Shizentai

Read it to the tune of "Modern Major general" from Pirates of Pinzance: "You are the very model of two novel-writing gentlemen You share information martial, cultural, and spiritual. You know senseis of England, and you quote the fights historical From China to Okinawa, in order categorical."

This is indeed a very frustrating situation. When this happens, I tend to put pressure on my opponent until he has no choice but to be serious with me, including taking his legs out from under him if need be. I find this to be an effective disincentive to being unrealistic in partner work with me. I think there is also nothing wrong with telling a partner "contact is ok" so long as it's not a distracting conversation during class. A man refusing to fight me is something I don't encounter much, but I allow it. If a man doesn't want to learn how to deal with female attackers, it's his loss in my opinion, not mine. I'd spar my other male and female friends and move on with my life. The thing that really drives me up a wall though is when a male opponent loses a match to me, then says "oh, yeah, but I was fighting a girl so I had to let her win." That's kindergarten stuff. Leave it at home. We don't have time for that.

Interesting comments everyone! As a female, breast contact has never really bothered me. We bump them into stuff and people all day long, so it's nothing new. The sensation of a breast strike is annoying, but not incapacitating like the reaction a man has to testicular trauma. Besides, the nipple area is not really the most effective target. If a man who is doing partner work with me seems like he is particularly targeting my breasts instead of the solar plexus or throat, my first thought is that he doesn't realize he's off target, not "oh that creep" or something like that. This is my view. As for the more central discussion of the thread, I think the phrase "A man should never hit a woman" is most wrong because it is one of many statements about gender roles in our society that disregard the importance of consent and individuality. By becoming a martial artist I consent to being hit. This is my individual life decision to pursue this path, and being allowed to punch me does not necessarily allow anyone to punch other women. Each person's decision on this must be their own. By the same token, refraining from hitting other women outside of the dojo does not necessitate that I not be punched in the dojo. Women, like everyone else, are individual people with separate needs.

I think "concentration" and "focus" have always struck me as somewhat oxymoronic relative to their intended benefits. I succeed in a match not because I have one thing on my mind, but because I open my mind to rapid recognition of more factors in my environment, and because I am relaxed enough to respond instinctively using techniques I've trained for years. Mushin, being in the zone, for me is not an act I need effort and energy to keep up, it is more like letting waves of the world outside of myself wash over me. For me it is this relaxation and openmindedness needed to be successful that help me out most. Then again, there is more than one path to the top of the mountain. Maybe focusing on one thing is what gets other people to the same place that thinking about nothing gets me. The beauty of it!

Stability and coordination were probably my biggest initial struggles I'd say. The opposite of a low-flexibility problem, I have above average range of motion on most of my joints. As a beginner, I felt like it took me longer than the others to figure out the right positions and path of movement if for no other reason than because I had more options to choose from. Also, instructors try to tell beginners what a good stance "feels like", but these feelings can vary from person to person, especially for someone with weird joints. For example, I've heard many people say that in a proper kibadachi I should feel pressure on my knees pushing outward and pressure on my toes pushing inward. If I use this feeling to set my stance, my knees go outside of my feet in a contorted position before I feel any kind of pressure. This is not a good stance. When I put my body into a proper kibadachi position I don't feel pressure at all, I actually feel relaxed. When my body is in alignment like that, it actually takes some of the normal walking strain off of my joints. To me, a good stance feels more like a joint relief than a strain or pressure. It is more of a muscular position than walking though, to be sure.

Well put; solid post, and to the point!! I wholeheartedly agree!! Thanks. I know it's uncharacteristic for me not to write a novel. You and I can be the very model of writing...ahem...novels; we seem to share that trait. You are the very model of two novel-writing gentlemen You share information martial, cultural, and spiritual. You know senseis of England, and you quote the fights historical From China to Okinawa, in order categorical. I am silly by nature, serious if needed.

