ryanryu

I would say karate taught me about goal setting and incremental progress. It's like an antidote to the instant gratification of so many other things. Being able to grind away at something slowly over time has served me really well. Since I started training as a kid, I'll also say that karate taught me my left from my right. That's been pretty handy...

I’m in agreement with the short, sharp kiai. I think the longer kiai are usually performative, which is fine for a tournament or a demo, but it can really descend into parody. My dojo had students say “Hai” when they kiai. I’ve drifted from that, but still find the “h” sound is easier to get from the gut than the “k” sound. Anyone else feel that? Or maybe there's some other letter/sound I should try out... I'll echo this thought too. Kiai helped me get comfortable with being LOUD, which is an important self-defense skill as much as anything else we train. For that reason alone I like using and teaching them, especially when a lot of people (children especially) are often taught to be quiet or that being loud is improper. Sometimes you have to make noise! I think in this instance the short, sharp kiai is probably better than a drawn out one because it's more like shouting. For example - shouting GET BACK or HELP ME are kind of like kiais.

Congratulations, Spartacus! This opportunity is a big deal and reflects a lot of trust and confidence in you from your seniors. I ran a university club as a branch school of my old Sensei’s organization and there are a few thoughts I have that may be useful to you– • What do the conditions imposed by the Honbu tell you about what this relationship will be like? Do you think they’ll be unnecessarily restrictive? Or are they reasonable? Are there other conditions you can think of that haven’t been made explicit that you need to discuss? • What do YOU get from this arrangement? Specific training in martial arts instruction? Private lessons or more facetime with the head honcho? Yes, it is an honor to be asked to do this… but it’s also a boon to the organization as well and they should have an interest in fostering your growth in tangible ways. • Will you be permitted to test and award rank to your students? Does the HQ need to certify those ranks? • Where does the money go? Does the Headquarters of the organization have a “licensing fee” or something similar to teach under their name? What about ongoing expenses paid to the HQ, related to testing or something? Are you going to need to pay (federal, state, local) taxes? How does sending money internationally complicate things? • Does the HQ provide any insurance policy to the branches? What liability insurance do you need, for yourself, in your own name, vs what is covered by the organization? For context, my university club was free, non-profit and got most expenses covered by the university – we met on campus at the Rec center, insurance was covered, there was no fee to start a club, I didn’t earn any money from the club, all finances were run through the student center, we had a website from the university, etc. – so I’m not really sure what you’ll run up against business-wise. But teaching-wise, I ran into one major problem – my Sensei wouldn’t allow me to test my students, at all, for any rank. I was a Sandan at the time (still am) and was required to record the testing sessions with a video camera, upload the relevant portions to a USB flash drive, and FedEx it across the country to my sensei along with my written comments for each student. She would review the video, determine who passed, print and sign certificates and send them back. There are much easier ways to do this (even 10 years ago there were), but my Sensei was tech-illiterate and this was the system that worked. But it meant 1) the bulk of the testing fees went to Fedex and the Honbu with our club not really able to afford new equipment or any swag, 2) the timeline of the test was at least 1 week, more often 2, which limited when the test could be scheduled and 3) Much more work fell on me to record, edit, comment, package and send everything as soon as possible after the test. Even when it was pretty clear that the student passed their 8th kyu test. We were limited to a single test each semester because of how long it took to run the testing process and the need to avoid holidays and breaks. I also couldn’t work around any single student’s schedule to test them separately. My teacher never countermanded any of my suggestions for promotion and we did have interesting conversations about teaching and evaluating students that probably helped me improve as a teacher… but as a whole it was a negative experience for me and I vowed to never run a dojo like that again. Just remember that, regardless of being a branch dojo or not, you are your student’s Sensei. The broader connections to our HQ were mostly meaningless to my students because I was the one training them day in and day out. Unless your students are also getting a direct link to Japan and to your teachers, they will look to you for leadership and instruction. Yes, you will have a responsibility to your Headquarters organization as a branch dojo, but be aware that you are also taking on a responsibility for your students.

This topic was a big chunk of Noah's discussion on the Conversations on Karate podcast this month if anyone wanted to hear more: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-on-karate/id1453904970

This is a great thread and got me started again with some of the conditioning I used to do. We always practiced a series of partner-based conditioning drills, mainly for the forearms and abdomen, probably similar to what others have already described. For solo work, I have two main implements to do the same impact-type conditioning: An old gem known as the Iron Arm Conditioning Hammer that was gifted to me by my sensei. A quick google search has it retailing for a ridiculous price tag, in my opinion. Honestly, I get much more use out of the second implement - a hollow 1’’ diameter PVC pipe with foam pipe padding around it. The length is 3-4 feet and it is much easier to swing against your own forearms, shoulders, lats, abs, obliques, thighs, etc. I just vary the speed of the swing to increase/decrease the impact. All of this is just light conditioning work, imo, a few minutes at the end of a workout, and probably more for “mental toughness” than anything else. I’m just trying to maintain a baseline level of conditioning - not drive my fingertips 6 inches into the a jar of sand or break a baseball bat with my forearm.

I like it! I assume you timed this policy to coincide with Beyonce's new album release?

Congratulations Noah! Any insight on how you've seen the discussion change over the years?

