sensei8

Nice...now let's eat it...yummmmmmmmmy!

Solid post!

Time management is important! However, time management has to be managed consistently for it to mean anything, imho. Otherwise, time gets away quickly before you know it. The child students are subjective to their parents schedules and the like, so, what follows is meant for the adult students. Having said that, if my ADULT students don't want to practice and/or come to class often, I don't care! If they don't care, then I don't care! I'm not their mommy or their daddy or their spouse or anything to them, other than their sensei. If they don't respect their own training, then I don't. They can be a white belt forever. They won't get and I won't give them an invitation to the next testing cycle. My students know where the Hombu is. They know where they can find me. They know the class times. They know a lot of things and they are in control of their lifes, not I. I'm only in charge of the Hombu. Their training ethics reflect in their abilities! I can see it! They can lie to me all they want when I ask them if they've practiced at all, but, I can SEE! I'm not dumb and I'm not blind. My students must be honest to themselves first before they can be honest with me. I'll encourage them to attend classes and the like, but I'm not going to hold their hands or drive them to and from or anything else. My responsibilities to my students doesn't include baby-sitting them in any shape, way, and/or form concerning practice and coming to class. I'm always telling my students that they can ALWAYS find the time to come to class and/or time to practice. If they have time to do absolutely nothing, then they have time to practice and come to class...If they want to. If they're to tired to come to class, I'm cool with that. I know what it's like to be too tired to come to class/practice, it's all good! If they choose to not to either, I'm complete in my totality; it's all good! 5 minutes here, and 5 minutes there adds up, and before they know it; they've practiced 30 minutes to an hour that day. "But Sensei, why blah, blah, blah?" Why? Lack of knowledge/skill/experience...pick one! Lack of personal motivation. I don't know, and I don't care because they came to me, I didn't come to them. I didn't seek them out and then I dragged them to the Hombu. No. They wanted, key here is 'wanted', to learn Shindokan and they wanted to learn it from me. I already know Shindokan, they don't! Students like Brian have valid reasons, and those students will get more from me than the students that demonstrate everything except what's required...DESIRE! Excuses are a penny a dozen, so, if they want to, then train and train hard! Who wants to be bugged to come to class or to practice? I don't and if I'm bugged enough, I'll just not do it at all. So, they're grown-ups and they can dress themselves and they can bath themselves and they can feed themselves and on and on and on, so, my students can either come to class/practice or they don't. It's all good! Time management can be such a bothersome thing...NOT!

Here's what I found so far.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDS69qvyq2k These vidoes showing Josh training BJJ aren't much. I"m still trying to find Josh in a BJJ tournament. The hunt continues!

A World Champion needs to be respect for, if nothing else, having won the World Championship. Ability has to be there, doesn't it? I think so!

Define a stack please! Sometimes I do a stack, and sometimes I don't. Circumstances determine whether I do or I don't. Do you always break one board/brick? As I mentioned in my OP, quality is superior to quantity. If the technique isn't there, big deal that someone can do a abnormal stack. Yes it is, completely! But it demonstrated the point I was trying to make in my OP. These type of stacks are what I'm starting to see when I judge breaking competitions, and this is why I won't score when I see a stack requiring a ladder. I'm almost at the point where I just won't judge breaking competitions anymore.

Absolutely! In the video where this guy breaks 35 or 36 bricks in one swooshing movement, I'm sure he hit hard enough to maybe break 5 - 10 bricks, and then came the domino effect. Yepper, I concur.

BINGO! Absolutely!

I still don't understand this whenever I read/hear this. Are martial artists of this methodology so afraid of one additional movement? Turning the head may be an additional movement, but, imho, it's such an infinitesimal amount. Surely, that one additional movement won't be the end of all things. Of course I'd be signaling my opponent which way I'm going because I'm going to defend myself against THAT opponent. So what if my opponent knows I'm about to turn and face them, I've no secrets, besides, my opponents attacking me, so, I've got to defend myself, and if I announce that I'm going to turn to face my opponents attack...well...cool...and it won't be such a surprise after all! I'd suspect that my opponent will have already expected that of me and my turning to face them.

