sensei8

Have fun!! Where is the tourney being held in the USA? Is it an open or closed tourney? I look forward to pictures from the tourney. Let us know how things went and the like.

tallgeese has provided great answers, I've nothing else to add except this... A lifetime!! Good luck and please keep us posted on how things are going.

Mine, too, Bob. But, the holidays do cause that. Next week, I should be back into it. My training, especially as of late, is like having a quiet conversation because Dai-Soke is no longer with us, especially on the floor. I feel his unexpected death has left me as an uncompleted puzzle; one that'll never be finished by his hands. I miss him so very much!!

To the bold above... To me that's a big red flag; time to seek another instructor/style/etc. Solid post Heidi!! I remember how aggravated my Dai-Soke was with me when I was a JBB and I wanted to take TKD. He kept asking me..."Why?" My answer was simple..."TKD has effective kicking and Shindokan doesn't kick effectively above the waist". He growled at first, but when he heard my reasons, he allowed me to learn TKD, and he was very supportive when he saw the results and how it benefited me as to the teachings of Shindokan. Remember, this was back in the early 1970's; styles/instructors were quite guarded about their methodologies/ideologies back then, more so then they are now.

You speak little, but when you do, it's gold; Solid post!!

Solid post!! Perceptions are real to that person, and how that person reacts to their perceptions means quite a lot, not only to that person, but to those who've experienced that persons perceptions and the like.

Solid post!! What you recite at the end of every class is what I think that the OP statement is speaking about. However, personal choices are so very important to any practitioner of any MA.

No, no, Bob! That's not what I was thinking at all! Its just something I always keep in the back of my mind when discussions of this nature arise. Its like reading Funakoshi's The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate, and then deciding that you have take everything Funakoshi said and adhere to it word for word in order to do Shotokan Karate. They are great principles, and each deserves its own amount of study and attention. But, I also think its important to not delve into the hero worship of every old master and feel it necessary to live as they did. I just don't think they are all that much better at life than I am. So, after reading and evaluating such precepts or ideologies, its important for everyone to compare and contrast each ideal or precept along with how they live and what they believe, and decide which fit their way of thinking, which don't, and which are worth considering in making one better. Hope that helps. I would never accuse you of forcing anything like that on any, Bob. But tuite, you did force that on me, rather abruptly, I might add..... (what a great time!) Solid post Brian!! Ahem, you had to experience Shindokan's brand of Tuite in order to appreciate it, and I loved forcing, I mean teaching/demonstrating, Tuite on you...heheheheeheheee, I'm sick that way...heheheheheheeee..ahem....excuse me.

Thanks to all, and you've all made some great suggestions; many that I will entertain across the board. I'm not against any type of venue, no, it was our Soke and Dai-Soke who weren't that concerned with them because..."I don't care about pictures, I only care about your karate-do!!" He'd let the picture/video happen as long as it doesn't interfere with anything happening on the floor. I've seen him throw camera's outside because they weren't respectful of his floor.

Yes you should learn a grappling art...absolutely!! Judo...BJJ; either one's fine, it's a personal choice, one that you'll have to make. Good luck, and please let us know how things are going.

I'd like to congratulate each and every testing candidate at your school, as well as congratulating you for taking your school from a few to the loyal many. CONGRATS!!

I've deleted my fb account, and I'll not be starting another one ever!! I've never understood how to properly navigate within its given parameters and the like...SO...no more fb account for me. Sorry...it's a personal choice!! I mention it here only because I've quite a few KF members that I converse with from time to time.

Please understand that my intent with this topic is NOT to force my ideology and the like unto anyone...I just desire a simple conversation and nothing more. If it seems that I am forcing my ideologies please forgive me!!

I agree Justice!! Practitioners of Ninjitsu today, still have quite a lot, imho, to contribute to the MA across the board. If faced against one, I wouldn't just say...sheech...whatever, NO! I'd treat him/her with respect because they've enough to give reason to pause for the cause and to not treat their skills as inferior across the board, that's when I'm a dead duck.

