Traymond

Im Tim. I have been doing martial arts for a little over fifteen years now I am nineteen years old. I have been in numerous arts. Kendo Kumdo Iaido Judo (Kodokan) Jiujitsu (tamayaga style) Aikido Five animal style kung fu bagua and xingyi (Definately not alot) Kajukenpo kenpo Shotokan/goju/uechi Karate do Those are just a few that I have been in I jump around alot due to the fact that I was travelling around alot when I was younger, but I have been in some arts for a quite a while. I have developed my own art Shinchuurou Te (Brasshand) It is a mixture of all the arts that I have taken and I consider it...unique due to the amount of katas and forms that you must know to reach shodan, it is definately not a MCdojo, and I do not believe in the terms of "Hot and ready" I believe in "Kill it yourself, then cook it slowly to make it tender"...if that made any sense haha. Nice to meet all of you before...and hopefully this should shed some insight on me a bit...if anything else you would like to know.

I speak broken Japanese broken korean and broken chinese I comprehend a bit of German and portugese but I murder the languages

Wow kinda late for this one I guess...oh well. I got a blue judogi New black belt satin one Hanwei Katana A set of Tonfa A set of Sai and one whole chisai kun and one broken chisai kun... And thats it...

For those of you that are testing for the ACT on February seventh and for those of you that have tested in the past years....what did you get on it?

I actually like the kaku better than the odrinary karate obi...its softer haha and mine wraps three times around...is that normal?

As far as how things are looked at in Asia as compared to the states, you have to take into account that these are two different cultures. Milage will vary. As for the TKD bashing that tends to happen, there are two ways to approach it. Let them run their mouths, and just ignore them, or, you can get into a verbal arguement with them. Although a verbal arguement can be fun from time to time, I'm not sure you can accomplish anything in regards to the Martial Arts with one, without it breaking out into a challenge of some kind. In the end, though, the proof is on the floor, as a friend of mine is fond of saying. You find it in talk or written word. Bushido, do you respect teachers in general? I do...and most martial artists that teach do...and im sure you do as well. We hold a high regard to teachers no matter what style they are because they earned it and they are our superior. Alot of people dont do that...if you look at the 50's and his decade it is totally differant the respect is gone...and I like to think that when parent's put their kids into martial arts it is helping them a bit. and Either way whether their is verbal or physical conflict and if their isn't any all...still nothing good happens...nothing is accomplished. But I would prefer to make them know their mistakes if the outcome is the same no matter what. Thats just my opinion on how things unfolded to me...but im just one so it is not meant to be taken to heart.

If they were to put a brick wall to me it would make no difference, I have no other interactions with them anyways, other than my girlfriend is half of their kids elementary teacher and they all love her, haha. But I will do it subtly at first do it to the ones that I have known a bit longer. Now that I think of it I teach one of them in my Shinchuurou Te...hmmm i will probably start there...Im sure god will let things unfold. And for them to understand Zen truly...is not needed..most of them don't even understand Christianity...

I wear Kaku Obi in Iaido

Hmmmm I think so. I heard that one before...I believe it was on Asida Kims website...he has alot of good Koans their. Just type in your browser Ashida Kim Koans and his site usually pops up on Firefox atleast. But I enjoy reading them I frequently pass them out to my most knowledgeable students.

nemuri Shizuka Sleep in Peace

I agree. But I don't like it when I walk into a class and see someone mouthing off to someone teaching a class for the first time. I was a shodan and watching a 2nd brown teach for the first time and an yellow belt was trying to show the brown belt how to do the technique that she was trying to show them... I walked in their and told the yellow belt to drop and give me 40 knuckle push ups and ten clapping push ups... He has been extremely obedient ever since.

My opinion in being a christian...my grandfather is an ordained minister, I just decided to study christianity more deeper and got intrigued with it. But I think the biggest thing upon christians is that the "emphasis" of a Jealous God. And the followers want to keep that sacred. I on the other hand am open to all sorts of religion because to truly understand life you must truly understand all aspects of life so forever I am a student of everything in life...Zen just happens to be the next thing in my life to try and understand, slightly...haha because by the looks of it...it may take a long time perhaps a lifetime, but im not going any where anytime soon I hope. I particulary like this Koan the best: Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labor with his pupils even at the age of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds, and pruning the trees. The pupils felt sorry to see the old teacher working so hard, but they knew he would not listen to their advice to stop, so they hid away his tools. That day the master did not eat. The next day he did not eat, nor the next. "He may be angry because we have hidden his tools," the pupils surmised. "We had better put them back." The day they did, the teacher worked and ate the same as before. In the evening he instructed them: "No work, no food."

Hmmm very deep insight...im glad to have read this as well...to bad you posted at the same time as I did...haha. But anyways. So at an early age you followed religion, I have just become a christian at the age of 15 I think only four years ago. Why Im not really sure I just figured it was the time to do it. But I want to spread Zen throughout the church, because my church is filled with a motley crew of hypocrites...And maybe that would help them. But I now know what to say to those that question me. "Im a christian following the principles of Zen" But your ligthing the lamp context reminds me of a zen koan AN OLD Zen master always told this fable to unserious students: Late one night a blind man was about to go home after visiting a friend. "Please," he said to his friend, "May I take your lantern with me?" "Why carry a lantern?" asked his friend. "You won't see any better with it." "No," said the blind one, "perhaps not. But others will see me better, and not bump into me. So his friend gave the blind man the lantern, which was made of paper on bamboo strips, with a candle inside. Off went the blind man with the lantern, and before he had gone more than a few yards, Crack! -someone walked right into him. The blind man was very angry. "Why don't you look out?" he stormed. "Why don't you see this lantern?" "Why don't you light the candle?" asked the other.