There's quite a bit of info here... http://www.joshwaitzkin.com/index.html Although, I'm not sure if there's any video's of Josh in action. You've peeked my interest, so I'll see what I can come up with.

Welcome. You could check right here; KarateForums.com!

Yeah...I concur. I wish I hadn't started this topic. Sorry!

The entire Shindokan student body doesn't follow our methodologies blindly because what our Soke has given us is a solid and effective martial art and if he says turn the head first, well, that's what we'll do...AFTER we/I test our methodology across the board. So far, the turn our head first thing works. In OUR kata's we turn our head prior to each and every turn! Possibly we've already reached an impasse in our discussion. That's all I was offering; a discussion.

All I know is that there are a lot of blindspots that surround any vehicle. Therefore, a driver better turn their head before they have an accident. My wife WAS a mirror driver UNTIL she learned the hard way; turn your head while making lane changes and the like. Peripheral has its positive merits within the martial arts, although other visual abilities had better assist in order to see the whole picture.

All of us understood what our Dai-Soke was telling us; DON'T BE COMPLACENT! Just as there's no way we can ever master anything because we're imperfect, we can only strive to be great in our karate, but, we don't want to be just good. All I know is that good is less than great.

I surrender that the reason(s) that some styles do or don't turn their head prior to any turn is possibly due to methodologies. In any kata video that I watch, no matter the circa, I'm of two opinions. One; they're turning their head prior to any turn because it's their styles methodology. Two; they're simply demonstrating the waza's along the embusen for references,. Methodologies are just that within each of the styles of karate; methods of doing many things. Kihon translates to kata and kata translates to kumite. The Shindokan methodology teaches one to turn the head and if one doesn't turn their head during kumite, they run the risk of losing their head. Peripheral assited kumite is not only risky, but, at the same time, it's dangerious. Imagine what it must be like to drive any vehicle by using only ones peripheral vision; it's an accident waiting to happen. Blindsides are called that for a good reason; they're not safe! In Shindokan, we don't kumite at a comfortable distance. No, we kumite at very close-up proximities; the closer the better. Therefore, our Soke taught all Shindokan karateka's to TURN THEIR HEAD ALL THE TIME! Hence, the Shindokan methodology. Turning my head does add a move, but that's truly not such a big deal in the scheme of things. No more, imho, than it is to adding the move of swallowing when one's eating, imho. As what I've offered is the Shindokan methodology, well, so is the same thing as to what Chitsu is offering. Both of us are from seperate methodologies, in which, we're both proponents of. Still, I think I'll keep looking before I leap, and this means I'll turn my head!

Novelty items...don't ya' just love 'em?

Still, I see both japanese/okinawan practitioners CHOOSE to not turn their head prior to any turn. Eye movement is fine, but that's not the same thing as seeing the danger head on. Rule of recognition? I don't believe that to be so because it's prudent and smart in the first place to be able to see our opponent first before we can hit them or before we can block their attacks. Those martial artists that choose to not turn their head prior to any turn leave me with the impression that they're either lazy and/or they just don't care one way or another. Even if the nomenclature of said kata directs to "look", then the action follows, they don't do it. Are they just interpretating the kata? Possible, that's fine, kata allows and invites interpretation, but, imho, that type of interpretation can only entertain a dangerous perception. The Shindokan's testing syllabus has always stated that it's an automatic failure of any grading testing cycle if they don't turn their heads while performing any and all kata. Too strict? No, not at all!

My Dai-Soke, Takahashi Sensei, drilled something in our heads over and over... "Your karate has to be great, not good!" Good isn't, well, good enough. Whereas, great still makes one to want to reach even higher than ones own expectations. As we improve, so does our satisfaction. Satisfaction over ones karate/martial arts invites complacency, and that's unacceptable to me. Being great doesn't end our continued search for being greater. To be honest with ourselves is important, so, at your present level.... Is your karate/martial arts great, or is it good? Either way, keep training!

