sensei8

Yes, I know which one's you're referring to. Your transition must be smooth. Keep your hips level by not going up and down excessively when you shift from one back stance to another. Remember, your heels must line up and that your weight must be properly distributed and to keep a good posture. Don't jerk around when you come to the end of the transition. Everything starts and ends at the same time. Smooth transition...smooth transition... Now, don't think about the darn things....just do them without any thought and let your muscle memory take over. Smooth transition...smooth transition...smooth transition....smooth transition...

True, if its constructive criticism! But that can only be preceived by the student that the criticism is directed at. Preception is reality to that person!

Which half? Right side or left side? Which side do you favor more than the other?

Blade96, It's the old saying.... "When you point your finger at someone, three fingers are pointing back at you." Insecure people, imho, are quick to point out others mistakes, but even quicker to make excuses about their own!

No. Not enough facts for me to base an unbiased opinion either for or against it. I would summize that I do doubt the effectiveness of these type of things, and that's about it.

I concur with that as well!

Wankan! A misunderstood kata, imho, even by high dan ranks. Btw, if those of you here love Heian Nidan, wait until you do Heian Yondan because you'll love it more than Heian Nidan.

Money...WAY before effective knowledge, if any at all!

Thanks Blade96! I can be [evil] should the moment strike me to be so!

Joe, You're very correct when you say... "There can be a number of "Aha!" moments like this in a single form." As well as there can be many, many, many "Aha!" moments over the span of ones martial arts journey.

Possibly, "Aha" should be the new kiai. Aha moments are when a sudden understanding, recognition, or resolution in anything occurs when one is learning, studying, and teaching anything of value to that person, even, or especially, in the martial arts. Once a martial artist has had that aha moment, she/he knows how to proceed from there. My biggest Aha Moment came when I came to realize just how simple everything in the martial arts was. When did that happen? When I finally understood... "Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick."~Bruce Lee After that, I no longer made a moutain out of a mole hill, past/present/future, when it came to learning, teaching, and/or studying the martial arts. I didn't allow myself to be so overwhelmed by what 'it' is/was because I believed in myself and I had great sensei's. Sure, when I was learning something new, it was just that, something new, no more and no less because I no longer blew 'it' out of porportion. Effectiveness of the martial arts wasn't subjective to what I couldn't do, but to what I could do! What was your Aha Moment(s)?

Very good posts thus far...thanks! Imho... Every student needs one important thing...A qualified instructor. Every instructor needs one important thing...A involved student. A qualified instructor that can properly lead a student who will be actively involved in their training. Not an instructor who can barely open a door, let alone a door to unimagined possibilities in real world situations. Not a student who'll blindly follow their instructor, no matter the direction, no matter the door. Students of a dojo that's poor in methodologies and the like have been begotten by their instructor who's poor in his/her teaching abilities as well as the lack of understanding their own karate. When an instructor awards rank like free jelly beans, then that's because that instructor and/or the Hombu only care about one thing....money...more than the well being of their own students and in their students ability to effectively defend themselves, well, that instructor and/or Hombu shouldn't be teaching anybody anything, especially karate or any other form of the martial arts. Karate isn't ineffective; some karateka's are, students and instructors alike!

Jelly Beans......YUMMY!

The latest rage of the page seems to be focused on disspelling all types of karate as an ineffective form of self-defense as far as karate is concerned. The proponents of this analogy aren't karateka's at all, yet, they're of another form(s) of the martial arts. Therefore, these same proponents that speak ill of karate appear to speak without having any concrete knowledge of any particular karate style. I believe that that's completely unfair of these proponents to lump all karate together because karate isn't the same across the board. Karate was used on many battlefields for centuries as well as in life or death challenges very successfully. I sincerely believe: It's not that karate is ineffective, but, it's the individual karateka that's ineffective! Any thoughts?

Well....for a very late WELCOME....welcome to KF! {I'm such a dork}

Welcome to KF!

A belated Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF!

Welcome to KF and good luck this Friday!

True beauty of the weapon, imho, is when the practitioner and the weapon becomes one; indiscernible. Yet, Brian speaks very true when he says..."This may sound a bit crude, but the beauty in weaponry is in its killing efficiency." How can one ignore the weapons main reason for its existence; killing. Wait! The weapon is for self-defense! Yes, but in order for that weapon to aide in self-defense, that weapon, when once chosen to become active, has to surrender to its most basic reason for within its creation, and that is that it kills. It is crude, but, it's understood! No weapon commits any said action; practitioners commit every said action. The weapon is the innocent party of its actions. A weapon is indiscernible to the wielder as lust is indiscernible to love. While either are seperate, they're dependent to one another because they need each other, and that need can't be denied. The weapon is just a tangible thing of beauty when it's just lying on the floor, but, when I pick up that weapon, that weapon and I come alive as one; indiscernible. Lay the weapon back down onto the floor, it becomes dormant until called into service again by the practitioner.

A test in Karate is just like any other type/kind of test; nothing to them at all. Please understand that I'm purposefully downplaying the test because the most important thing, imho, is to not blow any karate test way out-of-porportion; to not be scared of any karate grading test. That'll just make it almost impossible for one to pass; nerves are normal but out-of-ones-mind kind of nerves over a karate test aren't. Remember Mizu No Kokoro [Mind Like Water] and Tsuki No Kokoro [Mind Like the Moon]; remain calm and undisturbed before, during, and after your test....you'll be fine! What Blade96 explains to you in her link about her testing experience will help you...I'm sure of it! Good luck!

Doh...Toptomcat beat me to it!

I once put a huge chain and lock onto my dojo's front door as well as placing very official looking signs onto every glass window-front to give the appearance that my dojo was closed forever...signs all over the windows said..."THIS BUSINESS IS HEREBY CLOSED WITHOUT NOTICE PERMANENTLY". I left the dojo closed for an entire day...without notice! My students flipped out because they thought that it was for real. Of course, it doesn't help much when I didn't answer my home/cell phone and that I wasn't home and that I couldn't be found at my usual favorite places....all day. Btw, I've a sick twisted dry sense of humor at times and that day back then was no exception. My students found it funny once I explained it to them that it was just an April Fools joke...done on April 1st...and I was forgiven...because...I showed up the next day business as usual.