sensei8

Congrats, advfhorn; well deserved!!

I've stated this belief many times here, and that is, of all of the ranks there might be, white belt is the most important belt because without it, no other rank is possible whatsoever. Imho.

Thank you, ramymensa, Brian, and Patrick for all of your very supportive and encouraging words; means everything to me. On another note, I received my 2nd Covid-19 vaccine yesterday!! My wife, Linda, and our son, Nathan are STILL waiting to receive their 1st Covid-19 vaccine. My left shoulder, at the injection point, is very sore this morning; I had to put on a tank-top to prevent my t-shirt from rubbing up against it.

Yesterday, February 9, 2021, was Scan day; Bone and CT. Went through the normal check in procedure at 730am; which has 2 parts; financials and the like. Took a ride up the 3rd floor, where Nuclear Medicine is located. Checked in there at 8am. Was ushered to the back; this is where the IV is inserted...top of my left hand, at 830am. That went well. This Tech/Nurse doesn't pass me off to anyone else in this department; she inserted the IV, Dye, and she will conduct my Bone Scan; she's 25 years experience, I feel comforted with knowing that. Now it's the waiting game; that IV contains Radioactive Dye, of which I have to wait 2.5 hours for the Dye to go through my body. This Dye allows the Scan to take pictures of whatever the Doctor has ordered. It's the waiting that can drive me batty, but what's one to do. Bone Scan will begin at 1030am!! During this waiting time, I'm instructed to go down to the 1st floor; that's where I can find Radiology...I found it...I've been there before. So, I check int there...15 minutes later, the CT Technician has come to take me to the CT Scan room. It's roughly about 840am. Have you ever done an MRI? There are several types of MRI machines. but for the most part, the patient is moved in and out of a tube like machine. If you're claustrophobic, that procedure can be quite unsettling, to say the least. I'm severely claustrophobic!! While the CT only took 10 minutes, it seems far much longer due to my being claustrophobic. Tech took the necessary scans, inserted more medicine in my IV; it was cold. In and out of the scanner I went, and every few minutes, that scanner would talk to me..."Please inhale deeply, and hold your breathe"..."Breathe normally". During this, I can peak through small slits at the Scanner, and I can see the Scanner spinning right over me. All done now. The worse is still to come, in that regards. So, now I'm back upstairs at Nuclear Medicine; it's about 905am; sitting in a TV room to watch some TV; time doesn't go faster while watching TV. While watching TV, that Tech/Nurse now removes my IV; it's done it's job, so therefore, it's no longer needed. 1030am; Bone Scan time! I will be inside of 2 different machines, the first is the worse of the two due to me being claustrophobic. In any Scan, your movements are restricted one way or another, and the Scanner is right in your face. Turn your head this way and that way...holding that posture for 5 minutes, which this lasted for 15 minutes. Whew, I survived that. The light was left on and they kept talking to me; there's about 3 Techs assisting my Tech/Nurse. Now to the next Scanner. This ones not as bad because it's a bit more open, yet, the scanner and all is in my face, and my movements are restricted. This part of the Bone Scan takes 20 minutes. During this procedure, I'm very, very slowly moved out of the Scanner machine...one moment at a time. I can track progress by looking up and slightly back at roofing ceiling tiles and vents and lights. Otherwise, I'd have no idea that there doing anything, and that I'm just laying here wondering. Finally, the scanner is out of my face, and I can breathe once again. This scan takes scans from the top of my head to toes. All done. 5 minutes later, the Doctor says that the all the scans are complete. There's always a chance that certain procedures have to be redone for one reason or another. Bone Scan and CT Scan are complete!! Results forthcoming when I see my Oncologist, and Lab Work on February 19, 2021!! My hopes are that my PSA has not raised, that it's still at 1.6 or lower. Hopes that my cancer is STILL NOT AGGRESSIVE!! I pray for great news from my Oncologist. For next 24 Hours, I had to stay 15 feet minimum away from Linda and Nathan at home; I’m was radioactive!! I've great faith in the Great Physician!!

Welcome back, ramymensa; glad to have you back!! Solid post, as well.

For me, paragraph 4 is all about the we just get in our own way; we oftentimes, just can't help ourselves...or don't want to help ourselves. Paragraph 5 goes back to the saddest truth, and that is...being honest with ourselves is far more difficult, than one might grasp on. Yin/Yang are in everything.