I was recently invited to judge a tameshiwara (The Art of Breaking) competition, but, I quickly turned the invitation down. Whether my reason had sound merits to it or not, I still declined it! In the days that are upon us now, it's no longer quality in tameshiwara, but it's quantity. It's not unusual to see stacks of concrete slabs higher than an house. If the competitor has to climb a ladder to get to the top of the stack; that's way overkill for me. I'm not fooled by a stack of 20, 30, or 40 slabs of concrete because I'm of the opinion that the weight of the crumbling slabs will cause the entire thing to break, aka, the domino effect. Now, take the spacers out and try those towering stacks, I'm sure that the stack will laugh right back at the competitor. For example... Tameshiwara should be simple because I'm not going to judge on the basis of how high ones stack is. No! It's the quality of the techniques that's used in any said tameshiwara. Solid techniques will always win, over flash, to me that is. So, Hulk SMASH isn't for me!

That's a fair question, but... No! Imho, no matter where the venue may or may not be, this is insignificant because the quality of the instructions is by far more important than the surroundings. Some of the greatest schools of the martial arts can be found in the most least likely location. The Shindokan Hombu where I teach is a free standing 3 story building in a commercial zone.

Yes I do! I'll keep them to myself. Cool?

Nope! I know about him, and that is to only say that I've read about him, but, I've no personal experience with him.

Every kata/form has them: turns! Whether it's a 45 degree turn, or a 90 degree turn, or a 180 degree turn, or a 270 degree turn; kata/forms have them abundantly. It would be very difficult to get from one point in the kata/form to another without any turns. What seems to be missing is one crucial and vital element of any turn in any kata/form is...the head turning PRIOR to the actual turn. Having said that. I do admit, that the head turning before any turn is a methodology of Shindokan. Therefore, turning the head prior to any turn may not be a methodology of the style that you're teaching/learning. That's fine and I surrender to that! Nonetheless, is the head turn prior to any turn taught in your style? Here's why I ask. I suspect that the head turn prior to any turn is taught, but the practitioner CHOOSES to NOT turn. If this is true, then this practitoner is leaping before looking. Yes, our peripheral vision allows us the ability to see the direction in which one is planning to go without actually looking head directly that way. I seriously doubt that the kata/forms are teaching us to do exactly that: turn peripherally. Teaching students to fully turn their head prior to any turn is a good idea, especially if their beginners. Even then, I'd want my students, no matter the level of their experience, to look danger head-on directly. To not fully turn our heads prior to any turn is akin to not fully turning our head prior to a lane change when your driving. One has to be aware of the blindspots, and in that, turning our head fully before we do a lane change is not only smart; it's safe. Well, same thing when we are performing kata/forms. As great as our peripheral vision is, it's greater to stare directly in the direction that our opponent is attacking from. Peripherally blocking can change so quickly, and in that, what appears to be, actually turns out to not be after all. Point of the topic is this. Nobody turns their head prior to any turn in their kata/form, and this, imho, leads to one creating bad habits, and once bad habits become ingrained in ones muscle memory; habits can be hard to break. Go to You Tube or any other video source, and you'll see for yourself just how many practitioners independantly and/or collectively DON'T turn their head prior to any turn. If that is ones methodology to not turn their head prior to any turn, I may not agree with it, but it's their way, just as it is Shindokan's way to fully turn our head before any turn. I'd perfer to take my chances with turning my head completely prior to any turn, than to the alternative; imho, my odds might seem to favor turning my head completely prior to any and all turns. Your thoughts?

Don't forget....ISKA! What does it mean to be a world champion? I don't know! Personally, I've never aspired to be one! I'm sure it must be cool, but, as in everything else, I'm sure that there are downsides to deal with.