sensei8

Please check out the link... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jason-mayhem-miller-done-ufc-dana-white-confirms-140527628.html Your opinions?

Concerning Rank and Shogo titles. I've one simple statement pertaining to myself. My Rank, Hachidan, just means that I'm teachable and my Shogo title, Hanshi, just means that I can teach. Whatever others read into it, that's up to them, but for me, my statement is just that. Thanks!! Comments?

In the power equation... Does your shoulder play a part? If so, how? If not, why" Does your shoulder lead or follow your hips? Either way, why? Let our discussion begin.

Necessity is the mother of every invention!! I like them, and just as long as they serve the needs of your students, then who cares what they look like. I'm sure I've made my share of home made devices for whatever reason(s). AWESOME...comes to my mind right now.

The quagmire of the MA sits and simmers somewhere in a molten pot filled with a plethora of ingredients, known as "Styles", to hopefully satisfy even the most skeptical of palates. No matter the label affixed to any "style", and no matter how one might or might not decorate any said "style" so that it appears inviting, the one question still stands throughout time...Is it effective? For a name is just a name for adornment sake, but if it's ineffective, then the name of the style and/or the person(s) associated with it, matters not. Either the style and its core technique(s) are effective or it isn't. However, it's not the "style" that might be ineffective, it's more possible that the "style" and the practitioner aren't compatible.

While one might view some of these things mentioned here as insignificant, I can assure you that the layman/woman consumer, especially a parent, doesn't, and I'm not so sure that some MAists don't either. Aligning ourselves with whatever is positive and solid in order to drive our bottom line, no matter local or not, might've been a good idea for my Hombu as well as myself. My responsibilities as Kaicho are clear to me: Improve the betterment of the entire student body and of the Hombu. To drive the bottom line equitably and then some.

Nice to remember those 2 days...I miss them quite a lot!!

Congrats on your 4th stripe...way to go!!

I concur with everyone here, and good luck Alex; you'll be just fine!!

Solid post!!

It means what it's intended to mean. "Kill With One Blow"!!! I interpret it to mean that I will strike, kick, block, punch...EVERYTHING...100%...as hard as I can EVERYTIME! To give 100% in everything that I do that is of the Martial Arts...in EVERYTHING that is/belongs to my Shindokan/Martial Arts training! I love this post sensei8. It encapsulates a lot, especially the second section. At our dojo we constantly remind students that they should preform kihon and kata as if each technique were the last one they would get in a fight that meant the living or dieing. 100% effort and commitment to the movement both physically and emotionally. Addressing the question though, I do believe the "one strike, one kill" ethos of training has more to do with the adaptation of Japanese budo, most especially sword work, than with the idea that one could, and would, literally end a life with each single technique. Thanks for the kind words ShoriKid!! And back to you...solid post from you as well!!

Use of Force Aha...thanks MP!!

What's UoF?

shuto uke is knife hand block, however shuto uchi is knife hand strike - they are different as a block comes from a different part of the body moving in a certain way that is different from the strike which comes from another place to ensure maximum damage I respectfully disagree, actually. In your style it may be important to perform them differently, but in my dojo we do not make the same distinction during kihon practice or kata. In the air, a shuto is a shuto--it only becomes a shuto-uke if we are actually using it to receive a technique, and it only becomes a shuto-uchi if we are actually using it to strike. We generally call it shuto-uke for simplicity's sake when beginners or people from other styles are around, but the more advanced students tend to just call it a shuto unless we are actually applying it as an uke or uchi at that moment. Quite SOLID post!!

I would do that for any Kata competition; appearance is part of the scoring. Other than that, yeah, that's dedication. Is it really that weird? We'd get our butts kicked if we turned up to class with a creased dobok! These days, I'll only iron my gis for our annual testing cycle. Other than that, I'll wear my gis right out of the dryer. Did I say iron, I mean dry clean, I don't have the patience anymore to iron.

I agree. This is a very interesting point. I am not one for going to hammer my training partners - we are there to better ourselves adn others.... but if someone wants to throw a heavy kick during a sparring match - well, Ill see your kick with one of my own This does not mean that I will lose my cool and revert to being a caveman, but sometimes meeting force with force can be a great teacher! Both posts are solid. The only mutual hammering I do is with Greg, our Kancho. But we don't lose our cools, and this is how WE train together. For us, it's a chess game, seeing who can best the other first, and trust me, both Greg and I know how to have our turns at the other...otherwise known as a receipt. Give me one hard and you're going to get one back and then some. This again, is a mutual hammering session that we wouldn't do with anyone else, in or out of the Hombu. When I tested for my Rokudan-Hachidan, my Kumite sessions were with Greg and no one else per my Dai-Soke because we do hammer each other relentlessly.

