sensei8

After nearly 60 years, 1964 to current... Shindokan Saitou-ryu Karate-do: Kudan Shindokan Saitou-ryu Kobudo: Hachidan Chang Moo Kwan/Kang Duk Won TKD: 6th Gup after 1 year.

I wholeheartedly agree!! Sanchin is NOT any part of the Shindokan curriculum but I still learned and trained Sanchin because of the important of it.

Both my Soke and Dai-Soke were dead set against us from cross training for their reasons. Many of us fought against their orders, however, persistence paid off and we were allowed to. Biggest thing was that I was the first one to take the plunge in the arena of cross training by my taking TKD against their wishes, of which I knew that it was my choice and not theirs. Change is inevitable even if that change is a forced one. Right there, is what I always say...Not all black belts can teach, nor should they. That CI has NO integrity whatsoever.

Proof!! Everything that is Art requires proof and, in the MA, the proof is found on the floor. The floor has no mercy, and its judgement is harsh, Therefore, without proper reflection, there cannot be any mastery whatsoever.

Yes, there's a limit to someone's potential!! No, a fighter can't continue growing indefinitely!! In short, none of us can stay at our most effective physical peak forever. Age catches up to everyone whether one likes it or not. Accepting that, well, that's an entirely different thing.

Congratulations, Montana; very, well deserved!!

Not bad at all; congrats, John!! Good luck to next months tournament.

What I love is that your MA journey is YOURS and while your inspirations have helped to formulate the MA journey that you're on. Your eclectic training catapults your core into other effectiveness that heightens your training. While a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick, your MA betterment finds that ideology to not be accurate, which is Shu Ha Ri over and over again. I'm so glad that you've found the inspirations that you've found, and that they've been positives in your MA journey. Brain, here at KF, and yourself certainly have the same drive for the longsword and other medieval weaponry.

"What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger." That's generally used as an affirmation of resilience. Yet, in this matter it serves no purpose whatsoever. To fail a student in a Testing Cycle to just see how the student deals with failure is very damaging to the student. There MUST always be a cause for failing a student because of the importance of the Test Cycle. Testing Cycles are NOT something that should be treated as a means to entertain the CI. The Testing Cycle is a very serious test across the board. Since when did the Testing Cycle become are toy for the CI to play with!?! Things like this destroys the Testing Cycle's integrity and should never be tolerated by anyone, particularly the student!! This is akin to just plucking off the fly's wings just to see how it reacts. It's uncalled for and cruel to the Nth degree. Anyone else who sat on the testing panel and agreed with this charade should be ashamed of themselves and shouldn't be teaching anything as well as being unceremoniously terminated for cause immediately. Parents have every right to act upon this type of deliberate sabotage for the sake of the overall Student Body and the Testing Cycle's integrity. This is exactly what I mean when I say not all black belts can teach, nor should they...EVER!!

How'd the tournament go, John??

We have failed more than we've passed in our Testing Cycles, especially at the Hombu. It's not an ego thing at all, it's just a fact. The Testing Candidates somehow and someway fall apart from the pressure of the Testing Cycle. I can't remember just how many Testing Cycles that I've failed myself.

Traditions have its place in a multitude of contexts in any MA schools/Governing Bodies, and the gi is not exception. As Montana notes, "What difference does it really make?", and I couldn't agree any more. I've worn a blue gi ever since they came out; it's my favorite. Seeing that my students are also my customers, and I sold gi's as well, I broke away from the traditional handcuffs when it came to gi colors. If my students/customers want to wear a different gi color, go for it. However, because at the Hombuv we're guests, therefore, any of my students, as well as myself, wore the traditional gi colors of WHITE or BLACK or combo of the two. In my closet I've a wide plethora of gi's hanging of all types and colors. Because change is inevitable, I changed the traditional look of wearing all white except the CI and the black belts. I like the sea of colors on the floor!!

This speaks to me about Mizu No Kokoro (Mind Like Water) and Tsuki No Kokoro (Mind Like the Moon). These two concepts are a cornerstone of many MA beliefs through and through. To be focused one's mind must be calm and undisturbed in order that it can properly reflect, analyze, and effectively react according.

Happy New Year to everyone!! Have a safe and prosperous year!!

Your workout routines are quite solid across the board. In time, your side kick height will improve, if that's one of your goals. Keep up the good work!!

There's nothing wrong with the practitioner choosing either to perform or to execute any given MA technique under any circumstances. Where it becomes problematic is when there's no effectiveness whatsoever at its most given crucial time, whenever that time might be. What focused efforts in either direction, the human factor must be realized at that given crucial threshold. Cast away any and all simulations with either to perform or to execute because whatever drills might've been practiced over and over again, the comfort and safety of the dojo wipes away any and all human factors. Adrenaline, fear, and whatever else matters in any delay to one's perception, decision, and/or response time is a vital consideration. Reaction time can be complicated by human factors such as line of sight, sensory overload, habituation, sensory deprivation, and environment also play a role. Perform on the streets like one does in the comfort and safety in the dojo without any cause, will drastically affect how one executes out in the streets.

When I was a teenager, I really wanted to be a chef. If you knew nothing about me, then you knew that. For years, all I got for Christmas was cooking materials. Finally, I started giving people lists of things that I wanted which, notable, included no cooking materials.A couple of years later, I finally stopped receiving them. In the past, I received so many Bruce Lee posters from family that I started to despise Bruce Lee posters of any kind.

Excellent research, Brian through and through. Like Karate, TSD/TKD have quite the variety as to the different styles with their own rich history. Oftentimes, the mish-mash of styles, for me, seems to have so much in common with one another. What is your TKD style?? I pray I'm not to amiss when I say that since your TKD follows the Chung Do Kwan style forms, that that's your core TKD style is Chung Do Kwan?!? Not sure what style of TKD that your Sun Yi's Academy teaches. How similar is Soog Moo Kwan to your TKD style? Btw, I'm not referring to anything that might be of the ATA.

Yes, how did the CT Scan go, please!!?? I pray nothing to serious!!

Some very nice tidbits of serious research there, Brian. Even I, who's not deeply entrenched in TSD, except the occasional seminars and such over the many years, values what your research has offered through and through. I believe that any TSD and TKD practitioners can gain quite a lot from what Brian's research here has uncovered. Learning about one's own history can be quite important towards one's own knowledge and experience.

Nope!! Anything but MA stuff, of which I'm very thankful for what I was blessed with. Family tends to stay away from that area because I'm like that car mechanic that has every single tool under the sun whether they use it or not. Having my own fully stocked MA Supply store for many, many years attached to my dojo, and having a dojo busting at the rafters with nearly every MA training tool under the sun, the family doesn't try to get me any MA toys anymore.

Congrats, Nevinyrral; well deserved!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!! Please be safe and have tons of jubilation!!

Thank you, Brian and Zaine!!

Solid post!!