sensei8

Congrats to the Patriots win over the Seahawks....a well fought battle on both sides of the ball. Until next season... GO COWBOYS!!

Congrats...well done!!

I wish I had more!! I responded well. So well, that I was able to sleep in my bed and not on my recliner, for a change. Thank you, Patrick, for the question.

Much, much, much earlier we students had no choice!! Soke and Dai-Soke barely spoke English, and I mean barely. I spent many classes doing push-ups because I was laughing at them...I was 7 years old. Broken English is all we got for many, many, many years, so, we learned to speak Japanese terms more out of necessity than anything else. Their English got better, but, not much, imho!! Pointing...grunting...moving us to where they wanted us..."You here not here!!" Miyagi from "Karate Kid" was an English speaking professor compared to them. I agree, it's up to the CI, and NOT up to the governing body if students are going to learn the Japanese terms or not!! I love it, because, for me, it brings me close to Shindokan roots. It's a choice!! But if the CI says you will...then you will, vise versa!! So, imho, you were right on the money!!

Unsu and Wankan. Unsu because, for me, it's a dynamic kata; utilizes every principle known!! Wankan, because, while it's a short kata, it's not how many steps but how well each step is executed.

Great answer!! Take it apart...put it back together...but only in a way that the new student can understand. Taking the transition out, then adding it later, when appropriate, is solving many obstacles before their frustration gets the best of them. Thank, Alex!! I love it!!

My doctor, bless her, believes that one should only do what they can tolerate; this includes pushing oneself. Judo will push you to the depths of your body!!

Wastelander has surely given you some great advice. You've got a very important decision to make, one that will question yourself over and over. You're either going to stick it out with your current Sensei, or you're going to find another dojo. If it was me, I'd sit down with him and have a heart to heart talk; either he'll be accountable to ALL of his students or he won't. But I believe you deserve an answer, and not excuses. Good luck!!

Congrats...well done...well deserved!!

To the bold type above.... The difference will vary from style to style, inasmuch, from governing body to governing body. But, I'm sure that that's not what you're asking. Time!! Time on the floor!! Not all practitioners are the same, no matter the rank, and no matter the style!! If you wondering curriculum/syllabus differences, then that question is for your Sensei, more than for us because your Sensei knows, and we're just supposing, at best!! What's the difference from a Shindokan Yondan and a Shindokan Godan? TIME ON THE FLOOR!!

I wholeheartedly concur!!

Great tutorial, Alex!! Loved it, especially because it involved a choke. This choke was difficult for me when I first learnt it because I kept getting tied up in my own arms...and it was like trying to figure out a boy scout knot....unnatural, to say the least. How do you address the new student who's confused with proper arm placements as you transition into the choke?

Thanks for sharing it, Noah! I use to follow Sumo quite often, but I've not followed it in over 8 years.

Solid post and solid tutorial!! Your amazing, Alex!! I respect your teaching methodology quite a lot!!

Many SWAT teams are formed to either do Kata and/or Kumite competitions, mostly in open tournaments. When Soke was alive, we had NO SWAT or anything like it; that type was quite offensive to him. And of course, Dai-Soke was the same. So, I've never tried to create those types, like SWAT, in my dojo because of how I was raised in our Hombu. I'm neither for or against them!!

Ditto!!

Nobody?! Hhhmmmm!!

LOVED IT...thanks for sharing it!!

For those who speak about their rank have little understanding!! Rank is a thing, and things can be gotten!! If your sensei isn't quite forth coming, then his understanding is considerable!! For those here who have spoken in negative tones about high ranks, those above Godan, are quite disrespectful towards the ones that possess them! Kanazawa or Higaonna or Demura or Nishiyama and on and on; are Senior Dans! So when you speak in negative tones, remember you're speaking disrespectfully about them as well!!

Some great slogans, all! Please keep them coming!!