Some very good points there JZ! Remember, as a MAist, I could care less. But, I'm mulling over many things as Kaicho, and right now, I'm just thinking out loud. Please don't misjudge my honorable intent; I've responsible for the entire student body, in and out of the Hombu, as well as the betterment of the Hombu and the like within Shindokan. Any established/recognized Okinawa Organization. A positive connection with Okinawa. "Don't know Shindokan" judgmental comments might hopefully stop. The judgmental comments will have lessened. Will I actually do anything? No, because, as a MAists, again, I don't care about what anybody thinks, internally and/or externally. Within our student body, the feelings are mixed, but not much from our adults, both students and Sensei's/Hombu, more from the children students because they don't understand why Shindokan isn't known like Shotokan/TKD, even though everyone from their Sensei to the Hombu has addressed these concerns to them in a nurturing and educational way. I truly believe that, as a student body, we are quite complete in our totality.

I would do that for any Kata competition; appearance is part of the scoring. Other than that, yeah, that's dedication.

Facing a gang...RUN AWAY FAST!! You might get a few, but the odds are in the favor of the gang, imho.

Wow...that's a great question Clay, and seeing that I'm not a LEO, I'm not sure exactly how any LEO academy and/or any LEO Administration would reprogram a MAist to lessen his/her engrained MA training. "It's not I who hits..." comes to my mind. It's like one who wants to be a LEO might have to tone themselves down quite a lot so that one doesn't find themselves in any administrative and/or legality punishments. MAists are trained a certain way, and I'm only guessing, and LEO's are trained another certain way. A way that helps a LEO to control any situation within departmental policies, yet, controls the suspect within the most minimum force. LEO academies can train you "their way" but I don't see how "their way" will override all of your MA training. Alex and Brian are both LEO's and they'll be better to address your said concerns than I would. The monster amount of legalities that surround a LEO has to be staggering and quite debilitating in the course of a LEO's career. Good luck!!

Ditto!!

Again, great posts, and I thank you. Please keep them coming. For the most part, I suppose that I'm coming at this topic from an aspect of a business and not from a dojo aspect. Unless your school of the martial arts is not in a commercial space, then one could treat their school as a dojo and not as a business. But, if you're in a commercial space, I feel you're going to have to treat your school of the martial arts just like a business because bills have to be paid and money has to be earned to pay these bills. So I suppose, I've ran by dojo's as a business for quite a long time. Our Hombu has always ran it like a business; both businesses main commodity was the martial arts.

Congrats on your first tournament success; glad you had fun. Some great posts. I'm sure your sensei has explained to you about the Three K's...Kihon...Kata...Kumite. Very important to any karateka, imho. These three, imho, must be equal and not one more or less than the others. Kihon gives you the core foundation. Kata gives your the transitional foundation. Kumite gives you the application foundation. Karatekas can't be unbalanced in their training of either because it's like a chair with three legs. Take away one of the legs; it topples over quite easily. This is akin to your opponent owning you on the floor. No kumite is equal to having lost the battle before it's even began. How are you going to recognize any attack? Your not going to. You have to experience the varied attacks from every possible angle, and in that, you need to experience your mistakes during kumite. Kumite is akin to a fight; a safe fight, but none the less, a fight to hopefully prepare you for the real things. That's why you'll begin to experience the many various training stages of kumite. Each of these prepare you for the next level of kumite training. Timing, strategy, footwork...too name just a few...and in jiyu kumite, it's all about going at the defense and the offense full speed; however controlled. I love kata and it's important to karateka's. But no kihon, then there is no karate. No kumite, then there is no chance of knowing how to "fight". Live training is important. 1-3 step are fine, but just those isn't wise because while it prepares one for transitional movement and the like, a fight doesn't go that slow or that smooth for both. Can't know what it's like to hit a 90+ mph fastball unless you get in the batters box, get brushed away from the plate, conquering that fear, and then hitting the ball, hopefully over the fence. How can you know what to do against someone like me, with my experience/knowledge, with only kihon and kata? Imho, you're not going to know what to do, and I'll just run over you at will. Kumite over and over and over and over and over and over and....

Congrats Patrick...you went yard with KF...AWESOME!! 11 years and still going strong...only thing that will stop KF is if the internet goes out of business and I don't think that will ever happen. Congrats Patrick!!

AGREED! I feel its à topic dear to all Karateka's hearts we just need to watch the first lot of UFC matches to see that Karateka had no idea what grappling was all about. Solid post!!