sensei8

I concur!

Tuite training in Shindokan for our Yudansha's are known as "Air Miles" and this is due to the amount of throws/sweeps that Yudansha's are taught/trained in. The lower the Yudansha rank, the more Air Miles. Why? The higher the Yudansha is in rank, the more counters/reverses that are availible to them, therefore, the lower ranked Yudansha's are more apt to be thrown by the higher ranked Yudansha's. Knowing what is coming is not always a good thing. From many hours of practice, every Shindokan karateka knows that he/she is once again about to be on the receiving end of a very fast Tuite throw/sweep. Up, up, and away... No...these Air Miles can't be turned in for any rewards! How many here can relate to this and be a member of the Air Miles club?

Attend the testing! I observe my students each and everyday, therefore, that's when mistakes are corrected...in class...not in testing. Student's aren't invited to testing if they're not ready, and this is determined through my daily observations of my students.

Everyday...all day...all of the time! To do otherwise, would be irresponsible of me. Now, what the student decides to do after I've supplied the necessary info, well, then that's up to them. For me, I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family, my loved ones, and myself. After that, I just hope the judge will see it my way. My style, Shindokan, doesn't cover the Neck Break technique...boy...I feel cheated!

How does one spell martial arts? P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E!

I said old ways, not prehistoric. Back to the old ways for Shindokan, at this time, is to eliminate rank indentifiers. This has been done.

Students reflect the Sensei; either, is good or, is bad! These child black belts reflect the good because Kanazawa Sensei is good. In that, every instructor and every student in SKIF is good. Kanazawa Sensei wouldn't have it any other way because it would reflect negatively on him. Imho, if you see students of the martial arts that look bad, then watch the Sensei, he/she probably looks just as bad. Does most, of if not all, of the blame go to the organization for allowing this in their student body? Yes, imho! The organization is suppose to be governing the entire style, including, how the style is represented by its student body, including their Sensei's. Simply stated...if the organization's bad, then the students are bad because the Sensei's are bad. Do I fault the students? No. Not if they don't know any better because this is how they were taught. To these students, they think that they're solid across the board, but, when in reality, they're not even close. IMHO!!!!

I can't truly add anything to any of the other posts to your question because white owl, joesteph, and cathal have done an excellent job of heading you down the right path of "Balance". If I was to add something to this discussion, it would be this. STRETCH FIRST...THE ENTIRE BODY...NOT JUST PORTIONS!

In your opinion, what's the key to any "deflection" as seen, for example, but not limited to, Aikido? Is there any one key to the success of any "deflection"? Imho, I believe that the one key is...Continued Directional Changes. In this, the opponent never knows if he/she is coming or going. Just when the opponent is directed to 'go' or 'move' this way, the opponent is jerked in the complete and opposite direction like a rag-doll, or a puppet. Could the one key be the feet? Could the one key be the hips? Could the one key be the body? Could the one key actually be in the totality, as one, of all three, as I've just noted...or more? I'm just wondering outloud. What do you think? Because, I'm wondering about the ONE KEY, and what that ONE KEY is!

The cross training that I've done in JKD; sparring WAS done alot. By alot, I mean, ALOT. Lead leg work was done just as much as sparring was. As far as grappling was concerned, I didn't see much of that whenever I crossed trained with JKD practitioners. Whether that was set in stone or just the preference of those that I cross trained in JKD with, I truly don't have an answer for that, just an assumption at best because I never asked. I was getting alot of grappling in my style as well as with other grappling practitioners. So, it does sound strange but, stranger things have happened before.

Can a style survive WITHOUT a Soke/Founder? I've place the word 'a' above in bold type because I'm not speaking of THE Soke/Founder. No, I'm speaking about the existence of that said title within the style's heirarchy. Could the following chain of command exist without any Soke type? *President *Vice-President *12 member Board Would this be sufficient? Or... *Soke/Dai-Soke/San Dai-Soke/or... *President *Vice-President *12 member Board Would this be more sufficient?

Why does Karate place such a value on the Karate hierarchy of Sensei's, Sempai's, and Kohai's? Simple question enough...or is it?!? Everyone NEEDS someone to teach them! Everyone NEEDS someone to lead the journey! Eveyone NEEDS someone to mentor them! Everyone NEEDS someone to believe in them! Everyone NEEDS someone...no matter the reason(s)! That's as simple as I can put it. I'll await others a chance to answer the question before I comment any further.

Even though, for the most part, we're all on the same page, imho. Again, our differing methodologies is what makes 'our style' exactly that...our style! Afterall, DWx asked this... Therefore, If I describe a "Strike" as a snap, my students/Shindokan practitoners UNDERSTAND my meaning because that's how a strike is to us Shindokanists...it snaps...like a towel or like a whip! If I describe a "Thrust" as something that penetrates, again, my students/Shindokan practitioners UNDERSTAND my meaning because that's how a thrust is to us Shindokanists...it penetrates, and by this, it travels way beyond the point of contact! Every waza in Shindokan at its core is taught to 'penetrate' beyond the point of contact. Every kick, for example, follows the methodology of Up, Out, Back, and Down, but, in a thrust kick, the 'Back' is ever so slightly paused as the hips finish the kick. Whereas, in a snap kick, the hips and and legs basically finish at the same time in the 'Back' portion of any snap kick in Shindokan.

