sensei8

Solid post!!

Wish you best luck in your search for a style and dojo to call home. Please let us know when you do settle down in your new dojo home!!

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.

Solid post!!

Solid post!!

How can ALL students learn, if no one ever asks any questions during class. Seems to me to be the best time to ask because if one waits until after class, then others are left out of the learning experience. Do it during class, but do it respectfully! If time is consumed in this endeavor instead of drilling, etc, then so be it. The CI still has to manage the time, but the times not a beacon of what's to be covered to the letter. What's not covered in the planned class for that day, can always be addressed at another time. If a CI can't manage time and the curriculum, then that CI shouldn't be the CI. Teaching is learning and vice versa. Imho.

sure I don't understand why some think its a very big deal to learn online!! I believe that what you find is that most MAists don't like any learning of the MA without proper feedback from a qualified instructor. No feedback! Then how can a practitioner of the MA know if what their doing is correct/effective. No proper feedback can cause incorrect muscle memory difficult to correct, if at all.

Welcome to KF; glad that you're here!! CI Hiroshi Nemoto is a top notch karateka; without blemish, imho!! You'd do yourself a favor to at least check it out!! Good luck on your search, I hope you fine what you're looking for, karate-do wise!! Please let us know how you're doing!!

I'm asking because (naturally) I see differences in your performance and the way I've learned it myself or have seen it in other dojos, so I'd be interested in learning more about the bunkai that you use in your dojo. I have found that even within one and the same style and org there can be minor differences in the way a kata is done, and vast differences in the way the kata is interpreted and bunkai is practiced. Do you by chance have a video contaning your bunkai? Or of any other kata that you do? OSU! The Bunkai for Suparenpei I have absolutely no clue about. Considering it is considered the last kata in the style. I don't have a video of any bunkai that my school does. don't forget to take into account i am relatively new to performing this kata. so Timing was off I'm the worse to judge kata because I take no prisoners; get it wrong, and I'll let you know IN A CONSTRUCTIVE MANNER, and advice how it can be fixed, and how it can be better. Others have given you their advice, and I'd like to say...solid advice!! You're was fine, and as you say...you're new to this kata. Time heals all things, and in time, you'll shake out the cobwebs and polish the mettle, in and out!! You'll be just fine!!

Solid post!! After all, most MAists, especially karate, kiai at the dojo, but how many here can say that they/they'll kiai on the streets?? It's drilled in us from day one, and one would think that muscle memory would make sure that you do kiai when on the street. Kiai provides much, but to kiai on the streets, other things are going on to worry if you did or didn't!!

Solid posts, as well, from CredoTe, cheesefrysamurai, Archimoto, mal103, Nidan Melbourne, and Harkon72!! From these, you should garner something useful.

Solid post!! As I'm a Senior Dan, I don't tolerate other Seniors addressing their students and reports as though their way is the only way, and therefore, demanding total submission to their ways because their a Senior Dan. All advise from a Senior Dan should be treated like any other advice...at the discretion of the practitioner!! Yes, they've been on the floor longer, and they may have some solid advice to pass onto those who desire it, but for advice to be taken, the practitioner has to decide if what's being offered is effective and beneficial to that practitioners MA betterment. Just because they've been on the floor for such along time doesn't mean that their advice won't creak, just like the floor in which they're standing on. Be careful! Be cautious! Be mindful! Be respectful! Be attentive! However, don't be fooled or bullied into adopting their methodology/ideology just because they're a Senior Dan.

Yoda...yes...great Jedi Master...like him...I do!!

"Man up" whenever things get rough/hard. But to do that, the balancing act commences...to take others, as well as yours, feelings in consideration. To be honest with all concerned can be easy or tricky, that's dependent on the individual. Not all kids have that luxury because parents tell them how to feel, and that's usually a reflection of what the parent feels...Was the parent wronged in their past? Did the parent ever have a positive mentor? The parables, as well as the variables, will not be the same. There have been some solid posts, many that can offer quite a wide parameter of help for the OP. Hopefully, mine is in concert with them and that what I offer is solid, as well. Hang in there!!

You're more than welcome, it was my pleasure!! However, I was cringing as I read the article because it seemed like I rushed the writing, and in that, the entire article didn't seem to flow for me; appeared some what disjointed in places. Very general descriptions, Sorry, all!!

