sensei8

Solid post!! '

I knew of a TSD dojang in CA that has their noobs spar with blockers only, that ones that anybody can get from Century, and noobs were not allowed to kick. I thought it was a decent idea; one that I hadn't seen before.

I agree. We shall re-visit this healthy debate.

Just as often as I can. Whether, it was at my old Kyuodan dojo and/or at the Hombu, I was/am constantly inviting any and all styles of the martial arts to train with us and/or to conduct seminars for us at either location. I personally have made it a habit of mine to train with anyone and everyone that would allow me to train with them. Why? No style is perfect! No style flies a banner toting that their style is the best/better; that's an illusion, imho. Shindokan has its positive things and its negative things, and this I knew from when I was a kyu student, and our Dai-Soke said that Shindokan has it's flaws, and we're not to think that Shindokan is superior to any style of the martial arts. I encourage my students to go outside of Shindokan to see what's out there beyond the protection of the Hombu/Dojo. Absolutely YES!! Yes. I don't accept challenges because I don't live in feudal Japan and the like. I don't accept challenges because I've nothing to prove to anybody and/or any style. My dojo and/or the Hombu is not the place for this nonsense. The last time I was challenged back in the 90's, I told him to leave my dojo immediately and don't ever come back. He refused to leave, and as I approached him, a student of mine identified himself to this person as a state trooper sergeant and this person hesitated until my student showed him his badge.

Imho, The Wing Chun practitioner pretty much owned the karateka; both standing and on the ground, even though, they both have no idea what they're doing on the ground, and in that, they both need to remain on their feet.

Well, I just added you on Skype using the Skype name you posted at the beginning of this thread. I won't be available every day, but I do get off work early in the afternoons so I should be able to do something every now and then between 2:30pm and 5pm PST, depending on when I go to the dojo that day. Cool!! I'll be looking for you...and thanks!!

I'm set up in Google+ kyuodan@gmail.com and/or Robert Mitcham I've the Shindokan shield as my profile pic.

I use Skype quite a lot between the Hombu and myself; it's an invaluable tool. I use Skype to talk to friends and family from time to time, but I've not talked with anyone here at KF with any regularity. I do like the Google+ idea, and I'll probably get that asap.

Here's a letter from Demura Sensei... http://www.genbu-kai-hq.com/Images/0%200%200%20Sensei%20message%20110613%20smaller.jpg

Well, I'm trying to be excused from jury duty because I'm the only one working since the company my wife worked for went out of business. I just think that it's crazy...3 summons in 4 years...and that's crazy, imho.

Windows for me.

Honestly, I think you might be taking it too personally. Lots of people have a variety of dumb issues, internal or external. No. I don't like thieves and liars; I've no time for them, nor do I want them around my students, my wife/kids, or me. Other than that, everybody's welcomed with open arms.

I had heard he had taken ill and had stopped teaching classes regularly. Thanks for the update and hopefully he will make a miraculous recovery. I echo the words of Wastelander. Hang in there Demura Sensei!!

One of my most favorite things to do when someone blitzes on me...I use my longest weapon...kicks...to intercept their attack. For me, that just works quite well for me. If their weapon can't reach you, then their weapon is greatly diminished in its effectiveness. It takes a lot of fortitude to blitz and to defend against the blitz. Timing drills are important to develop the senses as to know when and when not to counter any said blitz. Footwork drills are also important because for Shindokanists it's all about ones footwork. In Shindokan, we don't back-up no more than 2-3 steps, and in that, we move angular in a forward motion and we try to keep our opponent tight to us; slipping into an attack takes a lot of guts and training to become natural in motion. Don't react negatively to a blitz because expecting it will eliminate the deer-in-a-headlight and/or the flight-in-fear reaction. That takes a lot of live partner work and your partners have to have the mindset that they're going to try to remove your head from your shoulders because the sooner you become calm in your defense, the sooner will become more proactive in your counter attack to any blitz. Good luck and please keep us all informed.

Revenge...NO!! That's not the martial arts, imho. Defending my wife/kids, my relatives, friends, those that need it, and myself AT THAT MOMENT...YES, without any reservation and at any degree to achieve survival.

I got a summons for Jury Duty...again...May 14th. This is my third summons in four years...sheech!! Anybody else get a lot of Jury Duty summons, or is it just me?!?

I pray that the WMKA won't fragment, it's not a pretty thing to be part of and to see, I've seen it first hand and it's quite sad.

