sensei8

If ones a black belt and this black belt isn't knowledgeable in self-defense, then imho, that practitioner shouldn't be a black belt in the first place...imho. True. But the reality is very far from that. We very well know that many black belts aren't truly deserving of such. I concur!!

I think the main reason is because they are targeting children ages 5-8 via the parents reading the ads. Parents look at it and say, "Ooh, my kid could use some more focus. Yeah, sounds good!" So, its the demographic they are targeting. The parents don't want their kids fighting (most of them, anyway), so these things fit what they are looking for in an activity for their kids. Generally speaking. I concur!

Well, you've already got a lot of great advice and so, I don't know what I could add except... If you do 50 each day for a week, then increase it by 1 each week, etc, etc; before the years out, you'll have increased your push up count substantially. Of course, it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

First of all...Welcome to KF!! Sorry for my answer in advance, and I'm sure that you are already quite aware of what I'm about to say in this post. I'd like to refer you back to your Shihan because your Shihan knows the syllabus and he knows your abilities. Just ask him any and all questions concerning EVERYTHING. However, I've done Bassai-dai about a billion times, and having said that, the Bunkai changes as much as the wind does. I could relate to you what I've discovered through Bunkai and Oyo Bunkai, but that discovery would be my own. Even though Bunkai is done with a partner or with a group, you'll discover YOUR Bunkai when you least expect it. It'll be one of your Aha moments. We learn the Bunkai per the syllabus and then we start discovering "new" Bunkai on our own. By that I mean, through your discoveries you'll find what works for YOU and what doesn't work for YOU! What doesn't work; you'll discard them. You'll take Bassai-dai, for example, apart and put it back together over and over and over....until you discover YOUR Bunkai. Bunkai, like kata, varies based on the style and the teacher and the practitioner.

Depending on rank. Won't be much help if his dad only has a white or yellow belt. I suppose, some is better than none...I suppose.

Great posts so far...THANKS...please keep them coming!!

If ones a black belt and this black belt isn't knowledgeable in self-defense, then imho, that practitioner shouldn't be a black belt in the first place...imho.

I see the Chiefs winning against the Ravens...21-17...just as long as they can put their lost against the Raiders behind them and FOCUS. The one and only time that the Ravens came to Arrowhead, the Ravens won 20-10. Then there was last year when the Ravens beat the Chiefs 38-24 even though Flacco threw 3 TD's and Rice ran over 100 yards. GO CHIEFS!! Then there's the Jets VS the Colts. Last year the Colts beat the Jets in the playoffs for the Conference 30-17. The Jets only scored in the 2nd quarter; not the 1st or the 3rd or the 4th. However, the Colts scored 13 in the 2nd and then 7 in the 3rd and then 10 in the 4th. The Jets sent the Colts to their locker room at half-time wondering, yet they came out and kept scoring, where the Jets couldn't. Payton against the wall; that's when he's the most dangerous. I see the Jets winning this one 31-28 just as long as they don't lay down and keep scoring in each and every quarter, with no exceptions. The Jets have to produce on both sides of the ball, and that means that the Jets' secondary must be solid against the long ball as well as the mid-field ball, and oh yeah...pressure Peyton hard or it'll be just one long game for the Jets. GO JETS!!

I can understand why schools of the martial arts target parents. These achievable goals are geared more for the kids than the adults, but I suppose adults might still need these as well.

Good point!

Well, learning from a DVD isn't easy at all especially with no prior experience in what the DVD offers, imho.

I'm with Brian on this...only your sensei truly knows the answer to your question, providing your sensei understands your question. I've an explanation for you because I've done this Kata for many, many years but I would still revert you back to your sensei!

Playoffs are upon us again and it appears that we'll have some great games to watch. By prediction for Super Bowl: Falcons VS Patriots...Patriots WIN!! However, I'd love to see either the Jets or the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

At home; only in the garage or my wife will KILL me!

