sensei8

I think I can't do 60 push-ups, so I'd try not to get into trouble. Yeah...I've a black belt myself, but it's not in doing push-ups, if you get my meaning.

I use a grappling dummy, and I squeeze it over and over while doing "sets" at different tensions and durations. Isometric tensioning drills against my inner as well.

I wholeheartedly concur!!

Chances are!! No more or less than any other MAists!! Hence, it being called chances. I understand it very well. Are chances worth it? I think that they are because I believe in myself more than I believe in Shindokan

Will your block/deflection END/STOP your attackers advances? This isn't a rhetorical question nor is it a general musing. If ones block/deflection lack stopping attributes, then there's no use, imho, to execute said block/deflection. Stopping attributes = solid mass + velocity + conflicting trajectory vs incoming attack. Yes, my blocks stop attacks. I still dont know what you're driving at. Sometimes the media in which we're a part of allows the written word to not come across clear. I'm driving at...Don't walk forward if it's not going to get one closer to where one is trying to arrive at. I give up. Don't give up! There's still hope for me My question is this... Are YOUR blocks definitive; absolute? OR Are YOUR blocks weak; inadequate? To the first question, you've said that they are!! Therefore, as I said in the OP, it's possible that this topic isn't for you. Don't block to just throw up an arm with no purpose; Ikken hisatsu speaks TO ME just that!! Each and everything that I do, I must do it with the intent that that will end said attacker. A fling and a flair just don't cut it with me. If I execute said technique without the intent, then I just might as well not even try. You attack me, be prepared to meet with my premeditated intent of stopping you, and in that, I will execute each and every technique with every fiber of my being until you're stopped, and in that, hopefully, it'll only take one, whether it's a block/deflection or a punch or a kick or a whatever else it might take.

I believe that understanding ones methodology allows one to explore beyond its core, and in that, other methodologies and ideologies can be then added to ones core of said practitioner. I like what both of you are saying!!

Then I would say... As long as one has a credible feedback source to fall upon, then engage in said training methodology.

Will your block/deflection END/STOP your attackers advances? This isn't a rhetorical question nor is it a general musing. If ones block/deflection lack stopping attributes, then there's no use, imho, to execute said block/deflection. Stopping attributes = solid mass + velocity + conflicting trajectory vs incoming attack. Yes, my blocks stop attacks. I still dont know what you're driving at. Sometimes the media in which we're a part of allows the written word to not come across clear. I'm driving at...Don't walk forward if it's not going to get one closer to where one is trying to arrive at.

So, students can do the form anyway they want, instead of the way they were taught?? Seems to me that that would not be beneficial because the said form should be performed as exactly as possible as it was taught. Now, in a form competition, go for it. Do the form anyway one feels most comfortable. But in a testing cycle, not cool, and not allowed. Paces vary from school to school, but within said school, the pace should be dead on the same. Imho!!

Approch each Kata seperately. By that I mean, treat each Kata appropriately to its sources. If one style has it being done this way, then do it this way. If the other style has it being done that way, then do it that way. Execute each as that style would have you to do, and nothing less!! It's, imho, the do it the Rome way when in Rome.

Still seems like a crappy thing to do to somebody. What was his whole point of abusing you until you got angry enough to yell at him? Dai-Soke was never abusive, and if he was, I would've left Shindokan a long time ago. Dai-Soke always CHALLENGED us, that was his way, and that was the way of our Soke as well. While it may seem like a "crappy thing to do", I never felt it that way then, nor do I feel that way now. To know him is to understand him; he was very compassionate both on and off the floor. If the way that I wrote the OP has painted a negative hue about the situation as well as my Dai-Soke, then the fault is mine, and not Dai-Soke's.

Still, accurate and credible feedback is needed. Without the feedback, nothing of value can be truly added to one MA betterment. It's all guess work and heresay and conjecture without the feedback. In that, it's not about one saying..."Better than nothing" because without that critical feedback, nothing can be learnt that's effective. Either ones doing it correctly, thus effectively, or ones not doing it correctly, thus ineffectively. Imho!!

In addition, Your article delves quite specifically in a very needed area that must be embraced and understood: Transitions. Your drills speak to that need. Well done!!

Excellent read!! Well done!! Thank you for it!!

If a school of the MA can't teach the effectiveness of said MA without hurting their students, then the doors should be closed forever. IMHO!!

Will your block/deflection END/STOP your attackers advances? This isn't a rhetorical question nor is it a general musing. If ones block/deflection lack stopping attributes, then there's no use, imho, to execute said block/deflection.

I wholeheartedly concur...see a doctor now so that you can train later. Hang in there, good luck with your recovery. Don't rush it.

I will!! I love Pinan Yondan because it's got quite a lot of "meat" on its bone, and my oh my, the Bunkai/Oyo, are endless. So much so, that when I think that I've disected it throughly, I discover something new. Pinan Yondan for me please!

Are any of YOU here allowed to set the pace of any said Kata/Form during a testing cycle?

Solid post!!

For clarity sake, the story I shared was NOT part of any testing cycle. NO! These moments were during regular classes with my Dai-Soke. I'm sure that me using the word "test" in the sharing made it appear, to some, that it was a "test", but it never was an OFFICIAL test. "Test" was the word used by Dai-Soke, and not by myself. This was his way, not just for me, but for any Shindokan student.

It's the stubborn within you that drives your MA vehicle, so to speak. You won't succumb because it's not within you to do so. In that, it's that light at the end of said tunnel that drives you to break through the darkest MA days into the bright MA days in your MA horizon. Thanks for the kind words, Bob. Now, I just need to get the train moving a bit faster through the tunnel... Time; let the time take care of itself, and it will!!

YES!! Anyone with a minimum idea of what the MA is, and has to offer in the form of self-defense and the like will always have some doubt for one reason or another. In that, if what you've learnt hasn't been tested for its effectiveness, then one will never know, therefore, one will build up false securities that guide one down a dangerous road. TEST..............................................and then some until you know for sure!!

A very well written article across the board. Some very fine points for those wishing to explore that media for their MA training. While I'm not a favorable proponent of that type of MA training, it's still valuable to those who decide for themselves to engage in that. Thanks for it!!

A very well put together article, and one that I totally enjoyed. Thank you for taking the time to write it!!