sensei8

Most of our celebrations of this type are way over the top, so is it the same when our Hombu does same type celebration. For us, the highlight at the Hombu was when our Soke and Dai-Soke run their demo together. Both have big parties that seem to last the entire week. Special guests will conduct seminars during the week, at no charge! Birthdays during the week will get a special Kanji drawn by Soke. The Hombu has a PR department that specializes in things of this nature, and they can be quite elaborate, to say the least. The more the years, the more the hoopla and all. It's an important thing to celebrate as a family, and not as dojo AND students, but, again, as a family!!

To all fathers here... Happy Fathers Day to you!!

IMHO... While Kyusho Jitsu is important to Shindokan, it's not an exacting art. Why? Untold parameters dictate it's successful application. Pain threshold, proper application to said point, and so on and so forth. Yes, it might seem contradictive of me to state the above, especially when Kyusho Jitsu is a important piece of the Shindokan pie; strange of me to not be fully on board with it. You miss the point, the desired effect will NOT occur. And if you missed the point, why? Your opponent isn't going to just stand there and allow you to poke, prod, and twist at your discretion. Also, you missed the point because you're not experienced, therefore, your knowledge isn't what you think it is. Also, things happen and you just miss the point; better have a solid back up...or run for the hills. Your opponents not going to drop in anguishing pain each and every time because, well, it's just not going to happen in the real world. Why? Pain thresholds vary from minimal to maximum within each different opponent. Also, you didn't properly apply said application for some reason. Opponents are resistive!! SHOCK!! Soon as someone admits that, the sooner one can begin to understand what's all involved in applying said Kyusho Jitsu to the desired target with the desired effect!! Let me tell you a little Shindokan secret when it comes to our brand of Kyusho Jitsu... IT'S ALL DEFENSIVE!! Yes, it's all defensive!! We never initiate it!! IMPOSSIBLE!! What might appear to my opponent as offensive, is actually defensive to what our opponent is doing at the moment. You grab me...guess what...I've still TWO FREE HANDS, while YOU DON'T. The illusion that I'm restricted my your grasp is just that, an illusion, for the moment. However, it's up to me to ensure that the illusion remains, and to act accordingly and immediately. And if I don't, well, then the illusion fades away quickly. Will I rarely apply Kyusho Jitsu, from what I've just ranted on about? NO!! I believe in it, but I'm also not a fool because it's NOT an exacting art for the reasons I've already mentioned. The five 'W' and 'How' DO stand in the way of the inexperienced practitioner of Kyusho Jitsu, and that's ok; these parameters are constant but I limit the constant of "IT" through my knowledge/experience. When grappling, many grapplers doubt what I've just applied UNTIL I've applied it...and it was effective. I will initiate Kyusho Jitsu with a grappler more often than not. In that, I'm seeking a pause in their attack, if only for a split second, just enough to change directions or allow me to transition in or out. Grapplers are sneaky evil doers, and I say this with all respect!! If I want to move an arm, even the slightest, I might manipulate a point, not to effect a knockout or the like, or extreme pain, but just to give the grappler something else to think about, and while they're thinking about that, the arm is question is moved just enough for me to carry out a plan. NO ONE CAN APPLY KYUSHO JITSU AND IT WORK EVERY TIME WITH EVERY OPPONENT!! Please don't confuse Tuite applications with Kyusho Jitsu!! They're two separate things. I can manipulate a joint with much more success than a pressure point because joints can only move so far before they break, and a minimal amount of pressure on a joint is enough to have the desired effect that I'm wanting. In Kyusho Jitsu, the applications are much more wider in its effective parameters for the aforementioned reasons I've mentioned here. Shindokan Kyusho Jitsu is designed to cause discomfort in ones opponent. Avenues open through discomfort!! Whether it's Tuite or Kyusho Jitsu, both have purposes and effectiveness, but it's knowing the five 'W' and 'How' to apply either effectively. Just flail away with your arms and legs instead of trying to apply Tuite or Kyusho Jitsu; that, the flailing and such, would have a more desired effect on your opponent. Kyusho Jitsu has been widely criticized, and rightfully so, because many don't know what they're fully doing!! Your thoughts, please!!

Great tutorial; as always, Alex!! You speak true on every point in your intro, middle, and end of your video. As always, it's not to just move, but to move with an effective purpose, this is the same when it comes to leg attacks. To cinch a leg is one thing, but to cinch a leg for control/submission, is another. Bears back down to the knowledge of not just the "How", but the "Why", as well as the "When" for an effective leg attack. Because the modicum of the head is connected to the neck bone and the neck bone is connected to the shoulder bone, etc., the legs play a vital role in our grappling in Shindokan. The leg can be involved in s so many ways. To thwart, to control, to keep at bay, to transition, to support, and so on and so forth, and of course, to have those reversed back onto you; not fun if ones not paying attention, and this is dependent on knowledge/experience. Learning them or understanding them?? Soke taught us that these are two different things; each important. Not trying to be suave or anything like that, but our ideology will not let us treat them the same. Learning them: 8th Kyu Understanding them: 3rd Kyu 8th Kyu. While we're learning them, we're ALSO learning the wide world of Deploying them. Can't learn them without learning how to deploy them as well, at least that's what Soke was a proponent of. Why 8th Kyu?? Why not?? Remember, Shindokan's biggest thing is our brand of Tuite, and this is in conjunction with our brand of Kyusho Jitsu, and all of this is laced/intertwined with our brand of grappling. Look, we train in the WC Dummy, and not many, if any Karate-do incorporate that apparatus in their daily dojo life. Soke was a true believer that the earlier the student is exposed to something, the sooner the understanding can begin.