I read Blackbelt Mag and Kung Fu/tai Chi Mag...their ok but like most people I dont have alot of time to read them anymore, with running a school and helping my other two instructors I dont have time...Plus im going to college in the spring....I miss reading them though.

In my KIA Schools. It goes like this. The highest kyu rank will lead the warmups, then they will bow to a dan instructor to lead the class, in some cases if a dan is not able to be their, the highest kyu level will instruct the class on their basic test review, and if your the highest kyu their I think you deserve to be able to "show" others how you passed that test. But 1st dan's are usually able to teach a whole class by themselves without the supervision of Sensei.

Haha of course they would forgive me...it would not be Christian like if they didn't haha. But thank you I think you gave me a better insight on how I do LOOK at things myself...haha wow. Very good words you basically summed it up into words that i could not have done myself...thank you... It is a philosophy that I follow now the Buddhism itself. Thanks again.

I'm not sure this is really the case. I think that most of us here take the Martial Arts very seriously, and I don't think that we are the minority, either. As for those who would have protected it from mockery, I really don't think that situation has changed much, either. We could argue about the "watering down" of the MAs in general, but I do think that there are more good schools out there than bad. The bad ones just get more attention. Like bad news. I am not necesarily talking about this site...of course we take it seriously other wise we would not be here right now. But I am talking about in general...lets take the USA for example. In Korea and Japan to be a teacher of martial arts puts you in HIGH regard to almost anybody, here, to people it means that you are a black belt big deal. As for me saying that their are alot of people who dont fight against the mockery of martial arts is when I hear people constantly talk crap about tae kwon do, it was my started martial art...many people dont know that and still people will still talk about it...I would fight against their sayings even if I never took Tae Kwon Do because just because the art looks pretty doesn't mean it isn't deadly and not many other martial artists would do that anymore...I mean would a Tae Kwon Do or Karate practitioner fight for someone else's art....I haven't met anyone like that yet...

If they did it the other way round it would suggest they were dead, as this how the garment is presented on corpse. So always best to get that bit right. Are you Japanese...your customs of Japanese tradition is very HIGH....wow haha. In my school the Obi is amongst the highest regard. Knots must be "perfect", tied lengths on both sides should be EXACTLY the same, Kanji, Hangul, or Arabic must be on the right sides we do not use stripes so nothing should be on the belt unless your a black belt or a red belt, the lettering has to be gold for black belts and black for red belts, we use a double wrap belt so it cannot criss cross it must look like it is just one belt, if that is not correct than 50-100 knuckle push ups will be administered...my teacher says that in the older days during the knuckle push ups you will be paddled on the rear end with bamboo sticks...YOUCH!....but luckily we are in a more of a ..."softer" environment now.

THANKS......haha

Sorry, I didn't give a good accounting of myself in the beginning...we still train for responsive spontinaity because, as you have rightly acknowledged, a fight is a "living, breathing animal" that can change and move with every different response that takes place. The purpose in our training so many one-step techniques is in developing effective counter responses in the event you can carry one out...but we also train in such a way that if a one step can't be initiated, a proper spontaneous response can still be accomplished. What I have found in practicing multiple one steps vs. not practicing one steps, is that one-steps gives you a better hand (in my opinion) on an effective response than can end the fight before it goes too far. Also, our one-steps aren't rigid and fixed so that any deviation from the way it is practiced totally destroys the ability of the defender to complete the technique. What I find is practicing one-steps helps one learn body mechanics and learn - spontaneously - techniques they can use in actual combat vs. techniques that are virtually useless in a street fight. Respectfully!!! In my schools we use Ippon Kumite Kata just as that, a kata. Its like showing Oyo Bunkai in response to someone doing a predetermined attack....spontaneity is a result of sparring Jissen style.

You'll litterally never catch me alive. I'll have it written on my tombstone - "90 years? So what! Bring it! I'm still kickin'!" Darn, Traymond. That's intense. Domo Arigato...haha I'll do you one even better for intensity I have been training daily for the past ten years...seven days a week...

Haha I see. My problem is that I am confused as some would say... I am not sure if I look at Zen in terms of the fighting concept or if I look at it in the spiritual aspect...at times its a little bit of both, but I do lean to more of a philosophical fighting pattern through zen...more so then the spiritual version of it...I think...haha.

19....15 years of training

In the last style of Wing chun I was in they talked about it briefly but one of the instructors made us all feel really stupid... HIs words exactly were "Dont buy an expensive or nice looking car, lock your doors and never leave the windows down...basically buy a crappy car" And he made us all feel stupid...

So as a Christian my church does not believe that I should follow the arts of Zen, but even the Lord says that we should honor all religions, how can we truly honor them without truly understanding them? IO have studies Zen Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, Daoism, many other types of Christianity, and now my church believes that it is a sin to try to study Zen... What are your beliefs on Martial artists and using Zen in their arts...whether you are Christian or not I want you input.