sensei8

I concur!! Notice, when watching an Aikido demo, that the Uke "goes with it", right. I think they're doing that to keep themselves from being broken. It's the..."go with it, or you'll get hurt" thing, and that's what a Aikido demo looks like to me. Makes me wonder if the Aikido master would torque "all the way" to ensure the success of said throw, while the Uke starts to seriously resist? I don't know! Serious resisting might cause the Aikido master to seriously torque.

Exceptions? What would those be? How does self-promotion not lack integrity?

Yes...Yes...Yes...Yes...those were the days, my friend, I wished that they never ended, oh yes those were the days!! Money, changes a lot of things, imho.

Not being an Aikidoist, I'm thinking that the unresisting training of the Uke is cool while ones learning the mechanic and the like of it. Possibly, the "go with it" to avoid any injuries, that I'm sure would occur at full speed/power/etc. As you know, Brian, we teach both unresisting as well as resisting training because it's important to know what to do when things don't work out as they do on the floor. Teach=unresisting Application=resist However, when it's time to test the application, do not do it in such a way that injuries will occur. There's a difference from experiencing the application than from seriously injuring the student. Of the latter, there's no excuse for that from anybody, especially an instructor of the MA.

Possibly...maybe...the correlation is based more on ones experience level. Sure, the Sensei teaches said kata to the student, but in doing that, he/she insures that the student is capable of it. Surely, for example, a white belt isn't ready for a Green/Brown/Black belt kata for the lack of experience. Unsu demands much more than a Shodan can muster, in that, Unsu is usually reserved for the Yondan, 4th Dan, level of experience. Rank does correlate to the Kata, and visa versa, but, not for the pure sake of a testing cycle.

This post makes me giggle... I can't believe that people are that fixated on the stripes on a belt, where someone wont respect someone for it, or tell them to "get out of my life". It's not the identifiers on said belts, it's the self-promotion that's the problem. That's what I don't respect; it's the self-aggrandizement of it all. And yes, I don't want to be around those types, which is my right. Imho!! sorry, but this sounds like a child who gets mad at his parents and says i hate you, get out of my life. few things in life are as serious to tell someone "get out of my life" and if someone promoting themselves or putting more stripes on their belt gets you THAT fired up, i would like to see how mad you get at things that really matter in life. Rank/Title Self-Promoting really matters to me because, imho, it's wrong. It's wrong because, imho, it lacks integrity!!

I believe that it could be beneficial to you.

Self-promoting ones title within an established structure is wrong too, imho. Our titles within our hierarchy are based on what's supported through our By-Laws, and in that, they're also supported through the way our Legal Team has written/worded them. Many of our titles, but not all of them, are tied into our Ranking Structure. For example, to be appointed to the Regents, one MUST be a Hachidan. But, that's a minimum prerequisite for that appointment. I can't self-promote myself to be a KF Sensei! KF has an established structure, and to keep its integrity, minimum prerequisites exist. We strive to keep our integrity too. Is this what you're speaking about? Am I on the same page?

How so?? Well why do you need to be a nidan? Or a sandan? Or a kudan? Why not just a Blackbelt? It is a tool to distinguish you from him or from her. That you are Bill's senior but Bob's junior. Early on rank is an identifier so your instructor and others can gauge your progress on a curriculum but when you are training for training's sake why do you need to be promoted further. IMHO it's to maintain that hierarchy so that both the rank holder and their peers know where within that hierarchy they fall. I don't need to be anything except a student of the MA. Those type of things are there, and were there before I came onto the MA picture. I am what I am, but it's not because of something that I did beyond my training. No one falls into the hierarchy, they're selected via an established voting proxy. Not everyone is of the hierarchy!! We use the word "hierarchy" within Shindokan circles to only note whom lies within the Administrative Chain of Command, and not within the ranks, as you're viewing it. It's an unfamiliar term for me to see rank as you're explaining it. Before I was elected into the old Board of Regents, I was NOT part of the hierarchy, nor was I privy to anything Administrative and the like. When I speak here at KF and I use the word "hierarchy", I've always been referring to those members, those chosen few, that are part of the Administration and the like. Ok...I've babbled enough...sorry! It's seems as though you use the word "hierarchy" within Shindokan to refer to something specific? In the strictest sense of the word, everyone who wears belts is part of a hierarchy whether they want to be or not. Taking this definition: (n) a system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority Belt ranking seems to fit into this pretty well. Once getting the next belt stops opening up a new part of the curriculum for you, why do you ever need to be promoted again? To the bold type above... I refer to something specific, because it is specific within the Hombu! Not my rule, but the established rule as set by our Soke!! Our hierarchy is the recognized authority within our Hombu and the SKKA. Our ranks are NOT part of OUR hierarchy, and not all, but very few, are nominated/elected to be appointed to that status from our specific ranks. It's OUR way!! Not the way of others!! I see what Danielle is saying, and it does fit into our discussion here. By and large, many of the organizations we are a part of have a hierarchy that is determined for the most part by the rank of those in the organization. The head of an organziation is usually the highest rank of that organization (usually). And we have also determined through the course of our discussion that most people who do promote themselves are likely doing so in order to move up in some hierarchy, whether it be their own or somebody elses. I too see what Danielle, you, and everyone else is saying...to a point. It's hard for me/us to view hierarchy the way you all are speaking about it because of Soke/Dai-Soke. To us, rank is referred through the Ranking Structure and our hierarchy is referred through our Chain of Command. For us, both are separate! Is my only point, if I even have one. I'm trying to understand what you all are talking about, I really am. I just know what I was taught. If it's wrong, then, I'm sorry!!

