sensei8

I concur!!

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!!

Karate: The Art of Empty-Hand Fighting~ Hidetaka Nishiyama/Richard Brown For karateka's, especially those of Shotokan, this book, imho, is quite invaluable across the board. My understanding is that it commands a hefty price nowadays; worth every cent, imho. I don't think that you'll find it in any public library, and if you did, I doubt that the library would even check it out...but I'm guessing because I don't work in the public library system.

Chuck Norris!!

I'm always for the underdog, and imho, the Seahawks are the underdogs against the Broncos and Peyton. So...GO SEAHAWKS!! Ooohhhh. my stomach just turned because in my gut, the Broncos are going to win.

Is the way we grasp a knifes blade the same way that we would grasp a swords blade? I'm asking because I don't know! I was taught to treat the blade of a sword not as a friend but something as an enemy that can hurt/harm me, therefore, grasp the person and not the blade!! For me, I will grab a knife as I was taught, but I'm not too keen on grasping a swords blade. Someone please set me straight!!

SD, imho, is learnt and acquired; from within and from out. Btw, I always thought that I was always learning SD. I mean, I learn the MA, I'm pretty good at it, I think, therefore, I can defend myself, quite to the point if need be. If after 49 years I can't defend myself, well, I'm on a boat without any oars; I'm adrift!!

That's why we ALSO teach kata live; with a resisting partner. Our Soke believed not in the cookie cutter way of training, no, live training, free from the structures that bind said student/MAist. WE DON'T TRAIN PER THE MASSES!! Our Soke saw the many mistakes, especially how concepts are trained, therefore, that's the core of why he founded Shindokan. A way that's not from some status quo; not to be different, but to be effective. Please hear me when I say, we don't train like the status quo; we've evolved away from that.

The only issue I have with this concept is that kata have become a tool used in curriculum to determine rank. The first form I was taught was the ATA white belt form, Songham 1. In the TTA, it was Chon Ji. These are white belt forms, and as such, although may have many applications, they may not cover it all. In the past, forms weren't taught according to rank. But it is, now. To the bold type above... That's the mistake, and that mistake, imho, is made by those who don't truly understand kata. While it's a training tool on the surface, it's much more than that. And because kata's are aligned with ranks per the syllabus/curriculum, kata is mistakenly thought to be just for that.

Brian's title is kind of a devil's advocate because kata IS a concept, in that, it can't versus itself.

Solid post!! That's what happens in many styles of the MA, they're shocked into thinking uncomfortable thoughts. This curbs their ability to learn. One sees the fight training and thinks they're doomed, when they're not. It's the ...forest for the trees thing.

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!

Solid post!!

Yes! That's how students learn said applications; one movement/step at a time. No matter the simplistic and/or the complexity of said Bunkai/Oyo, it must be broken down to its most basic movements so that said applications can be learnt, understood, and mastered. Even more so, resistance isn't futile. Therefore, we then turn up the intensity by drilling said Bunkai/Oyo in a live fashion. Reason it's that way is because things don't always happen in the streets as they do when one's training in the safety of the school. Step-Sparring is the most rudiment training form because it leads to live training. I don't and can't see Bunkai/Oyo being taught without Step-Sparring within its midst. Movement at normal speed is too difficult to comprehend in a learning atmosphere; the elements must be broken down to its individual steps, in this case, Step-Sparring, otherwise what's being shown/taught is nothing more than a blur.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!!

How so??

A sword is longer, but more importantly, the sword is heavier than a knife. Therefore, the sword's chance of sliding across one flesh is more favorable because of that. However, a grip is a grip!

I'm borrowing that! Great simple mantra to teaching this stuff I'm surprised that TKD doesn't teach that. Hhhhmmmmm?

Ditto!! You've finally arrived!!

Don't freak out! Remember, you're a beginner, therefore, when you train with them, they'll keep you training at that level. Lots of stuff in the video isn't at the beginner level. Instead of a throw, it might be just a simple beginner level lock. Have fun and learn!!

I don't know, but what I do know is the one rule: Deflect/Block!! If that's not easy to do, then don't be there when the attack arrives. If that's not easy to do, don't be there at all; be somewhere else far away!!

Even as a high rank, the one-steps, for me, must remain simple because simplicity rules the day. Confounding movements are just that; the long and winding road. Even our one-steps are treated in a separation by us high ranks. Take this, twist it here, change it there, experiment with it because a simple downward block to a front kick, then followed by a reverse punch to the solar plexus turns into something different by adding a slide step to the side, then switched into an angled transition. Great posts by both Brian and Danielle...RIGHT ON!!

The three K's...again!! Without either of them, it's not karate!! Kata training needs to be alive. Take the segments, and drill them live over and over again. Seek for the weaknesses that are in the Kata segments. Don't allow anything within the Kata work, unless it does work. This of course will change as one gains effective applied knowledge: what worked last time, now doesn't because I'm not a dolt; I got smarter over time. NOW FIX THAT! This will repeat until you die; it's never ending!! Kate ISN'T a memorized dance! Stop treating and training kata as though it is, and nothing more. Bruce's analysis of Kata is right and wrong, at the same time. Bruce was right when he said that kata is like swimming on dry land, but only at first, and that's because each new kata is unfamiliar ground. Bruce was wrong in his thought when kata is trained live, and with a purpose. Kata then no longer is that ineffectiveness because Bunkai/Oyo is so far away from the core of kata, and that said kata is brought alive when we battle the segments. Allowing nothing!!

Nice..I like it..Solid post!! Tradition VS Modern: I can have a traditional salad with its traditional ingredients, or, I could have a wrap, which has all of the traditional things inside.

Excellent topic, Brian! Thanks for it! Solid OP!! We have both. We've our share of pre-set one, two, and three steps per the individual ranks. From that, we've our share of random ones as well. Like Bunkai, we've also Oyo. The first, is pre-set, while the second, isn't. By increasing the tempo and transferring that to live free-style kumite. What's seen in step-sparring, should translate to free-style kumite. After all, step-sparring is the infant of free-style kumite, and it must be properly nourished all of the time. Then turn it ALIVE!! Fight back, no matter your role in the step-sparring. Find out what might or might not have a chance to work effectively if I do this instead of that, as it's prescribed to do so. Imho, GM Cho's views are accurate. Step-sparring lessens the fear of the unforeseen contact, but only so much. Fear will evaporate in time. The more one engages, the less one has to worry about a many things associated with Kumite. GM Cho's views on one-step is akin, imho, to hikken hisatsu (To Kill With One Blow). The goal isn't to kill but the goal is to make your one attack or your one counter-attack be meaningful. I'd rather end an attacker with just one technique, and not with a barrage of attacks. Therefore, I'd say that my views to GM Cho's are similar in an overall aspect. By training them ONE AT A TIME...OVER AND OVER!! Even when new things are discovered, and they are, unless one's not seeking/searching. Effective applied knowledge begets effective training, and in that, effectiveness is an overall consensus. Discard the ineffective!