sensei8

First of all...I agree with MP's post. Secondly... Study your opponent Study yourself Make a plan Carry it out

Forget about test. Forget about the pass/fail. Both have taken care of themselves; they always have and they always will....it's the training that one should be concerned with...IMHO. Still...it's a great topic and I thank you for it. Also, welcome to KF!!

1. Yes, I've failed more than my share of Dan exams...more than I care to remember. 2. Yes. I've failed more than my share of Kyu exams...more than I care to remember. 3. Yes. I know many. Nobody within the Shindokan family has been spared their share of exam failures. 4. My standards and the standards of the Hombu are quite high across the board. Without boring anyone with reading the entire Hombu's 2011 Testing Cycle Report, which is quite lengthy... 8.7% Passed [6.3% were Kyu and 2.4% were Dan] out of 212 testing candidates approved to conduct in that years cycle. Scores of Shindokan candidates weren't approved to attend that years cycle for one reason or another, and in that, 738 applied to be tested at the Hombu that year, out of the thousands of Shindokan karateka's.

You might find these tidbit helpful... http://www.gojukai.com.au/Japan_Karate_do_College.html Not sure if this helps you out or not.

In Shindokan, we attack the throat on a normal basis with varied techniques, so, one might imagine how often a technique is a little stiffer than normal during kumite. I've been hit so many times in the throat, I've become numb to the emotions surrounding it. Still, it's not fun and it is scary but that's the reality of a Shindokan karateka.

Training for this is difficult across the board. It'll be missing the reality of what happens on the street. This means this...when everyone "knows" what's taking place during these drills before they even happen...effectiveness takes the back seat quite quickly. False securities are birthed, and take the place of sensibilities.

I don't imagine the world without Chinese martial arts. No, it's just that MMA and the like are the rages of the pages and people like to see a good "fight", imho.

Congrats and well deserved!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Don't succumb; adapt. ~Don't accept the attack ~Don't receive the attack ~Don't surrender to the attack ~Counter attack immediately There are many styles of the martial arts that are 'masters' of the ground. A practitioner who's not versed on the ground are taken aback when first encountered. The most understood technique is the "back-peddle". When attacked, many back-peddle instead of engaging effective footwork. It's during the back-peddle that the attacker, and not the defender, whose favored because of a willing to surrender and/or receive and/or accept the attack in which the defender holds on for the ride, and hoping for the best. That's not effective defending imho. Be that defender whose actively engaging an effective and punishing counter attack. Don't have that deer-in-the-headlight mindset when attacked/rushed/grabbed/. Have a controlled counter attack! Mizu no kokoro and tsuki no kokoro are effective mindsets for every martial arts to fertilize and believe in, otherwise, the fights already lost before it's even began; being calm is critical. It's not easy at first, but it does become not only easier, but it becomes natural; without thought. >Can't fight on the ground; stay standing at all costs >If tackled; get up fast >Once in the "clinch", your survival success rate is tragically diminished To counter a martial artist who's solid on the ground... ^Do various "Take Down" resistance drills ^Do grip strengthening exercises ^Do short range attack [punch, kick, strike, etc] drills Learn/know what to do before it's to late. Grappling isn't for everyone, so, defend effectively or to the ground you'll go, and you don't want to be there against one who's well versed in that skill-set. Hit with the force of thunder, and slip with the power of lightening!

Now, I'm experiencing a splinter within the Shindokan Hombu. I feel as though I've disgraced my Dai-Soke!! I realize that the world of the martial arts isn't a bed of roses, but had I given in to the constant barrage of wanting to return to a Soke type, possibly, none of the negativity within the Hombu would've happened.

Maybe so, but do you think he should be able to profit from it? I don't!No.

