sensei8

LOL! Drat...you found me out...LOL. BTW, you've told us your age already...LOL...heheehheehehehehehe

What song would best describe you as a martial artist? For me... "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd

These two things aren't the same thing, not even close, they're as far away as the east is from the west. The Yudansha obi is one thing all by itself, and Dan rank(s) are another thing all by itself. A shoe lace isn't the shoe, and in that, they both are one, but, they're not the same thing! Each item has a purpose, one supports the other but they're independant of each other. I don't think any member here said that you and/or anyone should get as many dans as possible! I know that I didn't because it would be harmful to your martial arts maturity, imho. Again, the black belt and/or the Dan ranks are unimportant to a martial artist. Why? There just things. These things, the Yudansha obi and the Dan ranks, are tangible things, and a martial artists seeks out for the intangable things all of their lives.

Interesting! Try to imagine this for just a moment. What would it be like if one were to stop at the Associate degree level in college? What would it be like if one were to stop at the Bachelor level in college? What would it be like if one were to stop at the Master level in college? What would it be like if one were to stop at the PHd level in college? I wouldn't want someone performing any type of surgeries or the like with only an Associate degree level! Well, I wouldn't, and neither would anyone else for that matter of fact. I sure wouldn't want anyone to do anything with just an Associate degree if it, whatever it might be, required a higher college degree, and again, neither would anyone else for that matter. If one is only wanting to learn the basics; then there's nothing wrong with one just wanting to become a shodan. However, there's more to the martial arts than just learning the basics; there's still the intermediate and advanced levels.

Good question! Heel down is fundamentally taught in the three K's as well as in makiwara training. Heel down maximizes the ability of the foot to absorb and re-deliver reaction force coming back from contact with the target and through the body to the floor. Fundamentally speaking! Should the heel be in the up position so that it allows the technique to be executed at a slightly higher linear velocity? Should the heel be in the up position because that's possibly the current believe of sport karate? Should it matter that the basic theory doesn't apply when you're moving in a forward direction? Should the heel be in the up position because its a more natural position for the ankle, although that doesn't mean it's more effective? Should the heel be in the up position, much like a boxer, whereas it's considered more like a push instead of a punch? Should the heel be in the down position because it's possible to generate much more acceleration forces while maintaining heel contact to the floor? Should any of this really and truly matter? That's for one to decide for themselves through thier own trail and error. Again...the heel up or heel down question still exists. Therefore... I prefer that my foot/heel to remain ALIVE AT ALL TIMES! Heel up or heel down is determined from situation to situation. Atlas, one over another is a preference of the martial artist, and not of some pedagogical dogma.

This topic is of my thoughts and/or my feelings, and in that, they are my own. Others might or might not differ/agree from/with mine, but nonetheless, either way...it's just an honest opinion. Knowledge/experience are paramount over any rank, over any title, and/or any other preceived conception(s), otherwise missed or not, in the martial arts. Without knowledge/experience, the battle, no matter what type of a battle it might be, is already lost. The battle's only lost when one refuses to obtain that knowledge/experience. Once obtained, and only for that moment because knowledge/experience changes, that battle's no longer lost. Even then, knowledge/experience aren't always on the same plane as others in the martial arts. As Mr. Miyagi stated so well...(pointing to his head)..."Karate here", (pointing to his heart)..."Karate here"...(pointing to his waist)..."Karate not here". There are two types of knowledge/experience: 1) HAS 2) HASN'T To gain knowledge/experience is based on relevent and practical exposure by doing it, by training in it, by learning it, by living it, by learning from it, by accepting it, by discarding it, and/or by trail and error. A white belt [inexperienced] doesn't have the same knowledge/experience as a black belt [experienced]. Yet, that same white belt [inexperienced] might have a difference set of knowledge/experience than a black belt [experienced] doesn't have outside of the martial arts, and this is important to that white belt [inexperienced]. Example... A white belt [inexperienced] in karate might be a doctor. Being a doctor adds a dimension to that white belt [inexperienced] that that black belt [experienced], that's not a doctor, doesn't have. That black belt [experienced] is extremely versed in where, what, when, how, and why to strike and with what weapon to strike with through years of training under a qualified instructor, but, that same black belt [experienced] won't have that intimate knowledge of the human anatomy as that doctor would. Having said that, this topic isn't about that knowledge/experience that's gained outside of the martial arts, as important as it might or might not be, because, most of us here are martial artists of varying knowledge/experience. Shouldn't knowledge/experience be something that it's not? It's not something to sneeker at. It's not something to take lightly. It's not something to be made more serious than what it is. It's not something to laugh about or to laugh off. It is what it is, and that is, that having knowledge/experience in the martial arts is vitally important across the board. To me, knowledge/experience in the martial arts speaks in volumes that can't be ignored nor can it be denied, or, imho, neither should be. Either one has or one hasn't! This doesn't mean that either martial artist is more valuable than the other because each one of us are students of the martial arts, and in that, each one of us are always gaining more knowledge/experience day by day, and each one of us are deserving of more than just that.