First of all, Welcome to KF; glad that you're here!! As you persevere, you'll become more fit, and you'll no longer be tasked on the floor!! Time is always on your side; patience in your training will overcome any obstacle that might stand before you!! The MA is suppose to be hard; surrender to that, therefore, anything worth achieving is worth the sacrifice on and off the floor. Train hard; the reward will be well worth the efforts. Good luck with your Karate!!

Very solid post!!

Haha!! Awesome, a master indeed !!! Yes...she is!!

What do I do? No matter how much I want to...I'd decline either invitation because I love my wife unconditionally and my obligations to my wife supersede anything and everything...then I'd find a quiet room away from my wife and scream out in frustration...into a pillow. Besides, remember the look that only a wife can give? Yeah, that one! She'd KILL ME ...yeah...she'd let me go...but...it's that look that would bore right through me...I'd be playing catch up for the rest of my life. Thanks, but NO THANKS!!

Sing it with me.... Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Zaine, Happy Birthday to you....and many more!! Hope you're having a great birthday!!

Now, that's a solid piece of writing!! Concise, and well researched!! It was everything that an article should have when approached as with the MA in mind. SOLID!!

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. http://www.karateforums.com/articleimg/shindokan-shield.jpg Most, if not all, styles of the martial arts have some type of indentifying symbol of one kind or another; the image above is the symbol of Shindokan Saitou-ryu. The Shindokan shield was designed, and authorized, by Soke Fuyuhiko Saitou in 1950. It remains unchanged to this very day. Let us explore said shield as I briefly explain the nomenclature of our identifying symbol. This shield can be found on practically every official Hombu document. From our letterheads to our certificates of rank/title to scrolls to our flags to our banners to our by-laws to the patch that's worn on our gi; it's everywhere. We wear this shield proudly and with no ambiguity whatsoever; it's our badge of honor. The shields round circumference has a four inch diameter. There are three distinct colors within the shield: gold, red and white. There are also four distinctive fields within the shield: the outside gold border, the red three fold tomoe, the white triskelion and the gold kanji. Each color or field has an important meaning to us. These same fields weren't haphazardly thrown together by mistake, nor were they created by our Soke to only please the viewer. No, their meanings serve a solemn purpose because they echo the very life of our Soke; his very martial art journey, poured out onto this shield. The color gold, as found on the outside border, depicts Shindokan as being quite generous and giving, compassionate and loving, sharing its wisdom and knowledge with others unselfishly and without any hesitation; what is ours is freely yours. The color gold is associated with higher ideals, wisdom, understanding and enlightenment. It inspires knowledge, spirituality and a deep understanding of the self and the soul within everything that's Shindokan. The color red, as found just on the inside of the outer border, depicts Shindokan as giving fiery heat and warmth, therefore the life that it brings; as the red-hot heat of the Sun. Beyond those life giving properties, the color red symbolizes the courage within our hearts and the confidence within our movements; capitulated because of our driven energy, speed, strength, danger and passion for Shindokan. The color white, as found in the direct center, depicts the purity of Shindokan; untainted by the immoral ideologies. In the color white, there is a new birth, or beginning of a life cycle that's yearning breathlessly and unadulterated towards that which is unknown, yet hoped for and expected. In the color white, there is an equal balance, representing both the positive and negative aspects that constantly embrace and surround us all; how we balance them is important. Its basic feature of equality, implying fairness, impartiality, neutrality and independence, is what aides the binding forces of Shindokan. The shield's round circumference and four inch diameter has no tremendously significant meaning as to its given size and shape. The roundness is the same shape of the Tinbe (shield) we use while practicing our brand of kobudo (Old Martial Way). Its diameter has no direct correlation with the size of the human heart. However, the four inch diameter is sufficient enough to shield the heart and, while the human heart's location isn't directly under the shield per where it lies on one's gi top, its intended meaning should be easy enough to understand. The outside gold border symbolizes the fire that burns extremely bright, yet unbroken and unquenchable, within each of our hearts. This fire defends the three fold tomoe which in turn supports Shindokan. The border defends the virtue of Shindokan without any pause or reservation because it's within the border to defend Shindokan against all adversaries at any and all costs; absolute and without any contestation. The red three fold tomoe constantly circles to protect and serve Shindokan. The comma shaped crest is recognized as the Hidari Gomon, the traditional symbol of Okinawa. The varied explanations surrounding the tomoe are not only rich in its history, but also in its wealth of opinions. Many Okinawan karate dojos have incorporated its use into the symbols they use to represent their particular style of Okinawan karate-do. When a group of Okinawa's loyal to King Sho Nei staged a rebellion against the Japanese and were defeated, they were sentenced to death. Typical of the cruelty of the Satsuma samurai this was to be no quick execution. There would be no sense of dignity offered to the Okinawa's who failed in their attempt to restore their king. Instead, death would come painfully: being boiled alive. The bodies floating in the scalding water are captured in the swirling commas of the Hidari Gomon, and has come to depict the courage and tenacity of those individuals who took action against injustice and faced the consequences with dignity. The white triskelion is often times mistakenly confused as the Okinawan shield, which is used by most Okinawan karate styles; it represents itself to be the "rope in offering." In actuality, what's taken to be the Okinawan shield, in the color white, the triskelion between the three fold tomoe, that's the three "commas." This is the true Okinawan shield; in that, the red portion is nothing more than background. Cleverly disguised, some proponents believe it to be two shields in one. The gold kanji reads, from top to bottom, Shindokan. "Shin" means "heart," "do" means "way" and "kan" means "house". Literally, it translaes to "The House of the Heart Way." Having the kanji placed dominantly center, and placed over both the three fold tomoe as well as the triskelion, wasn't to overshadow the totality of the symbol, but rather, it was to place it respectfully in its deserved place. Shindokan is the father, while its practitioners are its devoted and loyal children. Hopefully, you've enjoyed a brief explanation about the Shindokan shield as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you. It's hard at times for most people, including martial artists, to understand each and every what, where, when, why and how of a symbol's design. For us Shindokanists, it becomes clear when one knows the creator of each and everything that is Shindokan. Note I hereby certify that I am duly authorized, and thereafter protected by Shindokan by-laws, as Kaicho of the Shindokan Hombu, to permit both the usage of its proprietary image as well this article herein to be used in its complete totality; as it's my given right.

