sensei8

A belated Happy New Year!!! New Year resolutions? Ahhhhh...How about them Cowboys!?! Patrick, do you have any new years resolutions?

First of all...Welcome!! It's very hard to determine which one of the clubs you've linked to is best for you by just looking at their websites. VISIT EACH SCHOOL...SEVERAL TIMES...then...make a choice as to which one would be better to provide you with what it is that you're looking for. Good luck...train hard!

Congrats to you WireFrame!!! Well deserved!!!

Speaking for myself...I'd never do that to you....ever!! More than anything I pray that I'm completely wrong on my thoughts on this topic. I only support you and any decision(s) that you've made!! I just want to offer an ear and a shoulder to you for when it's needed!

This question is often asked of students, kyu/dan, within the Shindokan Hombu. My answer is this, as crude as it can be. If you're of legal age to sign contracts/documents and the like, then Shodan works for me. Why? Who am I to tell someone of legal age what they can or can't do? No one! Maturity in all things is desired, but, who's the final authority? Me? No! The Shindokan Hombu's By-Laws state that an instructor MUST be a Sandan minimum to receive Hombu credentials and the like. I say, open the dojo as a Shodan, and then, if after one finds themselves way over their heads, seek out their own instructor who has the proven experience/knowledge to properly guide one to success. Opening a dojo is one thing, but, keeping the doors open is another thing. Impossible? No! Allow me to introduce to you my analogy of this. If I was in the ocean, and I was drowning, I mean I've gone down twice already and I was about to go down for my third and final time, and an inner tube floated by my way and it saved me from drowning; I'd worship an inner tube for the rest of my life! I just want to learn effective martial arts, whether it's from a Shodan or from a Judan or in between...I JUST WANT TO LEARN!!! If the Shodan can teach effective martial arts, that's first and foremost for me, AND run a Dojo as well; it's just an added plus for me. Be a Shodan and run the Dojo...it's yours. Get into a bind, then get help from those who've been there before. Never be afraid to ask for help! Here's another analogy that might help. This guy's walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep. He can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says "What are you doing? Now we're both down here!" and the friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." Your friend is your sensei or the Hombu or a fellow martial artist and we've been down here before and we know the way out! Please don't let rank dictate your desires, but, at least try to listen to what some have suggested from all over the world and it's solid advice across the board; be patient and wait to open your dojo when you're a Sandan at least. Ball's in your court to do with as you want!

Blade96, In your opening post you said this... To me, this could be a red flag warning. The following made me think that it might be... I don't know one way or another if it was or wasn't sexual harassment, therefore, I'm just offering some info that might help you.

Could this be defined as "Sexual Harassment"? Please read these links... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_harassment OR... http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/teensexualharassment.html OR... http://www.answers.com/topic/sexual-harassment

Whatever the meaning of the name might be....it's a very solid Kata across the board.

Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva......................Evans Paul Daley vs. Dustin Hazelett.......................Daley Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout.............................Lauzon Jim Miller vs. Duane Ludwig...........................Miller Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel..................Yvel Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann..........Kampmann Dan Lauzon vs. Cole Miller............................Lauzon Steve Cantwell vs. Vladimir Matyushenko.......Matyushenko Mark Munoz vs. Ryan Jensen.........................Jensen Mike Pyle vs. Jake Ellenberger.......................Ellenberger John Gunderson vs. Rafaello Oliveira.............Oliveira

It's been my experience that the size of a Gi was going to provide Height factors more than weight factors. I could be wrong. Bold Look carries sizes 000 - 12, but that varies from line to line. However, Bold Look does not sell products directly to students, you must buy Bold Look merchandise through your school or organization.

That's skill/talent! Very cool! I can't even sew on a button back on my shirt.

Just to mention some of them... It's a Wonderful Life The Greatest Story Ever Told Jesus of Nazareth

I've no favorite students! For me, it's like having a favorite child and I don't have a favorite child; I love them all equally. The reason I don't have a favorite student(s) is because that would violate the instructor maxim. Yes, I'm aware of which student(s) are training/practicing harder than others, but, I push them ALL equally hard. Testing, for example, can't ever be decided by favoritisim...it just can't exist! During a testing cycle: I don't know the student(s)! During a testing cycle, my student(s) are strangers to me and I keep it strictly business; pass or fail isn't based on whom they are as individuals and what they may or may not mean to me: They're nothing...they're just a body. Harsh? No, not for me. I've got to remember that I'm their Sensei and in that, I've a responsibility to myself, to my Dai-Soke/Sensei, to my Hombu, to every Shindokan practitioner, and to my students. That responsibility dictates that I must be totally and completely impartial across the board concerning every past, present, and future Shindokan karateka; student of mine or not! Favoritisim only fogs up the Dojo! I don't allow it, therefore, I don't need a life boat to rescue me because my integrity cuts right through the fog! Clear sailings and only clear sailings!