If you didn't treat it as a business, their would be no dojo. I don't know why people have such a hard time with people trying to earn a living. There is a ton of greed in every field, but people have the idea that every penny that a business takes in goes right into the pocket of someone who doesn't need it. My father has owned his own auto repair shop for going on 40 years now. Everyone thinks he owes it to them to fix their car for free so they can get to work. A regular customer started making stupid comments one day about labor rates. My father pointed to his tool box and said "That alone cost me about $100k to fill. Do you think $10 an hour is going to cover it?" Another one of his favorites: "How would you feel if your boss tried to work out a deal every week when he hands you your paycheck?" Solid post!!

Solid post!!

When the economic downturn hit a few years ago in the USA, I ended testing fees permanently. Then, as Kaicho, I did the same thing for our Hombu!! Both had overhead, but this is to be expected for any business, and yes, my dojo AND the Hombu IS a business! That's how we/I have treated them for as long as we/I can remember.

As in anything, it's a personal choice. I always wear a undershirt/t-shirt under my gi top because I don't like the feeling of skin to material. As far as my students are concerned, I don't enforce any rule pertaining to the wearing of undershirts; wear one or don't wear one, which goes back to it being a personal choice.

Solid post!!

Something to chew on... I sincerely believe that of all of the ranks, White Belt is the most important rank of them all. Why? Without White Belt, the other ranks can't exist!!

Patrick, Whoa...that's exactly the camcorder I was looking at. I wanted to get a very basic one so that I can learn the ins and outs of working it. I'm sure that I can do that with a name brand, but, I'm newer than newer with this type of things. I've not decided on it yet, so, that's why I wanted some input before I waste any money. Thanks, all for your input!!

How long...50 years; I've just only scratched the surface...of no particular Kata. They're all still requiring a life time of studying!!

2.7'' TFT LCD Full HD 16 MP 1080P Digital Video Camera Camcorder DV 16x Zoom Is this a good video camera?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTIjBzIjECqRL0kf8klXcw Not the best in the world just something I do and sometimes my friend and I do for fun. Is that you in the screen shots at the link above?? If so, cool, good to connect a name with a face. Yep. If you look close you can see my 2 bo staffs behind me. I had no where better to put them. Awesome!!

YES!! Those type of schools, sad to say, are becoming more common than not. Label them how one must, I won't, but what they teach, more often than not, is false security to their whole student body. Rank is prevalent, while knowledge isn't!! Show up for 3 months, and you're promoted without the immediate concerns for effectiveness. Floppy and sloppy, in these type of schools, get you promoted, just as long as their current in their dues and the like. IMHO!!

Yes, very similar to Hayashi's method. However, the similarity ends there because we also combine the deflection to end in a grasp for control. Not just to deflect, but to control the arm, for example, for different transitions...our deflections aren't meant to END at the deflection but to continue to control, if only for a moment.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDTIjBzIjECqRL0kf8klXcw Not the best in the world just something I do and sometimes my friend and I do for fun. Is that you in the screen shots at the link above?? If so, cool, good to connect a name with a face.

Welcome back!! I've just moved to Houston, TX this February 2015 from Owasso, OK.

First things first...Welcome to KF; glad that you're here!! Solid post!!

Yes, I agree. The time in being a JBB to Shodan is akin to being stuck in a Twilight Zone episode. Time, for some, just stops, and this breeds staleness, and staleness breeds boredom, and boredom breeds quitting...seeing that the JBB is for children/teens.

Interesting topic/question(s)!! No. Told students each time I was approved to attend the testing cycle. Not for bragging rights, but to inform them that I wasn't going to be in-house for a specified time; communication is expected across the board. Yes. All of the time that we've been his students, he never informed us of any testing cycle he might've had with his Sensei. When the Hombu opened in 1957, he was a Godan, and the CI of the Hombu/SKKA. From time to time, Soke would call him up to the podium during our annual testing cycles at the Hombu to present him a new belt and certificate of his new rank/title. We never knew he had even tested!! When I was elected to the Counsel of Regents, now the Board of Regents, I was privy to information such as this, but I was instructed to tell no one because it's not for us to say, but our Sensei alone!! It's a personal matter, therefore, it's not for someone to judge for or against. Some are more private than others, while some want to share their journey with their students. Neither is wrong; it's, again, a personal matter. That would depend on whom one is asking. Some will find Pros and Cons in things like this, but again, imho, it's a personal decision as well as it being a personal matter; no wrong...no right...just personal choices.

Same in Shindokan... Our deflecting arm begins on the inside, and then it travels to the outside, and ends at the very last moment with a sharp snap to the target.

I use to, but I've lost interest in it over the past few years.

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