sensei8

Oh I hate myself...SORRY Brian...HAPPY BELATED Birthday!!

Good luck to the Ravens, 49ers, Patriots, and the Giants. I'll be rooting for the Ravens all the way. GO COWBOYS!!

If one was to only train/practice just one kata for their entire life, it wouldn't be a wasted life.

Solid post!!

Solid post!!

Well deserved...CONGRATS SIR!!

Yes...AWESOME!!

Shindokan by itself is not enough!! Shindokan is not all that and a bag of chips, and neither, imho, is any style of the martial arts. Why? We're imperfect across the board. While, I believe in Shindokan with all of my heart, mind, body, and soul, it's, and/or I'm better, as a martial artist, if I've more than one trick up my sleeve. I've trained in a plethora of styles of the martial arts to accentuate Shindokan, even though, it [shindokan] is my core style.

Ball of foot!! In Shindokan, the usages are vital in our ashi sabaki, footwork, as it accentuates our movements. Whenever we pivot, step through, moving, turning, step through and half-turn, as well as our step through and turn, we're on the ball of our foot through our transitions. Good topic!!

This is one of my concerns...Are LEO's properly trained in self-defense? I don't think they are. A LEO out of an academy, imho, has no more experience than a White belt, and, imho, that's well enough to get them in some serious trouble. What the LEO has, and it's evident in this video, thanks for sharing it with us Brian, is many weapons to choose from when LEO self-defense "skills" doesn't work...like the taser used by this LEO...it stopped all the fight in the suspect. OFFICER PRESENCE....it's a missing element, imho, with many LEO's.

Whatever happened to the first guy the LEO's tried to arrest? The second guy deserves whatever a court of law gives him. I'm no LEO expert and in that, I've tons of respect for what they do, and imho, it's to protect and serve, a very dangerous job. Having said that, the officers were out numbered but I heard this once... Officer Presence! This will do a lot until back-up arrives. However, some civilians don't care one way or another, they react before they think, imho. It's me, but I guess I would've pulled out my weapon and not my pepper-spray to hold the crowd at bay, but I do understand, the less and most desired method is preferred by any police administration. I think the officers did what they had to do. No, the one officer had no idea what he was doing on the ground, but he did what he knew. I wonder if it was textbook taught in their academy?!

To my opening questions: Are there wrong answers? Are there right answers? Are there only wrong answers? Are there only right answers? Preference? Dictated? Ordered? Prohibited? Ego-driven?

Solid post!!

Methodology...it's a wonderful thing. Our knife hand waza's are quite compact; no big wind-ups or the like. Everything in Shindokan is kept compact as our Tuite requires it. Shortest path between two points is a straight line.

I've no deep interest in eastern philosophy as it might pertain to the martial arts. I've done some reading on eastern philosophy as more of a curiosity than as a requirement, and yes, I've read many of the books already mentioned in this thread, and I enjoyed them. Neither of them defined me or my martial arts training; that has always been reserved for my Dai-Soke as well as myself. I'd concur with the OP that many martial artists MIGHT be obsessed with eastern philosophy, but what I've noticed is that it's about fifty-fifty as to whether the "obsession" is based on a personal interest or a martial arts interest. Either way, I believe that eastern philosophy has its merits both in and out of the martial arts, but, imho, it's quite limited as to its validity within ones martial arts training. Studying eastern philosophy: Can it help one to better defend themselves on the street? No. Realistic effective training trumps eastern philosophy....imho.

>I've always called our founder...SOKE at all times!! >Over the many, many years, my Sensei went by Kaicho, then Dai-Soke!! Both of them were addressed accordingly by their title at all times, no matter the content/context and/or the venue. Only a very small few of us students of Dai-Soke were ever allowed to call him by his first name, Yosh (short of Yoshinobu) outside of any content/context and/or venue, usually we were at an informal setting at his home to allow this closeness. Again, depending on the content/context and/or the venue, I require all Shindokan students, in or out of the Hombu while on official business, teaching or testing or administrative, to address me as Kaicho. Informal settings, I'm plain old Bob. Even though, many still refuse to call me by my first name during informal settings, and I suppose this is either because of respect, for my title/rank and/or myself, or because they don't want to disrespect any instructor maxim or they don't like me. Formality dictates the way in which one must always be addressed, and this includes any visiting black belts and the like. In that, our By-Laws dictate the "do's" and "don'ts" regarding this matter.