I don't think this is problem specifically for JBBs. An adult can train for a few years, get the belt, then disappear. 5 years down the line they probably can't remember anything and won't have had any practice in it either. I've seen a few people who used to train "back in the day" who turn up to class expecting to be a blackbelt again but wouldn't last 2 seconds in a fight because they've forgotten it all. TBH I would even say that JBBs might be in a better position when it comes to self defense. At least in our school it gets drilled into the kids that they should get free and run if confronted. That's probably going to stick with them even if they forget the techniques themselves. A lot of adult former BB probably would be like: "stand aside citizen, I'm a blackbelt" and then get the snot kicked out of them. I understand and respect what you're saying. When one looks at organizations similar to the ATA and Karate Kids, those organizational types are what I would consider the core of what happens to children in the martial arts. They join those types of organizations for the sole purpose of reaching BB, then they quite immediately right after their BB ceremony, and then they never practice any martial arts ever again, for whatever reason(s). I agree that there are reasons for not awarding JBBs but I don't agree that juniors are the only ones who want the blackbelt and then leave again and won't be able to defend themselves several years down the line. Maybe I'm misinterpreting your case. Maybe I don't understand but I just think that your argument can be equally applied to adult blackbelts. Its no more problematic than an adult doing the same thing and as far as self defense goes, it just brings them back down to the level of the normal untrained Joe Bloggs. Perhaps you could say that this is more common in kids because they burnout and get bored easier but the same could be said of plenty of adults too. It's not the JBB rank itself that causes the student to quit. No matter whether they are a child or an adult they can decide that they've achieved all they want and get bored with MAs. I don't see how awarding a JBB is going to make this a problem in kids. The teacher should be assessing whether the person is just in it for the belt, and then decide whether to promote them, regardless of their age. Organizations that focus on the blackbelt as a goal (i.e. McDojos) may attract a lot of kids due to their marketing strategies and business plans but they'll also be pushing adults through to blackbelt at an equal rate. And if the issue here is their skills, well they most likely won't have any decent ability anyway even if they carried on training. Like I said, maybe I've misinterpreted but I don't see how JBB is a problem here. In my OP, I did mention that it's problematic for BOTH adults AND children, however, I've used JBB's as the thread content/subject. That's why I mentioned the "Karate Kids" organization who only teaches children. For JBB it's more problematic for kids/JBB due to parental control. A child can only control "interest", whereas, the parent(s)/guardian(s) control when the child goes to class and when the child can no longer attend any classes, whether it's before or after BB.

I concur MP. I believe that one must learn how to separate the person from the work because the work, if solid across the board, shouldn't be ignored for whatever reason(s).

I don't think this is problem specifically for JBBs. An adult can train for a few years, get the belt, then disappear. 5 years down the line they probably can't remember anything and won't have had any practice in it either. I've seen a few people who used to train "back in the day" who turn up to class expecting to be a blackbelt again but wouldn't last 2 seconds in a fight because they've forgotten it all. TBH I would even say that JBBs might be in a better position when it comes to self defense. At least in our school it gets drilled into the kids that they should get free and run if confronted. That's probably going to stick with them even if they forget the techniques themselves. A lot of adult former BB probably would be like: "stand aside citizen, I'm a blackbelt" and then get the snot kicked out of them. I understand and respect what you're saying. When one looks at organizations similar to the ATA and Karate Kids, those organizational types are what I would consider the core of what happens to children in the martial arts. They join those types of organizations for the sole purpose of reaching BB, then they quite immediately right after their BB ceremony, and then they never practice any martial arts ever again, for whatever reason(s).

How hard do you "work" your black belts? Do you ""challenge" your black belts? For me, the higher the rank, the even harder I work them. I do this, not to be mean/cruel, but because I don't want their rank to get into the way of their knowledge and the evolving of same said...and it happens from time to time; black belts forget themselves. My Dai-Soke pulled me down from my own pedestal more times than I can remember, for my own good, and I'm glad that he did. Black belts, especially black belts, become progressively unfruitful from time to time if they're not challenged on a more daily basis. Pushing them to the summit of their training/learning/knowledge where they feel that they just can't reach any further, and not allowing them to give up on themselves by reaching that rung that appears to be only an illusion for the moment....then drag 'IT' out of them. Making our black belts train beyond their rank/title makes them appreciate them the more. Any thoughts?

