sensei8

Happy 14 and a half year birthday, KF...and many more!! And the drum roll begins!! Good luck to everyone who was nominated!! ::biting my nails::

Powerful words, indeed, have never been written before, until now!! Great and solid post; way to announce KF's 14 years and a half, Heidi...AWESOME!!

Solid post!!

I wholeheartedly agree!! Let the testing cycle take care of itself!! You'll be fine!! Train hard...train well!!

I know that I'm offering a far fetched idea...so... My son, Nathan, often gets some pretty nasty headaches, often right after a basketball game/practice. One visit to the doctor, he's headache free!! What was his problem? TOO MANY SODA'S/Pepsi's!! Doctor joked and said that Nathan's blood system was 99% Pepsi!! He'd drink a six pack a day! Now, he's down to 1 can a day, and much more water, now, his headaches have become a thing of the past.

Solid post; one I can easily respect!!

Identical to the one used in WC.

It's a bad idea, imho!! For them [the police department] to say that it's a non-lethal is irresponsible on their part. I don't care if their nunchaku's are made out of plastic or not, in the wrong hands, the velocity and the like can't be ignored. In the wrong hands doesn't just speak about criminals, no! It speaks about LEO's, in this case, as well, that are beginners, thusly, inexperienced with the nunchaku. What was made illegal to possess, is now OK, because a LEO department is using them. This is opening a Pandora box, and something bad will come out of this, imho.

Solid post!! This, imho, was an upset. Not like when Buster Douglas KO'd Mike Tyson, but an upset, nonetheless. May the best fighter win, and in their fight, Holm won. Can't win them all of the time!!

Even after the pre-wash/dry?? I was taught that the pre-wash/dry allows the material time to do all of the shrinking that it'll ever do. That's why, with every gi I've ever purchased, I washed it and then I dried it. The Shureido gi shouldn't be placed in a dryer especially at a full cycle. But even so the gi shrinks naturally up to 4 inches and is recommended that you never place it in the dryer. I have 3 mugen gis and 3 Shureido and I will never place them in the dryer. They ruin the longevity of the gis and in my opinion the quality. But to each there own. All I know is my Shureido gis cost me a pretty penny and I want them to last as long as possible. Solid post!! I was taught, the wash/dry part, by none other than my mom. Sensei just wanted us to have a clean, odor free, gi. He wasn't particularly fond of wrinkled gi's, but, to him, it was quite trifling beyond a mention.

If that school has an open door policy, perhaps, you can still visit that school, even though you're not JKA affiliated. I'm sure that the CI operates that school, and not the JKA. I believe what one does in their own school is their business, and not that of the governing body. We don't interfere with dojo matters like this because it's simply none of our business; we don't own any Shindokan dojo. We aren't administrators of said dojo, except with the matters of testing cycles and the like.

Even after the pre-wash/dry?? I was taught that the pre-wash/dry allows the material time to do all of the shrinking that it'll ever do. That's why, with every gi I've ever purchased, I washed it and then I dried it.

To the bold type above... Within the scenario... Everything is wrong with that scenario! If allowed, then I suppose that rank is the most important thing to the students! If rank isn't important to the student, than the student would be proud to wear the while belt. Experience will be respected as it's revealed on the floor; other students will know that said student(s) have experience/knowledge. Also, I feel that rank must be important to you as well, even though you're the instructor. Otherwise, you would've presented them [students] with a white belt without question and/or much discussion, if any. Those students have no rank in your style, so, tell them to wear the white belt and be proud to wear it because that's what they are in your style. Furthermore, you could be allowing this to pad the P&L's bottom line!! In a try to keep a respectable student body count, you allow them to maintain rank ON YOUR FLOOR, even though, they're not ranked in your style. Having said that, away from the scenario, the decision, per this scenario, is up to you. While I don't agree with your decision, which means I don't like your decision, I still respect you for your decision, and I still respect you both as a excellent MA/CI as well as a person; my friendship wouldn't have been waned, not even the slightest.

Rousey’s medical suspension is for 180 days, unless she is cleared by a head CT scan. She is not to fight again for 60 days and not to have contact for 45 days. The MMA landscape might be different while she's out for these 6 months. But as it's been said already, when Rousey does return, she'll "be a beast"; a force to be reckoned with.

I agree! I've never liked that part of MMA. Whenever Silva did that; I was ashamed to be a MAist. When I first saw Rousey do that, I became ashamed again. Why? Laypersons will lump you in with what they know, and what they know about the MMA is based on what's projected by the fighters as well as the promoters.

Rousey didn't only lose, she was given a lesson in striking and was then KO'd in the 2nd round. Could it be that her previous fights were hand picked for her. She won them convincingly so, but against whom??!!?? I don't doubt here abilities, after all, she's an Olympian! She met here match with Holm!! Rousey better do her homework much better if she expects to beat Holm!

