered to ones student body; those costs are tangible!! But no program, imho, is worth the damaged integrity of said school; that can be a cost that can't be recovered at any length. Teach Leadership FREE because it shouldn't cost anything to teach and/or learn that which is important to every student. Imagine if parents charged their own children to learn anything of value, and if the children don't pay for the lessons, they'll not learn that which should be free.

It's the sound of what I'm trying to understand. I'm not a Monk, nor am I striving to ever be a Monk; it's just not my cup of tea, even though I've read about the Koan out of curiosity because there were several books about the Koan in Dai-Soke's bookcase at his home, and he loaned it to me after he saw me glancing at it with a bewildered look upon my face. It has been sometime since I read the book.