Wado Heretic gave solid history and facts, this is to be for sure!! Quite depending, Yin/Yang is in everything, Karate as well. How it's applied, how it's lived, how it's interpreted, and how it's understood vary as the wind. However, the core of Yin/Yang remains nonetheless. I believe that every MA style have Yin/Yang universally tenets past, present, future within them. While one might not want to acknowledge it or not, their methodology' as well as ideology depend on Yin/Yang, and not one is without nor is it owned. How we move have the Yin/Moon and the Yang/Sun. Depending on the situation, I will move with the precept that my effectiveness can't be acceptive until proven effective or ineffective. I might deflect with Yin, and counter with Yang, or vice versa; not every target has to be addressed with only Yin or only Yang. Shindokan is both Yin/Yang in everything that we do; only the situation dictates that which of the two we must apply. I subscribe that Yin/Yang is within every single MA one way or another; otherwise, nothing exists that's effective. Which side of the hill one stands one means a lot for that moment. Can't stand in both places at one time, either the sun hits you directly on the Yang side or it doesn't on the Yin side, the sun still shines...somewhere. Any Yin, soft/negative/etc in Karate? Yes; undoubtfully...every Karate. The practitioner determines it's own Yin, time and time again, but for cause. Sure, some Karate styles claims to Yin and not Yang, however, no MA can't have the Yin without the Yang; virtually impossible. Imho.

I wholeheartedly agree!!

Did Lab work this morning. Lab work must always been completed prior to any Scan. So it makes since, somehow and someway, to do Lab today because I've Bone Scan and CT Scan on February 9, 2021, starting at 8am. Then, Lab again, on the same day that I visit my Oncologist on February 19, 2021. No Lab that day either, due to a schedule oversight; Lab BEFORE any Scan, and not same day. I was told that the Lab helps with the Scan parameters and such. I should be getting another shot of LEUPROLID the same day, February 19, 2021, because it's been 3 months since my last shot back on November 20, 2020. I hope that that shot is administered to my arm and NOT to my hip; that shot in the hip is NOT fun at all.

Congrats, Himokiri Karate; well deserved!!

Solid post!! Welcome back, odsouza; glad that you're back. Look forward to reading your posts.

To know ones enemy, is to know oneself. If I only know myself, then I am limited. Breaking free from limitations enables me to experience and understand that which is not just Shindokan. Therefore, the shackles that are of Shindokan are broken for all time because I'm learning my enemy far better, and therefore, I can be far more prepared for whatever my enemy is capable of. For example, TKD practitioners are well known for their high kicks. In my early tournament days, I wasn't able to defeat a TKD practitioner much because I'd never been exposed to the effectiveness of their kicking arsenal; I walked into them as though I was wearing a blindfold. Drove me absolutely nuts. So what did I do? As a Shindokan JBB, I joined a TKD Dojang, against my Soke and Dai-Soke's wishes, for a solid year earning a Green Belt. Shindokan kicks are stomach down, yet with my learning TKD as well as their evasive and surprising kicks, I was understanding more about their methodology and ideology; I was learning to know my enemy better. There's not much a TKD practitioner can surprise me with; I got in their heads as much as they got into mine. That's why I began, and continue, to cross-train to this day.

Interesting. How does this affect the curriculum? e.g. maybe you need pinan shodan for yellow, pinan nidan for orange, pinan sandan for green, pinan godan for blue, pinan yondan for purple (just a hypothetical). So now it'd be "pinan shodan, nidan and sandan for green"? We shifted ever so slightly. Since Yellow, Orange, Blue, and Purple were dropped all together, Kata's were moved to the experience levels; beginning, intermediate, and advanced accordingly. Curriculums changes really are quite easy, for the most part. Kata order is unchanged, in that, move this way or that way into their appropriate experience levels. Beginners: Pinan Shodan and Nidan Intermediate: Pinan Sandan, Yondan and Godan Advanced: Naifanchi Shodan, Nidan and Sandan

They're both vitally important to any MA school; not just for the student, but for the CI and the school itself. I've had them both ever since I opened my dojo back in the late 1970's; I've never looked back. Schedules swim from this and that for all involved, and for so many different reason(s). For the fulltime MA school, private lesson are quite doable, however, for a part-time MA school, that can be quite challenging. Time is time and it can't be changed; either one has the time or one doesn't.

So, if it's not a new style, could it be a new methodology and ideology, instead?? That could be less difficult than trying to legitimize a new style. Change is inevitable in discovering new training ideas; the rage of the training page landscape is never static as new training methods and ideas are birthed quite often. With anything, whatever 'it' is, it must be proved under some microscope somewhere and somehow.

CI is the Chief Instructor...the top dog of the dojo. If you can't teach beginners, then teaching intermediate and advanced levels will be a near impossibility. Like I say all of the time...Not all black belts can teach. That's why most instructors learn the ins and outs of teaching from ones own CI before they try to teach anyone anything. For the most part, Sandan (3rd degree black belt) level is the unwritten rule of the thumb for any CI opening their own dojo. That Sandan/CI has been under the watchful eye of their very own CI so that they can learn how to teach. It's during that period, that the prospective future CI learns the ropes about teaching and they also find out if they can teach or not. Having said that, anyone can open a dojo and teach, even a very new style; nothing or no one can stop them. Students aren't blind to the capabilities of their CI pretty darn quick.

