sensei8

ROFL!! Flashes of my early nunchaku training just shot through my mind....OUCH, OUCH, OUCH, OUCH...

Let's not forget to start any and all students on practice weapons and not the real weapon, otherwise, only bad things might happen. Recently I saw a white belt child donning a pair of kama's, to my grateful eyes I saw the kama's he was wielding were of the practice type...whew!!

You're my new hero...you very funny!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!! As far as the founder having such an extensive MA resume, a lot isn't dependent on time to train in all of those styles. It could be that the rank listed at top is the presidents main style in which he holds that said high rank. Anytime listed after that MIGHT'VE been organizations that he joined and those organizations awarded him an appropriate rank. Remember, I did say 'it could be'!! Anyway, I want to welcome you to KF!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Thank you Jeffery and ninjanurse!!

I think that a good t-shirt for ones MA school has the possibility of added revenue, which is always good. Seeing the chief instructor and his/her staff wearing any said t-shirt of the school is important because, especially the kids/parents, students want to emulate their school leaders. Picking a price is tricky because you don't want to make it seem like you're taking advantage of your students and the like, yet at the same time, one doesn't want to seem like you're giving them away, unless you actually give them away for FREE promotion.

I concur with many ideas found here...keep your original school name but add a variety to it to differ one from another. Business 101 states that the build up of any positive "good will" will drive the bottom line. Good luck!

Even though my style is predominately only kick waist down, I learned TKD for a year when I was in high school. Having said that, I still kick low most of the time, but when the opportunity arises itself, I'll then kick high with ease. I've had my share of being on the end of many TKD kicks, and in that, I've a ton of respect for anyone who's style has a lot of high kicks. Ducking works but an axe kick can end that idea quickly...I know from experience.

Well deserved...congrats!!

Balm refers to a medicine that's used for healing. A healing of a type that would certainly be of a benefit and/or for a concrete purpose: to soothe! Jeremiah cried out loud..."Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?" Of course, Jeremiah was referring to the punishment of Israel. Even now, so do I cry out, but I cry out for how ranking is suffering the punishment of its criticizers...Is there no balm for Martial Arts ranking; is there no hope there? Each and every style of the Martial Arts that uses some type of ranking system is vehemently attacked repeatedly by those who don't use any type of ranking system. However, imho, those who are proponents of no ranking disguise its usage because any instructor, which is a type of a rank, has to evaluate, which is a type of a rank, their students progress, which is a type of ranking. Hhhhmmmm?! Yet on the other hand, we that do use a ranking system might be just as guilty when it comes to pointing the accusing finger at those styles of the Martial Arts that don't use a ranking system. Even more so, we that use a ranking system will "attack our own" because we won't and/or don't recognize anybody who is not from our styles governing body. Knowledge, imho, trumps rank. However, rank is being used as a barometer of knowledge; this is grossly wrong. Why? Knowledge can stand alone, whereas rank floats in a void without knowledge to lend its credibility, albeit, that credibility is attacked without reservation. If rank only holds context and/or meaning within a styles own governing body, and I find this to be true/fact, then every Martial Artist that is outside of any said style doesn't and/or won't respect even the most noted practitioners of the Martial Arts' rank for their own reasoning(s). Kanazawa Sensei and Higaonna Sensei, both prominent Masters of their particular style, and in that, they're both respected and well noted Masters in their own right; we can agree with this statement. Now, imagine, if for just a moment, they had contacted each others governing body to become a member, remember I said 'IMAGINE', yet, they were refused admission because either governing body refused to recognize and/or respect either one of them. Why? One reason was that they both possess rank and two, they're not already of "the others" style. I can hear it already..."That's absurd!" "That's ridiculous!" That's preposterous!" Is it really? Is it possible? Some might argue..."Kanazawa Sensei and Higaonna Sensei are not, well, you know, they're not...well...they're not you and I. They're beyond reproach!" Others might argue..."Kanazawa Sensei and Higaonna Sensei don't live for their rank because rank means nothing to them; it's the search for knowledge that drives them." To the first argument I might say...we're ALL the same: Martial Artists and no ones beyond reproach. To the second argument I might say...if Kanazawa Sensei and/or Higaonna Sensei don't live for their rank because rank means nothing to them, then why wear their black belts at all? Why? Why? Why? The summation of 'why' is to the summation of 'because'!! Kanazawa Sensei and Higaonna Sensei, you, and I wear some type of a colored belt because it's of a type of ranking and we're proud, not in a vain way, of our accomplishment(s) achieved sometime ago while we were on our Martial Arts journey. Why does anybody wear anything? Why does a judge wear a Judicial gown? Why does a Police Officer wear a badge and a gun? Why does the Doctor wear their Greens? Because it's part of the "Official Uniform"!! However, without their official garb, they're still a Judge, Police Officer, or Doctor without their outlying identifiers; their abilities aren't diminished when their out of "uniform". Same for the Martial Artist. Our Martial Artist "uniform" doesn't define us, and it shouldn't. In or out of our "official uniform" we still possess the attributes of cause. When I teach, I wear a Gi and my Yudansha because it's my "official uniform". When I train, I wear some type of sweat and a t-shirt. Attack Kanazawa Sensei or Higaonna Sensei or you or myself, belt on or not, it'll be on like donkey kong, our attacker(s) might have bitten off more than they can chew...or as I like to say sometimes...Lotty dotty I know Karate, if you mess with me I'll break your body. It's true, not all styles of the Martial Arts aren't equal, and I'm glad for that. What is a black belt in one style might be a green belt in another...maybe!! I don't ask for the world. Just for some respect for those of us who are of a style/organization that practices the wearing of some colored belt. In return, I will continue to respect those who don't practice any ranking system, and I'll offer my respect in loud clear words, both spoken as well as written. In closing, please don't judge us less than. While I'm a proponent of rank within a certain context, it's possible that the balm for any Martial Arts ranking might still be that proof is on the floor!! I don't know, you tell me!