I define EFFECTIVE this way... If your instructor is effective across the board, and you believe in your instructor; than what she/he provides you through their style(s) of the martial arts will also be effective. What my Soke placed in the curriculum was effective, and what my Dai-Soke supported in the methodologies that he taught was effective as well. However, I tested what was being taught to me over and over again until there was no doubt in my mind that what I was taught and what I was teaching was, in fact, effective. If not, then I discarded it, even if it was in our curriculum. Why? I've a responsibility to myself and to my students first and foremost, no matter if this included angering my Soke and Dai-Soke. It's effective if I say so through my blood, sweat, and tears!! For everything that I've kept that's of the martial arts was because, to me and for my students, that said technique(s) was more than adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result!! I'll test the technique(s) over and over and over and continue to test the technique(s) by placing them through one microscope after another until I'm satisfied one way or another. It's effective because I say so; it works for me, and in that, I teach my students what I believe in, just as I'm sure you do as well. Techniques that I don't believe in, well, I wouldn't line the bottom of a bird cage with. I do not judge a martial art's effectiveness from what I see in the ring; I take the time to actually analyze the techniques. And I have, and I still am. Am I always right? No! And when I discover that I'm wrong about a technique(s); I discard it immediately! Your definition of EFFECTIVE?

What you're saying does make sense. I used the words "Effective Self-Defense" in my opening post to take the place of words like, Tae Kwon Do or Shotokan or BJJ or MMA or Judo or any of the many styles of the martial arts. So, let's just forget about effective self-defense for the moment because its not the main reason for my post. It's like most schools of the martial arts are trying so hard to be so political correct in their ads, however, they don't want to list the style(s) that they teach atop the by-products of learning the martial arts. *Shindokan Karate-do Saitou-ryu & Kobudo *XX years of experience *$$ (monthly price of tuition) That's it! Nothing more and nothing less. List all they want to list. List things like the locker rooms, like the square footage, like the length that they've been at their location, etc. Cluttering their ads anyway that they want to is OK, imho, just as long they list their style(s) in its prominent spot. Their ads, imho, make it appear as though they're ashamed to mention their style(s) in any shape, way, and/or form. But, as I've already said, their ads are harmless, and in that, there's no real problem with them. It's just like a pebble in my shoe when I see ads similar to the sample ad in my OP.

Over the many past years, I've seen this type of generalization in TV ads, phone book ads, flyers, and newspaper ads, to name just a few types of media's available to each and every martial arts school owner to advertise on. For example... Our Programs Help With... *Respect, Courtesy & Self-Discipline *Positive Behavioral Changes *Self-Confidence *Focus & Concentration *Improving Grades & Productivity *Goal Setting & Self-Control Its meaning is quite understood by its consumers, and its fairly harmless. Yes, the martial arts does help with these as noted at the bullet points in the ad above. I don't question that content at all. What's missing in ads of this type, imho... EFFECTIVE SELF-DEFENSE This school of the martial arts seems to forget that the martial arts is for one; learning effective self-defense. Albeit, the items in the above ads bullet points are just the by-product of learning the martial arts. Why are martial arts schools so afraid to mention that they'll teach effective self-defense, first and foremost? Possibly they don't mention effective self-defense because they don't teach ANY self-defense. BTW, we can say all of the bullet points in the ad above in your own ad, but hopefully you'll be mentioning the style(s) that your school does teach as the first bullet point in your ad...or...just mention your style(s) as the only bullet point(s)!! Your thoughts?

I stopped making resolutions along time ago.

