sensei8

Thanks for the link...I'll check it out.

Karate will not be "too tough" for you. It will just be 'tough enough'. You want it to be tough enough as that's what you'll need to get slowly into shape. I'm about two and half times your age, I've flown a desk for the last twenty years without any exercise and I will be losing 38 kilos (83 pounds) over the next six to twelve months with karate. In the last five weeks going to dojo twice a week and doing a bike run of about ten miles once or twice a week I've already lost six kilos (13 pounds). Drink as much water as you can, cut down a little on the size of meals you eat and don't eat anything after 9pm. I'm brand new to karate and what I can say is that if you like the idea of karate, then you will love karate, so sign up, put positive energy into it and you'll see a transformation in yourself in no time at all. You'll be so happy you did. Go for it! Solid post!!

Good luck...have fun...RELAX...let the tournament take care of itself!! Can't wait to hear your report when it's all said and done!!

Karate: The Art of Empty-Hand Fighting by Hidetaka Nishiyama and Richard Brown And... Lessons with the Master by Paul A. Walker These two stand out, imho, and I'm not even a Shotokan karateka.

He wants you to talk with his GM first, before you join...Hhhhmmmm...yeah, I'd let that one lie there too, and that is a strange request. If I had told any of my students that they had to talk with Dai-Soke first, Takahashi Sensei would've scorned me to no end.

I hear you concerning the local cuisine, and I was lucky enough to acclimate myself to Okinawan food before I went there. I did have a plan if the actual local cuisine wasn't quite like what Soke and Dai-Soke feed us...find a McDonald's.

Welcome to KF; glad that you're here!! I understand and appreciate the importance of having a website, that hasn't escaped me at all. Having said that, there are two sides of any coin, and I'm on the side of the coin that just doesn't need, nor do I want a website for reasons that I've stated in this thread. I'm not hurting for students and if I was, then I might entertain that idea. I recognize the many reasons that all here have stated for having a website, and me not having a website hasn't affected my P&L, and that, for me, is the ultimate way for me to check that my business has a strong pulse or not.

Please, SIGN ME UP!!

While the link below... http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/settlement-new-york-states-largest-karate-school-chain-ends-deceptive-practices ...is old news, 2000, I believe that current and future MA schools should pay attention as to what can happen if one's not careful at all times. These practices have no business in your business because students will suffer the most when these type of practices aren't reported to the necessary agencies. Are deceptive practices within the MA still happening today? I believe that they still are. Well, only salmon swim up stream!!

Curiosity will draw me to watch it, as it did for the first one...flying MAists make me laugh at the imagination of it all. Thank you for sharing it!!

There's no reason for any two martial arts to NEED to agree on anything. The US Navy and the US Army both have Captains. In the Navy, it's a very high ranking officer that can command a vessel. In the Army, it's still a low level officer that can only command small units (company and below). Despite their differences, they both seem to operate just fine. It would be nice though, if they did, so that disagreements weren't so disjointed, as they are now in the MA world. Different world and different viewpoints; these separate the world of the MA and the world of the US Military. Imho!!

Ever been to a MA tournament? Well, those that you're speaking about are there in droves. So, YES, I've seen 12 year old and younger black belts with my own eyes, and I've groaned...out loud. They're everywhere...nowadays, one doesn't have to look that hard to find them IN PERSON!! Visit your local MA schools, all of them, and you'll find them for yourself, and again, IN PERSON!! Well, to each their own.

Marketing is very important, especially if you're NOT in a highly visible and high traffic area; where ALL have no choice to see you. This locations are not cheap, but they don't need, imho, a great amount of marketing to attract new students. In these areas, new students darn near fall into your school. If you're somewhere apposed, then, your marketing game better be all that and a bag of chips!!

Well, if it's not against the law where you live, then I say, plaster the area's of your choice without reservation with your leaflets...GO FOR IT!!

