sensei8

Solid post!

By what I'm reading here... No one's picked their own instructor....hhhhmmmmmm!?!?!?!?!?!

Love it!!

In what way?? If memory serves me, the notes of Lee were formulated into the Tao of JKD, and if that's true, while Lee didn't actually pen said book, the notes and all were Lee, thus, Lee "wrote" the book.

I've very quick hands, in that, Shindokan is 85% hands with 15% feet. The closer to my opponent/attacker, the more I'm at home; short range technique dominant mixed in with Tuite.

A karateka is taught Ikken Hisatsu [To Kill With One Blow] from day one; knowing that in todays MA world, our techniques are suppose to be executed properly, thus, as powerful as on can muster to and through any said point/target to stop our attacker(s). We train and we drill and we do this and that an untold amout of times, and then some. Not because we're told to, but because motions are for the oceans, but reasons are for the seasons!! To move for naught is empty and useless! The only way to dispatch your attacker(s) is to exhume purpose with each and every technique and the like! Are your blocks/deflections, in this case, definitive; absolute? If they aren't... Then why pause or stop after you've blocked/deflected? Don't you realize that your attacker(s) wil be delivering one attack after another until you're defeated? Your attacker(s) isn't helping you to practice 1-Step Kumite; you're defeat is paramount to your attacker(s)!! Be ready for each and every possible attack; awaken yourself and be alert at all times. One block/deflection will beget another attack from your attacker(s). OK...Great...you've blocked/deflected...now what?? Don't just stand there! Either attack/counter attack or block/deflect the incoming attack(s). If your block/deflection is definitive; absolute, then this topic isn't for you. On the other hand, if your whatever isn't definitive; absolute, then train "it" until it is, and then some!! Your block/deflection should stop your attacker(s), and it should only take one...just one!! But when it doesn't, you act all shocked. Why? Don't ever assume your block/deflection are definitive; absolute...unless you know for sure! Know that there's stopping power in what you're executing. And if one block/deflection doesn't stop your attacker(s), make sure that the next one does!! Save 1-Step Kumite for the dojo!!

I think some kids just get to the point that they are either burning out a bit, or have done something so long they fall into a rut. They need a jolt, something to wake them up again. And some kids do just "go through the motions." Yeah, for some of our kids that get burned out, we advise their parents to take a little break and come back in a few weeks, month, etc. That tends to work for those kids. For the kids that need a jolt, the difficulty is finding what works to "jolt them". I'm not sure I've found a good solution to that... That's why baseball, basketball, football, soccer and the like are great breaks to ward off burnout.

24/7...365...always!!

So quite a few of you have said "heart". But what does that even mean and why does that make you a martial artist? Heart is not going through the motions! Heart makes the intangibles tangible! Heart defines purpose! Heart makes the powerless powerful! Heart gives techniques absolution! Heart erases the blood, sweat, and tears! Heart welcomes the floor! Heart...Heart...Heart...Heart..................

Triple dipple YES!! That's a good question. I think it takes time. When you get started, you are "taking Martial Arts." Once you've been at it, then you become a Martial Artist. That old Bruce Lee quote fits: "Before I learned the art, a punch was just a punch and a kick, just a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick, no longer a kick. Now that I understand the art, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick."

Wait.... Isn't that kind of what KF is..? 'cept with the positive notion of keeping it going? Yyyeeeesssssssssssss!!

Congrats and well done!! Btw, I miss you here at KF!!

Solid post!!

Motions are ok, but quitting isn't. However, if one does quit, that's ok too. It's what one decides, and that's cool too!!

They'll have to want to do the MA. At 7 years old, I wanted to do the MA, and I knew that I wanted to do the MA for the rest of my life; and I have done the MA my entire life!! No one can make someone want to do the MA, they have to have that already in them.

Yes...congrats!! You're amongst the elite and deservingly so!!

Even the most seasoned performer is nervous before they step onto the floor of their chosen profession, whether it be a MAist or a CEO or a Musician or a Dancer or a Public Speaker or whatever. Butterflies are a good thing and not the end, and in that, do whatever it is that calms you down, whether it's music or yoga or praying or whatever it might be...just do it and allow the performance take care of itself. Nerves are a good thing because they let you know that you're still alive. Harness them, accept them, and then to the best of your ability...calm them.

