sensei8

Every MA school are managed differently one way or another, to say the least. I owned/operated a dojo/MA supply store for well over 4 decades, as well having had the distinct honor and privilege of being elected to several positions, including Kaicho (President) of the SKKA, which was the Governing Body of Shindokan for over 3 decades. So, I've somewhat of an idea an understanding of just how a MA school is managed. First thing: A school of the MA IS a business. It should be treated as a business at all times. If a MA school has an overhead that must be meet monthly/quarterly/annually than that MA school IS A BUSINESS. Any business must be managed professionally in every aspect possible. A business must have a clear understanding of what a "Need" and what a "Want" is, and if not, the demise of said MA school will happen very quickly. Rent, ALL utilities, and supplies/equipment, for examples are NEEDS!! Anything else are WANTS!! I wrote several articles here at KF that addresses this topic. Hopefully, these two articles will answer some of your questions/concerns... https://www.karateforums.com/treating-your-dojo-martial-arts-school-as-a-business-vt47192.html?highlight=dojo+business https://www.karateforums.com/running-a-dojo-is-about-more-than-martial-arts-knowledge-vt48908.html?highlight=dojo+business

I'm not a Raiders fan whatsoever, but my wife is very much so a Raiders fan. So, the Raiders for the very first-time help training camps that the public was invited to on August 14th and August 20th for FREE!! Every seat was first come first serve in levels 1 and 2, meaning that levels 3 and 4 were closed. What fans had to do was get in line on the Raiders website. First time I got in line I was number 7,167. So, I bailed out!! I gave up any hopes of surprising my wife with tickets for any of the training camps. Then the Raiders informed fans that tickets were still available for FREE. BINGO...I was given 2 tickets for the August 20th training camp, and when I surprised my wife with those tickets, she was beside herself with glee. This is my first time inside of the Allegiant Stadium, and I have to say...WOW...A billions dollar stadium is a sight to behold. Due to my being in a mobility scooter, my wife had to get ADA tickets in order to sit in the ADA sections. So, we ended uo in section 107; great seats!! Level 1 was packed out, but Level 2 was quite empty with fans sprinkled here and there. Training Camp was scheduled for 6:30pm to 8:30pm, however, it started to our surprise at 5:30pm. Raiderettes were out in all of their glory and beauty. There were NFL referees and a chain crew. Concessions were aplenty. The foot-long Neon Hot Dog costs $17, we had a regular foot-long hot dog which costs a mere $9. Quite a show!! Let us not forget, the Raiders players and coaches and whomever else was on the field. I must say that how the Raiders conducted their training camps caused me to have a ton of respect for them in every way imaginable. If this is how they train all of the time, there's no way that the Raiders should end up where they find themselves end of season to end of season looking outside in for the playoffs. Unless the Raiders are their own worst enemy where they are strong in the first half and blown-up on the second half. They spit up the field running drills after drills. Each segment ended by the clock given to said drills, and were named by PLAY and its number, i.e. PLAY 10. Some PLAYS only lasted only 30 seconds and others just 1 minute long. Every aspect of football was drilled over and over and over. QBs, Running Backs, Receivers, Special Teams, Offense, Defense, and all of the others not mentioned here. There were NO REST TIME at all. The Raiders drilled non-stop the whole time they were on the field, and that was 3 hours. My wife and I had a blast of a time; one we will never ever forget. Enjoying one another and the atmosphere that surrounded us. Seeing many fans dressed out in their tribute to the Raiders, with some dressed in the most amazing cosplay attire. What saddens me is that I'll never be able to attend any Raiders home games ever. Not that I want to begin with but to go to a Raiders home game with my wife would mean everything to her...and to me. 2 tickets in Level 3 section average costs are $700 plus parking plus food plus souvenirs: a Raiders baseball cap costs $50. That would be one very expensive game to watch live. No, I'll watch the Raiders ON TV!! Unfair for fans who love the Raiders but can't afford a ticket to watch them live. Raiders VS the 49ers for their last pre-seasons game are this Friday at home. Thank you to the Raiders and the Raiders Nation for allowing fans to watch their training camps live those 2 days for absolutely FREE!! Hopefully, this will become an annual thing at Allegiant Stadium because that's the only way I could ever afford it, plus, it was a BLAST, and my wife's happiness is everything to me, and to see the glow all over her face is priceless. She took a ton of photos, and I took a lot of pictures of her in front of iconic things, like the Torch, for example. We had a picture taken of us with the Raiders mascot, Raider Rusher. Sorry for the long post!! For my wife, and for my wife only, I say...GO RAIDERS!!

I too require no jewelry of any type, and this includes necklaces, with the exception of a wedding ring. Reasons being are that in my time I've seen my share of injuries caused because of the jewelry and necklaces. Better to be safe than sorry.

Is there any particular reason you've done that, Bob?Like I said, personal reasons!! I’m not ashamed of them at all. I’m not ashamed of myself at all!! I don’t need them hanging up in my home. Like I said, personal reasons. Hopefully, I’ve still your respect.

4 years since this topic was started by Journyman74, things with me have changed. Such as, I no longer have a dojo. For personal reasons, I've taken down both my current Dan rank and my Hanshi from my bedroom wall. They both are now tucked neatly inside the filing cabinet in my bedroom walk-in closet.

