sensei8

Not many and if they were abundant, they [any MA degree from a university] would be of no more value than any MA rank. They'd be under the same magnifying glass as any MA rank; a MA degree from this university isn't the same from that university. The most noted MAists around the world have only had their MA ranks and no university degrees to back them up, not that a university degree would've added to their knowledge/rank. "I've a Masters in [Fill in the blank] with a minor in [Fill in the blank], along with a Godan in [Fill in the blank]." I would respectfully inform this person that while you're platitudes are impressive, and it's obvious that you can be taught, but...CAN YOU TEACH?

What it means to me is that not everyone can win every time no matter the knowledge, experience, and/or rank. We're martial artists, not supermen/woman, and in that, we're all beatable for whatever the reason(s) may or might not be at that moment.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Brain, do you think that the firing of Haley, and the promotion of Crennel will help the Chiefs? And, do you think that this was ill-timed by the Chiefs? How do you think your Chiefs will do against the super-hot Packers? Patrick, do you think that the firing of Sparano, with no successor waiting in the wings, will help the 4-9 Dolphins turn around, this late in the season?

As a Cowboy fan, I'm quite perplexed over their loss to the Giants. Cowboys made the field-goal that would've sent that game into overtime, but Coughlin called a timeout, so the field-goal didn't count. Then the do-over was blocked by the Giants...Manning rallied. OUCH!!

I wholeheartedly concur!!

Welcome to KarateForums.com!! Embrace it once again and Train harder than you've ever imagined before! The style is nothing without the practitioner!! Please keep us updated.

Good luck and train hard!! Please let us know how the testing cycle went.

You're more than welcome!!

But...not all cattle have horns that you can whack at.

One viewing kata can draw many different point of views, both pros and cons of kata. I can see how someone would view kata as a strange "dance", and this is from just watching any kata from the surface. Digging deeper in kata, one can hopefully see the value of kata within its "applications"/Bunkai. One can be a proponent for or against kata for many reasons, but I think if one would give kata more than a chance, they might see things that they might've not imagined, yet effective.

Thank you Brian...thank you all!!

My theory is not scientific at all because I believe that Mas Oyama's seiza position is comfortable for him. It is said that one can tell a lot about a karateka/martial artist by how they assume their seiza. Was the reason that he changed the seiza position was to make the seiza position unique and to its own for Kyokushin karateka's? I'm not sure, but, it's possible. That's my two-cents.

Congrats to all of those who were nominated as well as to those who won. I'm speechless...I'm humbled...3 time Member Of The Year...thanks for the vote of confidence.

Congrats and well deserved!!

That's one of the ways that I increased my grip; mixing it up with others. Grip strengthening devices helped as well. Climbing ropes by only my hands helped as well. Peg climbing was another way to build up my gripping strength. Rolling devices build up strength in both the hands and the wrist. What also helps my grip whenever I'm in a test of gripping strength is to go with my opponents movements. When he pushes, I allow him to push. When he pulls, I allow him to pull. Therefore, I'm not an opposing force but I'm more of an apposing force, but, I'm an agreeable force, and then at that right moment, I use his actions against him. Ask Brian, he'll tell you that I'm not easy to "throw off" as it might appear.

Again, I believe that it's not the martial arts that's ineffective, it's the martial artist that's ineffective.

I'll get aggressive during training when someone who's junior to me is going full power because I'm senior, especially after I've warned them that "you're learning, so stop, return to learning NOW", I'll give one warning after that I'll remind them of their position in the dojo/Hombu. Now, Greg and I will actually try to kill each other and we're quite aggressive while we're doing it. We've known each other since we were kids in and out of the dojo/Hombu. It's a trust issue for us!

I'm ashamed to admit this but when I was a teenager weekend warrior, I'd soak the very ends of my Gi sleeves and pants because the water caused the material to pop even louder than normal. Helped final points.

Danielle referred to Tai-Chi, which I once studied. When doing Single Whip, one hand was in a certain position that resembles both Kakuto/crane-head and Washide/eagle-hand to me. I was taught that it can be used to block with, but it's also a fingers strike to one eye of the opponent. (I even remember an old VHS of Peyton Quinn, which included him saying that an opponent in a sparring match used this [illegal for the match] strike to poke him in the eye.) When I used to practice knifehands against the higher end of a makiwara board I had at home, I'd use what's called Seiryuto/ox-jaw, but just thought I was using the strike in what was the most comfortable way to me. I didn't realize it was a separate strike. Kumade/bear-hand is called "the Lion's claw" at a dojang I studied sparring in last year, and is used against the face, just as I'd learned the bear-hand is used by Googling it. A really interesting post, Bob. Solid post Joe!! Glad to see you again, I've missed you sir!!

Isn't anything "specialized" another way of saying "advanced"? I spoke advanced in my OP because these strikes are not taught to Kyu level students in Shindokan, but only to Dan level students for one reason or another.

Absolutely!! Also, Spacers ease the break, while no spacer breaks require near perfection across the board [pun intended]. My only way I'll break anything is without spacers. I've used spacers before, but only when I was learning tameshiwara.

Board breaking CAN be pure showmanship, because non-martial artists are toppling mountains of ice and brick. What's not pure showmanship is those who practice tameshiwara not for show, but to only test their mettle because tameshiwara materials are more denser than the human body, and while I might not break bone, I'll surely put a hurt on the human body effortlessly.

Tameshiwara [Art of Breaking], imho, is essential training to Shindokan, in that, we believe in its training across the board. Try doing a speed break; it's not that easy, but becomes easier when one's trained to do it correctly and effectively. Wood, stone, brick, ice, and/or tiles are the materials that we train on and our fist, foot, elbow, palm, shin, back-fist, hammer-fist, ridge-hand, bent-wrist, knee, fingers, and forearm are the weapons that we utilize in a wide array of combinations. And Danielle's quite right when she said..."Boards do hit back!" Execute poorly and the body suffers. Every practitioner of tameshiwara has injured themselves one way or another. But, it is he/she that gets back onto the horse, so to speak, after a mishap, it's that practitioner whose mettle is improved across the board. DON'T TRAIN IN TAMESHIWARA WITHOUT A QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR!! That would be my only warning for anyone wanting to try tameshiwara.

I would also respectfully disagree with RW. I've not wasted my entire life in a pursuit of emptiness and ineffectiveness. I've trained hard and I continue to train even harder because my imperfectness demands it of me daily. I seek to perfect every technique, including kiba-dachi, not because I want them to look pretty, but to be as effective as I can make them, and in that, I'm very complete in my totality as a MAist. It's not the Martial Arts that's ineffective, but it's that some Martial Artists are ineffective for one reason or another.