sensei8

I've no specificality towards any one particular fighting style whatsoever. Inspite of being raised in the bare-knuckle knock-down excitements that was Shindokan, I'm quite ecelectic whenever it comes to fighting/sparring/Kumite/etc; the more raw and in-your-face the much more I'm drawn into it. I've no desire to pick a one or two or plethora fighting type because that limits me across the board. I'm comfortable on the floor no matter what stands before me. I'm quite fortunate to have been taught by two exceptional Okinawan Sensei's, Soke Saitou and Dai-Soke Takahashi because they liked fighting hard and raw with one another with no-holds barred; the rougher and rawer, the better for them. To watch them go at each other, you'd swear that they hated each other and were trying to kill one another. They held back nothing and apologized for nothing. Nothing was prohibited...nothing!! That being said, that's exactly how Greg Forsythe and I went at each other on the floor, nothing was prohibited, and whenever Soke and/or Dai-Soke would observe Greg and me fighting one another, they would just shine an agreeing smile at is both; they recognized themselves by observing us trying to tear each other apart. I could only do that type of fighting with Greg because the other Senior Ranks wanted nothing to do with that for some unknown reason(s), even though I've my own as to why. Greg and I did some I'm-gonna-kill-you type of fighting sessions over many years with Dai-Soke, and our eyes were opened wide as to things of effectiveness, that one can't receive by just engaging in Jiyu Kumite because Jiyu Kumite is limited compared to what Soke and Dai-Soke engaged in with each other, and the same can be fairly said the same for what Greg and I engaged in. Were we out of control?? With that type of sparring?? No!! Why?? The streets are unlimited and unforgiving being that if you're timid, you're already going to be eaten alive unmercifully. As cruel and barbaric as it might seem, oftentimes, kill or be killed is the way of the jungle. So, how I was taught and brought up on the floor with Soke and Dai-Soke was very beneficial for me in my MA journey. Nonetheless, as a CI, I'm gentle, yet aggressive towards my Student Body, yet as raw as I believe a student can take, therefore, their learning curve is challenged, and that too is beneficial for them. As far as the poll here, perhaps I selected the very last choice, and explained that in this post of mine. I looked over the list, and I couldn't select any particular one choice because as I've explained here, therefore, all of the above might better describe my preference within this topic.

Welcome to KF, SanchinTensho; glad that you're here!!

I was thinking about this, and this was exactly my point but I didn't articulate it well in my original post - can some random dude really just open a dojo and claim to be a "new martial art" or "a karate school" or "a kempo school" or a "taekwondo school" when in reality it has no affiliation to any club or organization out there and/or its kata/forms are all made up? Sure, there's no reason why not; that's the beauty of Business 101 and "Who Moved My Cheese?". Business and the inevitable change allow this to happen, even at the most unexpected times.

Meijin Dojo Gi is priced from $47 to $67, depending on size. It's a very durable Gi across the board. Many Okinawan Masters wear Meijin Gi's, including the Meijin Dojo Gi. As a CI of my own dojo and owning a MA supply store inside of my dojo, I can vouch for the Meijin brand across the board both personally and professionally, as well as many other Gi brands. I've no experience with Mugen/KI, or Tokon keiko-gi at all.

That Gi is 8 ounces!! A very nice and durable Gi!! Many well known Okinawan Masters wear Meijin Gi's, including Meijin Dojo Gi. Like scohen0300, I've several Meijin Gi's personally myself, if not all of them, several times over. Now, having a MA supply store inside my dojo, I stock a wide variety of different brands of Gi's in all sizes and weights and colors, and not just for Karate. So, Meijin is a great Gi overall, and as the CI of my own dojo, I can personally vouch for them. Nonetheless, I can also vouch for the various other Gi brands personally, and not just professionally.

