sensei8

The old saying...don't ever bring a knife to a gun fight...lol. OK...tape back over my mouth again.

IMO, a 30 min class is a waste of time. You hardly get a chance to warm up, and it's over. Naw, a MINIMUM of 1.5 hours..2 is better. No...a 30 minute class with very young students, 4-5 years old/kindergarten ages, is ideal...or at least, it's been that way for me ever since 1977.

Thank you, I know nothing about being a handyman and fixing stuff up so I'm happy that I got through by the skin of my teeth haha thank you, I know nothing about being a handyman and fixing stuff up so I'm happy that I got through by the skin of my teeth! Opening day is April 4Th. Lol on the handy man stuff...I too lack in that department greatly...did try to replace a pea-trap on my sink, however, later on, I hired a plumber. Good date for the Grand Opening because it's the beginning of Q2: 2nd Quarter business wise. Mid-quarter openings are ok, but, lack the flavor of getting a hand on expenditures within the quarter. GO LEX!! Do your thing!!

Solid post!!

I don't know if lineage ever matters!! In the beginning of my MA journey, lineage meant everything to me. In the middle of my MA journey, I started to question lineages overall value to me. Now that I've been on my MA journey for some time, lineage means very little, if nothing to me at all. In short, whatever the value of lineage might be to whomever, it must be held in check in its context/content!! Otherwise, it's blown way up in order to match their inflated egos or the their lack of confidence about themselves. Again, if lineage is kept within its proper context, it can help open doors that were once closed. However, lineage can cause the door to slam into ones face. Lineage is a sensitive and fragile thing to bear. Then, there's this...I once explained my lineage some time ago, and I was meet with..."Telling me names that can be easily found on the internet, means nothing!" Curious thing I thought was, the Okinawa Masters that I spoke about are Masters to MANY Okinawa Karateka's world wide; fathers of many Okinawa MA. If one can, and one should try, stand up on your own two feet, and make your own marks. Name dropping, imho, lessens ones validity in open and closed networks.

The question to this, imho, might be up to the eye of the beholder...or not!! I'm complete in my totality as a MAist, and I don't rise and sleep in the expectations of others on and off the floor. In my entire MA life, there has only been one person that I truly valued their opinion on and off the floor regarding anything MA...Yoshinobu Takahashi Sensei, Judan, Hanshi...my Sensei...Dai-Soke. I've enough to do in my MA life to worry about what others think or don't think about me; life is too short to ponder things like this. Having said that, let me quote this... "You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time"~John Lydgate I'm a MAist; I just want to improve my MA betterment whenever and however I can. After that, I want to share the floor with my brothers and sisters of the MA; one huge and devoted family, this, we are!!

Happy Birthday, Devin...and many more!!

Classes, for the most part, vary depending on age and rank and discipline, anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Which direction is this/that?? If I might ask.

Sounds good to me. Have fun...and by all means...RELAX...just teach!!

Ahhhhhhh...let me think... Bruce Lee

Ooohhhh, I don't think insurance companies would like that at all.

I'd immediately escort them outside for cause!! Inside...I run that!! Outside...I don't run that because it's public, even though I'd strongly suggest to them that they need to go elsewhere because this isn't wanted or needed or welcomed in any shape, way, and/or form.

Whether it's in my dojo or at the Hombu, when I'm in house, I teach the majority of the classes for all ages and all ranks. If nothing else, rank, in this regards, does have its privileges .

Great thing about mirrors and the CI is... ...the CI decides if they're a help or a hindrance to their students... ...if mirrors help, they stay, and if not, they go/are never hung... ...that's for sure, imho!!

Yeah, I wouldn't care if it was Bozo MA, and that it was founded by Bozo himself...I'd want to learn it because my MA betterment must improve and if Bozo Sensei can help me in that regard, well, sign me up. That being said, I'd discard the old instructor for the new instructor, but fair warned, if the new instructor turns out to be another dishonest instructor, well, I suppose I'll start looking for Goofy Sensei...next!! One can stand of a fence of indecision quite along time because...the grass looks green on both sides.

Solid post!! As one evolves over time, so does the MA at hand. What was, is now gone forever for some great reasons, however, with the great, comes the bad, this is to be expected; evolution touches everything. The bad nowadays, imho, is the fast-food speed in climbing the rank ladder; not one rung at a time slowly, but in a road-runner fashion to appease some morbid desire to be a 10th Dan faster than the speed of a bullet...or faster. Those good days of old, are still there, but the bad is quickly changing the landscape into a dry desert of rank mongers. Traditions are being eroded away with a new fresh paint of this and that. This only aids the bad to become much more stronger and available for the quick fix MA schools that cater to their P&L's bottom line over quality. I yearn for the days of old, but if only to strongly stall the desire of rank. Rank has its place but that doesn't mean that it's in the right place; the right place is in ones heart, and not around ones waist. Rank has a purpose, but it's not, or it shouldn't be, the main purpose. Those who serve tradition as a cold dish, seem to have forgotten that without tradition, there can not be evolution because there has to be a start...a beginning...a point 'A'...before evolution, and evolution is used with such wide broad strokes of the brush these days, is to amend tradition, it must respect those things of tradition.

My prayers as well as my thoughts go out to Shigeru Oyama's family and friends during these mournful days.

You should do exactly what your instructor directs you to do! After all, it's your first Kumite session, and you are there to learn...right?!

Yeah, I keep hearing/reading about the app, so, I'm going to have to get this Coach's Eye; seems valuable!!

Solid post!!

Haha, yes, of course my instructor is the most influential, to me! Eventually, I'm sure he will be considered one of the most influential people in the martial arts world, generally. Right now, though, our realm of influence is rather small And if your realm of influence remains rather small, for whatever the reasons(s) might or might not be, will you all continue on your journey, nonetheless??

First off, welcome to KF, swhitney222; glad that you're here!! I do NOT know anything about your former teacher, nor do I know anything about your lineage...sorry!! In the 15 years that you were his student, he never ever once spoke about his teacher?? RED FLAG!! Why? Well, I suppose that it could be that he never had an instructor outside of books and the like. If he gave a name concerning his teacher, you and other students might ask a slew of questions, in that said teacher might say that he's never heard of your teacher. The other RED FLAG is how you say that your teacher seemed unsure of himself in his answered when you press him for his advise when you asked him..."How does it look". An qualified instructor KNOWS, and will offer advice on many levels. OK...you want the information about that teacher of the past, and you don't want to discredit him, even though you were fired without cause, well, then forget him and let it be a learning lesson, even though it'll bother you for some time. Stick with your current instructor, even though you seem to be on guard about him as well because you're not 100% sure if what he's told you is honest, if at all. That might be that the former teacher has caused you to be speculative to a fault. I do wish you the best of luck in your journey concerning your lineage, and that's important to you. No matter what you might be told that lineage isn't important, that's fine, but it's important to you, and that's enough.

Influential to whom and by what standards does one adhere to?? To say "Now", I believe that one will have to be influential to the masses and not to the selected few. Funny...or...sad...no one here has yet given their immediate instructor(s) any credit as someone that has influenced them. Which is fine because that's not what Danielle is asking, and your instructor(s) is for you and not for the masses, as I believe is her parameters. OK...Placing tape over my mouth!!

Then do what hasn't been done, that should've been done all along... Sufficiently train the wrist!!