I determine who can test, not my students and not time in grade. Time in grade only acts as a prerequisite for a pending testing cycle, but, it's not a guarantee that one would be considered and/or invited to a testing cycle! Come to class and train! Don't worry about when one can test and when one can't test: just train! Just train with all of your heart and soul and the testing cycle will take care of itself. I'll know when someone's ready to test and that's when they'll test and not before. The fastest way to NEVER be invited to a testing cycle is to not practice and/or practice very little; trust me, I know if someone's practiced or not. Testing a student based on time in grade can only serve against the means. Time in grade lets a student know when they can submit a request to attend a testing cycle and in that, time in grade lets me know that a student has meet the minimum requirement to submit said testing cycle request. The momma bird only kicks her baby bird out of the nest when that baby bird is ready and no time sooner; the momma bird knows!

"The warning signs recently placed on each side of the Dragon just do not get the attention of some truck drivers." This is from that link Patrick, very interesting info, thanks for it, I enjoyed it. Funny thing about those signs...these signs are HUGE and they're bright ORANGE, with large lettering! That would tip me off that maybe I shouldn't continue. Here's a link of those signs... http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon_trucks.html

Personally, I don't call any martial artist...."Master"! I have never called my Soke or my Dai-Soke "Master"! I call them by their name, or by "Sir", or by "Sensei", but, never "Master". I'm aware that within the Shindokan By-Laws, Godan and above is at the "Master" level, but, I've not meet a Shindokan Master yet. I'm a Shindokan Hachidan, but, I don't want to be called "Master" in any shape, way, and/or form. How can I, being imperfect, have mastered anything, I'm flawed at the core. I'm a student of the martial arts and in that, I'm still seeking that one perfect technique...still!

Yepper! She belongs to Shitoryu shito-kai.

I've made many Homemade Nunchaku's for one reason or another. Some went well for me and others went bad for me. I'd buy some dowel, a small length of chain, and two eye-screws; then I'd assemble them. They weren't the best....or the safest....but...they served a purpose for me. I know of two times while I was in high school and I performed a martial arts demo in a talent show which included Kata, Weapons, and Tuite. Now, I can speak of some authority when I say what I'm about to say. Homemade nunchaku's are best kept AT HOME where nobody can be at risk. During one of my high school talent show demo's I was performing a Kata and when I was executing a forward strike and that's when the wheels fell off. At the apex of that technique, the nunchaku came apart. I was left with one end of the nunchaku while the other end went flying into/towards the audience. I paused just long enough to wait for the scream of pain from the audience but it never came, therefore, I continued on for the show must go on...I didn't miss a beat. I waited for the scream because I couldn't tell or see where the flying independent piece went because the stage lights were so bright that I couldn't see beyond the stage. Well, that's how my Homemade Weapon experience went. So, has anyone ever made a Homemade martial arts weapon(s)? How did it go? BTW, after my display of non-carpentry skills, I never used a Homemade martial arts weapon outside of my garage.

This is very solid advice and in that, it should be considered! I myself have never thought that I was able, for one reason or another, to pursue another martial art outside and seperate and concurrent with/from Shindokan. I took TKD for one year while in high school after I was already a junior BB, but, that vexed me because both of these arts required of me much more than I possess.

Congrats and very solid!

For me, Karate-Do is a way for me to attain personal knowledge; betterment of myself, not just studying how to fight. Karate made its transition from jutsu to do somewhere around the beginning of the 20th century. Still, I guess I'm a romantic at heart, and in that, I practice the jutsu while I balance it with the do. I believe that they [jutsu/do] can be practiced at the same time; side by side. For me, to not train both to be in concert with one another is like having my body walking down the street without my heart.

For your wife and your daughter as to their iodine sensitivity: dispose of the salmon! Did he come to your house to give you this gift? If so, well, Japanese etiquette considers it unpolite to go to someone's house without a gift; the salmon in this case. I'm sure you didn't take it right away, but, you did eventually and this is good. Why? If you had took the salmon right away, it would've indicated to this gentleman that you didn't value it much, if at all. Your gift to him was the parking space, therefore, he gave the best gift he had at the time. Salmon is a good gift to give/get! You've gracefully accepted the salmon as well as having thanked him for his gift, and the salmon is now in your freezer. It's your freezer and now it's your salmon to do with as you desire. Face has been saved! This is important!

Here's another strange road; located in Deals Gap, NC. It's only 11 miles long, but, it's a wild and exciting 11 miles, 11 miles in which it contains 318 curves, in which a motorist and/or motorcycles have to be aware of large trucks because these large trucks will cross into ones lane due to the very many hairpin curves. [Pics/Videos at this site will demonstrate this]. Well...please see it for yourselves...here's a link to the Dragon's Tail... http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ Here's a Wikipedia article.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deals_Gap,_North_Carolina

To the laymen...I simply say "Tonfa" because many laymen know it as that.

Enter The Dragon