I'm glad that I'm not a banana tree!!

Please let us know how it went!

This post makes me giggle... I can't believe that people are that fixated on the stripes on a belt, where someone wont respect someone for it, or tell them to "get out of my life". It's not the identifiers on said belts, it's the self-promotion that's the problem. That's what I don't respect; it's the self-aggrandizement of it all. And yes, I don't want to be around those types, which is my right. Imho!! sorry, but this sounds like a child who gets mad at his parents and says i hate you, get out of my life. few things in life are as serious to tell someone "get out of my life" and if someone promoting themselves or putting more stripes on their belt gets you THAT fired up, i would like to see how mad you get at things that really matter in life. Fair enough...and ouch!! You're analysis is not how I perceive the justification of self-promotion. How do you feel about those who self-promote themselves??

Congrats!!

The content is up to those on at the time. It can be chatting or training or both or whatever else. I've done both, chatting and training, during a session.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!! I look forward to reading your posts!!

Over the many years, I've seen this before. I've even seen GM Young Ik Suh do similar things like this with his senior black belts; he's TKD.

Solid post!!

As it is your right to not want to teach kobudo to kids. When I was a JBB, while I was in the 10th grade, we lived in an apartment complex just 2 blocks away from the Van Nuys LAPD police station. My mom forbad me from practicing kobudo. inside of the apartment. What was I to do? My answer, I practiced in the carport downstairs where my mom parked her car. One particular Saturday, I went downstairs to work on the Sai's. I had not been down there long when a group of kids older than me and they started to make fun of me. At that time, I laid the sai's down on the hood of mom's car while I worked on a kata. I was imaging the things that I was working on without the Sai's. One of the boys found the Sai's and picked them up. I immediately told him to put them down and to not ever touch them ever. The boys laughed and didn't heed to my words of warning. I tried to reason with him, and while I was trying, all of the others cut off any escape. So, the boy who had the Sai's started to come at me with them. I yelled at him to stop before someone gets hurt. I was now cornered with him advancing, flailing the Sai's from side to side, taunting me to take them away. Then he lunged at me. That was too close. I dropped down in a fighting stance and warned him again. They laughed at me the more. He lunged one more time, but this time more determined. What happened next, it has stuck with me these many years. As his right hand was coming down, I executed a lead-leg roundhouse kick at his right hand...POP..."Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" was all he kept saying. The others ran away. When I kicked his right hand, his right hand went directly back at him. One of the prongs struck him in the very corner of his right eye, near his nose. He had dropped both of the Sai's , I picked them up and I went home immediately. I told my mom what happened, and she was mad at me. About a half-hour later, a police officer showed up at my door, and the boy and his mom was in tow with the officer. The officer talked to everyone, and at the end, the officer said that I acted in self-defense, and he wasn't going to arrest either of us. The boys mom was yelling at him as they walked away. I didn't mean to hurt him; he could've lost his eye. I just wanted to knock the Sai out of his hand. He lived three doors down from me. He did recover and he didn't lose his sight. Whenever he and his friends ever saw me in the neighborhood, they'd say hi to me, but that was the extent of their conversation with me. I told my Sensei about the incident, and he did nothing. No speech, no punishment, no banning Kobudo, or nothing!! He just walked away!!

There will be a time when you'll forget less and remember more. Everything takes time...and it should. Practice those things that you do remember from class. Anything that you forget, your Sensei will bring it back to your memory when you're back in class: Drills will do that.

Shorin-ryu? It's worth trying!!

All posts are solid; I wholeheartedly concur with each and every KF member about this.

No! We're talking about Youthful Masters! But, sometimes topics take turns off the topic, and I think that's what happened, somehow or someway, and it might be my fault. I was answering DWx's question(s), and for me to answer her honestly, I've only one thing to base my comparison with, and that being what I've learned hierarchy is from our Soke and Dai-Soke. For me, I can't speak of hierarchy in general terms because I've not been around general terms, only specific terms as they were taught to us my the aforementioned Sensei's that have been in our life's. I don't think that any style of the MA speaks in general terms, therefore, I believe that styles of the MA speak in very specific terms.

Forgive me, but just because you have The Hierarchy as something specific, it does not mean that you don't fall into a hierarchy as well. By it's very nature having a belt rank gives structure and a pecking order by indicating one's seniority level. You said earlier: Is this not an example of rank being used to establish and maintain a hierarchy and keep a level of seniority? Your first point speaks about rank; I DON'T, when I'm speaking about hierarchy as it pertains to Shindokan!! To ME, rank and hierarchy are TWO separate things...again...TO ME, per the way I was raised to understand hierarchy to be!! To ME, hierarchy speaks towards the Administration's Chain of Command, and nothing more. For an example, I don't say that a group of our 8th Dans decided this or that. No. Instead, I say, the Regents, for example, decided this or that. I say it specifically that way because I'm speaking about an aspect of OUR hierarchy, our Chain of Command, as WE understand it to be. I concur with your second point; it DOES speak about rank because Demura's Sensei WAS speaking about rank; Demura's!! In that, the post you quote me, I was telling Harkon72 about something that was similar to what he was specifically speaking about concerning his Sensei. Both of your points are not in alignment with what I view hierarchy to be!

Personally, I'm glad to see that this practice is STILL being done today. It meant a lot back then, and it seems that it still means a lot today!!

I don't prefer neither of them because they've given in to the politics of the governing association that's operating said tournament. Imho.