sensei8

Yes, this was a very good article. Covered a plethoria of concerns that many martial artists who are christians, as I am. For many, many years I've not concerned myself with what others may or may not say concerning me being a christian martial artist. Why? It only matters to me what Jesus says!

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I do think that sparring is part of learning good self-defense. Why? Sparring as often as one breathes is vitally important to learning good self-defense. How would one know how to react to attacks and the like if one never spars, or very little? They wouldn't! They'd be like a deer staring at headlights; frozen in fear from not knowing what to do and/or from not knowing what not to do. Spar until the wheels fall off...and after the wheels fall off...keep sparring! The more you spar, then the more aware you become when your attacker starts swinging everything, including the kitchen sink, at you with the intent to do you severe bodily harm. If you don't know what it's like to hit and what it's like to be hit; then my friend, SPAR and SPAR and SPAR and SPAR. Learning to spar is like learning the game of chess. In chess you have your opening moves, you have your mid-game moves, you have your end moves, you have your traps, you have your blind moves, you have your stratagies, you have your hidden moves, you have your checks, and hopefully, you have your checkmate. The winner will be the one who's more prepared across the board. Study your opponent Study yourself Make a plan Carry the plan out

That's rough when you only see her twice a month. Therefore, your previous post makes a ton of sense to me. Being just 1 student out of 100 or so, and you only see her occasionally, well it's like being a stranger in your own school...and to your instructor(s).

Yes, I can relate to that very thing. When a student misses a block and gets tagged in the face my accident, I'll say something like...."Wait, that face-blocking is saved for the upper Dan ranks, so stop doing that until we've taught it to you properly." Students will at first just look at me kind of puzzled, and by then, I can't hold my laughter back, and then they get to enjoy the joke with the rest of us....who've done that very same face-blocking...shoot...I've done the face-blocking more times than I care to remember.

Is the class so large that your own instructor isn't already aware of your strengths as well as your weaknesses? I'm keenly aware of my students across the board because I work with them on a nearly daily basis. So much so that I can tell if my students have practiced or not; and in that, I make my students accountable. I too would have to imagine that your current instructor is keenly aware of you more than you might think.

Hopefully, size ISN'T the issue at all for anybody. Size just isn't a general requirement for black belt because it has no bearing, imho.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF Matthias!

Welcome to KF and I too thank you for your service. You'll be in my prayers!

Very nice! The Shindokan Hombu is 100% hardwood floors through-out, but, in the smaller dojo, the floor is Swain 1.5" Grappling Mats where we practice/teach, you guessed it...grappling.

Heidi...Now that's what I'm talking about...this is absolutely the greatest way to test! Not always can this be done with us of Shindokan because both my Soke and my Dai-Soke were big on formality and big on ceremonies; they loved big parties.

Since I no longer qualify to be tested anymore, it doesn't bother me at all. Nonetheless, when I was testing, I personally prefer to NOT know when I was going to be tested. The sick dry humor of my Dai-Soke, he'd tells us or he wouldn't tell us about any upcoming testing cycles, and again, I loved it when he sprung them on us at the last moment. The only exception to his twisted sick humor would be in the kyu ranks from 10th kyu to 6th kyu, and in that, he'd inform us of any upcoming tests one month before that testing cycle. From 5th kyu to Yondan he either would or he wouldn't inform us of any upcoming testing cycles. At Godan, he wouldn't tell us NOTHING. We'd know we were about to test when he'd inform us that we could go ahead and submit our application for the next upcoming testing cycle 2 weeks out, if that. More than once he's sprung a test on a Rokudan and/or a Nanadan just after they had finished assisting a long day at the testing table. My examination for Yondan in Kubodo was done at the end of a Kobudo seminar he was conducting at the Hombu. I had 10 minutes for get ready once he announced my surprise test. Yeah, I did fine, but, sheech. EDITS: What else, my spelling, sheech!!

You're more than welcome; it was my pleasure!

The only type of meditation that I don't want to do is...meditating horizontally!

I've truly enjoyed everyones "secret technique(s)"; I'm still laughing...some very funny stuff.

To everyone here at KF; Have a Safe and a Happy Father's Day!

Heidi, that's a very, very solid teaching approach!!