Don't todays driers have a Steam cycle to combat wrinkling?!? If so, then I'd use it; I hate ironing. When I'm ever at the Hombu, and I've to administer some type of official capacity, I'll take my Uniforms to the Dry Cleaner to have them pressed...but no starch!! Then I'll put them in a travel bag made to carry suits in, having left them in the Dry Cleaners bag...unpack, no muss and no fuss and no wrinkles. However, I have to steam clean the uniform with a travel steam machine about 2-3 times during the day because I'm always having to get up and down from some chair all day/night!! Wrinkles come from Murphy...of Murphy's Law!!

Yes, I too, deeply respect everyone who posted here about the subject!! It's just not our/my way!!

The WC Dummy is a staple for Shindokan; it helps us with our close range techniques!!

An interesting article!! Thanks for sharing it!!

The MA is difficult; I'd have it no other way!! We're not born to do the MA fresh out of the womb!! That's cool!! There's no since in worrying about days gone by, and there's no since in worrying about days in the future; train for that day! Allow the training to take care of itself! It will!! What's done is done and nothing can change that. Listen to your instructor in the Nth degree, and train as you've been subscribed to by your instructor.

My answer to the poll...NO!! So, my response is based on the polls question. Sorry...I've no respect for that!! The bold type above speaks to me about MONEY being more important; it will pad their bottom line!! So that I'm not writing a long post; I'm passionate about this subject!! Want to learn Shindokan Saitou-ryu? OK! However, if you've never taken Shindokan before...ever...yet...you're ranked in one or more styles of the MA...you're new belt in Shindokan will be... WHITE!! I don't care if the style your ranked in is Shuri-te or Okinawa-te based; IT'S NOT SHINDOKAN!! Nothing romantic about that!! No exceptions...don't pass Go, and don't collect $200 either!! We/I don't and won't apologize for our/my stand on this!! Hopefully, we all can still be friends!!

Engaging children can be a difficult thing to overcome, as equally difficult as maintaining, especially long term. Again, I'm a firm believer that not all black belts can teach, nor should they even try, and this is multiplied when it comes to teaching children; a art within itself!! Children's ages match up to their attention span. A 5 year old will lose interest, if not challenged, in about 5 minutes. How in the world can we teach something effective to a child in 5 minutes? Simple! Engage them in various drills and the like that will emphasis one specific goal. Be it, Kihon, Kata, or Kumite!! For example, through Kihon, I could run 25 different specific drills over the Reverse Punch!! Yet, I won't use all 25 drills, but maybe 2-3, at 5 minute intervals. Of course, we're not going to be only training the Reverse Punch during any one class. Albeit, we'll touch on about 5 different topics during any one class. MAKE IT FUN!! Children engage much better if they're having fun, therefore, they learn much more if they're having fun. I'm a big kid at heart, and I will play with them age appropriately, and when I do, the big scary Sensei isn't there anymore; they now have a big kid to play with. Engaging reaches many levels because children are different, in both mindset and maturity, as well as a matching age. That fine tuning is why classes for children are separated by age groups, and that's when the real fine tuning happens. One model isn't for other classes!! An instructor has two choices... Bore them to death!! OR Engage them!! An instructor needs to have a barometer to gauge the classes temperament, and that better be dialed in as soon as possible. Children are quite unforgiveable when it comes to many things. Don't lie to them...don't bore them...don't make up stuff...don't pretend...Kids can see through all of that and more, and that's because they are that clean canvas, an innocent preconceived notion surrounds them. Children aren't adults!! Adults aren't children!! You all know that already. But many instructors simply...well...DON'T know that!! Having said all of that, I remember one thing, no matter how engaging I might be, I can't keep them all on the floor. Karate, the MA, isn't for everyone, including children. They, at first, want to learn the MA, with the cool uniforms and patches and belts, and all of the bells and whistles, then once they're one the floor, they lose interest for various reasons. I COULD BE THE REASON...YOU COULD BE THE REASON as to why children students walk away from the MA!! Activities outside of the MA will win, for the most of the time, the interest with children. Baseball...gymnastics...and so on and so forth. I mean, during baseball season, I'd be more on any given baseball field, than on any given MA floor...I love baseball TOO!! No matter how engaging I was, I couldn't hold a candle to their outside of the MA activity desires. It's ok...that's why many MA instructors just don't teach children/kids!! It takes a special gift, imho!!

We train in Hojo Undo; Conditioning. Primary Tools we use for Hojo Undo are: Makiwara Tou Chi Ishi Tetsu Geta Ishi Sashi Jari Bako Nigiri Gami Ude Kitae Makiage Kigu Kongoken We use to use Tan, but we've decided to forgo with that in the favor of modern weight training; Barbells and the like.

We're taught that the left side is used because it's the side of the heart. Makes sense, I suppose, after all, where do we place our right hand when we say the Pledge of Allegiance, for example...over our heart!!