Perhaps you meant Jason Scott Lee, and not Brandon Lee, who starred and portrayed Bruce Lee in Dragon. I thought that Jason's portrayal of Bruce was a betrayal because of his overreaching throughout Dragon. For me, not one actor has ever done justice to Bruce in any shape, way, and/or form. Albeit, no one can fill in Bruce's shoes across the board, and to attempt to do so will always fall way short of its mark. Good thing about the portray of Bruce in Ip Man 4 was that Bruce wasn't caused to save the day, and facts about Bruce was correct. For example, Bruce upsetting the local martial arts community in San Francisco by opening a Wing Chun school, teaching non-Chinese people martial arts and writing an English-language book on martial arts. In short, I'm thankful that Bruce was purposefully underrepresented because this movie was about the life of Ip Man, and not about Bruce Lee. To the credits of the director Wilson Yip and producer Raymond Wong, Ip Man 4: The Finale was a movie centralized about the final 8 years of life of Ip Man, and not about Bruce Lee. Whereas, Bruce Lee was respectfully in a role as one that's mentioned about, and not the primary subject of this movie. Imho.

Best?!? That answer will vary from person to person. For me, Century MA Supply has a lot of quality gi's under $100, so does Asian World of Martial Arts (AWMA). Train hard and train well.

Solid post!! I've a ton of experience of having gone through the politics of a Governing Body, but because it being a very sore subject with me, I'll refrain from commenting on this topic, for the moment. Sorry.

I've taken notes of myself ever since I was a SanKyu and up to the passing of my own Sensei; I stopped taking notes ever since. Before that, my mom wrote a kind of diary type during classes ever since I was a HachiKyu, at the advise of a fellow dojo mom. The flare of mom's notes versus my notes are a stark difference. Mom, being a RN, wrote quite a lot of various reports as a Charge RN. Mom loved felt tip pens of various colors, depending on my belt color or RED for areas I was struggling with or GREEN for any and all Testing Cycles and if a line was drawn through the final score, that was a fail, where a pass score was left alone or BLACK for additional notes that she garnered from either Sensei and/or one of my Sempai's. Neat and in a librarian type of a way, even with a content. All done on a spiral notebook, the thicker the better with no wasted paper, and on each side of any page. Mom was quite detail in her note writing, which never surprises me, even now, and mom's been gone for 25 years. I went 3 times a week, but a RokuKyu, I went 5 days a week, unless I was either sick or grounded or baseball season. So, mom wrote and wrote. So did I, when I took over the note writings, which mom suggested so that if I did the note writings, I'd take ownership and accountability on and off the floor, and you know what? She was right!! Have to own your own MA journey on and off the floor and the page. Now my notes were done on thicker spiral notebooks too, on each side of each page too. However, I used a ink pen, blue or black, whichever color ink pen I could find, and done after class while that class was fresh in my mind. But mom was writing notes while class was going on. Now, I would write the final score of each and every Testing Cycle with a RED ink pen, and a FAIL was circled. Between mom and me, I have a lot of FAIL scores than PASS scores. I'd note class date, times, and who was teaching said class, as well as type of class. I'd note the same for any seminars that were only held at our Hombu, but not when I attended seminars outside of the Hombu. I wasn't as detail as mom, but to suffice it, I wasn't lackadaisical in my note taking either; I wrote down what I could remember right at the end of each class, especially whatever Sensei emphasize himself or if a Sempai pulled me aside to correct me, and so on and so forth. Each Rank had its own notebook as well as volumes because, you can't put many, if any, Dan classes all in one notebook, not possible because we're talking about years and years between Dan Ranks. Yes, I keep them in my office at the dojo, and over the many years, I've allowed students to peruse through them as a way to encourage my students to take notes of their MA journey; after all, if I show the I took notes for decades, then they'll possibly do the same thing. No, no student and the like ever took my notebooks out of my sight let alone out of my dojo. Never tried to put that all on a computer because I'm just not that type of person; the notebooks, especially the ones done by my mom, hold a ton of memories that I can see as a turn page after page. Beside taping myself, note taking was the smartest training aide I ever had. Hopefully this answers your question, even though my answer is a general one.