Experience/knowledge is STILL a key factor, imho!

Solid post and I wholeheartedly concur!

Saying "always" puts every practitioner of the martial arts in the same category, imho, this isn't a fair statement because each practitioner is different for one reason or another. Will a punch with a step through seem to be more telegraphed than the punch off the front arm? Yes, but again, that'll differ from one practitioner to another. Experience/knowledge is still a key factor, imho. Kuma, I too like your drill and it's worth trying...thanks!

Every demo I do IS A LESSON! Believe it or not, I can do a demo that's entertaining, but, it's done in such a way that someone in the audience is going to receive a lesson. That's who the demo is for, my demo's aren't for the gaukers. Excessive flash has no business in a demo, imho! They only way, imho, to keep it real is to demonstrate EFFECTIVE martial arts. Even tameshiwara is ineffective martial arts, and in that, weapons demos and tameshiwara are the only flash we use, and those are kept simple. Breaking a stack over my head isn't simple, it's ineffective. Spinning a Bo like a plane prop isn't simple, it's ineffective. Seeing that it's my demo, then I decide what's acceptable and what isn't! How am I doing my breaking? Simple and effective! I don't believe in making the stack of material higher that I am. If I have to use a ladder, then the stacks WAY to high, and not effective or practical. Breaking the one board or the two boards straight off the guard IS effective and practical providing that your not standing there for a long time before the break. The full potential of breaking has nothing to do with the big draw and/or psyching yourself up. Imho, the big draw and/or psyching oneself up ISN'T tameshiwara, that's for hollywood or for the super big tournaments; those elements are acceptable and expected by hollywood and the big super duper tournaments. ISKA's breaking division went from displaying effective breaks to totally displaying ineffective breaks. Why? For the pop of the crowd, NOT to display tameshiwara as it's meant to be. I guess it's true, for me that is. An old dog can't learn a new trick, and it's not because the old dog can't, but, it's because the old dog just doesn't want to do a new trick that's ineffective! Edits: Trying to fix the quotes to stay in the quote boxes...trying.

Ditto! I meant no offense by the topic and/or by my OP.

Welcome to KF!!!!!!!

For hours, and for days, and for months, and for years after years my Dai-Soke continued to teach us that there are secret hidden techniques within the martial arts. My Dai-Soke wouldn't teach nor would he ever reveal those secret techniques to us students, yet, his only explaination to us were that what secret hidden techniques he has found, are his alone, as they will be for us when we do find them for ourselves. What Oyo Bunkai reveals to each of us is as different as the sunsets are for each one of us. Unique! I understood that and I appreciated his profound words. What my Dai-Soke would teach us about the secret/hidden techniques were just stepping stones for us to ponder on in our own searches for these hidden/secret techniques that were to be revealed to us and only for us. In Shindokan, we are taught a many things about the hidden/secret techniques as they have been discovered my our Soke in Bunkai and Oyo Bunkai, and then those were passed down to all of us students through our Dai-Soke. In that, I've passed on the same to my students. Yes, If I heard it more than once from the naysayers..."This, Bunkai/Oyo Bunkai and Kata, is as useful for a martial artist as a snowcone is as useful in a volcano" To each his/her own! It has made all of the difference for me, and in that, it's possible that it's for me alone to appreciate and to respect. Many times, us most senior students of our Dai-Soke would sit quitely and watch him practice one technique over and over, hours upon hours. We'd sit and wait to see any hidden/secret techniques, like starving dogs, just begging for scraps...any scraps. Only at the end of his practice would he acknowledge us, always with a small smile. I'll never ever forget when he once spoke to us the following... "In the end just remember this one thing. Sometimes Sensei’s best hidden secret techniques are the most obvious...THE BASICS! Don't ever trade them for hidden secret treasures because your basics will be your most memorable" I've not traded my basics for treasure unfound and/or untold. Your thoughts?

