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I suppose that it's the...Can lead a horse to water, but can't make the horse drink the water. It's a mindset that the student wants to do, and when a student want to do something, well, they do it. On the other hand, if the student doesn't want to do something, they won't do it or they won't do it gladly and/or well!!

When the light finally turns on inside a student head that says..."Wow...I figured it out...yes" and you can see that in their face, and they can't wait to share it with you...a moment that can't ever be replaced! Btw, excellent thread, thank you for it!!

Again, Yes!! Especially when the student has figured it out on their own...magic. I tingle inside with joy for that student!!

Yes, because of those aha moments, it's their smiles that accompany those moments: Very satisfying!!

"I know 5 katas. I want to test for Green Belt". Really? Impressive! Problem with that, imho, is that students make the big mistake of assuming a position that they don't possess. Rank envy!!

Will you no longer be attending formal classes anymore? If not, hopefully you'll maintain the positive muscle memory that you've achieved thus far. Challenge yourself each and every day!!

Same in Shindokan.

The way it's meant to be!!

Thanks, Heidi; I'll pass this onto the appropriate teams at our Hombu.

Got to get me a camera!! Wastelander's post should be very helpful to you; he's pretty spot on!

Have done it my whole MA life. Having both Soke and Dai-Soke been born and raised in Okinawa, everyone in Shindokan knows this concept quite well; can't generate proper power without Gamaku...whipping ones hips drives the acceleration to and through target...if properly executed.

Absolutely!!

For the practitioner, that's true. However, for the instructor, his/her obligations are to teach effective applied knowledge about said style of the MA in which they are teaching. Outside of what your post intents, that's quite true; it's a personal journey, even for the instructor. Instructors are obligated to teach!! Imho. I agree, Bob. An instructor has to realize that his or her journey also becomes entwined with other journeys, and although it shouldn't be an instructor's job to "convert," they do need to guide, which is very important.An instructor doesn't have the privlege to be selfish in his or her journey. Very Solid post!! You didn't see me do it...but to the bold type above...I bowed to that wisdom!!

Solid post!!

This one really stood out, and you are spot on with that. Customers can see this, and it says volumes about what you want to do. Thanks, Brian, glad that you enjoyed the article. You're right when you say "Customers can see this...", and the reason that I do those things without thinking about profit is because it's something that I just want to do to help them out in any way that I can. It's how I was raised by my parents, and it's just nice to do something for someone without sticking my hand out for a monetary reward. Most of the time, I'm not even thinking about getting paid or even for getting them to be a loyal customer, no, I just do it!!

I believe that all MAists might enjoy this documentary, by Oleg Larionov, and not just by those MAists who train in an Okinawan Karate-do... Please, enjoy!

I suppose what I'm asking, Do students choose to train? OR... Are students forced to train?

Imho, I'd say that these two styles are like day and night, and in that, the only similarities these two styles have in common is that they both start with the letter, 'S'. After that, their methodologies and ideologies are separated as far apart as the north pole is from the south pole. Imho! However, I respect both of these karate styles!!

Seeing that the UBBT is for all styles and the like, I've just emailed our Legal Team and Teaching Team to get the ball rolling. Could how the UBBT is conducted compliment or clash with the vision of our Soke? However, change is inevitable, and change is suppose to be a good thing.

Training allows our students the ability of discovering the unforeseen chink in their armor so that the flaw can be smoothed out, and then polished to the luster that's hiding beneath. Do we, as instructors, force our students to train? And if our students do not train often, or at all, do we punish them some how and someway for whatever reason(s)? Do we treat our students with an indifference that cuts them to the quick? Do we favor the students that train as though their very lives depended on it? Is our job to teach or to punish/reward personal choices? A great deal of questions, to be for sure. But without questions, just how can one begin to know the depth of ones own mettle in the course of ones MA journey?! Furthermore, training, to do so or not to do so, is part of a personal journey that can't be denied, nor should it be rewarded. Not in a manner that's not befitting of an ethical instructor, and not in a manner that cast a darkened shadow where light is fighting to shine through. Whether our students choose to train or not isn't because they're in accordance with any rules or standards for proper conduct. Therefore, if our students choose to train or not to train, an instructor seems to mean that one is in favor of ignoring general practices and principles because they are given to do so. I encourage my students to train their every fiber within themselves so that their mettle isn't a questionable enquire to themselves. I must be that example of training! If my students see that the manner of which I train, and that it's my own desired choice to do so, and quite often, then, my students might then choose to train of their own accord. I don't punish, nor do I reward on training ethics: do it...don't do it...I don't give a bent-pins care if my students do or do not because I don't own them, and its their MA journey, and how they choice to walk upon it, is entirely up to them. When my students fail any given testing cycle, it's not because I'm punishing them because they don't train/practice...no, that's the furthest thing from my mind, but what's evident in my eyes during any said testing cycle is that their techniques aren't up to the expectations that I've laid out, now and forever. I see what I see, and I judge how I judge, but it's never a question, to me, that my student standing before me has either trained or hasn't trained, it's more of a question if what I'm judging based on what I see, if my student's improving in his/her effectively applied knowledge across the board from when I've last seen them before. Training can't be imposed; it must be chosen. And when practitioners of the MA are given the choice, I can only hope that they choose training. It is the harder thing that I choose to do because the easier thing to do isn't a part of my make-up. Imho!! Your thoughts, please!!

This October, I'll have been in the MA, mainly, Shindokan, for 50 years. I must admit that I'm no longer the young man that I use to be; I tend to take longer to recuperate than I use to. That's to be expected as we become older, however, that doesn't mean that we have to like, just accept it.

Oh yeah...sometimes we get in our own way, and that makes training the much more difficult to stomach as we try to increase our MA betterment.

Patrick, Thanks for the opportunity, yet, I wonder...what seems disjointed and/or incomplete to me, might not be so with each reader. I will refrain for now, and see what replies and/or suggestions might be forthcoming from KF members. It's possible that anything I might add for the sake of clarification might end up muddling up even more so to the reader.

A new and exciting way stands before you, and in that, I commend your new path/journey. The UBBT seems to be something that might catch onto other styles and governing bodies, but only time will tell. MAists are always looking for ways challenge themselves against many forces, including their own mettle; hence, their MA betterment strives for that within themselves. The UBBT concept is one I'd be willing to test, and in that as well, I'd have to make it a voluntary choice, and not a required choice amongst anyone within the SKKA (Shindokan's governing body). I'm willing to have both our Legal Team as well as our Teaching Team to look much more closer to the UBBT and have them report back to the Administrative Team of their findings/discoveries to see if the UBBT might be something to consider. Is the UBBT, and forgive the question, created and designed and approved for ALL styles of the MA or for just your style?? Great article, and I thank you for it, Heidi.

I do thank you for taking the time to clarify your post. Having read your clarifying points, I wholeheartedly concur and understand what your post was indicating.