sensei8

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to every KF member and their families!! First Christmas in Houston, TX, a bit bittersweet not sharing the holidays with our daughter, Krystal and her husband, Jason. So, it'll just be my wife, Linda, and our son, Nathan, and myself this year. Thank God for Skype!!

I like it! Me too!!

Why not both? We have a set of 'official' bunkai for all of our kata, but they are by no means meant to be the only use of them. Hence, Oyo!!

Firstly, I'd like to welcome you to KF, shifucrane; glad that you're here!! Secondly, solid opening post!!

Kids are just one demographics of Karate students!! If Karate was just for kids, as some have suggested, then there'd only be kids in Karate dojo's world wide. To me, their statement fails to incite, therefore, it's a failed statement!! Imho!!

Congrats, Liam...way to go!!

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

Well, that's a nice form of SHUGYO; way to go, Liam!! Btw, I can't view your link.

Congrats on earning your Shodan, Devin; well deserved!! I enjoyed the pictures, Devin; thanks for sharing them; looks GREAT!! Bad Sensei for lying to you, but such a nice lie!! What a Christmas present!!

Compelling article; thanks for sharing that, Danielle. Too soon? That's for her to decide! That's up to Holm's, and her manager, and whomever else if she should have some fights before her and Rousey tangle up again.

This might help... http://milehighkarate.com/ http://www.martialartsprofessional.com/about-mapro/about-stephen-oliver/ I'm sorry, but I've not any personal knowledge about Mr. Oliver outside of what I've read about over the many years.

Have fun with them; play with them, as you would if you were their dad! Us, CI's are the big scary man, and they're shrinking violets around us; we bark...man, we're intimidating to say the least. Once we earn their trust, they are without any pause whatsoever. Lie to an adult, it can be forgiven, but if you lie to a child, it's not an easily earned forgiveness.

The bold type above tells it all!! Do you know what businesses like to do? They always compare last year numbers with current numbers to see if they're increasing. Most retail stores do what's called an X Reading of the registers once every hour, and write the numbers in a log book that also shows numbers from last years date and time for comparison, with a final Z Reading for...yes...comparison. Don't reach expectations, then their DM will be calling and offer some advices as to how they can pass expectations. This also allows the DM and the Store Manager to come up with a plan as to what might've caused the low numbers, and in Retail, it can be as simple as Presentation of an End-Cap or a section up to an entire whole isle. Shoppers are visual, and are drawn to pictures, and not drawn into reading what is on the shelf. Presentation where consumers have to read all of the time, well, they're numbers will be lower than the store that planograms so that consumers see the pictures before the written words. I ran those figures for the entire time I owned and operated my MA Retail Store in the front of my dojo...X/Z Readings, the whole thing because it was RETAIL, but as far as the main dojo ratios, I ignored them after some time because it started to run me, and not me running the dojo. Not good for any CI...I'm there to teach, and I couldn't teach by looking at the student turnover ratios. Students deserved much more than that from me!! But that's me! Starting out, I'd do exactly what you're doing, and I'd graph it as well...visual realization can get you right in the P&L [Profit and Loss Statements], more than one can appreciate. You've got to build up the student body to cover the months when students life's prevent some from attending...summer...baseball/football/sports...holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas...etc!!

I've a little experience in this area, so I'll see if I can help. Don't try to reinvent the wheel!! That's already been done!! However, while the wheel can't be reinvented, nor should it be tried to, it can stand to have a look at just how many ways the wheel can be used for. You've got your core syllabus/curriculum! CHECK!! You've got your knowledge! CHECK!! You've got a student body! CHECK!! You've got your own Sensei to tap into, if needed! CHECK!! What's missing? YOU!! Are you enthused...STILL?!?!?! If you're not, then get off the floor until you are!! Are you there for the ENTIRE student body, or just for the adults...or just for the kids...or just for the black belts...or just for having a national tournament team...or just for students above green belt...so on and so forth??!! Define why you're there in the first place!! Are you going to go for quantity or for quality!! NOT BOTH; one or the other, whilst the former, imho, isn't a good reason to strive for. But, that's just me. Challenging?!? By challenging, I'm not speaking towards asking for the impossible tasks to happen each and everyday from your student body. Challenge them in small ways...those small ways build up to large rewards. But how? Drills!! You're only limited by your imagination!! Different drills keep the student body excited and enthused and educated and so on and so forth. Yet the drills must be age and rank appropriate. Use some drills often, while others, not so often, while at the same time, put the most popular one on the shelf from time to time to build up its anticipation of when it might reappear. *I use tennis balls for Awareness Drills...for all ages!! *Up and down drills have to have challenges built up in them...simply adding a new technique can be enough to challenge the student body!! *Revenge on Sensei with a specific technique as well as doing whatever technique they want to do...for the kids!! *Lunge Punching FOR THE ENTIRE CLASS WITHOUT STOPPING!! *Kumite Minus for Familiarity Drills...for all ages!! *Kumite Drills for the adults and for the black belts only!! *3-5 minutes on the Hanging bag!! *ETC. [This is where having a great imagination can come into play...I'm nothing more than a big kid that loves a challenge] You see, we teach the three K's [Kihon, Kata, and Kumite], and I have to tell you...that's a lot of material, and with a lot of material to garner from, the skies the limit with an active imagination. JUST DON'T BE CRUEL...TEACH AND HAVE A PURPOSE!! BE TRUTHFUL...DON'T EVER LIE TO YOUR STUDENT BODY ABOUT ANYTHING...EVER!! You're the CI, not the student body...however, a great CI has an open door policy so that ideas can be considered. You run the dojo, but the student body can assist in running the floor as far as what type of drills would they like to see and what they don't want to see anymore...final decision remains with the CI in ALL things!! I've not even scratched the surface, and to shorten this post, I'll leave it at that, for now!!