Welcome to KF, Joe92; glad that you're here!!

Yeah, I was surprised myself, but not to much. Maybe it's Volume #1; hopefully a Volume #2, if it's being produced, will list an Okinawan Founder(s). I do love Spartacus Maximus list of Okinawan Founders.

Welcome to KF, Baka718; glad that you're here!!

I like ALL of that immensely; great new across the board!!

I've boxes and boxes full of a wide plethora of MA magazines. Anywhere from Black Belt Magazine to Inside Kung-Fu to Classic Fighting Arts to Karate Illustrated to Inside Karate to Tae Kwon Do Times to Official Karate. I'd say Black Belt and Karate Illustrated dominate the other MA magazines I have. I'm not too big on throwing them away; they're all protected one way of another.

Excellent advise thus far in this topic. Styles might have Bunkai, however, that Bunkai must be effective to have any tangible value of itself. Any Bunkai can be created by whomever, but whenever its placed under the microscope of research and its like, its ineffectiveness is exposed. As already mentioned, the value of knowledge and experience separates that Bunkai sequence of which lies within that scope of any said instructors own knowledge and experience. Cool looking means absolutely nothing; effectiveness against a live and resisting opponent echos its value. Knowing and understanding body mechanics goes a long way towards said Bunkai's effectiveness. Nonetheless, core Bunkai is limited, and even then, any responsible student has to decide for themselves that Bunkai's effectiveness for that individual. After all, what I can do with any given Bunkai, core or not, doesn't mean that someone else can do that given Bunkai. That's why Oyo Bunkai, and the understanding of Oyo, is vitally important in taking said Bunkai to a higher understanding of effectiveness. Pinan and Naihanchi Bunkai are wide in its effectiveness, yet, those effective Bunkai have to be sought out after through ones own Petri dish type of research within ones Knowledge and experience in a live resistance trails. Train Bunkai, Oyo or not, with an instructor, first. Then train and research outside of ones instructor with other MAists, hopefully instructors, but not necessary. Then, books and venue such as YouTube. If it walks like a duck, then it's a duck of a Bunkai, no matter that Bunkai's origin. Same, taste, discard/accept over and over and over and so on and so forth. Most of the time, effective Bunkai relies on that students MA maturity. Within that MA maturity is Shu Ha Ri, in which, that MA maturity takes a lot of time to reach, especially when Shu Ha Ri keeps changing as the student changes. Those Bunkai you're struggling with will only be overcome as your MA maturity grows...but nonetheless, it'll develop over time, and all types of effective Bunkai will be revealed...through patient time. Train hard and train well.

Kudan and Judan ranks MUST answer to the Main Hombu, wherever that Main Dojo has already been established. If not, then they have their own Governing Body, and have expelled themselves or have been expelled by the Main Hombu. Too many chefs ruin the soup...in this regard, too many Kudan an Judan, and ideal would've limited the Kudan and Judan, whereas, Hachidan and Nanadan presiding over regions, but even then, limiting those Senior Dan ranks as well...providing there's only ONE MAIN HOMBU WORLDWIDE!! Dojo's within a network are suppose to be separate entities from one another UNLESS one CI has more than one dojo. Other than that, separation between dojo's of the same network should be that; the Hombu and any main dojo in any region DO NOT OWN SAID DOJO, and have no authority as far as how said dojo is operated. We, SKKA/Hombu, only had authority over any said dojo in our network whenever it came to who can and who can't test. Outside of that, we steered clear of dojo politics because we didn't own any dojo within our network with the exception of the SKKA/Hombu. No person and/or organization can prevent anyone from opening a dojo wherever they want. There might be some tangible rules/regulations within said organization in this regards, and there might be protocols from dojo's within same network, i.e., dojo's need to be no less than 25 miles from one another, and 50 miles from the regional main dojo of said organization. Even then, a student can open a dojo wherever they want to, and there's nothing that can be done about it...legally. Of course, every Governing Body are administrated differently. Imho!!

