sensei8

I've never understood the useage of a stomp at the moment of any punch in the martial arts. To me, this methodology seems to only gimmick a punch as seen in Pro-Wrestling [WWE] for its own reason; uneffective for the purity of the technique but vivid for the theatrics alone. In the 4 decades plus that I've been in the martial arts, I've yet to see proof in the effectiveness of stomping at the moment of a punch. Why? Most of the time the stomp/heel is lifted way to high. Why? An over zealous practitioner might be possible. Imho, I've only seen the stomp diminish any said punch, if nothing else, the stomp might, maybe, could be used as a distraction device.

Any technique executed without the proper useage of ones hips is uneffective! While snap is a part of any techniques totality, it's still just one piece of the puzzle. Yet, any individual portion of any said technique is empty without ones hips. Yes, I can drive with my legs, yes I can snap my techique at the very last moment, yes I can maintain proper posture/balance, yet, while a technique might be noticeable, any technique without hips is wasted motion as well as its [technique] only recognized as a 'period' at the end of any sentence, but, an 'exclamation' at the end of any sentence isn't forgotten soon.

This is of my own opinion, but, when I saw the tag-line within an ad from a Dojo in my town, I kinda laughed. "This Advertisement is approved by the Better Business Bureau!" This is about the funniest thing I've ever seen in an advertisement from a school of the martial arts. Why? Having the BBB approve one's advertisment is akin to having a white belt approve a black belt. Not only is it ridiculus as well as meaningless; it's an oxymoron! Funny and/or dissappointing, all at the same time, is what schools of the martial arts will do to get any edge with future laymen students in this economical downturn. Ask any Lawyer about the BBB and they'll tell you that the BBB is a waste of time and not worth the effort to have BBB backing/support; especially in a court of law.

ROFLMBBO!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that's funny! And so right on!

This is an easy question for me to answer. For me, I'd say as many instructors as it takes to help me to complete my martial arts journey...which is a never ending journey. My cup will never be full...ever! Yet, my main instructor is Dai-Soke Yoshinobu Takahashi Sensei of the Shindokan. All other instructors in my life were anybody I felt capable in helping me to grow as a martial artist in both knowledge as well as in effectiveness; any others were immediately discarded with the trash. Through all of this, I continue to and will always revert back to my main source...Takahashi Sensei OVER all of the rest! Takahashi Sensei has been my "father in the martial arts" for over 44 years...I owe him so much!

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread but I just made a decision to dismiss my first student today after she was found to have stolen an ipod from the dojang. Interesting enough it was the same student I noted above...I guess the writing was on the wall! You're dead on here! Not only would I have kicked this student out of the dojang for life, but, I would've pressed charges to the max.

No I wouldn't because the key to the kick is....the Hook! Is it a spinning kick? Yepper! But it's not a spinning HOOK kick by its definition. My style, Shindokan, doesn't kick above the waist...ever. Having said that, a spinning HOOK kick, for me, reaches its apex just at the very moment that the HOOK BEGINS! It's UP, OUT, BACK (HOOKING), and then DOWN. These steps are the basics of what Shindokan stylists define as a HOOK kick. The rest of the label for that kick is just...spinning and kick; self described labels I might like to add. Our leg NEVER remains straight in this kick or the like because the leg is ALWAYS slightly arching towards the apex, as the supporting foot is turning while the hips are beginning to open up, and then at that very moment of that apex...the hooking is executed.

Former 13 time collegiate amateur wrestling champion as well as a Pro-Wrestler with every WWE brand.

As cool as an Honorary certificate is, there meaningless outside ones organization, imho, Having earned a cert thru blood, sweat, and tears, imho, outweighs honorary certs any day of the week. I wouldn't, but this is me, hang the honorary cert anywhere...except....(fill in the blank here)!

Lashley thought Cook was making fun of him... http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Pro-wrestler-Lashley-destroys-Cook-in-24-seconds?urn=mma,163814

My 14 year old son, Nathan, is speech delayed. Whenever he's frustrated that nobody understands what he's saying, with is not his fault, he gets angry. His therapist says to Nathan, "If getting angry helps you to say this word; do it. But don't be violent!" Nathan gets mad thru his frustration, but, it helps him at THAT moment to properly focus...WHAM...the word comes out very understandable. One day Nathan was having some difficulties with double consonants, Nathan said, "What's wrong with me?", as his body language spoke volumes of despair/sadness, it tore me up inside...but...he worked through the word and was able to say it very well. Anger's a negative unless the anger is meant as a positive, as it was with my son.