Oh I see. It sounds like I'm probably shaped more like your wife in that case

This was a very solid historical synopsis. Thank you. I also agree, 26(+) is more than enough to keep me occupied for the first 17 years of my training so far. For me there is always something to rediscover. There is always a new bunkai lying waiting to be found, or a new concept still forming in the kata whose order has become rote.

That's interesting, my Pinack has really good-fitting pants with strings that stay nicely. I find that if the pants are cut right for my measurements, the string doesn't need to come in much, and so the string is kind of irrelevant. I didn't put my numbers into the sheet to buy mine though. I just walked into their factory in Fukuoka and let them do a karate makeover-montage on me . I also have a rather different two-knot system for holding up my pants that I learned from my college club-mates in Osaka. Maybe try switching up they way you tie them?

If you're absolutely decided on the fixative route, I wonder if you can try whatever product young sumo-tori use before their locks get long enough for a real chonmage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONsAkqJEh14 I think back in the day they just used oil, but as for now I'm unsure. I can attest to the annoyance of long hair. I usually keep mine short, but lately it's gotten so long that even a ponytail doesn't help anymore. I don't know how long your hair is exactly now, but the solution will vary based on that. At some length you must go up or go home though, even if you are a sumo-tori.

Thanks everyone! Ossu!

A "beginner" being able to step forward in a stance without the hip going out from under the center of gravity is a sure sign someone has trained before. Most beginners have that newbie ~wobble~ at first go.

While I think most of what you've said is a set of fair "what ifs" to throw in the hat, this last statement, the one that brings back this "women can't fight" aftertaste, just doesn't hold water. You do know that hair length and whether or not you wear a gi are independent of gender, right? I think you need to let go of the idea that her fault was being a woman here. I've seen plenty of male point sparring fighters get thrown down by heavy hitters in class, here and in Japan. This is fair. It just doesn't have to do with sex.

I think it's interesting that your reaction to the female fighter's lack-luster performance was "women are weak," but your reaction to the male fighter's lack-luster performance was "he could have taken her on the street, he just wasn't trying" story of my life Don't get me wrong, I wasn't wow-ed by either of their performances. Just please don't blame half of the people on earth for the mistakes of one female fighter. It's not my fault she fights that way! lol

"weakness" is an interesting concept when you break it down. What makes a "weakness" different from a "mistake"? Well, it seems to me that, at least in the context of waza, a decent definition of a "weakness" is a repeated or long-lasting mistake over time, kind of like the negative side of having personality . Weaknesses are part of what makes us individuals. Annoying as they can be, by creating ways to cope with them we pave the way to learned skill, that which can be passed on, unlike natural tallent. I remember when I was young and first started karate, it was actually because of the word "weak." I heard it a lot said about me at the time, particularly my body, sometimes my mind too. I heard it said so much and in so many ways, that I got the sense most people don't know what strength and weakness really are. I wanted to know. That's the curiosity that carried me through the doors of my first dojo. This time of year I get nostalgic, because it was December 17 years ago that I first started training. what have I learned about strength versus weakness since then? Well, not much to be honest, other than I think they are closer than people like to believe, and that there is more than one way to find yourself suddenly in either state.

This was never a romantic relationship if that is what you mean. This person was just my friend. I'd rather not go into details about why we are not on good terms in an open forum, in respect of both of our privacy. I just wish there was some way I could come to training without us both being uncomfortable, being that what I think is most needed right now is space. This is someone who doesn't actually train, but who has become very close-knit with many people in the dojo, and hence is at most events and after-training hangouts. I think the only thing I can do is to endure and to be as kind as I can.

Sometimes in life, long-held friends part ways. Although this can be very sad, two people who perhaps had much in common as kids don't always have much in common as adults. When this is the case, it can be healthy to move on. However, the dojo does not allow for this as a possibility. So how best do we deal with this? I have been thinking about this a lot lately, due to a particular relationship in my life. I'm trying to simply be polite and cordial, and let things proceed as they may without my being actively involved. I can't help but feel like there is no way out at times when gossip from the other side finds its way to me after the fact though. I'm not afraid of what unknown stuff is being said about me so much, but I am afraid of losing closeness with my karate family. Has anyone had similar experiences?

