sensei8

Karate is a way of life!! Karate expounds the virtues of movements, and in that, movements are the proponent of karate. Strip away all of the intrinsic value labels attached to karate, it's still one thing; raw and basic. All of the decorations that we, man, attaches to 'it' to make it appear more important/effective than the other, or more than it truly is, that destroys the intent of its simplicity. What is Karate to me? It's mine!!

How many KF members are shy? I am! It's the bane of my existence at times. However, in familiar venue's, I'm very much at home, but even then, I can be shy for a moment at hand. So, how does being shy work when you're the instructor??

You could put your Skype ID in this thread. As far as your second question is concerned, I'm still learning how it works myself. Some KF members know much more about this than I do....like Patrick, for one. I'd suggest that once you're ready...contact one of your Skype contacts and just....talk. Talking always breaks the ice. Then, go from there. Welcome!!

How long does it take to earn a black belt? Who really knows. It's a mystery; one that's not easy to solve...like...How many hairs are on your head? I've no idea how long it takes on an average to earn a BB because each of us are different. Instead of me preoccupying my time in trying to come up with a solid smart answer to this million dollar question, I'll just say... It takes as long as it takes, no sooner and no later.

To not do your best in everything is to disrespect yourself, and when you disrespect yourself, then you deny yourself every opportunity along your MA journey. Either you will always strive to do your best in everything, and if not, then just get off my floor!!

Here, at this intersection, is where the danger zone exists..... http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20110610/od_yblog_upshot/3-way-street-artist-video-tracks-scary-traffic

I concur!! And if this helps you at all...you're not alone because here at KF; we're a family.

Shindokan is Shuri-te/Okinawa-te based.

Shindokan is far from being a watered-down, hybrid version of the martial arts. Shindokan is more akin to a in-your-face type of Karate, and that's primarily because of it's direct and close relationship with Tuite; Shindokan and Tuite both walk hand in hand into battle. While Shindokan isn't perfect, neither is any martial arts for that matter of fact, it's absolutely not a dyed-in-the-wool in both of its methodology/ideology. Shindokan is an effective martial arts, albeit, it's not as well known as the four major styles of Karate today: Shito-ryu, Goju-ryu, Shotokan-ryu, and Wado-ryu, and in that, Shindokan is like a knife and fork; basic, yet extremely effective across the board. My Background in a nutshell: I was born on October 1957 October 1964 I started studying Shindokan Karate-do Saitou-ryu under my Dai-Soke Yoshinobu Takahashi June/July [1] 1970 I tested and earned my Junior Black Belt Fast forward to: June/July 1975 I tested and earned my Shodan June/July 1976 I tested and earned my Nidan June/July 1977 I tested and earned my Sandan [2] Fast forward to: June/July 1994 I was awarded my Renshi June/July 1997 I was awarded my Kyoshi Fast forward to: June/July 2000 I tested and earned my Hachidan June/July 2003 I was awarded my Hanshi Fast forward to: June/July 2009 I tested and earned my Hachidan Shindokan Kobudo That's it in a nutshell. [1]June/July is our annual testing cycle at out Hombu [2]I was a JBB for 5 years, therefore, I was still receiving lessons from my Dai-Soke all of those years. By the time I tested for my Sandan, I was more than ready. This testing cycle for my Sandan was approved by both my Dai-Soke, who was Kiacho then, and our Soke. This is my only time that my Yudansha tenure was ever approved earlier than normal. EDITS: Spelling and added my DOB

Patrick is absolutely right!! Nothing would ever replace face to face training. This [skype] now allows me to train long-distance with other martial arts that I wouldn't normally have been able to do. No, it's training without hands-on, but still, Skype has an immeasurable value that I tend to tap into. In closing I'd like to thank Patrick for helping us so that we can learn about Skype and other venues...his assistance is very valuable.

Every KF member can tell you the reason(s) why they ever started to learn the style they practice now. So... Why did YOUR Instructor ever learn the style that he/she teaches you? My Dai-Soke started to learn, what would finally become Shindokan, from our Soke because of pure fasination that was birthed in him from watching our Soke conduct an amazing demonstration in the Okinawan village that he lived in when he was just a kid.

Bat 21

Agreed. If you think the bo is "easy"..then you aren't learning anything other than simple basics with the weapon. There are parrys, disarms, locks, sweeps, blocks, jabs, thrusts, etc etc etc...the vast majority of people think there's maybe 10 bo techniques...HA! I've been working on the bo for 30+ years now, and I still discover new things to do with it. Another solid post from Montana!!

I could post a few ways to escape from a bear hug, but I feel that I would be amiss if I first didn't express my honest opinion. Almost every style of the martial arts "teaches" how to escape from a bear hug; imho, some are effective and some aren't effective. Having said that, just about every bear hug escape that I've seen had one bad element to it. Could you guess what that bad element is? Imho...it's A COMPLIANT UKE!! If your training partner isn't willing to put up a fight to keep you in that bear hug, and just let you do whatever you want to do to escape from that bear hug, then your escape is ineffective. Yes, learn the proper ways of "that" said method of escaping from a bear hug, then the compliant Uke is important to learning. PLEASE RESIST ME; NO MATTER WHAT!! Have many different training partners because not everyone reacts the same way.

Want to fight? OK...competition fighting or a real fight? Competition fighting has pads and rules. Real fighting has no pads and no rules. Having said that, one would have to be prepared for the consequences that would follow either. Many say that they want to be in a real fight...well...that's until that person realizes the raw reality of it. To want to do it is not the same as actually doing it.

Who do we have here at KF that could answer questions about Skype? Hhhhmmmmmmm... Let me think.... Aha.... Patrick!! With Patrick's permission first, of course.

Well Brian, clean out your basement please and let's train!!

Solid post!!

Well, be prepared to smack your finger tips more than once, smack your elbows more than once, smack the back of your head more than once, smack yourself in other areas more than once...feels just wonderful. Good luck and don't let anyone take your desires away from you. Weapons training; you'll have a love and hate relationship with weapons, but, that's to be expected because, you thought empty hands training was a blast, well, weapons is a real hoot.

My wife wouldn't make a good training partner because she's a yellow belt and I'd have to go to sleep one day; I shudder the thought of what she'd do to me.

The pen; it's mightier than any sword!! But, in all seriousness, Montana's right on the money. There is no easy martial arts weapon to learn, however, if I was to pick one, for the sake of this topic/thread, I'd pick the yawara, but even then, it has it's difficulties.

Why not? Contact the organization on your own, be polite and respectful, explain to then the situation, and then see if there's a way for them to certify your students. Cutting out the middle-man is business 101. It's not personal; it's business. Good luck!!

Scared of a technique? No. It is what it is and I'm sure I'll meet it with confidence. Of course, that's now, when I first started, my youthful anxiety would get the best of me from time to time.

I do both, pads/no pads. Pads with those who are less experienced than myself. No pads with those who are near my experience if they want, but the power is dialed down. It's not unusual to see Greg, Kancho, and I spar with each other without any pads while we're, at times, full speed/power. For the most part, we usually end up in a stalemate. Greg and I grew up together under our Dai-Soke and the two of use love contact. To watch us you'd think someone's going to get hurt, but that rarely occurs. We're both same rank, yet, I've 6 months over Greg. Greg is the only person I'll spar with full speed/power; it's a trust issue. We love to test our mettle with each other. I'm a proponent of pads and no pads sparring. Both types have there purposes, therefore, safety must be paramount.

Solid point!!