Solid post!! I've had the broad pleasure of having trained in as well as visited Okinawa just under 2 dozen of times. Our Soke and Dai-Soke were our guides, as one would expect since they both were born and raised in, what's now known as, Nanjo, Okinawa. We went as a group, and all were encouraged to join, thus, all ranks were invited and not just Yudansha's. I echo everything that you've posted, Spartacus Maximus, wholeheartedly. We went mainly during the summer, but we've also shared a few winters; either weren't pleasant while on the floor. Much of training wasn't always geared around Shindokan, and mainly, we were vacationing there for the week or two that we were there. Culture shock, to say that least, for first time visitors, takes some getting use to no matter how much you prepare for the journey because what's normal in the USA, isn't the same in Okinawa, or anywhere else for that fact, and that's to be expected. Soke's house/dojo, in Okinawa, lacked the normal amenities that we in the USA take advantage of. Blistering summers and bitter winters...outside of expected training conditions and the like, I'm not a fan of sweating and freezing, but give me a break...at least once...sheech!! Food was to die for, and I mean that. I love to eat and I was at home with the local cuisine. Possibly I feel in love with Okinawa food because I've been at either of Soke and Dai-Soke's homes in the USA a trillion of times. It was, and still is, a treasured memory to have visited and trained in the homeland of Shindokan, Nanjo, Okinawa, one that I'll never soon forget. Both Soke and Dai-Soke returned to their beloved Okinawa; it is where their final resting place is.

I suppose that this argument will ever die as long as either side is unable to change their viewpoints on this subject. Impressing change won't be that easy as long as ones ensconced in their beliefs. However, for the betterment of the MA, and for the betterment of all MAist, an acceptable middle ground should be reached beyond an amicable agreement. But, I believe that that's just a dream of this foolish old man. That being said, I just can't see a change, in this matter, because, for example [i'll take the hits on this one], in our annual meeting this past July, as this very subject had been discussed... "We've, the Shindokan Hombu (SKKA), formally decided to remain viscerally opposed against eliminating our JBB program for awarding any Dan grade to any student who's not reached their 18th birthday. Albeit, to continue in unequivocal support that were, and still are, the beliefs and reasons as set forthwith by Soke Fuyuhiko Saitou per our By-Laws and/or supportive internal documentations." Oftentimes, I find myself in a quandrum of indecisiveness over this subject because I DO see the arguments from those who are diametrically opposed to our Hombu, and I also oftentimes grieve in my spirit as though I'm stifling the MA betterment of a MAist, even though that MAist hasn't, as of yet, reached their 18th birthday. A birthdate shouldn't be, in this regards, a form of punishment. I'm torn between loyalty and civility, in this regards.

Don't misunderstand me, but at times, the trees do get in the way of seeing the forest. Speak with your Sensei about your concerns and the like because your Sensei is the final word in Shorin-ryu. After that...Shu Ha Ri!!

By delivering leaflets to peoples letterbox, are you saying that you'll put them INSIDE of a individuals mailbox at their home or apartment or business or whatever? If so, in the USA, it's against the law!! In the USA, you can't even attach anything to a mailbox; its flag or its support or anywhere on a mailbox. But, I'd stay away from the mailbox. Mail them? Sure, if that's something that you can afford.

I’d like to welcome you to KF; glad that you’re here!! In very general terms as to why most Karate styles chamber their hand in the mannerism that they do…imho, there is absolutely no intrinsic value at all for any practitioner of Karate, or any other style of the MA to hold your fist chambered to your hip and/or side. Put your chambered hand wherever you feel more comfortable. Yes, the truly only thing that I would be concerned with is that your Hikite is helping you to keep your elbow against your side throughout the technique, and not flapping all around like a wounded bird. However, in Kata, the chambered hand IS at ones hip at the completion, and at its ready position before the next technique in said Kata. What looks like a punch, might not be a punch at all in any given Kata. That’s a point you’ve made well in your OP. Hikite is important, but only to a point, but, imho, not tremendously necessary to deliver any effective technique. Imho, the most important goal of any technique is the proper execution of hips. The hips must drive the technique at all times. Everyone in Karate does punching drills each and every day, and when you do, that’s Hikite...one punch at a time, over and over…first the left…then the right…and so on and so forth. One has to know when Hikite should or shouldn’t be used during an attack.