I'd say that the three sentences would be done in order. The first day on the floor to learn their chosed MA, you're a MAist, then, as time passes and one begins to understand their chosen MA, you're a MAist, then, as knowledge is absorbed from their chosen MA, you're a MAist. Can't have one without the other; it's repeatitive and continuous!!

Nice! BTW, do you still have the actual obi you earned in 1996? If so, and that's the one you still wear, I'd be surprised if it's any other color than a beautiful, well-worn gray... Yes. I still have my original Hanshi obi, and it's worn, but not that bad, not like the belt I regularly wear day in and day out. Awesome... Someday I'll have enough experience in my journey to have a gray-white black belt. Once I do get there, I'm still unsure whether I'll keep just a worn gray-white black belt, or if I will have another to use for more formal occasions. I have a few years to figure it out There's nothing to really figure out because whichever obi you decide to wear, it'll be yours alone to decide!!

I'm so very glad that there's no intervention clinic to address my addiction to the MA!! If there was, I'd never attend!

I believe he would be. The scenario you describe is similar to the really old masters, whom due to age and / or other natural debilitation, cannot physically train much anymore. The sheer volume of knowledge and experience they could impart to students would be invaluable. I agree, as well. I think that there are a lot of shades of grey in this question, and depending on the circumstances, one could decide either way. If someone just ups and quits the MAs, then what? Not a black belt, because they choose to stop training? I can see how some would say no, not a black belt anymore. But then again, I could argue how could it be taken away? The belt can be physically taken from us, true. But how many of us then make the argument that the belt isn't what's important, but the knowledge and experience is? It really is a tough question to answer. The HEART of the legitimate black belt is FOREVER, and in that, the black belt is forever, no matter the circumstances involved. It's what that governing body says. That governing body can give and take away rank whenever they decide, and in that, not all governing bodies are the same when it comes to the core of this topic/discussion. If your governing body doesn't reduce rank, then cool, but at the same time, if our governing body does reduce rank, then that should be cool as well. My Hombu does, and will reduce rank, Kyu/Dan, if it's warranted to do so!! To even to the extent of reducing rank IS reflected also on paper as well by submitting paperwork into that said students master hard file. Again...experience/knowledge and the like can never be reduced and/or taken away from said practitioner!! I'll respect a 10th Kyu equally as I would with a 10th Dan, none is better and/or greater than the other, imho.

But what if you hadn't trained in 15 odd years? Let's put it this way: you begin your MA training under an instructor, who let's say is a 5th degree black belt. He has to move, retire, and falls out of training, due to whatever life throws at us. Would you not respect him as your instructor throughout the rest of your life? Would you tell him that you now out rank him, and no longer respect the knowledge and experiences he passed on to you as his student? Or, do would you still look at him as that 5th degree black belt that took you under his tutelage all those years ago? Does the belt/rank automatically beget respect? Whether he was a 5th kyu or a 5th dan if he has knowledge and experience that I would deem valuable then that garners some level of respect. But is he a blackbelt if he hasn't trained in any way shape or form for 15 years? I'd say no he isn't. He was but now isn't an active one. An inactive or dormant blackbelt. Just as physical skill requires constant practice and exercise, so does knowledge. I'd wager he'd forget a good chunk of that knowledge after 15 years of inactivity. To the bold type above...NO!! I agree with you, Bob. No, it does not automatically beget respect. I should have noted in my example that there was a mutual respect present already between the two individuals I was speaking of. Now, lets add to the scenario. What if something happened and he couldn't train any more? Some debilitating disease that broke down his body, causing a slow demise, during which time he couldn't train. Still a black belt? YES!!

Imho, that's akin to not ever sparring; active actions are warranted to learn how to react and the like.

Absolutely! Great post! We have that conversation / soapbox session with our students quite often, sometimes til we're blue in the face, that we cannot teach them drive / determination / desire... that, if they want to develop skill in MA, it's our job as instructors to show them the tools, it's their job as students to meet us halfway with the desire to train / learn how to use those tools properly. Yes...yes!!

Nice! BTW, do you still have the actual obi you earned in 1996? If so, and that's the one you still wear, I'd be surprised if it's any other color than a beautiful, well-worn gray... Yes. I still have my original Hanshi obi, and it's worn, but not that bad, not like the belt I regularly wear day in and day out.