ABSOLUTELY!!

The reasoning behind our belts is that they become darker as they advance. If I had my way...White, Brown, and Black!!

I'll hug if the context matches the content of the venue, but it's extremely limited across the board because not everyone wants to hug or give hugs. To some, it's an invasion of privacy, and hugging can be interpreted as sexual harassment or whatever else. I choose my hugs carefully. The less I know someone, the less likely I'll hug due to the above paragraph. This includes, and is not limited to handshakes and the like. Some people just don't want to be touched, and I respect that...to a point. I've got to "touch" my students to teach and the like, especially Tuite. I can't manipulate by osmosis, I've not learn that Jedi mind thingy yet.

Welcome to KF.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!

How does a Martial Art "Prove" itself to the world/practitioners in modern times? In dark ages past, there were challenge matches. Loser had to close their school and their students were scattered like a dust carried by a torrent wind. Or worse...the loser lost their life. In modern times, the aforementioned scenario wouldn't be prudent or practical. In modern times, there are way too many ways and means to test the waters without the wrath of the law. One way, and it's my favorite, to "Prove" Martial Arts effectiveness is on the floor!! "Prove" here isn't a bad word because any Martial Art should welcome any chance to display "Proof" as to its validity, unless one's lacking confidence in their said style of the Martial Arts. Proof/Prove is always standing in someone’s light. Yours/Mine/Theirs are always under some microscope, if not by our fellow MAists, but by the layperson who wants to see some sort of proof as to its validity before wasting money/time. "I've nothing to prove to anybody!" I've said that many times in the past and I'm sure that I'll say it in the future...as I'm only to fathom a guess that you've done the same thing from time to time and might do so in the future, situation warranted. Yet, we must prove it to our students, future and current students, because our students demand it and they deserve it. Possibly it's too much a very sensitive line to scamper around in a quest to avoid the scruple. Maybe the proof of validity is the size of the membership in some MA organization!?!

Punch Kick Strike These three words by themselves are nothing more than words, unless we Martial Artists put meaningful actions into them. Does your punch/kick/strike lead the body, or does your punch/kick/strike follow the body? Is that the methodology of your style? In Shindokan, everything starts and ends at the same time...for the most...because it appears that way. In actuality, the body's leading, if only for a miniscule of time before reaching any said target. Is our way wrong/incorrect? My another styles definition it might be, but as far as Shindokan is concerned, it's not wrong/incorrect. Even when our body is static, something must move before reaching any said target. In our Tuite, our body most definitely leads anything in the aide of our whole body-totality; our compactness requires it. This thread/topic isn't about who/what might be wrong because of differing methodologies; each need to be respected, and I do. If a methodology is effective for that style, and more importantly, for that practitioner, imho, that's what matters.

For any style of the Martial Arts that utilizes the practice of bowing, it's a vital part of any training/learning session/class. This is whom this topic/thread is aimed at, and not to the styles of the Martial Arts that don't practice bowing. We bow in the beginning of class. We bow at the end of the class. We bow to our seniors. We bow at the beginning of Kata/Kumite. We bow at the end of Kata/Kumite. We bow at the beginning of drills. We bow at the end of drills. We bow to judges. We bow to our Sensei/Chief Instructor. We bow often during a testing cycle. We bow often during ceremonies. We bow in our getting ups and in our sitting downs. What are we bowing to? Who are we bowing to? Are we bowing to the person? Are we bowing to the rank? Are we bowing to an object? I bow to the rank WHENEVER it's called for!! I bow to the person WHENEVER it's called for!! Depending on the context as well as the content of the moment; that's what/who I bow to. I don't have to like and/or respect the practitioner, but I will respect, and I do respect the rank...providing the context/content of the moment!! Kohai's bow to Sempais and Sempais bow to Sensei's and Sensei's bow to Chief Instructors and Chief Instructors bow to Kancho and Kancho bows to Kaicho and Kaicho bows to a Soke type...AND everyone bows to each other as a sign of respect and/or because it's just what one does.