sensei8

Let me just say this...good luck, relax, and before you know...the test will be over and you will have PASSED with flying colors. As corny as this might sound...believe in yourself and let the test take care of itself!! Let us know the results!

While flexibility is important in any martial arts, having the ability to perform the splits ISN'T necessary in the martial arts. One of the key things, imho, for anyone, beginners to advanced, is to NOT bounce while stretching. The reason for this is that bouncing can cause microtrauma in the muscle, which must heal itself with scar tissue. The scar tissue tightens the muscle, making you less flexible, and more prone to pain. This type of repetitive bouncing stretch is called ballistic stretching, and in that, it can strain your muscles and tendons because they aren't quite warmed up yet. One more small piece of stretching advise comes from Edward R. Laskowski M.D co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center In Rochester, Minnesota, Says, "no pain, no pain" may be a better philosophy. Dr. Laskowski insists.... "Never hold a painful stretch. You should back off just to where it's not painful, and hold for the duration of the stretch. Stretching lengthens muscle tissue, making it less liable to trauma and tears. Stretching should be a relaxing part of your exercise session." No pain, no gain was redundant the day it was first used.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!

Sleep on it. If when you wake up and you still feel the same way about it, and if that be that you'd rather not test him, then don't test him. I personally have never had this type of situation, therefore, I don't envy you for the decision that your facing. Speak with YOUR instructor for his/her advise and/or speak with your organizations governing body for their advise. Your organization might not approve the test if your student can't remember all of the required Hyungs. I'd also speak with an expert in the field of learning disabilities in order to get their advise as well. Learn about this disibility!! Bottom line is that it'll be your decision in the end. Aside from not remembering all of the required Hyung's; is this student black belt material in YOUR eyes? I'd seriously consider the learning disability, then, I'd come to my final decision off that. Good luck!

I'm not that bored out of my skull!! First, you have to know the Hombu as I do to truly understand why I feel as I do. The Hombu will ask one time politely, then after that, no matter how clear the response might be, they hound you and hound you and hound you until either your resolve or theirs gives in. Yes, I'm greatful and very thankful for the Hombu's continued support and believe in my abilities across the board. Nonetheless, I'm retired! More importantly to me than it is to the Hombu is this; Dai-Soke has just passed away and I'm mourning his passing harder than I thought I would. In that, I'm not ready, for now, and I'm not sure if I ever will be. Time heals all wounds. My services as Kaisho are still theirs without any reservation because it's the student body that's important. The Hombu doesn't want to hear that. NO! They want to act like a bill collector and hound me unceasingly. I've advised them as to what they should do...and that is...pick a name from the list of three names that I've submitted just recently as quailfied Chief Instructors...bingo...vote on the chosen candidate...and if the votes are unanimously...then there's the new Chief Instructor for the Hombu! As Kaisho, Senior Advisor, I've done my roll...I advised. If not, tell the current Kaicho to fullfill his dual duty as the Chief Instructor of the Hombu. Give me some grieving time, however long that may be! Is that to much to ask? No, I don't think it is.

Before I retired from the tournament scene, Wankan was my signature Kata to perform that last year. By signature I mean that Wankan was the only Kata I'd do.

Very nice story, one I enjoyed a lot. Isn't it amazing how easy it is to "see" through the forest when one removes all of the tree?! It had been staring at you all of these years, but in you being uncomfortable with your skill set, this caused you to not have neither Mizu No Kokoro and Tsuki No Kokoro all at the same time. Then, for no special reason, came your AHA moment as you started to just flow. "How did that feel to you?"..."Don't think, FEEL!" "It is like a finger pointing away to the moon!"..."Don't concentrate on the finger or you'll miss all of that heavenly glory!" Every martial artist experiences their AHA moment from time to time...it's all good! Congratulations to you on your personal triumph, and I agree with you...this will take you to the next level. I sincerely bow to you!!

Zen is not a religion, in the same sense that Christianity is a religion. Therefore, there is no reason why Christianity and Zen cannot co-exist. Christians are discovering that Zen meditation practices invigorate and deepen their prayer life and spiritual growth. Zen training is especially helpful to those seeking to integrate prayer with ministry or social action. The tensions which seem to exist between religious ideals and life "as it is" are dissolved by the practice of awareness both in sitting meditation and in daily life. If Zen was a religion, then mixing Christianity and Zen would be an oxymoron. Besides, I don't want religion at all, no, I want a personal relationship with Christ. So often do the laymen criticise the martial artist who is a Christian. The laymen thinks that martial arts teaches only how to kill/hurt/lame; that laymen knows nothing! The martial arts teaches peace. My grandma, on my moms side, always told us kids..."If you don't like it, then don't do it, but if you love it, then do it by all means!"

To much of a good thing can spoil good training. Therefore, take a break once in a while...do something other than the martial arts.

I don't think that the movie would attract any new students as the movements of Kung-Fu would!!

Isn't that what the martial arts is suppose to teach...survival of the fittest?! This should apply to each and every person whether their size. Nothing is guaranteed! Good point! In that, I concur! Again, solid points that I concur with. A smaller person with decent skills can keep up with a bigger person with no skills. But a smaller person with decent skills cannot keep up with a bigger person with likewise decent skills. But a smaller person with good skills can keep up with a bigger person with decent skills. But a smaller person with good skills cannot keep up with a bigger person with good skills. Martial arts knowledge and skills is an equalizer to size and all, but it can only take someone so far before a mistake is capitalized upon. After that, one better come up with something effective fast! Danielle; you've offered up some very nice arguements across the board!