Godan is universally the Dan rank that signifies "Master" of it's given style of Karate. Yudansha [Dan] isn't the end of learning, no, it's only the real beginning. Dan ranks Shodan to Godan are measured through testing cycles. Where does one go after reaching the Master level, aka, Godan? The curriculum is stuffed full of many techniques and the like to learn, leading a karateka to Godan. What about Rokudan or Nanadan or Hachidan? Do these Dan ranks have a plethora within those curriculum's? Shindokan speaking, yes! There are curriculum's for those Dan ranks, and these ranks are tested for. Having said that, looking beyond the curriculum of Rokudan to Hachidan is dutifully observed by how their betterment is maturing across the board. Potential candidate(s), of those types of testing cycles, are both meticulously, as well as scrupulously, chosen for consideration for any upcoming testing cycle for those said Dan ranks by various departments within our Hombu. Tenure means very little to our Hombu, and I mean very little. Every practitioner experiences sustained plateau moments within their training from time to time. Some plateau's are quickly dealt with successfully, while other plateau's take time to nurture through the painstaking requirements before reaching their "aha" moment. Within any difficulty that one's experiencing; time heals all wounds. This is true of overcoming any sustained plateau in one's MA training. One of the things that I need for me to break out of any sustained plateau is to first respect it, it's happening, even if it's just for a short duration. Therefore, I can't pretend that it's not happening. I'm struggling, and I recognize it, and the sooner I do, the sooner I can escape from it with marked improvements. Talking with the other Hachidan's within the Shindokan circle, we agree that the other thing that we needed was to take any already mastered technique and find a way to execute it in more exacting ways, therefore, a more effective way for one to execute that/any said technique; spending time with technique(s) goes beyond executing motions and movements. Intimately tearing it down and rebuilding it, therefore, making that said technique(s) better, yes, more effectively for that practitioner. What "improvements" I make might only fit for me, and not for another Shindokan karateka, especially for another Hachidan. The MA isn't really suppose to be out of a cookie cutter or hammered into some granite stone. No! We're individuals who learnt and then we evolved beyond what we were taught by our Dai-Soke. His way was his, and not mine; vice versa! Effectiveness discovered is effectiveness achieved, but it must be nurtured and respected for it to evolve within my betterment. For those times whenever I find myself stuck on another sustained plateau. I must be more effective across the board, and that effectiveness must never become a prisoner of what a technique is suppose to look like, yet, more of what a technique shouldn't look like. A child recognizes its mother, and vice versa; this is what a Hachidan does, that's what I do as a Hachidan, no, as a proponent and practitioner of the MA, when I find myself on a sustained plateau. Sustained plateau's should be a welcomed part of a MAists journey, not as an enemy because we're human, and in that, we learn from experiencing. Viewing a sustained plateau as an enemy will only prolong it, and I need to break away from the chains that bind me. As of late I find myself saying this a lot to those within the Shindokan circle as well as here at KF...my training now is akin to having a quiet conversation with myself. Hopefully this might help you, no matter rank, when you find yourself struggling with your own sustained plateau; knowing that I struggle as well from time to time, and I am right now, and I'm a Hachidan, but I'm human first!! I'll defeat this, but only after I allow time to heal. **NOTE: I've placed this topic in the "Karate" forum and not any other forum, which I'm sure it could fit into several KF forums, but, because I'm a karateka, I'm speaking from a karate point of view because that's my background and that's my experience, one that I can most relate and compare to!!

I think that the former days of Ninjitsu are dying away, but the usefulness and effectiveness of its MA favor is still alive and well today...imho.

The bold type above...It happens everyday somewhere in some school of the MA. Your last paragraph; very solid post!!

If language means everything, if syntax means anything, and if words mean everything and anything to us MAists... The procurement of knowledge means everything; then serious and intense training means everything. Let our discussion begin off this prefaced statement.

Many things in a MA school are negotiable... * Buy a uniform; I'll give you a free _____!! * Bring in a family member or a friend(s) for lessons: I'll take a handsome percentage off the regular monthly tuition!! *Be a loyal student; I'll reward your loyalty with/by ________!! These are some examples that one might find within the walls of their school of the MA throughout the world. Rewards and incentives abound for one reason(s) or another; that's business 101. HOWEVER...I'll negotiate almost everything and anything that I've the power to do so. EXCEPT...my integrity; rank must be earned...NO EXCEPTIONS!! My students know this about me before I even let them join and I remind them, if needed, that rank is NOT FOR SALE!! There's not enough money to even cause me to even entertain the notion, albeit, I'll ban them from my dojo for even suggesting it directly and/or indirectly.

Judging can be such a blast, but being the Arbitrator for the first time, that can be quite an eye opener from the administrative side of a MA tourney; open or closed tourney...day and night!! Being an Arbitrator for the first time made me think that I needed to clone myself because I had to be at 3-5 places at the same time, I was exhausted at the end of the tourney.

Cowboys lost this game on Thanksgiving in the first quarter. 2 interceptions from Romo didn't help, and that the Cowboy defense didn't show up until the 3rd quarter. For the Cowboys, imho, way to late for momentum in the 4th quarter, and with that, too little way to late for the Cowboys against this 2012 Redskins. GO COWBOYS!!

Super congrats to them!!

That's quite unique imho. Shindokan has JBB, but no ranking within the JBB. Can only rank as an adult.

Don't forget that the "blocking" hand is ALSO suppose to prevent the attacker from re-engaging, thus, the attackers hand(s) are out of position, which stalls the attackers transitions and the like. That's why I advocate and teach a mix of positive pressure with the blocking hand and hikate application to set up the strike and then feed into tuite if you want. Combine it with foot work and body positioning and you are golden. Absolutely and solid!!

Don't forget that the "blocking" hand is ALSO suppose to prevent the attacker from re-engaging, thus, the attackers hand(s) are out of position, which stalls the attackers transitions and the like.