sensei8

I wish everyone at KF and their loved ones a very merry Christmas!!

"It's not about how fast your hands and feet are, but it's how fast your mind is..." That's what I meant to say!! I accidentally typed "your" instead of "how" Sorry!

An excellent book review; I was riveted to it from start to finish...quite an excellent piece of work!! You gave me a look into Mr. Cooke's mindset on this subject!! After all, it's not always about what to do during a fight, but more what one can do to defuse a possible volatile situation! From your book review, the scene that took place on Han's Junk in the Bruce Lee classic film, Enter The Dragon, brings the conceptual idea to the forefront of my mind. This is the very concept that I teach to my students, and that is.... It's not about how fast your hands and feet are, but it's about your fast your mind is so that you've the tools available to defuse the situations in a calm manner. Mind like the moon and mind like the water are some of the tools that we train in daily as karateka's, Your review, each and every paragraph, made me want the book more and more. I will be adding this book to my library!! Thank you!!

Please complete the following sentence: This is the year... MA concerning, that is!! What mostly stands out in your mind? If it's only one thing or more, please let us know so that we can celebrate or laugh or cry or throw-a-fit or agree/disagree with you!! This is the year that... *I finally hung up my Kudan certificate! *I finally wore my Kudan obi more on an everyday occurrence! [These two hadn't happened until October 2014. I earned them both in July 2013] *I came much closer to completing my MA memoirs; Empty Chairs! These are just some of the things that stand out for me!! I look forward in hearing what happened to/for you this year!!

Yes...it is all about tenure and the like because that has already been established by the governing body, therefore, it must be strictly adhered to no matter if one agrees with it or not!! I was part of the servitude of being a JBB for 5 long years; I hated it!! Nonetheless, I still succumb to its ideology, both as an CI and Kaicho of the SKKA, and that's because our By-Laws have been established by our Soke along time ago, and they've not been successively challenged as of yet! While I am still seeking to abolish the JBB, I'm bound to enforce our By-Laws because it's the obligation that I swore to uphold!

I'm extremely well versed in Tuite and the like, so, are you two, Alex and/or cheesefrysamurai indicating that I'd have no chance in MMA type competitions or in the streets??

Dan Gable would be a good addition! Yes, their times were before UFC, but I think weight divisions would've been like UFC was when the UFC first started...there was no weight divisions to worry about. Steve "Nasty" Anderson or John Natividad or Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, to name just a few from those circa's who would've done well, imho!!

Quantity pales against quality, imho. If it was me, I'd jump at the opportunity to train in judo because, imho, every MAist needs to learn how to work on the ground! TSD will still be there, when the time is right!!

Don't wait to learn either!! Every aspect of Bunkai is essential for those who train in kata, however, Tuite isn't! Strange for me to type that seeing that Shindokan is deeply defendant upon Tuite...Shindokan is Tuite and Tuite is Shindokan, through and through. But not every style of the MA teaches Tuite, so, if the style of the MA that you train in teaches Tuite, then the sooner, the better! Imho!

With a serious minded student; a black belt is attainable...in time! How long? I've no idea!! However, there isn't enough money on the planet to lower my integrity for the sake of a students rank generated ego. Earn EACH rank...one at a time. Btw. Imho, the most important rank isn't the BB; it's the white belt! Without it, the rest of the possible ranks aren't possible!!

A bit of both, Alex; depending on the moment. Nice recap, as always!!

Solid post!!

Our Soke was in his early 90's, and our Dai-Soke was in his late 70's when they both passed away; both still moved eloquently and with great speed and power!! Soke died of natural causes and Dai-Soke died after suffering two strokes: Soke retired one year before his death, yet, watching him on the floor, his movements weren't labored. On the other hand, Dai-Soke, wasn't able to return to the floor after his first stroke...his second stroke killed him!!

Yeah, I concur with you, Brian!! Maybe, it's the beginning of having a one central governing body...maybe!! I doubt it will ever happen.Me too, but I can dream!

Oh what a rush!! Imagine what they'll both be like in high school? I'm getting goose bumps!!

I've never tried this. Interesting. Is the board held at a 45 degree angle, at about waist level?Waist high? Yes! 45 degree? Not all time: sometimes it's 45 degrees and other times it's straight up and down.

What were you expecting, Brian? The 10% is what I've always set my expectations at!! Are they reasonable in the category of "New Students"? No! I set the bar high and do my best to reach it. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fall short of my goals! It's a rush for me!!

Yeah, I concur with you, Brian!! Maybe, it's the beginning of having a one central governing body...maybe!!

We change our footwork all of the time because it's a part of Oyo. You did all of the filming on your smartphone? And your editing too? I've no excuse to not do my own!! Your two videos have created two new kata's...very nice!!

Now that both Kendall AND Kenneth are wrestling, I can't wait to see the videos and read their updates!! GO KENDALL and KENNETH!!

How many here have used a roundhouse knee kick to break? We do it because the kick is an important close range technique for us. The break, at first takes some getting use to, but once the fear of getting your fingers smashed or being afraid you'll smash a holders fingers, is worked out, it's downhill from there.

My immediate training partner, in and out of the Hombu, is Greg, our Kancho, we're close in rank and equal in Shogo titles; because of this, we do teach one another whenever we're able to get together, which is about 6-10 times per year!

10 percent increase in what? In everything that's subjected to our P&L statement [Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, and Annual] for the Hombu, for my dojo, and my MA retail store. The list is quite extensive, as it is with most business'. I would guess, and this is just me guessing, the most affective way to increase this 10% would be to add more students, correct? If that is the case, how many additional students would it take to hit this 10% mark? Additional students is important, however, it's only one factor. To increase the profits and to minimize the losses; these are the expectations!! When I speak about 10 percent increases across the board, I'm referring to how the profits are reflected on the profit and loss statement. Whereas I'm also speaking about decreases on the profit and loss statements, as well. An ideal portrait is to have more increases in profit and dramatically decreasing any losses. But, to answer your question... 37 for my dojo: 3.125 per month

10 percent increase in what? In everything that's subjected to our P&L statement [Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, and Annual] for the Hombu, for my dojo, and my MA retail store. The list is quite extensive, as it is with most business'.

yeah we do sine wave when we do our punches. But while doing my forms, neither the black belts or GM Park have corrected me and told me to make sure to do it. Why do you think that it is?? Could it be that they don't believe in ithe sine wave for one reason or another??