Of every style of the martial arts that uses the kyu/dan ranking system, I've never seen, as of yet, an explanation from any headquarters as to why their age requirements are thus and so. The, "because we said so", "because it's always been our way" and/or "because", imho, isn't a valid reason, not that they need one to satisfy, but, an honest question deserves an honest answer. It's their organization, and in that, I suppose that they can do as they wish, no matter the topic. In order to be promoted to the next rank, the student needs to not only be proficient in the kihon, kata, and kumite for that rank, but in all the previous rank requirements as well. A student testing, for example, for brown belt would be expected be able to demonstrate a much better front kick then he did when he tested for purple belt. In Shindokan, it's not the maturity of the karateka, although we do have age requirements from 10th kyu to 10 dan, but, it's the maturity of techniques that's expected and required.

This might be of some help to you... http://www.lessonswiththemaster.com/index_files/skifsyllabus.pdf SKIF Grading Syllabus for 10th Kyu to Godan.

How do you/your instructor(s) teach? Most karate instructors I know focus on the Correction method, with some Demonstration method mixed in to save time. I also know of quite a few instructors who try to use technical explanations, but lack the knowledge or ability to form coherent explanations. Often, teaching methods are blended, such as explaining to a student how/why a technique should be performed a certain way, while demonstrating and correcting the student as he or she tries to do as the instructor explained and demonstrated. Having said that, one should also be aware that no matter how you/your instructor(s) teach; students fit into 3 distinctful categories as to how they learn from you/your instructor(s): *Analyzing theory...This type of student learns by asking questions. *Duplicating what is seen...This type of student learns by repetition of techniques. *Feeling...This type of student learns by feeling/experiencing the techniques. Knowing how students learn is important, and in that, it shouldn't be ignored, but at the same time, it's not tantamount to how you/your instructor(s) teach. You/your instructor(s) teach in the methodology that they do because it's effective; it works! Students, imho, must adapt to how you/your instructor(s) teach if they want to learn the martial arts from either. Your thoughts?

The JKA has some of the strictest requirements for Dan grading, to ensure consistent quality throughout the more than 100 countries in which it is represented. It is just not the case that grades are 'awarded' if not for actual competency. JKA Examiners must possess proper grading licenses, obtained after specific theoretical and practical examinations. The allowable Examiner's License Rank, according to dan grade is: D class = 3 DAN (25 years old or older) C class = 4 DAN B class = 6 DAN A class = 7 DAN These licenses must be reviewed and renewed or upgraded every 3 years. The minimum examiner's rank required for a JKA-registered dan grading is: To grade a JKA SHODAN, the Examiners required are 1A Class or (1B + 1C) or above To grade a JKA NIDAN, the Examiners required are 1A or (1B + 3C) or above To grade a JKA SANDAN, the Examiners required are (1A + 1B) or above To grade a JKA YONDAN, the Examiners required are (1A + 2B) or above To grade a JKA GODAN, the Examiners required are (2A + 2B) or above For example: In order to be able to grade a student to 1st Dan, a single grading examiner must be as a minimum a 7th Dan and the holder of a current Examiner 'A' license. Otherwise, there must be a 6th Dan with a B licence and a 4th Dan with a C license. This is unfortunately a far cry from what happens in other organizations…that is why any Dan grade is seldom equivalent to a JKA Dan grade.

Meanings of the belt color!? Interesting. Can you give me an example. When I took TKD in high school, GM Young Ik Suh, for example, said that the yellow belt meant "spring beginner". Is that what you mean? http://www.comdo.com/reference04.html Aha, that is what you mean. I really liked that Danielle....and I thank you!

John, to everything you said....yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..... BTW....LAKERS WIN, LAKERS WIN, LAKERS WIN... It wasn't a very exciting game #7, but, Artest was solid, Gasol was solid, Fisher was solid, Kobe was solid...shoot...all of the Lakers were solid. I did get nervious in the 3rd quarter when the Celtics went ahead by 13 pts, because it was a flash back to game #5 when the Lakers couldn't do anything right. Wallace was solid on offense, but, his defense wasn't at the same level as Perkins. I'll say this though, if Perkins wasn't hurt, it very well could've been a Celtic win! Kobe got the MVP...again, but, this year, Bynum should've gotten MVP or at least Co-MVP because he played very solid with a bum knee. Artest proved to me that he's a changed, for the best, man/player. He's put the noise aside and made a conscious effort to actively contribute to every Lakers win. Back to back Championships WITHOUT Shaq! 5 NBA rings for Kobe! 17 NBA titles, which is one behind the Celtic with 18 NBA titles. Not a bad championship series all in all, but man I thought a few times that there was going to be a repeat of 2008. WAY TO GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, back to the Yankees and back to baseball!!!!!!! GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!