sensei8

No way Patrick...I'm a huge Yankee fan myself! GO YANKEE'S! What I'd like to see this year is us go to the playoffs, win, go back to the World Series...and WIN! Secondly, I'd like to see us get Mariano Rivera to close more than he did in 2008; but to get Mariano to the mound more often the Yankee's have got to be leading in the 7th inning but the 8th inning is excellent for Mariano! "Mo's" 2008 stats...(With your permission Patrick!)... 2008 Stats W-L 6-5 Saves 39 ERA 1.40 (WOW) K 77 GO YANKEE'S!!!!!!!!!!

It's still not worth it even if you have a GREAT job, imho. You got a great deal! Don't leave it!

Ooohhhhhhhhh...I don't like that idea! Red flags all over the place! I hope for your sake that it doesn't happen to you!

Yeah! That jump looks easy enough, but, once you attempt the jump for the first time, it's not that easy. Although, that jump in Enpi is much easier than the jump in Unsu. Shotokan Student, Please don't allow others to rob your love of the Martial Arts; those that try to tear you down are a dime a dozen. As bushido_man96 said...just don't give up on the jump in Unsu, it's one of, if not the most difficult jumps in any Kata/Form around. I never thought that I'd get that jump right, but when I did...sheech...I went..."Whoa! I did it!" Then I did it again...and again...then I feel hard because I was dead tired. But now, my right knees a basket case so I've got to do adaptations of that jump, with approval from my Hombu, when I do Unsu. Hang in there, pretty soon you'll be flying high with the other eagles!

Welcome Warren! That is quite a journey my friend...but what a wonderful rewarding journey it has been and will still be for the two of you. AWESOME! Thank you for sharing your story with us!

No, my dad didn't teach me how to fight!

Do we meet our attacker(s) blow for blow until we gain our escape from intended bodily harm? OR... Do we cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war upon our attacker(s) so as to assure our point is well understood? Therefore...What's the virtue of a proportional response?

Corrupt boards? That's tough especially if your rank only means something to your styles' organization! Man...that's rough! The testing board should never be the same people over and over...this is wrong and takes away from the validity of the test as well as the intergrity of the test. Our By-Laws work like this concerning the make-up of our Testing Boards... *Dai-Soke (Judan) *Kaicho (Hachidan) *Kancho (Hachidan) *Board Of Regents (12 appointed Dan ranks of Godan and higher) *Director(s) of Testing/Grading (4 Shichidan's) *Director(s) of Technical Review (4 Hachidan's) *Dojo Chief Instructor (Sandan and higher) (Sandan Chief Instructor must have a sponsoring Kyoshi until Sandan reaches Godan) So you can see the many possibilites of the different testing boards that we can assembly at any given time. Our testing fees are as follows: Kyu = $25 Dan = $50 (FREE at my Dojo because I'm trying to help my students off-set the economic downturn anyway that I can!) $100/$300 for testing is too high, imho. Why? Is just a test, not a down payment on a car/house. I've challenged my Hombu as to $50 being way to much for a Dan testing; all testings should be, imho, $25 period! A new belt is bought and a new cert is awarded. That's not worth $100/$300, imho! What about time for the testing board? Big deal, that's part of teaching the students. Our boards receive no monies for being on a testing board! It's a priviledge and an honor to be on a testing board, it's not a right.

Pro-Wrestling is FAKE and the Martial Arts isn't! By the way, many Pro-Wrestlers have admitted/said that Pro-Wrestling is fake. They've said it in both print/video media...Killer Kowalski was the very first Pro-Wrestler to say so.

Mike Stone/Joe Lewis earned their black belts in 6/7 months respective!

Because it is the american way of wanting things...hot and ready and out the door...in my dojo I only guarantee that the door is always open... I hear ya' and I concur with you!

You're absolutely correct. Our humanity must be seen in our actions within the Martial Arts! When that isn't accepted by the will of my attacker...then it's time to just react.

Yes and no! Yes, because I'd want to learn from a black belt AND from a black belt with many, many years of knowledge/experience. No, because rank means nothing! Either one can teach or one can't; not every black belt can teach!

Shindokan Karate-Do = I started on October 18, 1964...44 years so far Hachidan = awarded June 15, 1999 Hanshi = awarded July 19, 2000 Tae Kwon Do = 1 year (I don't remember the governing body)(Young Ik Suh was the Grandmaster) Green Belt (When I was in high school)

Good grief! Who would want to wonder what style of the Martial Arts is the easiest/fastest way to obtain a black belt? If someone asked me this while visiting my Dojo, I'd say..."Not my style! Try down the street." Care only about obtaining an effective and viable knowledge base; not rank and the swiftest way to get that said rank, therefore, rank means nothing! Proof is always found on the floor!