Tonights MNF will be a good one, imho. Good luck to the Dolphins Patrick!! You know, you just gotta love the Jets...I do. They're playing for keeps this year. I was glad to see my Cowboys on a bye week because they need to regroup or at least....drop back ten and punt...something. They've got the Titans next and we need something...like a prayer or something. GO COWBOYS!! I, and I can't believe that I'm saying this, can't wait to see the Chiefs go for the 4th win and I hope that the Chiefs beat the Colts. Good luck to the Chiefs Brian!! I enjoyed a lot of Sundays games, none over another except the Jets, although the Chargers spanked the Cardinals. GO COWBOYS!!

ABSOLUTELY!!

Yankee lost the season's final game against the Red Sox: 8-4. This means that the Yankee's are in the wild card and their first playoff game will be against the Twins. I had hoped that the Yanks would've won the division so that they'd play the Rangers, but, oh well. BTW, I'm not overly fond of the Red Sox's in the least! GO YANKEES!!

ALI!!

Please define "training"! I've always trained young and old students.

It takes as long as it's going to take, if at all!!

Wankan...it's shortness doesn't dispel it's power. I love Wankan. Much is said in a ahort Kata, compared to like, Gojushiho and/or Unsu.

According to some of the posts here; size matters. Therefore, those of smaller sizes need to give up for one reason or another. Well, that's how I'm preceiving it. Interesting! Define size. Are we talking about "total size"; height and/or weight and/or muscle? Size matters, but only in varying degrees. Personally, size means nothing to me. It's more about knowledge and skill than it's about size. I consider myself pretty good, and in that, it's not that I'm good; it's just that my opponent doesn't know anything.

I concur. It's a blast to teach your kids the martial arts. Only one of my kids didn't want to learn the martial arts; my youngest son,, who's 16 years old now, his love is basketball/baseball....in that order. The other three dabbled in the martial arts but, other things became more important to them. My youngest daughter was a chip of the old block when it came to the martial arts, but, then...FLUTE/PICCALO entered her life and man oh man she can play, and she's only in the 9th grade. My kids at first had difficulty in seperating dad from sensei. Put they learnt to seperate the two for the conduciveness across the board. They received no special treatment at any time, however, my kids thought that that came automatically with the territory. They learnt differently from day one! Enjoy each and every moment that you have them on the floor with you! Imho, nothing can compare...for now. I say for now because things can change in a moment.

My martial arts journey began when I was 7 years old; I'll be 53 this October 18th. My journey began because I was constantly being bullied at school, and in that, my lunch money was stolen from me everyday at school. No, I never told any teachers or the principal/vice principal because I was scared that they'd beat me up. My mom got tired of me raiding the frig, and by that, she got to the bottom of the problem fast. My mom enrolled me in a Shindokan Karate-do dojo for no other reason than that it was close to the house, which allowed me to ride my bike to and from the dojo. Fast forward to the present; 46 years later. My martial arts journey still continues and I've never regretted one day or one hour or one second. I've been blessed in the platitudes that I've earned, and even more so, I've been blessed with the many, many students that I've trained. My journey continues, even though my Dai-Soke is no longer with me/us. These recent days have been lonely without him, and I can only hope that I made him proud of me. I pray that my Dai-Soke saw that unquenchable fire burning within me, and in that, he saw the man that I came to be was good. My martial arts journey continues!

Sox's won the last game of the doubleheader with the Yanks, and now both the Sox's and the Yanks are TIED....boo hoo! It's down to todays final game. Tampa Bay VS the Royals; I'm afraid that's a no brainer...Tampa will win that one. So, the only thing I can hope for is that the Yanks BEAT the Sox's for the division tie, but, I don't like our chances to beat the Sox's because... NYY: D. Moseley (4-3, 4.77) BOS: J. Lackey (13-11, 4.47) That's why!! And the Tampa VS Royals... TB: W. Davis (12-10, 4.14) KC: S. O'Sullivan (4-6, 5.91) That's why!! A division tie would not be good for the Yanks. Why? By splitting Saturday’s doubleheader against the Red Sox, the Yankees (95-66) are no longer in control of their own fate in the East. New York is tied atop the division with Tampa Bay, and needs to beat Boston (88-73) on Sunday and have the Rays lose in Kansas City to win the East. If the Yankees and Tampa Bay finish the season in a tie, the Rays will be the division winner because they won the head-to-head season series 10-8, while New York would get the wild card. The team left with the wild card opens the playoffs Wednesday in Minnesota. The division winner hosts Texas on Wednesday. The Twins will give us a run for the money, but, imho, the Ranger VS Yankees...Yankees would easily win the series against the playoff choking Rangers, imho!! TODAY IS GOING TO BE A NAIL BITER ALL THE WAY!!! GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!

Black Belt Magazine's on-line forum didn't even try across the board, and now, Black Belt Magazine's on-line forum is no more. Shows that running a magazine as successful as Black Belt Magazine is, it doesn't guarantee success when it comes to on-line! Again, congrats Patrick...you're solid!!