Seija

More and more I see people wearing their Karate uniform and belt outside of the Dojo. This is mainly kids but I have also seen a few adults. In our school this is a major No-No and subject to disciplinary action. What is the rule in your school??

Still alive and kickin after 43+ years on the planet and 35+ years of Martial Arts.

Simply put, a Black Belt is a white belt who never quit. In our school we hold character development over technique and technique as merely a tool to develop good character. The main character traits we encourage in Black Belts are perseverance, dedication, discipline, honor, respect and courtesy. We also look for a couple of character traits which do not always translate well to English so I will give the Japanese, fudoshin (indomitable spirit) and konjo (intestinal fortitude) Also, we not only feel that Black Belt should denote a high level of expertise, but it should also be a reward and right of passage. This is why we do not offer a “junior” Black Belt as is so popular these days. Although there are many very talented and deserving children out there, we prefer to hold the rank of Black Belt to 16 years old or more to maintain this as a goal and right of passage for our youngsters.

OUCH!!!!!! I hope that he is alright. We will pray for a speedy recovery, both for hand and bruised ego.

“It is like a finger pointing to the moon.” Some good points have been made so far but one thing has been missed. Striving to achieve something greater than yourself is how progress gets accomplished. So far, the comments have been focused on the finger and not what it points to. It wasn’t that many years ago that the world thought it was impossible to run a mile in under 4 minutes. It was through pushing the edge of human accomplishment and striving to achieve the “impossible” that we now regularly break the 4 minute mile. If you reach for the stars maybe you might at least catch a cloud. Or in other words; If you strive to obtain the impossible, at least you will always have goals to shoot for.