Solid post!!

I must FIRST learn what goes where and when and how and why and so on and so forth; solo training, the core of the kata because that's how it's presented to most students...the 'A' before the 'B' or the '1' before the '2'. Then, the supplemental training begins when I've a partner to execute live training so I can NOW see the where and when and how and why and so on and so forth. Learn the steps first! Then, supplement that knowledge with someone who can throw the monkey wrench into the entire kata. Both posts here are solid and are actually discussing two different cars that are a part of the same train. At its primary level, kata serves simply as a catalog of techniques and as a method of personal improvement/perfection. As a catalog of techniques, any time individual kata practice is performed, whether the student is first learning a kata or doing it for the 1000th time, it is a training method to remind both the body (muscle memory) and mind (movement concepts) how individual techniques are performed. As part of personal improvement, we do kata over and over and over again, each time attempting to concentrate on some minutiae here and there the work on and hone. Bob's post regards a car that's a bit sooner in the train, near the front. When learning a kata, whether a student is taught movements first and then bunkai or vice versa, the student must understand the basic movements of each waza in the kata (from a physical, muscle memory standpoint, not necessarily intellectual understanding of bunkai) before being able to partner up. DaveB's post regards a car that's only a bit later in the train, perhaps only a car or two after Bob's. Once the basic movements of each waza in a kata are understood from a physical standpoint, partner work is essential to understanding what we're actually doing with the moves in a kata. This is a great point and I think goes well with the two posts quoted above. Originally, when Tii was first developed, there were no kata. Training included the study, learning, and development of movements and techniques using "shadow boxing", targets, or training partners (what we would call kihon), as well as fighting scenarios and live opponents where they would apply the techniques within the context of "matches" (what we would call kumite). There was a lot more to Tii than just the "kihon" and "kumite" aspects, but they provide insight into how the pre-founders of karate trained and developed their art. The first vestiges of "kata" appeared within Okinawan folk dances, which the Tii players would learn during their training as both a cultural preservation and a method to "hide" the techniques as weapons and fighting methods became outlawed. These Tii waza didn't develop into full blown kata until after the infusion of Chinese martial arts with the Okinawans' indigenous Tii (becoming Tode). Solid post!!

Common problems? Holding their breath!!