Are you a proponent of your styles founders vision? I am not! While I was at one time, I've evolved beyond his spectrum across the board. I'm my own, and on my own, my vision is of my own making by traveling on my own path; my own journey wants and needs to be far away from the confinements of Soke Saitou's vision, and furthermore, far away from the confinements of Dai-Soke Takahashi's vision. Is my own vision parallel with Soke and/or Dai-Soke? Possibly to some extent it is. I keep their separate visions in my rear view mirror so as I stay true to Shindokan within my own evolving vision, but not a prisoner of any vision, including my own. I must kick off the shackles that are only theirs, and allow me to walk independent. As my students instructor, my first priority is not to my students. No. It's to my own betterment. Before I can touch my students betterment, I must understand and nourish my own betterment first. Otherwise, I've nothing to challenge them with, nothing to offer to them of value; I'm as stagnate and useful as a fishing net is for holding water. As Soke and Dai-Soke's student, I must think for myself so as to understand what possible lies before me on my martial arts journey. If I keep a death grip on their vision, I don't allow my own vision to start, develop, stumble, mature, and penetrate through theirs, and in that, my own vision is free to question and to learn and to appreciate all that I discover on accident and/or on purpose. I welcome your thoughts....no...I welcome your vision.

Within the world of the martial arts, Junior Black Belts can be found in the many varying styles, without having to look too hard. I was one for 5 years, and I found it to be a very important part of my martial arts training. Many students of all ages quit right after receiving their JBB/Shodan, to never shadow a dojo/dojang door ever again. I don't fault them for their decisions because they've their reason(s) and in that, I must respect them, and not allow my own personal feelings to interfere with my sensibility. Discarding their martial arts training completely after JBB/Shodan is also their given right to do so. However, being a child Yudansha can be more problematic than as an adult, to say the least. Why? When a child BB hasn't continued in any type of martial arts training after becoming an adult, and forgoing the martial arts across the board, and then has to use it [MA], and they can't because they've forgotten how to. Defeat on the dojo/tournament floor is one thing, but defeat on the streets can have traumatic consequences, imho. Not just children, but adults as well, will change their interests, and that which was important to them at one time, is now no longer a priority over college/starting a career/raising a family/supporting a family, which I respect across the board. Imho, forgetting something that had the positive potentiality to protect your family as well as yourself can be paramount to an airplane pilot forgetting how to fly the plane. Continue training in the martial arts by all means, not for rank/title/platitudes; but for the sake of still being able to defend those who mean the most to you as well as yourself. I welcome your thoughts!

Great topic!! I couldn't answer the poll question because I do all listed equally during my solo training, and that's because the way we were trained is the way I train; a lot of everything so as I don't become unbalanced in my training. Favoring one over another causes a flaw that's too easily detected by my opponent, imho.

Not every black belt can teach, even though they might be a great fighter. The transition from the competitive ring onto the dojo/school floor as the instructor is a extremely thin line, imho.

Let me try to put it in terms that you're familiar with. Mas Oyama is the founder of Kyokushin, therefore, he's the Soke, the founder. What does a Soke do? What Oyama did to promote the art he founded is what a Soke typically does...in short...brand management. Why should there be one again? That's my exact question. I suppose that the desire of wanting a Soke type is to rekindle the flame of having that type of leadership at the top rung...a believed tradition I suppose. I hope this answers your questions.

Brian, I'll try to give you the watered down explanation in one paragraph, as to not bore anyone with all of the legalese, and red-tape stuff. The Counsel of Regents, as set up by our Soke, are primarily designed to prevent any and all possible appearances of servitude and the like. Secondarily, they act like Sergeant-of-Arms to improve the betterment of the Hombu, and in that, the betterment of the student body, and in that, the betterment of Shindokan. Looks good on paper, but as of late, it's all askew from where Soke had originated.

Yeah...short and sweat...to the point. But, your testing was actually 2 weeks long, if I understand what I've highlighted in the bold above.

Let the rank take care of itself, and it will!! It's [the rank] not up to you, so focus on training and not on rankings. Is it frustrating? Sure it is, but there are far more greater things to be frustrated over than rank. Hang in there!!

Shindokan has Iaido/Batto jutsu training, but it's not to the hard core of any Iaido ryuha. Therefore, I might not be able to give you anything worth its salt. Our Iaido/Batto jutsu doesn't start until Nidan per our Soke...I wish we had it much sooner than that. Sorry Alex.