Great question; hard to pin down which character I despise the most. At first, I wasn't fond of Bosch so much; something just continues to nag at me, so I keep an eye on him. Nash stayed right there at the top, even though my hate for him was short lived because he wasn't around as long I had hoped. There are other characters that have come and go over these many seasons, but Nash, just rubbed me wrong, and I can't shake him away. Shoot, I loved Dany in GOT, but after she flipped her lid, I hated her the most of GOT, so, while Bosch keeps me looking for what I think might happen at the series very end, somewhat like Dany, I'll not change my mind about him until the absolute end.

Please don't sell yourself short in your teaching and MA abilities. You've earned a Sandan in Shotokan....and you're teaching in Japan as a Gaijin, which tells me that you're that good or that small dojo wouldn't have given you the time of day. Train hard and train well!!

Welcome to KF, mjh1969; glad that you're here!!

I wouldn't think that they'd be subordinate to the other. Independent from one another, yet subordinate to the Main and Central Hombu, and in such a manner that none of them liking one another, barely tolerant of one another. We experienced that within the SKKA. As a Hombu, the SKKA refused to interfere in any dojo within its own network, however, the Hombu was Arbitrator within its own dojo network. Most assuredly each CI within the SKKA network knew about each other, especially when they were required to attend the Hombu's Annual Testing Cycle due to the large amount of Testing Cycle Candidates in attendance to fulfill the many managerial and supervisor posts. Not all, yet a few Senior Dan CI earned their ranks/titles at the same time. All Testing Cycles Candidates Godan and up were required to test at the Hombu, in which, that was another way that they were fully aware of one another. They might not like one another for whatever reason, but they knew one another, and they were all subordinate to the SKKA/Hombu whether they liked it or not.

Yes. The USA could have regional/zone representatives IF necessary. By dividing the USA into 3 regions/zones, there would be 3 USA Main Dojo's, yet they all answer to the main dojo. It's not an idea situation, however, it could benefit both the Student Body as well as the Governing Body, wherever that might be. However, that situation wouldn't have ever worked for the SKKA, the Governing Body that I was once part of its Hierarchy, as a Regent and then its Kaicho, forever and a day, mainly because the SKKA network only stretched out into 1 western state, California. Key word here is 'Most'. The most simplistic solution is to have just one main dojo/Hombu, and not spreading out authorities all over the place; confusion sets in, and any confusion only separates the necessary continuity throughout the entire network; Student Body need one main dojo/Hombu. Yes, again. No matter how many 'main dojo's' there are, there must be only ONE MAIN DOJO, the Hombu, that's where the buck stops, and only there. There should only be ONE SUCCESSOR, I guarantee that any style of the MA has only ONE, no matter how the lineage tree looks like on paper, and in anyone else's mind. The old idiom says..."Too many cooks spoil the broth/stew/soup." Too many people trying to control, influence, or work on something, with the quality of the final product suffering as a result.

Congrats, cheesefrysamurai, for the 2nd time; well deserved!! Glad that you're back, and just shy of 500 posts!!

Where, in Japan, will you be teaching at, Tepul?? Will it be a the JKA Headquarters?? If so, on which floor??

A belated welcome to KF, Tepul; glad that you're here!! Congrats, Tepul on you being promoted to trainer, and in all places, Japan!! What's a great indication of your knowledge and experience is that your teaching BOTH children and adult classes, whereas for the most, new trainer usually start teaching in the children classes. Also great to hear you evolving in your MA journey from semi-contact to full-contact Shotokan. Yeah, no worry, your Sensei's will help you with your shin/fist conditioning and groundwork.

Sounds good, rhilllakefield!! Did that CI approve that you could wear your current belt once again??