What makes a good Sensei? Honesty across the board; first by being honest with themselves first and foremost!! Being a published author or having produced DVD's and the like in the martial arts genre doesn't make a good Sensei. Those are nice platitudes to have for one reason or another, but that doesn't guarantee that the Sensei will be good at it; teaching that is. After all, a Sensei is someone who must have the ability to teach, and their black belt doesn't guarantee that attribute. I've never written a book. I've never published any type of DVD. I'm not a famous martial artist. I'm not well known. I've never been written about in any martial arts publication. This and that. I'm just me, and I believe that I'm a good Sensei across the board. You see, my Soke, and then my Dai-Soke didn't believe in having a website, didn't advertise...ever, other than word of mouth. They despised the tournament scene, however, they never prevented us from participating in them. Go or don't go, they didn't care one way or another UNLESS, I/we shamed ourselves and/or them and/or the Hombu. If we acted to big for our britches, they'd put us back in our places fast. None of them were ever interested in the many things that Sensei's of the past and/or the present were/are interested in. Despite all of that, I consider them both good Sensei's, and I'm not alone in this analogy. They'd always remind us that Karate-do isn't meant to be dependant on commercialism of any type. It's not their cup of tea, and in that, they'd never deny others for their tea flavor. Being honest with oneself to be a good Sensei is important, but it's not that easy! The OP and the two that follow make solid points across the board. Hopefully, I've added something of value to this discussion.

I voted "system"!! Imho... Without a system first, there would be no sensei! So, as to not overuse something I've said here many times before, but it needs to be said again, NOT ALL BLACK BELTS CAN TEACH!! However, a viable and effective system must exist first! Not a mutt system that's been thrown together like Dr. Frankenstien did for his monster; a little bit of this and a little bit of that, it won't exist for long, and it shouldn't. Limited knowledge bears no fruit! Once a black belt is wrapped around the waist of the sensei want-to-be, the system needs to mentor the yudansha through an Instructor Training course before they can officially instruct anybody. Then and only then will the new Sensei become himself/herself viable and effective under the system's umbrella of endorsements, as well as finally receiving their systems stamp of approval. That's key! Having a viable and effective system for the Sensei to hang their yudansha upon is paramount . NO SYSTEM = NO SENSEI...NO SENSEI = NO STUDENTS. In the martial arts; putting the horse before the cart simply means that going about a project in a haphazard fashion, setting up steps out of order and working in a confused manner. It's counter-productive, inefficient and disorganized. It simply doesn't work. The only result may be spinning one's own wheels, and the project goes nowhere. The system produces the sensei; not the other way around!!

This might be of some help for you... http://www.hanni-sakas.com/CombatJutsu06/Links.htm

In a nutshell... "Best", especially in the martial arts, imho, is nothing more than an illusion. Looking at the plethora of styles of the martial arts, the arts in themselves are solid across the board. Having said that, practitioners of the martial arts aren't cut out from a cookie sheet; we're different across the board. Nonetheless, I win today, but tomorrow I lose. This doesn't make my style the best/worst nor does it make the other practitioners style the best/worst either. After all, I'm not fighting the style, I'm fighting the practitioner. Practitioners CAN lose, but the style, imho, can't be defeated. Why? Interpretation defaults actions. Why? The summation of "why" is to the summation of "because". Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. There's always someone better than me/you on any given day. Not many have beaten [bLANK]. Perhaps the right person hasn't come forward yet for one reason or another. Again, even if the right person came forward and then lost, it was the practitioner who lost and not the style. Isn't that practitioner a representative of said style? And if he/she is, then the style isn't faulted. We are fallible beings, and in that, we can't win all of the time; it's unreasonable, it's wishful thinking. The question would be better served if it was worded this way: What style of the martial arts is BEST FOR ME? That can only be truly answered by the one asking the question. Advise can be given, but the advise must be sound. Can one be perfectly honest with oneself? That's not easy to answer.

The "Gi" has its merits, but, for me, I'd, sooner than later, discard the gi because it's going to be in my way and provide a "tool" to use against me.

Very nice article...I enjoyed it a lot! I've viewed Bruce's saying that you quoted in a different way, but that's the beauty of the journey. Still, a solid article across the board!!

Both have to be taught one way or another!!