I'm interested in how you would define good and bad as it pertains to technique. What makes something good or bad? Speed? Definition? Intent? The mechanics might be quite different between a Kyokushin Kareteka and a Shito-Ryu. Would you only examine related styles or would you consider evaluating Korean or Chinese styles? Posture....balance...movement...after 50 years, I think that I can recognize the difference between a good or a bad technique. And for those testing for Shodan, the beginnings of understanding the essential principles are required!! And for those of Sandan and above, a more solid understanding of these essential principles, i.e., breath control, utilizing reaction force, maximum strength, and concentration of strength. I want to see if there's a demonstrated presence of focus and responsing awareness! The lower the rank being graded, the lower the understanding, whereas, the higher rank being tested the higher the understanding!! Nuances will be present between the styles, the main thing is that I wouldn't have been invited a chair on their testing panel if the CI and/or the governing body didn't think I was qualified. I grade the technique, and NOT the label attached to the core. Similarly at open-tournaments. Judges are expected to render a fair and impartial ruling of the techniques before them; no matter if the practitioner is from a Chinese or Korean or Kyokushin or Shito-Ryu style. Speed...Definition...Intent don't impress me! No! What impresses me is a good technique as I've understood it to be for 5 decades, per Dai-Soke!!

It's an unlawful physical contact; not wanted nor asked for!! Diseases can be in saliva, for example, HPV, HIV and Herpes! What if the spitter's gums are bleeding, etc! Prisons do quite a lot to protect their staff from being spit on by inmates!!

The instructor sets the tone; good or bad! Not all BB can teach! Students shouldn't have to be subjected to a bad attitude and the like: WALK OUT!!

I've done this many times outside of the Shindokan circle!! It's both an honor and a privilege!! I treat these testing cycles like I treat tournaments; techniques, to me have root core, but technique is technique! In that, it's either good or bad; there's no in-between! When I grade within the Shindokan circle, I don't consider the curriculum because the curriculum is NOT being tested and the student being graded isn't being graded on how well they know the curriculum!! Technique: good or bad!! If the CI feels that he/she has to explain any nuances within their style, then I'm cordial, and I will note it!! When you test, most grading officers will grade on whether the technique is good or bad, and grade it appropriately!!

UPDATE: My doctor has had me taking, what she calls, a "steroid pack"; a bunch of pills...5 for two days, 4 for two days, and so on and so forth! I'll see her this Tuesday, and see what's next if plan 'A' doesn't help! I feel good 25% of the time since the new meds, but still in great pain the rest of the time! I'll take the 25% because I was in pain 100% of the time. One day at a time!! Again, thank you, everyone here at KF for you many supportive and heartfelt words!! I never started this topic/thread for it to morph into a pity party; many other people around the world are in a much more serious medical situation than I am! For them and their families; they'll remain in my prayers at all times!! No, I started this topic, in this forum, to possibly demonstrate some things that might help them if they ever face a similar situation, and decisions that I/we, as a governing body as well as a dojo owner, are experiencing with me having to temporarily step-down from the Hombu and from the Kyuodan Dojo. Governing bodies and dojo owners only primary concerns and duties is for the constant improvement of the student bodies betterment! Not for the elected offices or those appointed to those offices, but for the caring and supporting the ENTIRE student body! Not for just today, but for tomorrow and beyond!! Students need to be properly informed immediately, and without any undo delays, concerning any important news and information pertaining to the Hombu, and/or, as in my case, the Kyuodan Dojo, that might affect the student body as it might concern them, both as interested individuals and as a group. Trust is a sensitive and tangible commodity that shoud never be taken lightly at any time by any person(s)! One can lose that trust faster than a sneeze but it takes, if at all, quite along time to earn it back! The members of the student body trust the Hombu and me to care for them, and this is what I did when I stepped down and initiated the Transition Pact at the Hombu, and therefore made the necessary movements I made at my dojo! First, I took care of the Hombu, then I took care of my dojo! My first priority was towards the entire student body under the Hombu's umbrella, and when I was satisfied that the Transition Pact was approved, I then addressed the Kyuodan dojo's own student body! Management 101 says...Rule #1 says, One fire at a time! Rule #2 says, Extinguish said fire immediately! Rule #3 says, remember rules #1 and #2!!