sensei8

Congrats...well done!

Some very excellent posts by Wado Heretic and Kusotare; chock full of tidbits that should satisfy any MAists palette of MA history and the like. Thanks to both of you!!

A very solid article; I thank you for it. As someone who's full-time job is teaching and operating a dojo, as well as being Kaicho [President] of the SKKA, I can say that you've hit each and every nail right on their separate heads. Whether I agree with every point or not, isn't as important as knowing what one might be expecting and/or facing in operating a school of the MA; this, your article, has done that quite thoroughly.

To me, anything that is in addition to what is originally taught is a supplement! For example, when you first learn kata, you learn the steps, you learn transitions, shifting, turning, sliding, so on and so forth. Then you start learning other things concerning the kata, and it's those other thinks, like Bunkai/Oyo, live training, and the like, which are all very important, that I consider as supplement training, imho. Possibly one could consider it compulsory, while I consider it supplementary!

Competitions have a propensity of building varying degrees of false security in those who train in the MA. Rules and regulations hinder effective counter attacks, which is to be expected for the safety of all who compete. Imho, it's a Catch-22 scenario!! When competitors are limited in any shape, way, and/or form from an reason(s), that can lead to one building, and therefore hold unto false securities on owns abilities in any practitioner of any MA. Any built up false securities in ones abilities to defend themselves has to be guarded closely by the instructor without violating safety protocols while training. For example, with all of the rules and regulations for competitions forgotten, if you try to spear me in the hopes of wanting to take me down to the ground, and I'm allowed to do whatever I can outside of any rule and regulations to prevent it, and I'm aware of your spear possibilities, I might just simply transition off-line and target a vital point/target with extreme prejudice and force, and I thwart your attempt, your attempt might be for not! Nothing is guaranteed by either individual in real-life situations. We can only hope because we believe in our abilities! Hopefully, any built up false securities through competitions and the like will be minimal to non-existent!! Your thoughts, please!!

Sounds to me like its akin to someone telling you that the Ford Mustang you're sitting in is actually a Chevy Corvette, and no matter what you say, they won't believe that your Ford Mustang is a Ford Mustang.

Glad to hear that!! Will see you here and there in KF!

Solid post indeed!! Conversations are exactly what's needed, and often times, they're not taken serious, when they should be, imho. I don't think I've been directly asked by a student of mine, and if I had, I pray that I was of the sensible mind to have that conversation.

I learnt the ryu, and now, I still teach the ryu, even though, nowadays, I've amended it by what ever else that I've learnt over the many years. Even though that is true, so is the ryu that I learnt, and that I still teach. Change is inevitable and that will never cease, therefore, as change requires it to be so, then, the ryu's core is still unchanged; it's I who have changed.

I'm fine! And you?

Solid Post. I should add to my last response to this thread. Everything that you have just said I agree with. When I said that you should wait till your a little bit more advanced, i don't mean that you should go and ask to be double graded. You should let your skill, attitude and determination talk for itself and not your words. I have been double graded and I had no idea. To the bold type above...That's the way it should always be, and the rarest!! No one knows, not even the Hombu, whenever I've decided to double grade someone. I usually will have made that decision behind closed doors after the testing cycle has concluded, and at the very last second. Whomever I've double graded, won't know, no one will know, until I make the announcement at the award ceremony. It's the decision of the CI, and the CI alone. In my many years of teaching, I can count on one hand just how many students I've double graded. Hombu makes the double grade official once the CI has made the decision. The Hombu is out of the equation on double grades for most of it. There's that trust between the CI and the Hombu; integrity is crucial at all times. Hombu will only question a CI if the CI is starting a pattern of awarding many double grades. Remember, its the rarest of thing, the emphasis is on rarest!! There's no student and no sensei and no dojo that's that exceptional!! Want to have someone question your integrity? Award double grades often, that'll do it.