While there is certainly some validity in the notion that people should take you the way you are, there should also be an understanding of when image is important and when it is not. Knowing when to exude professionalism, no matter rank/knowledge/experience, what is appropriate to say in a certain situation and other ways in which you portray yourself affect the way others perceive you. It has always confused me to hear people say they don't care what others think of them. "They should accept me the way I am." Why wouldn't you be concerned? An image can be developed from the way we dress, associate with people, and our attitude. If you're an owner/instructor of a Martial Arts school, then image is everything; it's the key to success, and success drives the bottom line/profits. How one carries oneself is vitally important in and out of the dojo/school. Your bottom line, as seen on a P&L statement, if your suffering/tanking, might be because of your image to both current as well as potential students, and of course, the general public. Think about this: It's just as easy to improve your image as it is to damage it. How do you want to be known?

Kobudo, aka Weapons, of the Martial Arts can be found in many, many of the different styles. Some weapons are unique in their appearance as well as in their uses alone, while other weapons are quite common, like the nunchaku and/or the Bo, to name just a few. If your style of the Martial Arts incorporates Kobudo/Weapons, I've a question(s) for both the instructor and/or Dan level as well as the Kyu level [beginner/intermediate/advanced]... 1) What is the appropriate AGE to start learning any said weapon (Kobudo)? 2) What is the appropriate RANK to start learning any said weapon (Kobudo)? 3) What is the appropriate RANK to start TEACHING any said weapon (Kobudo)? Thanking you in advance...let the discussion(s) begin!! Note: Please forgive me if this subject has been discussed before in any shape, way, and/or form!!

Those guys all lived to be a good age, even the ones before modern medicine. You all must be doing something right. Yepper...I'm the whippersnapper of the group...lol

Thank you very much. Fun is, well, it's fun again.