Solid post!! Some many great advices here from many KF members! Patrick has mad skills when it comes to things like this, and if it was me, I'd certainly pay it some serious attention. Patrick, btw, my computer froze up immediately when I clicked on the organic reach link, might've been a coincidence, but I just got my computer back from the laptop shop. I'm afraid to click on that link again.

Solid post!!

The glare is uncalled for, for certain. If I was a competitor, I would be interested in asking what it was that got me that score. Not in a disrespectful way, but asking in a way to get better.Solid post!! And yeah, because I would've been required to give some score, I would've gave the lowest, although I'd rather of given a No Score. Why? Back flips and the like in a Traditional Division...ah...NO!! In a Non-Traditional Division...ah...YES!!

Solid post!!

You're allowed that...to disagree with me!! I still stand by what I believe! TKD being effective, and it is, that's why you've stayed with it and learned a lot from it. Shindokan being effective, and it is, that's why I've stayed with it and learned a lot from it. HOWEVER, with Shindokan being effective, yet it's not being effective when called upon, then the fault is MINE! Same with TKD, it being effective when called upon, and something within TKD isn't effective when executed by yourself, then you're at fault...NOT THE STYLE!! If I execute something from Shindokan, and I'm not effective with it, then it's not my Soke's fault and it's not my Dai-Soke's fault...IT'S MY FAULT!! They've proven the effectiveness of Shindokan unquestionably!! I make the effectiveness ineffective by my incompetence!!

Let those who think Karate is useless think what they want. Nothing will change their preconceived notions about karate and/or the MA. Even resistive demos will have people that their minds have already decided for whatever reason(s). The landscape of the MA has indeed changed, but I refuse to join those who think that the MA/Karate is useless because if it is, then what is this that lives in my heart...what is this that lives in my soul!! There are certainly the good and the bad of anything, and this includes the MA in general. We've all seen the videos and have witnessed for ourselves the both, and we've cringed at the bad, yet celebrated with the good. You want more students? Then teach!! Teach as though nothing else matters outside of your style!! Not worrying what the Jones and the Smiths do!! Your Kyoshi isn't a Kyoshi for her rank, but for what she's demonstrated to her governing body in the area of increasing the betterment of the student body as well as for the style. After all, a Shogo title CAN'T BE EARNED THROUGH A TESTING CYCLE...no...they're bestowed upon worthy MAists...a Shogo title are for TEACHING ABILITIES...so just have her TEACH as though her life depended on it, while having fun at it as well. Give your idea a try. Nothing's gained by not trying!!

I agree...can't have one without the other, imho!!

Shugyo...none other like it! Test ones mettle in ways unimaginable...our Soke and Dai-Soke were taskmasters to the Nth degree, and then some!! But their intent was to not hurt us, but to mold us...I appreciate that!! Do it TODAY, so that TOMORROW will be easier!!

I'm of the opinion that Kata without Bunkai is akin to sitting on a chair with only one leg; incomplete, and totally unbalanced. We teach Bunkai and Kata literally at the same time so that students can begin to embrace the many possibilities, as well as understanding how "things" work when put in motion. We teach the three K's right from day one!! Also, we teach kids arm locks and the like. In that, we don't discriminate our students, no matter age, from learning EVERYTHING Shindokan has to offer. That's not teaching them anything. An arm bar, for example, could save them, so why limit that from them. Beside, we'd rather teach them things like that than learning it incorrectly elsewhere.

Excellent tutorial, Alex. Thanks for sharing!!

Control?!?!?! Prevent?!?!?!?! I've never liked those terms because, imho, they're limited in its duration, and then some!! Why? My opponent will resist to their last breath, as will I! However, we are encouraged to STALL movements, like you did in the video. You stalled by dropping as you did, and you caused change in your opponents intent at the same time. Thusly, you ended up on the win. You move in, I move out. You move in, I move in. All of these simplistic movements stall transitions and the like. Intercepting my opponents movements AND intent, therefore, not allowing, to the best of my abilities, completion of movement. That's what you did, and did quite well.