sensei8

Sorry to hear that. Chin up and all! What tasks you will only make you stronger in the long run. Hang in there, and come October...you'll be a brand new Shodan!

SOLID!!

Geoff Thompson - the man Black Belt Magazine USA called, "the most influential martial artist in the world since Bruce Lee." This tag line can be found in most martial arts magazine publications. Whether one is or isn't the most influential of anything is up to the masses and not up to the individual for whom the proponent is aimed at. Do advertisements tailored like this upset you? Do you take those words personally? By personally, do you, or your students take those words as a personal attack on you as a martial artist? Here, Black Belt Magazine USA is just one collected opinion, and nothing more. Opinions vary across the spectrum known as the martial arts. BBM USA is supporting the martial artist, here, Geoff Thompson, and that's their belief as well as it's their right. The tag in the first paragraph of the OP, imho, is nothing more than an advertising power point, and yes, imho, the laymen martial artist as well as the non-martial artists might perceive this as the holy grail, just as though it's written in stone. To me, it's all harmless advertising, and one companies opinion. By harmless I mean it's uninfluential across the board and in that, it's nothing. It's no more than when one uses certain power words in their advertising tag lines. Word(s) like "Best" or "Most", as in the example above. Harmless? Yes. It's the old adage..."Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" I believe that this idiom should speak loud and clear to every martial artist about everything that's the martial arts. You; The reader is only interested in the potential benefit that he/she will receive from your product. The old advertising maxim is still valid "Sell the sizzle not the steak". Look carefully at your product and think of all the reasons that I, or anyone else would benefit by owning it. Even in our casual conversations with other fellow martial artists over lunch, or wherever, we'll speak often one of those "MOST" powerful words, on either side of any martial arts discussion, "BEST"!! That word, "BEST", alone can bring martial artists together or, the word, "BEST", can drive a wedge between two fellow martial artists just that quick. Of course, imho, it depends greatly on each individual's martial arts maturity. Your thoughts?!?

What kind of Shotokan are you? JKA? SKIF? ITKF? ISKF? KWF? I'm not of the Shotokan family, just a fellow karateka.

ROFLMBBO...hahaahahahahaahahaaa...you're killing me Brian...NOW that's funny!

Well said. This is a very good explaination. I've been taught that it is slightly bent with your toes trying to grip the ground. I've tried this with even shoes on and I feel more stable. That is my two cents worth. Toes gripping the ground...YES!!

So, is it better to have a soft, supporting leg? And why is it better? And a finally question , is it worse but easier to kick with a locked, supporting leg, and why? Imho, it's better to have a 'soft' supporting leg because of the reasons I stated in my first post. As to your second question, I've no experience with a locked supporting leg while kicking.

SOLID POSTS Jay and ps1.

It bears to have never been thought about along those lines; interesting!

If?!? Penetration is important especially with a bent supporting leg. However, you're, imho, right on the money when you say your kick MUST be strong. That comes with knowledge and knowledge comes with experience. I can drive my kicks with the base leg slightly bent supporting leg not because I'm of a big stature, no, but, because of my knowledge/experience. Again, solid post DWx...solid post!

I'm not 100%, but, the ATA is the only one's I've ever seen with these type of Dan ranking patches on their obi's. In that, the ATA only has roman numerals for 1-4, but 5-9 are represented by stars. Therefore, I'm thinking that the ATA is it's own supplier. I guess you could call the ATA and see is they'll sell you some, I don't see it happening. Other than that, you could have them made for a nominal fee and the like. Sorry if this isn't of any help.

Straight blast or the JKD chain punching, I call it...some very fast and powerful punches. Whatever it's called...IT WORKS, or at least for Bruce Lee.

Basically, within the Shindokan, we're taught to NOT lock the supporting leg because the supporting leg acts like a shock-absorber, as well as, a locked supporting leg can be injured more easily than having the supporting leg slightly bent.

If you could get your hands on your styles Densho's, then possibly within the Densho's you'd find the lineage. I only suggest this because that's the place where our styles lineage can be found...in the Densho's.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!

isshinryu5toforever has a very solid grasp on the who, what, where, when, why, and how across the board. You want a successful gym/business? Then the only thing that's viable in todays market, imho, is the use of CONTRACTS!! They help you to ensure that you've positive revenue flowing in. Most, if not all, gyms use contracts, and they use them without question/reservations. Me, myself, and I, personally, can't stand contracts because they are so binding, and one has little chance of getting out of the contract. Remember, a binding contract is written by a lawyer, and in that, once you've signed on the dotted line, you're there for the duration of that contract. Whenever the contract is up for renewal and you've not opted out exactly as required, guess what? Your contract's renewed whether you wanted to or not, and you've got another year or so of payments. Having said that. In todays roller coaster economy, contracts might not be an option as to if one should or should not have contracts for your customers because the bottom line of any P&L statement is PROFIT OR LOSS! You want to ensure positive revenue flow, therefore, contracts might become a vital necessity!

A very solid post; I thank you for it!

An excellent article through and through! The following ending sentence to that article speaks in volumes... "Tang Soo Do has managed to transform my son, and regardless of tournaments, regardless of belt classifications, and regardless of anything else, that is the reason that Tang Soo Do (and his incredible instructors) will always have my gratitude." Thanks for sharing the article Joe!

Is it realistic? Well, I'd rather to have trained for multiple attackers in many, many live "drills", than to not have trained at all. To train for multiple attackers, imho, one better train their whole entire body because it might take just that to defeat multilple attackers.

Karate is nothing without Kihon, Kata, and Kumite, imho. These three are dependant with each other, and in that, all three must be in agreement with one another. Kata and Kihon. Kihon and Kumite. Kumite and Kata. Kata. Kumite. Kihon. These are as effective as a two or one legged chair; unstable! Bear them together: Kata, Kihon, and Kumite; that fruit will nourish, but only if used together. It's called the three K's, not the two K's or the one K, for a good reason!

Neither style is bad; just the individual karateka's!

I'm hoping for a 2nd season of this show! I've only shot a .22 rifle, and that's because I'm afraid of guns, but, when I did shoot the few times; I hit everything except the barn! These are the "masters" at their craft, imho!

What concerns me, Bob, is that trailers used to start off with: The following preview has been approved for General Audiences but now they say: The following preview has been approved for Appropriate Audiences And that's something I don't like! If I'm bringing my children to a movie, I expect the trailers to be along a softer line. If I'm going to a movie for teens and adults, then the trailer can refer to other movies that adults are expected to be interested in with no complaint by me. I don't like a trailer "for Appropriate Audiences" that my children are present for, but would be what they'd call "a big people's movie," b/c there's some content they shouldn't be hit with. I've actually "asked" the boys if they'd like to see a certain movie (which I'd never bring them to, but the trailer just played), and they've told me "No!" That way, they feel we all decided together. Having read your solid post, I concur with you wholeheartedly.

Second One? If you mean by second one...Ip Man 2...I concur, although I've not seen it. Having seen Ip Man, I'm juiced up about Ip Man 2.