Congrats, DarthPenguin; well deserved!!

.What I've read lately is that the "...delay is due to a combination of factors, including a broken pinky toe and other personal matters." Hopefully, he continues to train in order to keep the dust and rust off.

Your workout ethics are something to be very proud of, Brian. I know that I am proud of all that you've done; nothing to shake a stick out, that's for sure. Keep it up, Brian!!

With all of your workouts, DarthPenguin, I believe that you're no longer that unfit person. Your workout ethics are something to be proud of. Keep up working out.

My thoughts also. Are they afraid you'll switch to the other side? Governing Bodies are always afraid of losing their members, aka, Student Body because they represent revenue. Loss of revenue is a body blow to any Governing Body no matter what they might say. Imho!!

Keep up the good fight, Ken!!

Thank you so very much, Shojiko; it means everything to me!!

Take it as easy as possible and hang in there, Shojiko.

Seems quite straight forward and to the point. JKA members are to NOT participate in ANY JTK seminars and the like in any shape, way, and/or form. To do so will only bring forward discipline to the guilty JKA member, which might include termination of said JKA member for cause, as well. If the JKA member values the JKA in its totality, then abide and obey the JKA directive. If not, then the JKA member can do whatever they want to do without any concerns and/or reservations whatsoever. The SKKA, the Governing Body for Shindokan that I was a member of forever and a day, NEVER interfered with the students right and desire to attend any outside training because the SKKA knew that no style of the MA is without flaws in its methodology/ideology. The SKKA might've not liked the students' choices for outside training, but they certainly never interfered and/or prohibited the students' rights. To do so as a Governing Body is contrived as being controlling over its members/Student Body. Not professional and not, well, cool. The JKA has a history of expelling its members, whether they were for cause or not, the expulsions were the rights of the JKA to do so. For example... Hidetaka Nishiyama: One of the founders of JKA, he broke away in 1974 to create the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF). Shigeru Egami, Genshin Hironishi, and Tsutomu Ohshima: These senior karateka, connected with Gichin Funakoshi, formed their own organizations due to disagreements with the JKA. Just to name a few who were either expelled or left the JKA, which seem to be quite a lot. There have also been more recent controversies, such as the expulsion of JKA from the Japan Karate Federation (JKF) in 2014, which was later deemed illegal and unreasonable by the Tokyo District Court. Governing Bodies are the furthest thing from being perfect in any shape, way, and/or form!! Imho!!

Great topic, Brian; thanks for sharing it. I've not read this specific book; might be worth the gander. Many think that Aikido is ineffective, whereas I think that Aikido is another methodology/ideology that is effective, and imho, what's ineffective is not the style, but the practitioner. My thoughts... This is akin to what's taught in basketball 101. In basketball, if the defender watches their opponents center, and not the hands, the defender can see everywhere the opponent is moving, thus, not being faked-out. Where the center of the opponent goes, so does the body. Same thing applies to the MA. We concentrate primarily at the attackers' center, with the occasional glimpse here and there as mere visual checks. By concentrating at the attackers' center, one can see the whole picture, therefore, feints, for example, are easier decerned. This seems to be one of Aikido's modus operandi. Allowing the force to continue without resisting it, therefore, using the attackers force against them. Like the saying goes..."Why fight it?!". To me, it's akin to what we do in Shindokan. Allowing our attacker to move into our space of their own volition, of which, we turn their advance against them. For us, it aides us in getting behind our attacker, which IS our modus operandi. For sure!! Without our combined centers being in concert with one another, there can be no awareness, and awareness of how both can, might, and/or will move in any given direction(s). One can't move without the other detecting said movement(s) and/or any given intent. Bruce Lee speaks about just that, and to the immediate quote above... “A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.”~Bruce Lee It's Bruce's quote, the two centers are in combination of one another. Who comes out the victor?? Perhaps then the combined centers brought the juxtaposed fight to light. Imho!!

Absolutely!! Information like what you provide is priceless.

Solid post, Wado Heretic; very informative. Thank you for sharing.

I greatly appreciate you sharing how your dojang runs its Testing Cycle; very informative. Your Testing Cycles are NOT handled in a flyby fashion, but is integrity based throughout.

Sorry, I've no experience with the style in question. As a Okinawan MAist, my Sensei and his Sensei didn't approve of tournaments whatsoever. However, what one does away from their watchful eyes, many of use participated on the weekends as much as we could. When my Sensei got wind of this, he wasn't happy but in time he allowed us just as long as we don't talk about it and as long as our techniques weren't becoming sour and as long as we don't bring that junk into our Kumite.

Good to hear. I think the one-day contract in pro-sports are kind of cool. Maybe other businesses should try that...or maybe not.

Isn't Hollywood wonderful on how they create the possible out of the impossible and/or impracticable?!? Seeing that Miyagi himself once competed in the Sekai Taikai, which might explain his dislike for competitions. Miyagi helped Daniel with the All-Valley Tournament and because of his dislike for competitions, Daniel sought out for outside training in KK3 with Silver. However, Miyagi trained Daniel for the All-Valley in KK3.

Congrats, wildbourgman; well deserved.

Patrick, Don't you own several arcade machines at home??

Great story!! Thanks for sharing it, JazzKicker.

I agree quite wholeheartedly; very lucid and intelligent.