sensei8

I didn't know that the WKF was A STYLE!! I always thought that it was a international tournament governing body!!

The Bo!! No matter how well versed I am in Kobudo, the Bo has a special place in my heart across the board.

Solid post...especially the bold type above!!

Solid post!!

Sounds to me life a worthy endeavor across the board...I like it. The MA, and the physicality of it, can have a positive impact on a patient in both the short and the long of it. As long as a doctor is behind it 100%...why not?!

The answer to the bold type above will vary from practitioner to practitioner, imho. A student that attends class 3 times a week, week after week...month after month...year after year...isn't a hobbyist. A student that attends class 1-2 times per month...after month...might not be a hobbyist either, based on parameters. However, year after year in same routine...isn't a hobbyist either. Should a MAist be gauged by how much and how often one trains/practices? The important issue, imho, is that they ARE practitioners of the MA; while it's full time or part time, but they're out there on the floor doing what they're suppose to be doing...training/practicing/attending classes. I've students, that due to their work schedule, can only attend class 1-2 times per month, but they've been on the floor for many years; their heart is in it, and not just for a season, but for a reason. Do the MA once in their lifetime, for a very brief moment, and never again...there's the hobbyist, imho.

Thanks for the reply, Tobias!! Like in this WKF... http://wkf.net/structure-main.php

In these videos, thank you for sharing, what rank were you then? What rank are you now? Any new videos?

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

Great choice, Hussaria!! From what I know about Goju-ryu is an effective art through and through. Higaonna Sensei, Judan Hanshi is it's leading proponent world wide!! Enjoy the journey!!

Welcome to KF, lukas; glad that you're here!! WC is amongst the most preferable of Kung-fu styles, and of course, it's popularity increased with Bruce Lee, and the like.

Welcome to KF, Pagaran; glad that you're here!! Imho, there's no 'best' MA, just favorites. Why? We're fallible to a fault, therefore, not perfect, thusly, prone to many mistakes.

Solid post!!

They only have one form for colored belts-each belt adds on a few moves at a time... Omg...just ONE FORM?!?!? Well, that should be easy to remember.

Solid post!!

Muscle memory needs to be guarded at all times. Otherwise, the bad muscle memory is difficult to retrain, and even then, some of the bad trickles in from time to time. chrisw08, does your instructor know that you're teaching/showing nunchaku? If any of my students were teaching/showing nunchaku and that student wasn't qualified to do so, especially if that student is still learning the nunchaku, I'd be having a very direct conversation with that student. We don't start teaching Kobudo until Green belt, and that's with the Bo...nunchaku is much, much later.

Excellent tutorial, Alex...great details in the sweep!! The center line, as we're taught, is everything. Driving, manipulating, balance, power, penetration, give and takes, transitions, and so on and so forth derive from the center line. Great points you made about that centerline. And as you know, Shindokan is both, stand-up and ground. I can appreciate your points made in this tutorial. Gi...no gi...to me, either way, this particular movement can still be effective because of the centerline applications. Like you showed, easier to attack the torso than the hip, in which, the lower gravity at the hips is more grounded, while the higher gravity at the torso is more susceptible, and as you've shown, in this sweep type. Of course, the counter to this bump sweep that I don't understand is when my opponent tries to lay down with his weight upon me. BAD IDEA because I'm really not being pressed down, and in fact, I can still move my hips to the outside and execute the sweep, however, I have to move immediate to him lying down on me in his attempt to counter me. This is what I've noticed, experienced, and have been taught.

Yep...the adage says... "There's no such thing as a dumb question."

Speak to your CI [Chief Instructor] to ask for MORE kumite time, starting with the most basics of kumite within your style. Imho, a style that steers away from kumite is so out to touch to any reality. Spar...spar...spar...spar...spar...spar...ALL OF THE TIME!!

That's great news, that's for sure!!

That combo is STILL a good one for EVERY rank!!

It took me 6 years and 8 months to earn my JBB! I'm one of those students who just don't get it; struggling over the simplest things. Whether my aha moments were few in between, it was the loving patience from my Sensei that made all of the differences; he never gave up on me, nor anyone from his student body.

Solid post!!

To the bold type above... How? What? By not ever giving up on a student...ever!! If the student decides, by their own volition, then let that be their choice, and their choice alone! To teach the student body to the best of their abilities, and then some. By then some, I simply mean that the instructor amends, adapts, redirect, supplement, and whatever else will help the student to understand, to succeed, and to be the best student that they can be. And if need be, get out a crayon and a piece of paper so that the instructor can draw out stick figures in the hopes that that'll help that student find those AHA moments. Those AHA moments are ALREADY inside of each student, and it's UP TO THE INSTRUCTOR to help them find those important, and yes, those special moments for not just one student, but for EVERY student everyday...every time...every moment...AND every student while on that floor! Would I, as a dad, ever give up on my children? No...never! Why? Because I love them, and in my eyes they can do no wrong, and for arguments sake, they depend on me to teach them the difference between right and wrong...TO TEACH THEM!! While my students aren't my children, that's of no conciliate concern because my responsibility is to teach them without any prejudice and/or reservation and/or ambiguity. To do less, imho, is an act of abandonment on my part, and this, imho, is unacceptable no matter how I might want to slice it. No...my job is to teach...and if I've a student(s) that can't find the door with their own two hands while being lead to the door while taking baby steps in a well light room without any obstructions whatsoever, then so be it! I'll teach that student until that student decides for themselves that enough is enough...no sooner. Teaching is an honor! And with that honor comes responsibilities, and I've sworn to uphold that honor as well as those responsibilities until my last breath. An instructor can't always have superstar students who are gifted beyond all expectations, and in that, instructors are dealt what they're dealt, and they can't choose who comes to the door, but they can choose who they'd like to teach. And once an instructor decides to teach a student, then by the powers that be, they've an obligation and responsibility to that student to teach to the best of their abilities. I can either teach or I can't teach! By all that's in me...I CAN TEACH, and I'll never give up on my students...EVER. No matter how thick headed a struggling student might be, I've go to find what will help that student. If I quit on a student, then I dishonor my student, my Sensei, and my entire student body...this is not in my makeup to do so!! By the stars, if I'm the Sensei, then I better know how to teach, and that includes the even most difficult and struggling student for whatever the reason(s) might or might not be. If not, then I've no business to be the CI/Sensei/etc, and that includes, gracing the dignity and integrity of the floor. The floor that I've sworn to teach with honor and dedication...no matter what might cause me any unmanageable inconveniences, no matter how often or how fewer. No...my job's to teach!! That's exactly what I'm going to do, and in that, I've no favorite student...no student gets more than any other student, especially those students who might appear to be more gifted than others. So, I MUST teach EVERY member of the student body with my every being, and that's because that's what my students expect, and that's what my students deserve each and everyday from me. Anything less, is unacceptable, and quite unfair to my students!! There is no turning back, and there's no turning my back on my students...NEVER!!

Sad to hear things like that about your instructor, but, imho, that concern pales drastically compared to what Angela is facing day in and day out. Sensei's come and go...students come and go...these things can be replaced with ease. However, children aren't replaceable. Let your instructor go his way, and you go your way; other things are much more important, imho!