sensei8

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Consult with your sensei first; that'll be the best advice that I can give you for now. Your sensei, imho, should always be your first contact. Having said that, the Bo is where I'd start. Good luck and train hard!!

I wholeheartedly concur with every post...solid posts, each one. Good luck with your desicion. Visit the school many times before deciding.

Thank you, made some good friends during the day including the 5th dan so not all bad..... Excellent!!

Very nice Bill...very nice! What's written on the left side in the red area? Master Pedro Sauer signs every belt he hands out. I sent a picture of that signature and it was digitized and embroidered onto the belt. It is an exact replica of his signature. I was very impressed with the work. Very nice!!

Kyokushin = Knockdown karate Shotokan = Not knockdown karate Are they both effective? Yes! But that's dependant on the practitioner. Is the practitioner effective when using either one. The style can be effective, but the practitioner isn't always.

Imho, the Arbitrator of that tournament shouldn't have put you in that division because while you're almost 36 years old, you're tenure of four months only qualifies you to be in the beginner/novice/4 months training division. Tournaments nowadays ask the competitors..."How long have you been training?" The tournament will then place you in the proper division. You, with 4 months of training, had no business facing anyone who had much more training, let alone a Godan [5th Dan]. A Godan has mega years, and a MAists with 4 months of training is no match for the Godan. That tournament should be ashamed of themselves. Age is not a factor of placing one into a division. No. How long one has been training IS, and is that training been consistent, or has there been a lot of time away from the MA; these are important. I'd not go to that tournament ever again because they've not asked the proper questions concerning you. Hang in there, and TRAIN HARD!!

Pads are an important part of training in any MA because they protect one from some potential serious injuries. Especially with my students and there safety is paramount. I use them still, and that's to make sure that my students are safe, however, I don't wear them when I'm training with fellow Shindokanists that are Rokudan and above. Why? Those aforementioned ranks had been with our Dai-Soke during a time when we never used pads whatsoever, not even a cup/mouthpiece. Don't want to get hit, then do something about it, and that's how we trained back then. Dai-Soke started putting pads on us when he saw the importance of safety beyond the Do. Still, those that had been with him for a long time, still didn't wear any type of pads; it was foriegn to us. Change is enivitable, and wearing pads is no exception. Greg, our Kancho, and I often will try to kill each other when sparring. That's how WE train...no pads.

One's never to old, imho, to train in the and continue in training in the MA. I'll be 56 this October and I've been doing Shindokan ever since I was 7 years old. The saying goes..."You're only as old as you feel!" I think this is an honest statement of encouragement for anyone, not just MAists. Are you feeling too old or just out of shape? Either way, age, imho, is what it is and nothing can be done about it. Being out of shape, well, execise is a wonderful thing all across the board. Now...TRAIN your heart out!!

I've dabbled in yoga when I was much younger. When I say dabbled, I mean, I tried it out for a short period, and then said, "Hey, that's cool, but just not my cup of tea!" I believe it's a beneficial thing to do, and to add into ones MA training, but, for me, it wasn't and still isn't part of my MA training.

Can you tell me is a Chi Sao helpful for Karate championship because right now I am looking for a technique which helps me to warm up before the karate match. If some other technique, please specify. Thank you!!! I believe that it does, and it will help because Chi Sao can, and does, help practitioners learn to embrace close range techniques. Many little things come into play when training Chi Sao, i.e., footwork, transitional shifts, deflections, directings, traps, arrests, checks, penetrations to name just a few.

I don't think Funakoshi was creating a style either. I believe he was only sharing with others what he knew to be effective within his MA.

Even those evolve in some way or another because of the search for ones betterment...still!! Whenever one gets better, no matter how slight; that's evolving. You have given very great and decent comment on martial arts I like the way you put your knowledge in a very precise manner. I thank you for your very kind words!! To be honest with others requires me to be honest with myself first.