As fantastic as spinning hook kicks are to perform as well as to watch, spinning hook kicks, imho, is the leader of being the most telegraphic kick. Many practitioners reach the apex of the spinning hook kick to an opponents head differently than others. Some are flat spins, some are high, some are low, some are medium, some are are swingers, some are floaters, some release the knee to soon/late, some release the hips to soon/late, some don't open the hips at all, some have no proper body mechanics, and some go out then go up. Therefore, how do YOU reach your apex in YOUR spinning hook kick? It'll be interesting to see just how differently the apex is reached from one spinning hook kick to another.

We've got Judoka and we've got Karateka. This has a nice little ring to it for those who are wowed by the Japanese language; to these people, Japanese language is poetry to their ears. But, just what does the "Ka" really mean to a Judo or Karate practitioner. Surely, there's more to the suffix than just poetry. A Judoka/Karateka is a person who practices Judo/Karate. It's origin is from Japan, therefore, Karate+Ka is saying Karate=Karate + Ka=person. Having said that, Karateka, for example, is the Japanese word for a practitioner of Karate. By definition, Karate is a Martial Art and a Karateka is an artist, put these two together, a Martial Artist. Therefore, as great as Judo and Karate are, they're just things; nothing by itself. The Judo/Karate is dependant of a person/artist to complete it. Although the person/artist is complete without having the Judo/Karate, the Judo/Karate is incomplete without the person/artist. No person/artist; means there is nothing to formulate or to birth. This can be for ANY Martial Art! How so? Tae Kwon Doist, Aikidoist, Hapkidoist, Kung-Fu stylist, Capoeiraist, and Jeet Kune Doist to name just a few. Without the suffix of 'ist', there's nothing more than just an empty word; lifeless, an inanimate object at best, void, not endowed with life or spirit. Add the 'ist' or the 'ka' or the 'Do' to the word, life is the giving energy that makes the word come alive and vibrant; pulsating with life, vigor, or activity, therefore, a creative soul that empowers the thing into being SOMETHING! We, the 'IST' as well as the 'KA' that are being guided by the 'Do' are important to what it is that we love as well as to what it is that we are...MARTIAL ARTISTS!

This tight winding road is great for cars, suvs, motorcycles...but not for any Tractor-Trailer. Check out this site as well as the video and follow a Swift truck who runs over ever cone in the road...even in front of the police. Main site for the Tail of the Dragon... http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ Video of cone killing Swift truck...There's a HUGE sign on either start of the Dragon that warns Trucks against driving on the Dragon...you'll see why...BTW, Swift stands for...Sure With I Finished Training... More pics of trucks being where they shouldn't be, including a pic of the HUGE sign warning trucks against driving the Dragon... http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon_trucks.html

Some of the new car gadgets for your 2009 models... Things like: >Lane departure warning >Refrigerator >In-car Internet Check this out for yourself...[Warning: Wear a bib so that you don't drool all over your nice shirt!] http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/auto/car-guide-2008/20080804_cars_new_gadgets_a1.asp?caret=1d

Feelings were hurt and some were, well, check this out... http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/K-Mart-on-Cuban-mom-crisis-I-m-going-to-take-c?urn=nba,162648

It's NOT the flying bird gesture, check it out... http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Brian-Wilson-isn-t-very-happy-with-Casey-Blake-r?urn=mlb,162567

Bought my wife a brand new blue Mazda CX-7 with a big red bow and had it sitting in the driveway. We woke up to take her to breakfast, she opened the front door, stepped onto the porch...and just froze and then she screamed. She was shaking so bad she couldn't even open the car door, therefore, I drove to IHOP because I was afraid that she might crash. After breakfast at IHOP, we went to see the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, took her to lunch at Panda Bear Chinese, and then capped it off with dinner at Olive Garden. All in all...I'd say that it was a pretty good mothers day. Now, I'm all set up to see the new Star Trek movie for Fathers Day. Obviously this took me saving some money for a while to afford this, trust me, my wife doesn't always have Mothers Day like this. I usually buy her candy, flowers, and dinner. After I read this it sounded like I was showing off, and this is the furthest thing from my intent. Sorry!