I'm not going in any capacity. I've been there many times in various capacities; it's an experience to say the least. Enjoy the atmosphere and the experience of being at a highly rated tournament of its type. However, if you're going as a competitor, I strongly advice that you separate yourself from the glitz and glamour of the Diamond National, otherwise you might not be at your very best when you need to be. A mini-vacation, it will be, and it looks like all of you will have the time of your life, both in and out of the Diamond National. Good luck with the tournament, and have fun sightseeing with your family!!

Whether it is fake or not, I tend to believe that it's not, said kata in question may not be well known, it is well known to THOSE WHO PRACTICE it on a daily basis, therefore, kata in question is real to THEM.

When you talk about pronounciation of kata, you forget that there are thousands of languages, so the particular pronounciation of kata would be slightly different. Since Karate has it's origins in Okinawa and furthermore deep in China those of 'Asian' Decent will pronounce it differently to those who don't speak japanese or chinese. Also there is no one 'correct' version of kata throughout the styles. There are thousands of variations of it. Each version is correct for that persons school. Plus Goju-Ryu isn't the only style that performs this kata, so by you saying that people propagated the 'incorrect' kata then your basically saying either we are wrong or one of the other styles is wrong. Even though the old masters taught it in a particular way with certain intentions and the law of the time. There will be differences in how it is performed and also has been taught throughout all the generations. When Miyagi Sensei taught this kata to his students and then when they [the students] taught it to their students there will be differences in the way it was done. Because it felt right for them. So each student therefore would have minor differences to it. Very solid post!!

Solid post; especially the bold type above.

Very solid post!!

Oh, I agree. That's why we teach/advocate extension only to the full natural range, and not beyond. I mentioned the case of Soke Nagamine only as a unique contrast to the accepted understanding of extending punches and elbow joints. I enjoyed learning about Soke Nagamine's approach; it's a portion that can't, and shouldn't be ignored. In that, it opens up an avenue worthy of exploring for practitioners of all styles of the MA.

Welcome back; missed you!!

Asking to be double graded, imho, is an insult to the CI!! How do you know if the CI had already decided to, you've deflated their balloon, so to speak, and that's just not cool. If a student is bestowed upon with a double grade, and they should be the rarest of things, that should be the choice of the CI. When you ask to be double graded by your CI, then you're taking things away from the CI that you've no right to do so...intently or not.

Much appreciated! According to pictures, I got an 8.75, an 8.91, and an 8.79 on the scorecards. Admirable scores. Had I been there as a judge, it's possible my scores might've been similar because being there in front of you is different from the one angle and such. Still, I'll stand behind my 9.3!

If they understood, truly, understood kiai, they wouldn't do all those silly and long drawn out and the like type of kiai!! Their kiai would take on a different meaning in their MA life.

Welcome to KF; glad you're here!! Simple. You don't teach all of the time. Not every hour in a 24 hour day! Besides, you're not teaching 24 hours a day. There's still plenty of time before and after classes to devote to your training. You don't have to train each and every second of the day...at times, I did. And when I did, I neglected my family at times and there's nothing I could do or say, after some time, to make it up with my family. So, I train at home. I train before the dojo opens. I train between classes, but only if there's a time gap large enough to allow it and only if I've no other pressing business to attend. I train after I've closed the dojo. But, it's a sensitive balance because I no longer put anything before family and family time. I don't train every single day because family needs me off the floor. My family understands my responsibilities to my dojo and to the Shindokan Hombu, and my family knows that my training is a essential part of my daily life and a very critical part of my MA journey; I MUST train. But, even a hard core training MAist, needs a break from time to time. Balance...something that you'll have to work out.

I'll join the rest when I say...nothing to be embarrassed about. Clean, focus, snap...all needed elements were there. For a yonkyu, solid!! I would've liked to have seen the scores, though. On a 10 basis, I would've gave you a solid 9.3!!

Yes, by all means, well done, above all things, well done!!

Mas Oyama would've done a 4th day, but nobody wanted to. Can anyone honestly blame them?!? A test of Shugyo, if there ever was one, imho!!