First of all...Great OP!! They, whomever they might be, can label any MA anyway that they feel but it doesn't and shouldn't effect anyone. Why? My MA journey is MINE and I won't allow it to die. Even if that means that I travel at time quite alone!! Nothing!! It would take a miracle to end the "give me now no matter what it may cost" campaign because that's what's the easiest way to learn the MA. No sweat, no blood, no tears; just "here you go sir/maam!!" Brand management isn't an easy issue because one has to understand just HOW to manage ones brand. It'll take more mistakes than Carter has liver pills before one 'masters' brand management. Just be HONEST in operating ones school of the MA, and don't try to find the shortcuts all of the time because they'll fall like a ton of bricks right on top of your head. Be honest across the board!!

I don't think ones betterment, or the betterment of ones students can be over thought...if context and content are not abused and/or misunderstood. If only other instructors that as you do!!

The Bunkai's finer points, imho, can't be garnered through this venue because you're there and I'm not. I believe that the finer points will be lost on the written words. So much so, that the finer points become more of a fog, then what they truly are. It's, for me and for every Shindokanist, the Oyo that helps me discover and realize the finer points, and even in that, it's the already found finer points that can still be lost in the written words, no matter how well one can write so simplistically. The difference from a Heian Kata to a Niahanchi is like, imho, separating the day from the night. Niahanchi is superior across the board to Heian, but in that, anything that can be absorbed, is effective and beneficial to that practitioner. A Taikyoku kata can be more beneficial to a practitioner that the most advanced kata due to the fact that simple rules the day!!

Great story!! I bow to YOU!! This will reach the hearts of your students as well as they see the evidence of your MA journey right before them. Not all of your students will understand what steps you've taken, but in time they all will!! The betterment will not be yours alone, but your students as well.

Congrats!! Now the journey still continues!!

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

I would consider a "waiting room" if we had the room for it in our dojo...lol I hear you!! Not every school of the MA has a waiting room or the like. Where do you have them wait while class is in session?

Whenever I've had a student speak to me about rank in the manner of rank being NOW more important than anything within the MA, I've done the unheard of thing to that type of student... If I test them, and they pass, they get NO certificate or new belt denoting new rank...they get nothing other than...Congratulations...now sit down!! I might or might not ever give it to them because they've demonstrated to me that the tangible is much more important than the intangibles within their MA journey. "But that's not right/fair!!" How so? I allowed you to test, and I surely didn't have to, I passed your testing cycle; you earned that. I'm just not obligated to present you with the tangibles of a certificate and a new belt denoting new rank. Demonstrate to me that rank has a proper context within you, and I'll consider presenting to you the tangibles that you value, when and if you pass your next testing cycle. Until then, it would be easier for you to get those tangibles from a school of the MA that give them away like candy. Not me...not ever...not now!!

Study your opponent... Study yourself... Make a plan... Carry our the plan!! What happens during any of the aboved "steps", causes a loop effect in that the "steps" start all over again...over...and over...and over...and over...until the plan is a success. Also... And I just can't over emphasis this as well... Mizu No Kokoro [Mind Like Water]; keep your mind as calm as the most stilled water!! AND... Tsuki No Kokoro [Mind Like The Moon]; allow the moon to properly reflect to the calm waters. Allowing clouds to distrub between the moon and the water, nothing good will come of it. A storm will occur!!

I can bow to you without any ambiguity, but I don't and will not worship you. This is what I believe that Christ is commanding us to not do; worship others, and not Him!! Besides, His omniscience doesn't permit Him to get all bent out of shape because we're bowing to our fellow MAist. Imho.

Both my dojo and the Hombu each have a waiting area by each training floor as well as the main floor, and in that, parents can keep their shoes on while they're waiting.

Imho, You should take whatever MA you want to whether it's Kenpo or Judo or BJJ or whatever. It's your MA journey!! Do whichever you feel is right for you. This is the only advice I feel that I'm qualified to give because it's your MA journey. Having said that, Ed Parkers Kenpo is a solid MA across the board. It's had some internal strife in the governing body and the like after Mr. Parker passed away. This is to be expected, but it doesn't always happen. Whichever style of the MA you choose, you've got my support!! Hang in there and rock and roll in your training.