WASH THE DARN THING!!!!!! I'm not a clothes expert, but, aren't gi's of today, not all, but most, PRE-SHRUNK. In the old days, the first thing we had to do with our new gi's was to WASH it so that it'll shrink, but even then, the shrink wasn't much. Once the gi was washed, patches could be added. Add the patches before the first wash, well, the patch would bunch up pretty bad.

Beginners! This little girl's wearing a white belt...

I get a kick out of the drivers who go around me to get off at...the very next off-ramp instead of waiting 1 or 2 seconds. Also, I get a kick out of the drivers who pull up to a tractor-trailer inside a parking lot or something doing a delivery and the driver of the car wants the truck driver to back up. Most, if not all truck drivers won't back up for safety reasons. It's easier for the car to turn around than it is for a tractor-trailer. Honking is for safety, not inconvience. Maybe some drivers don't use their turn signals is because their particular car doesn't have any because they were options on their cars model for that year, if so, turn that car in for different car with signals that are included...but...these drivers are just to lazy to flick a switch up or down. Wow, that's so hard.

Rank denotes a certain level of knowledge, granted, just as long as rank isn't more important than the knowledge achieved. A Shindokan karateka must have a certain rank first before one's even considered for any teaching title(s), but, it's then not the rank that decides the qualifications for the teaching titles. No, it's what the Shindokan practitioner has done while in that rank. What has the Shindokan practitioner done for the betterment of the martial arts before the betterment of themselves. Again, teaching titles are extremely difficult to achieve, therefore, teaching titles in Shindokan are rare. There's no test for teaching titles, like there is for rank! Shoot, time in grade allows acquisition of knowledge because if you're in something long enough and you're truly seeking earnestly/honestly, knowledge avails itself. I just want every karateka of Shindokan, to think of rank in its proper context and to stop thinking about rank as though it's only a stepping stone to higher rank. That vanity has no place in Shindokan! Shindokan wasn't founded for the sake of rank, but, for the sake of effective knowledge obtained within/without the rank. Removing every possible distraction, i.e. rank indentifiers, allows the Shindokan karateka to seek the doors of knowledge with a sincere heart, not a vain heart.

Yes they are, oh yes they are!

Congrats and well deserved!

I speak to the disruptor(s) one on one in my office, if it's a child, then I'll have the parent(s) present as well. Depending on the infraction, I'll give them one warning, after that one warning...suspension or dismissal. If the infraction is warranted, then immediate dismissal! Yes. That instructor was terminated immediately!

It doesn't really matter what I/anybody else might or might not say. Because, in the end, it's what you say that truly matters. Our insights are only small parts in your martial arts journey. You and only you have the right to regard/disregard any advice. After all, it's your journey, not mine, not ours.

YES! Kata shouldn't be taught FOR THE SAKE OF RANK! Yet, on that question, it would, imho, greatly depend on the instructor's level of knowledge. Notice I didn't say anything about the instructor's level of skill, and I didn't because skill is important but not as important as knowledge, imho. A martial artist, imho, with a great deal of knowledge, and is mature in that knowledge, can choose one, two, or more kata to explore. They have that ability and that right! This is the choice of the martial artist. YES! I believe that if a martial artist wanted to learn/study Heian Shodan ONLY! This kata would be enough, after some time, to protect oneself. Necessaties or near necessaties are laced with many tangibles, but, it's the intangibles that determine the course of any martial artist. I believe in Kata, my style has 26 empty hand kata's, but, I do think at times that all of these kata's can cloud up ones mind. Kata, like Bunkai is a practice of exploration of those effective possibilities of the technique(s) within any said kata. If I did Tekki Shodan and Tekki Shodan only for the rest of my life, I would be no more and/or no less than someone who has 50 kata's rattling around in their brains. It's not quantity, it's quality! Don't only believe in kata, but, believe in yourself...first!

Didn't the "founder(s)" of any said style of the martial arts borrow a little from this and a little from that and took away a little of this and took away a little of that? The "founder(s)" started with their learnt style and then begin to whittle away at it, adding this and taking away that, until, they finally came up with a new style of the martial arts. My own style, Shindokan, came about by taking Okinawa-te and Shuri-te, and then combining the "effective" parts of the two into one. At 'its' core, isn't every style of the martial arts MMA?

Yeah...I want one...who wouldn't want 200 pancakes in an hour?

Awesome = Brian's daughter as well as Brian! If your daughters anything like you...she'll be great at it, no matter what the 'it' is! My daughter, 13 years old, does Karate, but, her passion is playing the flute. Nathan is 15 years old and he plays baseball (pitcher) and basketball (utility). I'm very proud of my kids, just like Brian is of his daughter!