[This is for fun, so please take it that way, and hopefully, you'll get a kick out of it.] Many, if not all, students of any martial arts have searched for, and are still searching for, the Secret Techniques! No matter what they may or may not be, every student wants to learn what they are, and once the secrets are uncovered, they want to excel at it. It is said that the best kept secrets are the secrets that aren't told! If these secrets truly exist, then why would these sensei's keep these techniques a secret from their very own students? Better yet, why would the sensei even tell their students that these secrets exist at all? Especially if they're secrets! That I just don't understand. Saving said secret for the few or for the one student is selfish. Why just those few or one? Why not share it with all of us? Why aren't we worthy to know everything? We're told that it's best for the student to discover these secrets on their own, so that, the discovered techniques are more appreciated. OK?!? What then? When I find said secret techniques, am I to keep it a secret...still? I must be pretty good in finding secrets. Possibly the secret technique is right under our noses for all to see. Possibly the so-called secret techniques are so secret that our own sensei's don't even know what they are, so our sensei's are waiting for us to discover them so that we'll tell our sensei's just what they are. Then, the sensei's will say...."Yes, grasshopper, you've truly found the secret technique!", while all the same time, the sensei's saying to him/herself..."Aha! So far and so thus...thus far!" Where should one start to find these so-called secret techniques? Well, our karate sensei's say that within each and every kata lies dormant secret techniques, so maybe I should start there!? In kata, a block isn't a block and a strike isn't a strike and this isn't that and that isn't this. Aha! Aha spelled backwards or forwards or inside or outside is still....AHA! Are the secret techniques ONLY found in kata? Why only kata? After all, didn't any technique come into existance before the kata? No technique equals no kata because kata needs technique and in the kata lies the dance of techniques....or something like that. Let's say that I found the secret techniques, then, there not secret, but, when they were secret, they were secrets, yet, being found their not secrets before they became secrets because all secrets want to be found, and so that it's a secret with you and for you but yet before you and right after that it was yesterday and then it's today because I found the secret that is no longer the secret of secrets. Right?!? Meanwhile, just train and don't let those secret techniques control you because the secret techniques will reveal themselves when they do and not until then. Remember...ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh...it's a secret!

Are your demonstrations the fantastic , or are they literal. The fantastic demonstration are for entertainment, while the literal demonstrations are for teaching. I prefer the demonstrations that teaches! Most martial arts demonstrations are not demonstrations at all, but, they are exhibitions. They usually consist of well scripted fighting scenarios in which the artists perform amazing self-defense techniques that one who was watching just might jump-up in their excitement. The techniques are executed flawlessly and the timing is always perfect, albeit, no room is left for any mistakes. The martial artists who perform these exhibitions are viewed by the audience as larger-than-life individuals. They are true masters of the martial arts who have achieved a level of expertise that is almost impossible to achieve, or believe. At least that's what's left with the audience as a lasting thought. Exhibitions of tameshiwara (The art of breaking) are great to witness. And as a proponent of tameshiwara, I must say this. NONE, of the techniques used in tameshiwara can be used in a real life encounter...UNLESS. Unless the attacker(s) are more than willing to just stand there while the martial artist literally prepares themself mentally before the martial artist strikes. I doubt that the attacker would pause long enough, if at all, so that the martial artist can draw way back before the blow lands. A martial artist isn't a MLB picther going for a strikeout or a NFL quarterback going for the hail-mary. Any attacker that would wait for the martial artist to prepare for the action is as stupidified as the audience in watching a tameshiwara demonstration. No, the attacker in a real situation would move out of the way, or strike first and foremost. In a real life confrontation with an attacker, the martial artist truly doesn't have the time to prepare themself as they do in a demonstration. Very seldom, if at all, does a martial arts demonstration become more than a type of Cirque du Soleil and the like. While these type of demonstratons are exciting, the satisfaction is only temporary. Flashy techniques aren't for the streets, especially against a veteren street fighter. Whenever that seldom moment becomes a lesson for the awestruck audience, that demonstration and that demonstration alone is surely worth waiting for. A demonstration that's for teaching also are exciting, but, the satisfaction is permanent. Most demonstrations aren't demonstrations at all because they don’t teach the interested or highly speculative audience anything. When my Dai-Soke or whenever I teach a class or whenever you teach a class. We, would demonstrate the technique(s) that we want our students to learn that day. My Dai-Soke or I or you will DEMONSTRATE IN ORDER TO TEACH! To me this is what true demonstrations are...teaching! Your thoughs?