Ahem...July/August/September....somewhere in there...we can play...I mean train with the tennis balls as well when we get together. Heheheheheheheeeeee

I'm glad you asked Danielle. It's one of my most favorite drills. I've 2 HUGE buckets, thanks to the Plastics section of Wal-Mart, full of tennis balls. Every Shindokan student knows the tennis ball drill, young and old love this drill because it works and it's a lot of fun...especially for me. The tennis ball drill is an awareness drill. People don't always pay attention to their surroundings, and I believe that the tennis ball drill heightens their awareness. It's a "Sensei" version of dodge ball, and I always win because I'm pretty sneaky and I don't telegraph unless I want to to just throw them off so I can SCORE. To play, one must have goggles and a mouthpiece for there is no telling where a tennis ball might be coming from. I don't throw them hard, by that I mean, I don't wind up a fastball, I throw, toss, etc, anyway that can catch them off guard but my goal is to NOT injure them, hence goggle/mouthpiece. I'll throw them right at them, I'll throw the entire contents to one student, I'll throw in a small area of students and then POW...one tennis ball goes flying to the very far side and nails a student, I'll just dump the entire contents of a bucket on top of a student that's real good at, well, ducking/dodging/etc...they can't avoid 200+ tennis balls. I'll roll them, I'll bounce them, I'll bounce one up real high, and it almost never fails, someone will look up and I'll nail them. I'll skip them, I'll throw them from behind my back to an unexpected student, I'll throw 1...2...5...8...12 at one time at different targets/students. I've learned over the many years to throw any combination of tennis balls because the students learn how I might throw at them...get it...their NOW paying attention and in that, they're more aware now. But, it's not long before I change up the billion ways I throw the tennis balls. At every annual testing cycle...I'll bring out the buckets from behind a curtain or from under a table and the cheers are deafening during one of our many breaks. Why? Because it's me against the hierarchy of the Shindokan Hombu and guess what...I've not lost a drill EVER! It's funny to watch some of our big-wigs do everything but dodge my tennis balls. I'm not opposed to stand against the wall in a Students VS Sensei game...I win some, I lose some because when every student has a ball and their aiming for ME...it's hard to dodge that many tennis balls no matter how aware I am or anybody. So, that's the tennis ball drill. Try it...your students will love it, especially if YOU'RE HAVING FUN. Your student will reap the rewards while you release some pent-up frustration...just kidding...or am I....heheheheheheheheehheeheheheheheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sorry, no Shindokan dojo's in or around Chicago.

Congrats...feels good to be back...huh? There's an old idiom about getting back into the saddle, well, you're back in the saddle and it must feel great!! Please keep in touch with anything new!! Isn't the MA about the coolest thing?!

My compliments to you; beautiful pictures. If your sloppy, then I would love to have a tenth of your sloppyness...SOLID!

Great question. Unfortunately, my lineage is just that for the most part. Soke Saitou and Dai-Soke Takahashi are the only ones within our lineage that I handled. By handled, I mean that I was trained by them, I had an intimate relationship with both of them before they passed away. Anyone in our lineage above Soke Saitou I never meet or anything. So I have to believe what I was told. The only other "proof" we have can be found in our Shindokan Densho, Hand Scrolls, and By-Laws. We've quite a lot of photos of Soke and Dai-Soke, but of anyone above Soke Saitou in lineage, well, we've no album of each of them, maybe one photo, if that.

Satunuku "Tode" Sakugawa (1733 - 1815) Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura (1797 - 1889) Anko Itosu (1830 - 1915) Shigekazu Ishikawa (1864 - 1959) (Shuri-te) Choshu Saitou (1865 - 1962) (Okinawa-te*) (This is the father of Soke Saitou) (*Choshu Saitou's Okinawa-te Sensei is unknown) Fuyuhiko Saitou (1917 - 2008) (Shindokan founder; Shindokan was founded in 1950) Yoshinobu Takahashi (1932 - 2010) (Dai-Soke; and the first student of Soke Saitou) Me