Kicking with ones shin is akin to striking with a baseball bat. Striking with ones foot is akin to being struck with a 90mph fastball. Therefore, I'd rather hit someone with a baseball bat than with a baseball. The shin offers a more larger area to strike with! The foots striking area is much smaller. Both have their advantages as well as their weaknesses; therefore, choose your weapon, choose it acorrding to preference/circumstances, and choose them well.

I choose the second one. I'd only want the penetration, not the acting. We all practice and practice until the wheels fall off, but, I truely don't care what my attacker will feel as a result of my technique(s). I was attacked, therefore, let "it" do all of the work, let "it" be automatic as my muscle memory kicks in gear. I don't care if my attacker(s) screaming and writhing in pain, and if I freeze up for whatever reason, I submit this, I've might not practiced enough to avoid that! I believe that the orange will offer the same resistance as the eye itself, therefore, penetrate, and do it fast and unyielding. http://www.macula.org/images/ana101.jpg To gouge the eye; the path of your thumb/finger(s) is this... Cornea: This is the most outer part of the eye, therefore, it covers the front of the eye. Aqueous: The humor circulates throughout the front part of the eye, maintaining a constant pressure inside the eye. Iris: The iris is the colored part of the eye. As light conditions change, the iris may dilate to make the pupil bigger or constrict to make the pupil smaller. This allows more or less light into the eye. Lens: After light travels through the pupil, it must pass through the lens. The lens of the eye acts much like the lens of a camera; focusing in and out. Vitreous: The eye is filled with a clear, jelly-like substance called the vitreous. The feeling of penetrating this part of the eye who'd be akin to penetrating an ORANGE; kind of a squishy feeling. What happens after that...curl your thumb/fingers and give it a yank. There will be alot of blood...and your attacker will scream and writhe in pain...possibly go into shock...so be it! Don't think about it...just defend yourself....just do it! Could you truely do it?

Testing with a board of directors isn't stupid! It's smart, if you think about it! Yes, the teacher knows his/her student the best and he/she has sole responsibility in testing them. The presence of a testing board adds validity to any test. How so? Most important documents have more than one signature, witnesses, of the affirmation of the document(s). Therefore, while the Sensei/Chief Instructor has ultimate authority, the board gives the test more solidification. One person might be disputed, yet, many can't argue with the presence of witnesses to any said test of the Martial Arts. A testing board eliminates favoritism as well as overlooking/missing mistakes. One set of eyes can see only so much, where multiple eyes can see much more. Stupid, you say, no...smart I say!

I can't think of anyone better for you. Please check this out... http://www.scriptshifter.com/montrealshotokan/en/home.php You won't be disappointed!

This would take one governing body to see this to fruition, imho!

As far as that goes, the ranking system isn't even an original part of Karate...I'm so glad that someone finally said that!

McDojo? OK? Maybe/maybe not! Yeah, this doesn't mean anything because I've seen "Karate" on mostly every Tae Kwon Do Dojang's (school) because "Karate" is a universal tag for mostly every Martial Arts school worldwide; per the laymen consumer. A consumer identifies every Martial Art as "Karate!" The belt ranking for me here is weird only because Purple is listed right after White Belt. Thing about that is...rank can be anything and in any order with all kind of combinations of stripes/colors. I mean, the white stripe in the center is usually reserved for women in Judo as well as Jr. Black Belts, therefore, the order/color/stripes/etc are not restrictive nor are they etched in stone. A style can do whatever it wants, no matter how weird and strange it may look to me. I didn't see the camo belt amongst it belt ranking...did anybody? Hhhmmmm... For me, the name is meaningless, as to it's Bunkai/Oyo and Kata's other beneficial elements. I've seen some weird Kata's that had equally weird names, including who, where, when, why, what, and how a technique(s) appear at in the Kata's of a style.

"Being Able To Award Rank?" as this topic is titled. Within my style one must be a Sandan to award a Shodan, therefore, the awarding rank must be 2 ranks above the testee, and in that the chief instructor of said Dojo must be a minumim rank of Sandan to award rank! A Shodan/Nidan might or might not be allowed to sit at the testing table, and in that, no Shodan/Nidan's name ever appear on the official ranking certs per my Hombu's By-Laws. My style awards certs from 5th Kyu (Green Belt) and up.

The higher the rank the longer the testing within my style. My Hachidan test took me a week due to the amount of the material per the grading syllabus.

But the tone of which I received your post then is why I mentioned the happenings of today. Larry Tatum, for one, Ed Parker dies...Tatum starts an Kempo organization...and in that, he's now a 10th Degree Black Belt. What was wrong with the rank he earned under Parker? Nothing that I can tell...but...Tatum wasn't satisfied with that...ego became his new sensei. Or... Fumio Demura is expelled by his Shito-ryu organization and then he starts his own Shito-ryu organization. Now he's students have to be graded under his newly founded Shito-ryu organization because any ranking certs under the original Shito-ryu are voided, therefore, no longer accepted by the original Shito-ryu. One's not cool and the other is, imho. If I've offended you, I'm sorry for that wasn't my intent!