sensei8

Congrats, DarthPenguin; well deserved!!

.What I've read lately is that the "...delay is due to a combination of factors, including a broken pinky toe and other personal matters." Hopefully, he continues to train in order to keep the dust and rust off.

Your workout ethics are something to be very proud of, Brian. I know that I am proud of all that you've done; nothing to shake a stick out, that's for sure. Keep it up, Brian!!

With all of your workouts, DarthPenguin, I believe that you're no longer that unfit person. Your workout ethics are something to be proud of. Keep up working out.

My thoughts also. Are they afraid you'll switch to the other side? Governing Bodies are always afraid of losing their members, aka, Student Body because they represent revenue. Loss of revenue is a body blow to any Governing Body no matter what they might say. Imho!!

Keep up the good fight, Ken!!

Thank you so very much, Shojiko; it means everything to me!!

Take it as easy as possible and hang in there, Shojiko.

Seems quite straight forward and to the point. JKA members are to NOT participate in ANY JTK seminars and the like in any shape, way, and/or form. To do so will only bring forward discipline to the guilty JKA member, which might include termination of said JKA member for cause, as well. If the JKA member values the JKA in its totality, then abide and obey the JKA directive. If not, then the JKA member can do whatever they want to do without any concerns and/or reservations whatsoever. The SKKA, the Governing Body for Shindokan that I was a member of forever and a day, NEVER interfered with the students right and desire to attend any outside training because the SKKA knew that no style of the MA is without flaws in its methodology/ideology. The SKKA might've not liked the students' choices for outside training, but they certainly never interfered and/or prohibited the students' rights. To do so as a Governing Body is contrived as being controlling over its members/Student Body. Not professional and not, well, cool. The JKA has a history of expelling its members, whether they were for cause or not, the expulsions were the rights of the JKA to do so. For example... Hidetaka Nishiyama: One of the founders of JKA, he broke away in 1974 to create the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF). Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi, and Tsutomu Ohshima: These senior karateka, connected with Gichin Funakoshi, formed their own organizations due to disagreements with the JKA. Just to name a few who were either expelled or left the JKA, which seem to be quite a lot. There have also been more recent controversies, such as the expulsion of JKA from the Japan Karate Federation (JKF) in 2014, which was later deemed illegal and unreasonable by the Tokyo District Court. Governing Bodies are the furthest thing from being perfect in any shape, way, and/or form!! Imho!!

Great topic, Brian; thanks for sharing it. I've not read this specific book; might be worth the gander. Many think that Aikido is ineffective, whereas I think that Aikido is another methodology/ideology that is effective, and imho, what's ineffective is not the style, but the practitioner. My thoughts... This is akin to what's taught in basketball 101. In basketball, if the defender watches their opponents center, and not the hands, the defender can see everywhere the opponent is moving, thus, not being faked-out. Where the center of the opponent goes, so does the body. Same thing applies to the MA. We concentrate primarily at the attackers' center, with the occasional glimpse here and there as mere visual checks. By concentrating at the attackers' center, one can see the whole picture, therefore, feints, for example, are easier decerned. This seems to be one of Aikido's modus operandi. Allowing the force to continue without resisting it, therefore, using the attackers force against them. Like the saying goes..."Why fight it?!". To me, it's akin to what we do in Shindokan. Allowing our attacker to move into our space of their own volition, of which, we turn their advance against them. For us, it aides us in getting behind our attacker, which IS our modus operandi. For sure!! Without our combined centers being in concert with one another, there can be no awareness, and awareness of how both can, might, and/or will move in any given direction(s). One can't move without the other detecting said movement(s) and/or any given intent. Bruce Lee speaks about just that, and to the immediate quote above... “A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.”~Bruce Lee It's Bruce's quote, the two centers are in combination of one another. Who comes out the victor?? Perhaps then the combined centers brought the juxtaposed fight to light. Imho!!

Absolutely!! Information like what you provide is priceless.

Solid post, Wado Heretic; very informative. Thank you for sharing.

I greatly appreciate you sharing how your dojang runs its Testing Cycle; very informative. Your Testing Cycles are NOT handled in a flyby fashion, but is integrity based throughout.

Sorry, I've no experience with the style in question. As a Okinawan MAist, my Sensei and his Sensei didn't approve of tournaments whatsoever. However, what one does away from their watchful eyes, many of use participated on the weekends as much as we could. When my Sensei got wind of this, he wasn't happy but in time he allowed us just as long as we don't talk about it and as long as our techniques weren't becoming sour and as long as we don't bring that junk into our Kumite.

Good to hear. I think the one-day contract in pro-sports are kind of cool. Maybe other businesses should try that...or maybe not.

Isn't Hollywood wonderful on how they create the possible out of the impossible and/or impracticable?!? Seeing that Miyagi himself once competed in the Sekai Taikai, which might explain his dislike for competitions. Miyagi helped Daniel with the All-Valley Tournament and because of his dislike for competitions, Daniel sought out for outside training in KK3 with Silver. However, Miyagi trained Daniel for the All-Valley in KK3.

Congrats, wildbourgman; well deserved.

Patrick, Don't you own several arcade machines at home??

Great story!! Thanks for sharing it, JazzKicker.

I agree quite wholeheartedly; very lucid and intelligent.

Welcome to KF, shurinahamaniac; glad that you're here!! Thank you for your post, and for sharing your insights to how the JKA and the SKA approach their testing cycles. I'd also like to encourage you to post at the KF "Introduce Yourself", which can be found under the "Community Center" tab.

Kind of how I see it as well. As much as I have enjoyed the series it feels like it is time to conclude. They have done a great job with the show, all it needs now is a strong ending. Solid post!! Stretching it beyond season 6 to me would only hurt the franchise because story lines could become quite strained and far-fetched. Like the song, The Gambler reminds us... "You got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away And know when to run" Now it is stuck in my head Just today I saw an interview with Sean Kanan who said there are rumors of a spin off of the show. What did you think of the fight between Johnny and Mike Barnes? Two stubborn hot heads that won't backdown from anyone for any reason no matter who's right and/or who's wrong; not in their make-up. They verbally pushed and challenged each other before the fight broke out between those two. I know that they've both trained in the martial arts, but exactly how much experience they each have, I've no idea. They both had the basic foundation for their roles in the Karae Kid franchise. I got a small chuckle how well Johnny stood his ground against Barnes, seeing that Barnes holds a, ahem, 10th Dan, of which his techniques had no maturity in them whatsoever. Barnes uttered his famous line... "Your Karate is a joke!!" What do I think about their fight?? An interesting movie choreography. What do you think about their fight??

Kind of how I see it as well. As much as I have enjoyed the series it feels like it is time to conclude. They have done a great job with the show, all it needs now is a strong ending. Solid post!! Stretching it beyond season 6 to me would only hurt the franchise because story lines could become quite strained and far-fetched. Like the song, The Gambler reminds us... "You got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away And know when to run"

Having that type of follow-up after 40 years in any franchise is quite impressive and can't be scoffed at. KK has valuable gems of wisdom that many just don't have nor do they try to have. The MA in that franchise is as basic as basic can be, but it does get that message through its techniques.

Thank you, Patrick, Ken, and Brian.