sensei8

Congrats to Zachary!! I was surprised to see parents ON THE FLOOR.

I've struggled with this topic, btw...it's a great topic. Before his stroke, which lead him to have a second stroke, which he passed away from... We use to spar EVERYDAY!! The higher the rank I earned, the more intense was the sessions. Sorry, I can't say much more right now because I MISS HIM SO MUCH!! Cherish each and every time you can spar with your Sensei/Instructor/Etc because there will come a time when you won't be able to.

Solid post!!

Solid post!!

Shindokan will return to the right side.

Joe Lewis, World Heavyweight Karate Champion, for example, earned his Shodan in less than 1 year. Does that make his Shodan, or him as a karateka, less than those who take 5-6 years?

Imagine if Kyu's had a tenure as the Dan's do? WOW!?!

What did Bruce say about JKD... "It's just a name!" Nothing more and nothing less. Call what you do anything, but it's just a name, and in that, Bruce said... "The art of expressing the human body" Be true to yourself; first and foremost.

Sure, we applaud during ceremonies and the like, but, during a class, no!!

Stretching is a prerequisite of each and every class; the lack of any stretching can lead to an injury; one that can be avoided if proper stretching is attended to before each and every class. This includes...the cool down as well.

The wide variety of sparring drills do enhance the mechanics of it, but, nothing can or will ever replace the actuality of sparring. No sparring in ones training, imho, is akin to learning how to fly without actually ever flying; the void that will remain. There's nothing like being attacked!!

Kids will be just that...kids. While I don't like it when any MAist wears their gi outside of the dojo, I tend to not get all bent out of shape whenever a kid does it. Yes, maybe it's showing off, but, I also think that kids do the craziest thing, including wearing their gi anywhere and everywhere.

I prefer striking over punching because it's much more easier to transition directly into a grasp/clinch. That's just me.

I agree!!

No, I didn't say that. But, in any use of force situation, things have to be evaluated in their totality. For instance, the size of the attacker, are they armed, what is the nature of the threat, etc. All these things come into consideration.If I choke her out to assure I can get away safely...Is that to much force in the eyes of a LEO on scene?

Give them some time, and they will.

Yeah, I've always seen the belt as just that...just a belt, nothing more. I too have heard of the support thing myself and on my first post I was giving it a chance to work because I don't know if it does or doesn't work...but...it doesn't sound to off the grid...or does it. I don't know, even if I was to see it for myself I'd still have my doubts but if it works for some, then...cool.

Well, when first learning with a Nunchaku I instruct my students to get the foam type for protection. Then as they improve, I'll instruct them to get a corded octagon type for weight and grip control. After they show some marked improvement, I'll instruct them to still get the corded type but now they can try smooth types. After that, and their skill warrants it, I'll instruct them to get whatever suits their needs, but I still encourage them to stay with the corded types. Having said all of that, I believe what you've described is an excellent choice. Have fun with them!!

I believe that you've answered your own question. It's a mild cross on the back where it's not an exaggerated cross. The supports not akin to a full back support, like one might see at a construction site, but still, the width of the belt times the manner of the cross at ones back plus the snugness of the belt does provide some sort of support to ones lower back. If I could see a picture of what you're referring to, I might be able to understand your question, but for now, I stand behind my understandings.

Do you have a picture of it or a website that we can see what they look like, etc.? The word folding makes me think that the punching bad FOLDS. If that's true, well, I'd like to see that and how it folds.

I LOVE IT!! I still don't know how I missed this, but, I did and I apologize to Dobie1979 for having missed it. BUT... Very nice and one can see his judo background quite easily. How would some of you counter his leg scissor take downs/etc? He's very quick with them, imho.

There's a very small company of us that have graded through the ranks together, however, because a test is just that...a test, some of us would fail and some of us would pass. Therefore, Greg and I are separated by 6 months in total years; I started 6 months before he did. Greg and I are separated by 1 year in testing cycles; I passed my Hachidan 1 year before Greg because Greg failed but I finally passed mine. None of our small company never took it personal ONCE we matured as adults and then as MAists. Why? It's just a test and the test will always take care of itself one way or another. We've asked our Dai-Soke why we failed and his usual response was.... "You don't know? You should know because you were there and I saw the same things that you saw." Well, that bit of philosophy didn't sit well with me at first because I was still "childish" in both as an adult and as a MAist. Sure, if I truly didn't know why, he'd explain it to me, albeit, quite short. You fail... train harder...you fail again...train even harder...you fail again...you get the picture. The bottom line with any testing is that you... DON'T QUIT!!

No! Well, at least I don't. That would serve no purpose because words are just that...words. Some words have meaning and some words don't. Therefore, using Japanese words by an American while in a dojo setting or the like doesn't add anything of value to anything. To do it out of habit is one thing, but to do it just to show off and the like is another thing; a mistake to begin with. Same thing with one thinking that they must have affiliation with some governing body from Japan/Okinawa or wherever; it doesn't add anything of value to anything. Yes, my Hombu could seek affiliation with the aforementioned types, however, the Hombu ISN'T from their core, in that, we/they are foreign to one another; different methodologies/ideologies and the like, albeit, both with Okinawa roots. For me, that's just not enough!!

While the video does demonstrate the most basic of possible applications, Bunkai, the video does lack important elements, i.e., hip movements and footwork. Had just those two elements been utilized, much more would've been accomplished with very little effort, and yes, much more effectiveness. Yes, it was a learning/teaching video, thus the slowness and purposeful reasons, however, that would've been just an excuse. Yes, it was a demonstration of a possible bunkai, but not once was the application(s) done at full speed/power WITH the above elements utilized. Had it been so, the viewer might've seen the attackers relationship to the defender much more compact as well as seeing the defender keeping the compacted relationship with very little effort. This, imho, is also a problem with learning bunkai; the "liveness" of the application, not just the resisting, as mal103 alluded to, but in the willingness of allowing the "liveness" to BE much more alive. The video wouldn't have been shown at the Hombu because it would've been deemed as an incomplete demonstration, therefore ineffective.

Whatever the language might be, hopefully it's conducive with the MA one trains in, albeit, the language is pure MA.