sensei8

That is great news; congrats!! It's of no real surprise that the CI welcomed you back and that you're allowed to wear your BB. After all, you were a BB through them before, so why not. Oh, I'm sure you'll be under a really big microscope until their evaluation of you is completed. And yes, you'll be evaluated, trust me!! After that, you'll be allowed to wear your BB or you'll be given time to bring yourself up to their expectations. Until then, you'll not be allowed to earn rank via a testing cycle. Worse case scenario will be that after their evaluation, you'll be handed your new rank.

"Who's your instructor?" asked MAist 'A' "Joe Doe" answers MAist 'B' "Never heard of him" replies MAist 'A' "Who's your instructor?" retorts MAist 'B' "John Smith" says MAist 'A' "Never heard of him" says MAist 'B' It's a real big world out there, and not everyone is known by everyone!! No one here at KF, knows my Sensei, Yoshinobu Takahashi; he's only known by his students and those within the Shindokan circle. No one here at KF, knows my TKD instructor, Young Ik Suh; he's only known by his students and those within that TKD governing body. Both of them, were, imho, exceptional MAists; both as practitioners and instructors...TOP NOTCH!! So quickly are MAists thrown under the bus because they're instructor isn't well known and respected as those that are passing judgment. I don't give a bent pin about that Takahashi and Suh aren't well known...they both existed...and I was both their student. "It doesn't matter!!" Possibly, that'll be my answer from now on whenever I'm asked..."Who's your instructor?"

Remember Danielle, this is all I do...full time, either as Kaicho and/or as CI of the Kyuodan Dojo!! I don't have another job outside of Shindokan. The Hombu class sizes for the 4-5 years is quite respectable, and it helps that the Hombu isn't in a small town...instead, it's located in the San Fernando Valley...1.8 million people call it home...260 square miles...just North of Hollywood, CA. At the Kyuodan Dojo, the 3 classes per day for the 5 days per week, my 4-5 year old classes were not as full as the Hombu is, however, still respectable in the range of 6-10 students per class. In understand it's a full time occupation for you Bob but at the Hombu do you hold the classes 5 pm to 10 pm for example? Or do you have some in the morning and during the day? Most people work 9 to 5 so do you get many people attending these classes during the day? Also are these classes structured differently or are you repeating the same lesson. The Hombu's hours are 8am - 10pm; classes run throughout those operating hours. "Most people" aren't the same as "Everyone", and this permits those students that aren't obligated to a 9am - 5pm work schedule. The Hombu's hours allow a very wide berth for all types of obligations to fit the Hombu's class schedule. If you're referring to the 4-5 age group, the answer is...structured differently. How so? Everything is amended/tailored to that age group, and I mean everything!! It's a known fact that students of this age group "play to learn"!! Everything must trickle down to them so as they're not so overwhelmed, as this age group is known to do. Experts say that the age of a child is to the length of their attention span...therefore, the amended/tailored class structure.

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. Agreed 30 mins is plenty of time for 4-5 year olds. Now how many of these 30 min classes do you guys have? Or do the little kids just get dismissed earlier during normal class time? Well, our Hombu runs said classes 5 times a day...6 days a week, whereas, in my last dojo, I ran said classes 3 times a day...5 days a week. 5 times a day? What kind of hours are you operating? If you have day time classes (9 to 5), so you get many students attending those? Remember Danielle, this is all I do...full time, either as Kaicho and/or as CI of the Kyuodan Dojo!! I don't have another job outside of Shindokan. The Hombu class sizes for the 4-5 years is quite respectable, and it helps that the Hombu isn't in a small town...instead, it's located in the San Fernando Valley...1.8 million people call it home...260 square miles...just North of Hollywood, CA. At the Kyuodan Dojo, the 3 classes per day for the 5 days per week, my 4-5 year old classes were not as full as the Hombu is, however, still respectable in the range of 6-10 students per class.

Solid post!! While lineage might provide something positive, it's what the student does with that lineage that might make a difference. If my lineage came from Kanazawa Sensei, as an example, then that might mean something, but it's what I do within that lineage that makes the difference...either I can or I can't.

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. Agreed 30 mins is plenty of time for 4-5 year olds. Now how many of these 30 min classes do you guys have? Or do the little kids just get dismissed earlier during normal class time? Well, our Hombu runs said classes 5 times a day...6 days a week, whereas, in my last dojo, I ran said classes 3 times a day...5 days a week.

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!! Thanks lol! I'm trying No...no, you're not...you're SUCCEEDING!!

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.