sensei8

I've been selected, against my repeated wishes, to test for my Kudan. It's something that I've never wanted and it's something that I've some deep mixed emotions about. I earned my Hachidan on July 1995. Is it overdue? Have I meet the tenure requirements? Ranks only a word, a word I'd rather to never utter so that it wouldn't ever be misunderstood, especially by myself. I'll test this July 8-10, 2013 before a testing panel at the conclusion of our annual testing cycle at our Hombu. Let the chips fall where they may!!

You know Brian, I've always felt that a MAist must be proactive across the board because your journey and my journey and every other MAists journey is special and it's theirs, and the MAist must protect their journey. I'm not in the position as Kaicho because of rank/title, no, I'm Kaicho because I protect the betterment of each and every student; mine and the entire student body. When I protect them, I'm protected as well.

I suppose that what a lot of MAists don't like is when some organization(s), like the IOC, take the purity of the MA, turn it inside and outside to fit it into their brand(s). But if the IOC wants to take Karate and turn it into something I don't like, well, then I don't have to watch it, and in that, the IOC governs the Olympics whether I like it or not. But, for the most, I'll watch any MA in the Olympics, not to see how I can complain, but for the beauty that IS the MA and to learn and to have those "WOW" and "AWESOME" and "Oh, that is/not good"! I don't own the MA, I'm just a student of the MA.

Congrats and well deserved!!

I've stretched before any class all of my life, and I've not faced anything negative in the way that our Dai-Soke taught us. I stretch my students and myself before every class just the way I was shown; I've been stretching in this manner for 49 years with no ill effects. We/I also do a cool down stretch at the end of each class. Again, I view an exercise as a stretch and vise versa. Sometimes my brain works goofy!! Still, I hear what you're saying Justice, and I respect what you're saying!!

Welcome to KarateForums!! Find the organization that you want to compete with. Then, join said organization, if that's required. Then, understand ALL of the rules/regulations in which you'll be entering. Then, start entering tournaments that are in line with it's National equivalent. Then, start placing high, and of course win some as well. Then, start following, from the start, your score, the higher the score, the better because if you're not placing with respectful score, you'll not get the invite to the Nationals of that association. Win the key Championships get you into the Nationals automatically. Placing in the top 3 in the key Championships consistently gets you an invite to the Nationals of the association. Good luck and keep us informed!!

Anything with the arm and/or anything involving the leg/foot. But, I'm truly in love with any joint manipulation because, for me, they don't require a lot of set up and the like.

Congrats to Mr. Benson Henderson!!

Stretches before exercises? To my mind, that's the same thing; a stretch is an exercise and vise versa. I think that the men don't want to seem unmanly by complaining, and that's why they don't say anything, and they need to because I'm there to help them in any way that I can. Keeping it to themselves isn't a smart thing; I don't know it's broken if they don't tell me. Btw, I don't view my female students as unwomanly because they INFORM me of a problem, no, they're being proactive in their training.

Great posts all...Thank you for them. My first time, I almost wet my pants; I was terrified because I was afraid of the unknown. Time heals all fears, well, sparring fears that is.

I don't think that the IOC controls what's shown on the TV. I believe that the network decides what they'll televise, but I'm also sure that the IOC might have some saying because the Olympics i s a big ticket thing for both.

Ditto!! The sport shouldn't suffer, and the competitors shouldn't either.

You're probably right across the board. Our stretches are no more severe than most any other karate dojo's; staple stretches. I've never had a student complain after stretching, just complaining while our adult female students are doing a high side kick with a snap but not when doing a thrust. Now, the term "hip pointer" has come from my first adult female students, and I've dumbly continued calling 'it' that. What it should be called is beyond me but it's consistent.

Not happened yet. I think we have a bit of time before this happens, but you never know what can happen. Hard to say. There are several high ranking individuals, but there is also some family members that might try to have a say, although they aren't ranked as high as some of the other current instructors. There is a chance it could splinter quite a bit. There is a group of instructors in it that have some high standards, and do a lot of chatting back and forth and corroborating. They are also the higher ranks in the organization. I will likely continue under my current instructor, because I know he has good standards and teaches well, regardless of what would happen within the organization. I respect the GM of our org, but I only see him twice a year maybe, but see my current instructor everyday. Solid post and I thank you for it!! I suppose that the student body of your governing body is keenly aware of, and keeping an eye on it, the hiearchy's are chatting back and forth. I'd keep an eye on it so that I don't become blindsided one way or another. Still, you seem well grounded, and unworried about the activities of your governing body, and that's a good place to be. I was, once, but events have made me quite suspious and I'm always on the look for any red flag. Thanks for your post!!