You offered up some solid arguments. I respect that!!

It's possible that we can say that we agree that we disagree on what wisdom, knowledge, and experience are in the proposed content/context of the topic/thread.

As you can see in my most recent post above, I've added "maybe?!"

Btw, the context/content of this topic is purely hypothetical across the board for the sake of having a conversation. Having said that, I've had this happen to me many times. One doesn't invest as much time as I have and not have something similar to this topic happen to them. What would I do? What I always do; I confront the individual privately in my office, and if after that, I'm not satisfied, then I tell them to leave immediately. First of all, I trust what the floor has revealed. In that, I've asked many to leave my dojo and don't ever come back until one can be honest with themselves first, and second with me, and they're willing to train hard and to forget rank. I don't teach rank, I teach an effective martial arts; Shindokan. So forget about getting a certain rank, and in that, let the rank take care of itself...it always has and it always will.

To not agree with ones system might mean that one's been in that said system long enough to ask that question in the first place because a beginner hasn't invested enough time to make such an uneducated assumption. Having said that, if I finally reached the assumption after many, many years that I no longer agree with Shindokan, I'd walk away from it. If my Dai-Soke was still with us, he'd be the first one to tell you that I challenged everything. Not because I didn't agree with 'it', it was because I wanted to completely understand what it was that I was being taught. I'm suspicious about anything and everything concerning most things. I want to know for a fact that it's not fluff, and that it's effective across the board. However, what may be fluff to one is not fluff to another. JusticeZero makes a valid point..."Would some of the "fluff" become "core" for a student for whom one of the "fluff" techniques worked better than the "core" ones?" That's a solid argument imho. I too, have found a few things within Shindokan that I do teach even though I personally don't agree/approve of 'it' and that's because it is Shindokan and it's in an approved curriculum, and I've told my students that while I may not agree with said technique(s), that's not a valid reason for me to not teach it. Why? Our Soke put it in the curriculum because he believed in it wholeheartedly, and in that, 'it' is effective. As an instructor of Shindokan, I must allow the student to decide for themselves if 'it' is fluff or not, and to insure that I don't decide for the student; that's the beauty of owns martial arts journey; it's their journey, not mine. I rob my students of their own betterment by withholding anything that might be effective for that student. It's not my students fault if they can make the fluff work for them and I'm to pig-headed to make the fluff work for me. I'm a firm believer that our Soke wouldn't have included any technique(s) in Shindokan if it wasn't effective. My shortcomings of not being able to have 'it' work for me is my fault and mine alone, and in that, I've no right to punish my students by not teaching them everything that is Shindokan, and in conclusion, I've not earned that right to decide for my students. I don't envy the decision(s) that you have to make because it's a tough situation. I trust whatever decision you make, you'll have looked at it very carefully. Good luck.

nj908; I'd like to welcome you to KarateForums.com Too traditional? I don't think one could find that to be true because, imho, a style of the martial arts is either, by the styles own definition, traditional or it's not. If the style fits ones needs across the board, then by all means, train hard and enjoy it. I'm not sure if any technique(s) can be considered "outdated", especially blocks using the forearm(s). They [forearm(s)] only hurt when one's a beginner; that [pain], as with most things, will pass. Imho, any block/deflection with the forearm(s) is a stable force to meet an opponents attack. Out of date, to me, would indicate that 'it' is ineffective, and within Shindokan, that's just not the case concerning any forearm(s) block/deflection. Please keep us informed on how things are going in your training and the like.

Not if it's difficult!!

Your an instructor of the martial arts. You're the owner/chief instructor of a dojo/dojang/etc. Your proud of every platitude. You're hard, but you're fair, sometimes to a fault. Not many things upset you, except one thing... Someone has asked you for your permission to join your school; you've agreed. This same person informs you that they're a black belt with just over 9 years experience in a different style of the martial arts. In this persons very first class, after only a few mere minutes, you've quickly became suspicious; something already looks amiss. You can tell a black belt; after all, you've been an instructor of the martial arts for quite some time and you've several students of your own who have been promoted to black belt yourself. The floor has revealed quite candidly that this person isn't a black belt at all. Your blood begins to boil... What do you do? Do you ask this person to leave? Do you escort this person out the front door? Do you decide to teach this person a lesson that that will never be forgotten? The list of things that you'd like to do are racing through your mind, so much so, that you're becoming dizzy. How dare this person come to your school of the martial arts and blatantly think that you can be so easily fooled. What would you do?