Personally I have always been a bit of a nomad, though one instructor I hold most dear, and have trained under the longest. Even though I haven't trained full time in his dojo for the past 5 years, I write him letters from time to time, and visit every now and again. I think it is ok for students to leave, so long as a bit of their hearts stay.

Interesting topic! I know I won't be popular for saying this, but I think our society puts an overemphasis on the benefits of competition. I'm not saying people should never compete, but I think most competitive people both compete and justify competition because it feels good to win, not because it helps others. Don't get me wrong, I think competition is a good way to gain self confidence and to learn to deal with disappointment.... but again, this is a an inward pursuit. As such there needs to be balance with outward gains. Sure, competition is motivating, but it also inherently means that you are choosing to play the same game as someone else, rather that doing something different that may be more helpful in some cases. As a scientist, I see this a lot in academics. People always want to pitch ideas as "competing hypotheses" because it's sexy. So often that ends up stimulating dozens of papers supporting either side A or side B. In the end both often end up being true to certain degrees, because in reality, they are not mutually exclusive concepts. If you consider success as getting as many papers written as possible, then great, competition helped, but if you are like me, and believe in quality over quantity, then there are better ways to go about this. This is not even to mention the rampant one-upmanship that goes on between academics within the same areas of research. What's really interesting is when some Stephen Hawking type person shows up new to the scene and strays off the beaten path to forge new directions that shed light on old disagreements. Competition can be motivating, but it also is expensive. For every thought I waste thinking about how to one-up another person, I could have instead been thinking about how to tackle a problem that affects more people than just me. This is my opinion. You should feel comfortable with your main physician, and he/she should be good at listening to your concerns. I wouldn't blame you if you sought a new one. I'm-always-right GPs for me only result in bad news (someone who tried to biopsy my hernia, someone who wrote off my back pain when I had a fractured T12, etc.)

Ah, kuro obi! I remember when that first came out, while I was training in Japan (ca 2007). I speak some Japanese but the level of intellectual conversation was a bit over my head. A year later I saw it with subtitles and realized how much I had missed. HAHAHA I met Naka sensei briefly some time later. He was super nice. He actually said a lot of things that sound similar to sensei8's sentiments.

The single best fitting and best looking gi I've ever had was a Hirota. I got the blended fabric and custom fit though, so I can't advise on a standard cut. Mine held up fine training in heat for a few years.... but I kind of lost it in a flood, so I can't speak on how long they last. If you go to their HQ in Fukuoka, they measure you up and cut it on the spot. It was AWESOME!

I agree with your points. However I will say that the original appliactions, that which the Kata was created by are actually written in stone from the stand point that these are the basis of the art and the way it was transmitted down to students. This is very interesting, and a common belief. I find this idea that each kata has a specific bunkai which is "correct" or "true" or "original" or "traditional," is a notion entertained by many intermediate dans I've met over the years (2-5), but interestingly I have never met a single high-ranking member of the JKA who subscribes to this (to be fair, my sample size is only about 7 for the latter). The "traditional" of today is just the creativity of yesterday. Though it's easy to look in a book and see one demonstrated scenario, I'm certain any given master had/has a myriad in their arsenal both that they've learned from others and developed themselves. We are just many years later holding on to the small collection of records as if they were the be all and end all. I'm with sensei8 on this one. My opinion is that waza in katas and kihon have multiple applications because they were DESIGNED to have multiple applications. We practice a form for years to develop the coordinated movements that can be applied with small modifications into a myriad of scenarios. That is the point.

My org doesn't use stripes, so this is fascinating to learn about!

This is an interesting topic. My default is probably to be reflective of the other person's tone in these matters: - meeting kindness with kindness - meeting interested debate with more interested debate - and I admittedly enjoy trolling on other trolls as well Scenarios where I am expected to be polite to people who are rude to me, or where I am to "establish dominance" over people who are buttering me up, are things I can't easily do. I'd rather be silent than engage in that kind of thing.

Nice job!