This is a very interesting topic! I actually just posted about this on another forum, because my style is going through something like this at the moment. 1) If your style has recently lost its founder, what's the immediate plans for its continuation? --My style was founded by Chibana Chosin, who died in 1969, and there was a lot of splintering that occurred at that time. The organization I am currently a part of was made to be a continuation of Chibana's style, although it is sometimes referred to as a separate style, much to the disdain of the head of the organization. In that regard, the head of our "style" has been Nakazato Shugoro for a very, very long time (since 1971, I think?). He officially retired a few weeks ago, at the age of 93, and handed over the organization to his son, Nakazato Minoru. 2) In your honest opinion, will your style be fine when your founder passes away? --I believe it will be, and I suspect that Nakazato Shugoro's reasoning for handing it over to his son while he is still alive is because he wanted everyone to get used to the idea before he passes away. Too many styles have had founders or heads die without cementing the next leader in place. That's a major factor in splintering, I think. 3) Will your style, in your honest opinion, splinter slightly or splinter a lot? --So far, no one has broken away because of the leadership change, but I suspect there will be some splintering when Nakazato Shugoro does pass away. Nakazato Minoru looks like he is going to be moving the system in a good direction, but I could see some people who have been training longer than him, or who feel he isn't being true to his father's vision, breaking off on their own. Minoru Sensei is a little young for a Judan and head of a system, and seems to be more interested in sharing kata applications and drills than his father was, so those things might set some people off. 4) Will you want to continue in your style if the splintering isn't kept to its minimal OR will you seek training in another style that's more grounded across the board? --The organization of our style doesn't really concern me. I didn't start training with my sensei because he was part of a major branch of Shorin-Ryu headquartered in Okinawa with a "pure lineage" or any other such thing. I started training with him because he seemed very knowledgeable, and his mindset regarding karate was very much like my own. As long as I can keep learning from my instructor, I will be part of the style, at least in some fashion. Solid post and I thank you for it!! You've made some solid points. Especially concerning the way your governing body has made the future for its student body solid. The way your governing body makes the hiearchy transitions, and as early as they have, is how, imho, a governing body should providing the founder hasn't passed away in an untimely manner. Our Dai-Soke's untimely death took us all by surprise to say the least. We scrambled quickly, but not before our San Dai-Soke pulled the rug from right under us. Again, I thank you for your post!!

Are any members of your student body members of this forum? K. I don't know!! I've shared the site with many, but I've no idea if they're members here or not.

I hear what you're saying Justice. But why do all of my adult female students say, from time to time, that side kicking high hurts them in thier hips, even after a well stretching session? Many of my adult female students have no prior injuries to their hips!!

I hear what you're saying Brian, and, I deeply appreciate it as well. I still don't want the rank because of the reasons I've told you in some of our phone conversations. So, here goes nothing!!

Stay true to MMA's core, and I do believe that you can do this without the fighting, and this can be done by training, as others have said here already, BJJ style. Teaching the methodologies as well as the ideologies within your own syllabus will serve you true. Good luck and please keep us posted!!

Solid post!!

Solid post and I thank you for it. As I was just telling Danielle, the student body is always at the mercy or the lack thereof and this is usually because of politics, both local/regional and national. The trickle down will usually seep through the most unknown cracks, and that's when the betterment of the student body suffers eventually where one doesn't want it to. Small or large dojo's have to succumb to the governing body one way or another. Or, start a governing body of their own. I believe this to be true, but not for certain because I'm not privy to the on-goings of every governing body. I, like you, am more concerned with passing knowledge onto the next generation and encouraging them to free themselves from the bindings that bind them for the moment. Still, thank you for your post!!

Well I did continue All this began happening about a year into my TKD journey and to be honest it barely effects grass roots students. A lot probably have little understanding of which group they belong to and what that entails. Once you start getting to the point you want to travel to train and you want to compete internationally it starts to become a problem. Often masters and teachers who belong to one ITF don't fully acknowledge those that belong to another. Or at least if you complete a course or grade with one group it means squat to another group. And in terms of competition, with 3 World Championships going on and subsequently 3 "national squads" per country, competition standards are somewhat diluted compared to what they could be. It's all quite sad really as the General had always hoped to see WTF unite with ITF and also South Korea unite with North Korea yet his own organisation and legacy completely fractured upon his death and there is very little hope of the ITF ever unifying. Excellent post and I thank you for it. Paths change when the new replaces the old. Politics? Yes/No, depending ones point of view and whom one asks. The new administration might have always wanted to do something different, and therefore, they do just that. Strive, confusion, and sometimes just ding-a-ling attitudes stop the necessary evolution of any governing body, and the student body suffers from the outset soon as all of the dust finally does clear, if it ever does. The student body is at the mercy or the lack thereof from those who run the whole show. Imho.

I'd say that you're not as long as you're respectful in your responses!! Having said that, whatever I do in my dojo is my business, but whatever I do in someone else's dojo is their business. While I'm ranked in Shindokan, I don't assume a position that I don't possess while I visit other Shindokan dojo's. That's my way because that's what I was taught by my Dai-Soke!! So, each year I visit every Shindokan dojo and before I wrap my BB around my waist and parade onto their floor, I always seek their permission..each and every time. Each and every year they remind me that I don't need to ask them each time and I respond by reminding them that I do; it's ingrained in me so much, it's a habit, and it's one I do to honor them and my Dai-Soke. If any Shindokan dojo I was going to be visiting had insisted that I wear a white belt, well, I'd wrap it around my waist willingly and eagerly. No foul and no offense taken. Why? For me, it's just a belt and nothing else, not to me anymore and it hasn't been like that for many, many years.

Had the locks and the like been once removed, what's to stop the practitioner from adding them back in knowingly or unknowingly? I've added so much to what Shindokan truly is, as it was taught to me, because what I consider valuable to me will remain. It's the...absorb what is useful and discard the rest kind of thing, and in that, it's a personal choice as well as a personal decision that one makes willingly. Is it an act of dishonoring time honored traditions and the like? No! Because I value everything that my Dai-Soke taught me concerning Shindokan as well as the MA in general, but the journey is mine and in that, Shindokan, as well as with any other MA, isn't perfect across the board. Add the locks and whatever else as one sees fit, and this can be done without dishonoring anybody. Imho.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!