In knowing oneself as one does; Is it ok to accept our limitations, therefore, becoming complacent with our new found results as ours alone? For me, I would have to answer this question with a big fat NO! Why? For me, this complacent attitude steals from us the will to "see just what's out there for me" and in this, I don't become stagnate/stale.

OUCH! Finger injuries are just as bothersome as having an ear ache or a toothache. I hate a jammed finger because it hurts forever. I just can't imagine what it must've felt like to have to have reset your finger...OUCH!

JusticeZero and Espina are dead on right, imho. You both make some valid points to both of your arguments. It is sad that this happens, but, it's unavoidable, especially when there's no governing body to regulate them. Kind of like insurance isn't regulated, therefore, premiums are in outer space...nobody can afford to be insured...that's very sad as well. We set our standards very high. In other words, we've no 1-2 year brown belts; more than likely, we've brown belts with 4 years minimum on average, even then, we set absolutely no time required specifics for any and all belts...PERIOD! Now, our Yudansha's have a minimum tenure specific to each Dan rank, but, that's just a minimum for having that said Dan rank; before that and after that, NOTHING'S GUARANTEED....NOTHING!

When my sister was a teenager, she cut her hand pretty good on the palm while visiting our grandparents. My grandpa's remedy was...pour salt into the wound...my sister screamed until our grandpa gave her a clean sock to bite down on. I think the sock was to shut her up, not to help her deal with the pain. All this time...I thought..."Pouring salt into a wound" was just an old-wifes expression...until I saw it first hand. Better my sister than me!

Depending on the type of the injury...I will ice/heat, elevate, and/or wrap the area. The best after all of that is...plenty of REST. Especially when you're my age...51...I need all the recuperation that I can get. If the injuries more than I can handle, then I'll go to the doctor. One time I accidently stuck a kama into my right knee, I was only 16 years old. I pulled it out...screamed...bandaged it up...then wrapped it...then rode my bike home while holding my right leg as straight as I could...then I refused to go to the doctor...with enough peroxide and the like and keeping the area clean and well rebandaged...I was new as a fiddle. No, I'm not tough...I just didn't want to go to the doctor...tough?...no...stupid...but I thought it was the best thing I could ever do at the moment.

In the Martial Arts, there's someone always... *Better than you *Worse than you *Equal with you *Faster than you *Slower than you *Practicing something *Practicing when you're not *Discovering something new *Discovering something beneficial *Discarding what's ineffective *Ruining the bueaty that is the Martial Arts *Creating something for the betterment of the Martial Arts *In better shape than you *More powerful than you *Knows more than you *Knows less than you *Understands more than you *Seeks out more than you *More/Less spiritual than you *More/Less philosophic than you *More in tune than you *More out of tune than you *More up to date than you *More behind the times than you *More/Less optimistic than you *More/Less pessimistic than you *More/Less tenacious than you *More/Less flexible than you *Stronger than you *More/Less stamina than you Please add to my opening list! Get the meaning/point? This list could go on for awhile, therefore, always expand your knowledge, for knowledge is far greater than rank. Never be satisfied; always seek to improve in every shape, way, and/or form. **(Patrick, I wasn't sure which forum this topic would be more suited for, therefore, I placed it in the Karate forum. If I've erred, could you please move it to its proper forum. Thanks, Bob)

Bought my wife a brand new blue Mazda CX-7 with a big red bow and had it sitting in the driveway. We woke up to take her to breakfast, she opened the front door, stepped onto the porch...and just froze and then she screamed. She was shaking so bad she couldn't even open the car door, therefore, I drove to IHOP because I was afraid that she might crash. After breakfast at IHOP, we went to see the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, took her to lunch at Panda Bear Chinese, and then capped it off with dinner at Olive Garden. All in all...I'd say that it was a pretty good mothers day. Now, I'm all set up to see the new Star Trek movie for Fathers Day.