I can appreciate that!! If a style of the MA doesn't believe in sparring/kumite, a style that does believe in sparring/kumite, then I suppose that the title of this thread is quite appropriate. Having never sparred/kumite, imho, translates into not knowing how to respond/react to any type of attack; that's just not conducive in knowing how to defend oneself in a fight. Blinking and ducking lead to being knocked out!! Experience will always defeat inexperience, however, the craziest things can happen in a fight. Things of misfortune will eventually catch up, and when that happens, hopefully the outcome won't be a dire one.

Looking at the title of this thread..."If I can kick your rear, I'm a better martial artist." Well, if I survive, then I'd say that you won...THIS TIME!! No one is suppose to win, sport or real, each and every time; the odds are against that. Sure, teams can go undefeated in a sport venue, but that's because it took a group to achieve. In an individual sport, the odds favor that that practitioner will lose...eventually! Not always does sport venue victories translate into street victories. Why? Sports venue victories have rules and street venue victories don't; hence, it's anyone's game. One mistake, no matter the venue, can cost you dearly. The world of parameters is so vast, that it seems to me that those parameters live inside of a bubble of "what if?", and "if" is an infinity of possibilities for either one. Sport venues allow you to think, and street venues allow you to respond/react. However, these two maxims translate as the difference between victory and defeat...Mizu No Kokoro [Mind like the water] AND Tsuki No Kokoro [Mind like the moon]. If either of these maxims are askew within you, then my friend, you're going to be in a lot of hot water with your attack on the street AND with your opponent on the competition floor. Just because you beat me today on either venue, imho, this doesn't mean that you're a better MAist and/or person and/or fighter and/or whatever than me. No!! It just means you were able to capitalize on my mistake(s) to your advantage...this time, next time might favor me, should we meet up again. Either way, I'd rather lose at every sport venue on the planet, than to lose at a street venue just one time. That one lose in a street venue could be my life!! A white belt can score on a black belt...big deal...worse things have been known to have happened. A martial artist can score on another martial artist...big deal...none is better than the other...stuff happens all of the time. I score on Greg, our Kancho,...he scores on me...so on and so forth...happens with us all of the time, and even though I've got 6 months seniority on Greg, it doesn't mean that I'm better MAist than him...things shouldn't happen, but things do happen. The end only counts when you finally shed your mortal coil!! Before that, it's anyone's game!! So, I disagree with the above quoted sentiment. What's more important? The victory on the competition floor or the victory in the street/fight? BOTH!! The first venue can translate successfully into the second venue, and vise versa...in which I believe that any outcome is up to the individual through and through. Abilities dictate to either venue, and as an afterthought, train hard, and hopefully nothing fatal ever happens!!

Excellent marketing ideas here, especially the cinema ads!! Define, if you don't mind, "letterbox drop", please, thanks!!

Thanks for the insight. I agree that an instructor's ability to teach, regardless of ring experience, can not be overlooked. I, too, wholeheartedly agree!!

Solid post!! You and your parents are part of that 70% that DON'T use the phone book, and I accept that, and I accept the fact that I'm very far behind the times.

You are correct. And that is fine. For you and her. Kids aren't in this to be fighters, defend themselves, cultural interest or any of the other reasons that we normally think of. That said, if they've been with it for years and have worked hard and reached a standardized level of competence why not recognize them? As long as there is an understanding of what the "junior" in the black belt title means (to the kids, parents, and adults) then no harm no foul. Solid post!!