Heidi makes the experience here at KF worth the visit. I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I've truly enjoyed interacting with Heidi across the board. She's knowledgeable about, not just the martial arts, but a wide plethoria of subjects, and this is a true gift. She's kind, she's funny, she's "to-the-point", she's helpful, she's patient, she's all that and a bag of chips, she's the moderator of moderators, and hopefully one day I can personally say to her..."Thank you!" Everything that Patrick has said about Heidi aren't just idle words. Patrick is right in praising Heidi for she's worthy of it. THANK YOU HEIDI. OSU!

Perhaps I should've stated it this way instead... EXPERIENCE lessens telegraphing. For me to totally eliminate telegraphing, I'd have to be perfect, and I'm not perfect.

Imho, again, experience eliminates telegraphing!

What was the subject? What's your level of experience with the nunchaku? BTW, Welcome to KF!

I concur with you Alex! I also see what Brian was saying. Non-telegraphing is an art by itself, many have tried to master it, but few have.

I think you assume too much here. I don't recall anyone really saying they feel a black belt is lowly. It is no doubt an accomplishment. I just don't think a lot of people tie more into it than is there--to me, it is an indicator of skill or knowledge. Not much more than that. There are those who practice styles that don't use belts, and they don't have to worry about this issue. They know what they know, and it is enough; it doesn't have to be displayed around their waist. As for giving up a black belt, I don't consider that a big deal. You can have the belt...but you can't take the knowledge, and the time that has been put into the training. I think in the end, there are those who do or do not romanticize what the black belt truly is. I'd gladly wear a white belt and move to the back of the class. I have actually done this by taking another Martial Art that I have no experience in. I'm a white belt in there, and have no problem what so ever with being in the back of that class. I'd gladly go to the back of my TKD class, too. I'm not there to advertise, I'm there to learn. And if I get to learn more by being at the back of the class, then sign me up. And I don't have a bachelor's degree, either. Solid post Brian....solid post!

Easy solution. If your BB's make you feel unwelcome, then unenroll and find someplace where you'll feel welcomed ALL THE TIME!

Telegraphs of the attacker are only read because of their inexperience. Spar until cows can actually fly over the moon.

There's a following drill that can help you, but, beginners can't do it. Problem for beginners is...either their fist lands before the step or vice versa INSTEAD of ending at the same time. So why bring it up? Do Oi-zuki to a wavemaster, but barely touch it. Then move a tiny bit towards the wavemaster, NOW do Oi-zuki again, but with your opposite fist. You'll see that you can't...effectively. You're Oi-zuki will be weak. Why? No penetration. No focus. Nothing. Your posture and stance will be all over the place just trying to do Oi-zuki. Fist and step MUST END AT THE SAME TIME. As far as the your other concerns, practice until the wheels fall off and then some. Before you know it, your concerns will have disappeared.

Basically... Speed = Double-end bag! Training partner Focus pads! Spar! Power = Heavy bag! Makawara! Have fun and good luck!