Himokiri Karate wrote: Maintaining integrity across the board at all times. Without established integrity there's no style, no CI, no effectiveness, no nothing. With established integrity, then there's no disrespecting a current lineage, if not disrespecting a current lineage is important. In short, lineage doesn't administrate in any shape, way, and/or form, and having said that, TEACH, that's the main focus of any CI. Everything else can sit on the back burner until that, whatever that might be, needs to be addressed. Integrity first rule...teaching second rule...remembering rule #1. Himokiri Karate wrote: A Free Trail lesson, but not free lessons beyond that. You've an overhead, no matter how insignificant that overhead is. The most Free Trail Lessons that I'd ever give would be 3. After that, pay to learn. If you treat you and your dojo and your style as a cheap free ride, what will students and prospective students have an impression of the package?! Again, integrity. Pay to play!! Himokiri Karate wrote: That's your soul decision to make. EFFECTIVENESS is what should be taught by the CI and what should be learned by the Student Body. Imho.

This is possibly one of the single, most difficult things for a human to do; to view something just as it is, and not as to it's meaning(s) to me and my beliefs. We all come with biases and beliefs, built up from our teaching, our learning, and our experiences with life. It can be difficult to separate these things from how we evaluate and see things. On the other end of this, is the fact that we, as people, tend to generate things from ourselves based on our own desires, thoughts, biases, beliefs, and as the collective results of our experiences. With this in mind, we expect things to be viewed a certain way already within our mind's eye. Being able to see and reflect on something as it is, can, indeed, be a challenge. Solid post; said so far better than what I said on the topic at hand.

To me, this relates quite well to another quote of Bruce Lee... “Honestly expressing yourself...it is very difficult to do. I mean it is easy for me to put on a show and be cocky and be flooded with a cocky feeling and then feel like pretty cool...or I can make all kind of phony things, you see what I mean, blinded by it or I can show you some really fancy movement. But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself...now that, my friend, is very hard to do.” ~ Bruce Lee That's the essence of anyone, and not just MAists. We see things through not of our own understandings but that which separates us from that which we've what we know...experience and knowledge. One can't look for reality in fighting with preconceived notions or through the eyes of a MAist or a boxer or a wrestler. To truly see what is taking place, you must look for what is real with the unfettered or unbiased mind. HONESTLY!! If you look through the eyes of a Karate practitioner or a TKD practitioner, or any other MA practitioner, you will only see things only in the terms of a Karate practitioner or a TKD practitioner or any other MA practitioner; one will not see the unbiased picture. Yes, be careful, because perception is reality to THAT person. What I see is not what anyone else sees, nor should they. Being honest with oneself is very hard to do.

Naihanchi is a Kata that expands in and through for all MA styles, and it's tenets can't be ignored, and it shall live forever in a commonality of MAists for a very long, long time. It had been once said that if one only trained in the Niahanchi kata's, one wouldn't be wasting their life!!

I truly believe that Daniel and Julie will only have that connection through Miyagi, and no romantic connections whatsoever; Daniel and Amanda are a very strong, union, and love for one another. Even in watching Daniel and Ali reunion, there was that unspoken love for one another, but that was then, and now, they've both separate lives and new responsibilities in a new spouse and children. They're live long close friends, and memories cherished, and not for a season, but for a reason.

Out of curiosity, I'd check it out. Whether I watch the entire thing or not, well, depends on how the story is told, and how fairy-tale it is, if at all. Anyone starts flying, I'd turn it off. I don't doubt the swordsmanship of Miyamoto Musashi who had 60 documented fights in his lifetime. However, 60 is not 400, and to me, 400 is quite far-fetched, and come to find out, there's actually 588 that he fights against. Miyamoto Musashi does take few rests while his attackers regroup for their next assault.

If you can teach, yes. Otherwise, no. Who am I to say if you can teach or not?? A prospective student, but as a student, and as a customer, I am the one who decides who I want teaching me anything, especially the MA. I'd watch no less than 3 classes of each level; beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Teaching ability is everything across the board...demeanor, communication, and effectiveness on and off the floor.

Solid post!! Founders and the like chose what they consider effective to their methodology and ideology. Our Soke chose the Kata's from Okinawa-te and Shuri-te, and then made changes as he felt necessary, no matter how minor or not.

Brian, I like your choses of who could play whom. Maybe The Rock as Bolo. I do agree with your views on the story line being more between the protagonists. However, not to much because after all, what's a MA movie without much MA?!? Mortal Kombat. huh?? I can see that, I just pray that I don't ever see it for real. Wait, wait, wait, ETD had Lee jump up into a tree from the ground...both movies had fantasy elements.