I saw this trailer for a new adaptation of James Clavell's Shogun a few weeks ago: And there was a REALLY positive review in the Post too: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2024/02/27/shogun-tv-review-fx/ It premiered earlier this week. I haven't watched it yet, but I am really excited to see it. I loved this book when I read it years ago, it is what turned me on to historical fiction in the first place. Even now, I can't keep the Shogun characters straight from the actual historical Japanese figures... Have anyone watched this?

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/gargoyles-live-action-series-reboot-disney-plus-gary-dauberman-james-wans-1235758161/ Someone at Disney must be on KF!

I did the same thing a few years ago when I was flying out of LA! I just got a plain black belt from KI, but it's been exactly what I needed, especially with a heavier weight gi.

I like tracks with a steady bassline, drumline, or guitar rhythm. I want to get into sync with the music, especially if I’m hitting a heavy bag or lifting. That seems to keep me “in the zone” and working a bit longer than usual. I’ve had some good luck with – Tick Tick Boom by the Hives, Lonely Boy by the Black Keys, How You Like Me Now by The Heavy, Do the Damage by Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds, No Roots by Alice Merton And of course the classics such as Eye of the Tiger, Danger Zone, Seven Nation Army. Those are pretty up-tempo so I try to put them in the middle of a playlist after I’m warmed up. For years I went to a fitness boxing gym where they played music every workout. There is definitely an art to choosing tracks and choosing the order, but I think it makes a workout more fun and gets a little bit extra out of you when it's done right.

This has been my experience as well. I really enjoyed running a club and it is a totally different experience when YOU are the Sensei. Even though I had taught often at my home dojo, when I was the CI I felt so much more responsibility for my students, like Luther said. I wanted them to be safe, I didn’t want them to misuse the art, and I wanted training to be a positive experience for them - nothing I had thought about when I was the student. It also made me think hard about the skill of teaching. What made sense to introduce at what ranks? What does progression look like? How do you connect new and old requirements? My old sensei used to say the best thing Miyagi did was organize Goju-ryu into a syllabus. For me, teaching Goju-ryu forced me to “organize” the style in my mind in a similar way. Huge perspective shift. I also got a lot better at saying "I don't know" and "Let me think about that more"! Those have been pretty handy life skills to have lol

I was probably most fascinated by the herbal remedies/concoctions/potions. I'd love to know if any of these do anything, and if so, which ingredients are actually doing the work. Two that I'm not holding out much hope for are: "Promoting the Secretion and Flow of Urine Hampered by Trauma to the Testicles" - 6.24 grams Moschus Moschiferus L (man the precision measurements here...) - 5 pond snails - 5 flakes dried lamb stool - 5 stalks allium fistulosum - 3.75 grams Artemesia capillaris Or "An Alternative Treatment for Promoting Urine Flow" - 1 ounce bullrush grass - 1 small bundle bamboo leaves - 1 lump ginger Grind all ingredients together, collect the juice, mix with the urine of a healthy boy under 12 years old, and drink.

Yes! There is about 20 pages focused solely on Kanbun Uechi. - Great recommendation. Loved the history of Okinawa, probably the earliest comprehensive history in English, and laughed out loud at some of the 1950's-era perspective on Okinawan people and Okinawan life. Man this thread is a treasure trove!

I've really enjoyed this show. They finished season 3 last year and promptly cancelled it, which sucks because I was pretty excited with where the story ended up. Loved the Bruce Lee style action. Also loved the bareknuckle Irish brawling. I'd recommend it if anyone is looking for an adult-focused martial arts show.

I used to display my rank certificates on the front wall of my home dojo and previously hung them in the spare room I used to train in. For a long time they gave me motivation and pride. I’m still proud of them, but having the rank certificates front and center felt like THAT was what I was training for, you know? I found a better way to store them in a large format binder used for photographs. I have all the certs in there and I can flip through it if I want to stroll down memory lane. As for the front wall, I put up a sumi-e painting of a crane and am searching for one of a tiger – to capture the hard/soft Goju duality.

With the regular season over, I just wanted to say this season was some of the most fun I've had watching football in a long time. Truly astonishing how bad some of these teams were - I caught the majority of the Washington Commanders games and, while I love an underdog, sometimes all you can do is shake your head. That there were so many problems across teams across the league made for a really wild ride. Should be a really interesting offseason for some of these teams! Fortunately, I'm close enough to the Baltimore media zone that watching the Ravens was a nice palate cleanser.

Welcome back!

This one hits close to home for me as well. I was a member of an organization for a long time and worked to maintain ties with my Sensei and the org before walking away from it a few years ago. One pro I haven’t seen mentioned is being part of the legacy or historical connection of an organization. I think many karate organizations are formed by luminaries in the karate world and serve to propagate their specific teachings and style. Being part of the organization is being part of that history and part of carrying it into the future. Heady stuff to get caught up in. The group I was a part of fell into this category, but when the founder passed the organization really fragmented. My sensei took over as CI, but didn’t seem to have any plans, or energy, to try to reinvigorate the association. It still kills me to think of the tradition dying out… like burning the Great Library of Alexandria. (ok maybe not that dramatic) I’ll also second the idea of organizations becoming stale in their training and thinking. Again, from my experience, the founder of the organization was a real karate pioneer who trained with several different masters and was really innovative in his approach to training. His successor was more of an archivist or curator seeking to maintain the exact forms in the exact way it was laid down. That pioneering spirit was gone. So... I guess I would say that in the right hands and organization can be a really effective way to build and maintain a karate community/tradition, but seem to be hard to maintain over the longer term.

Hello! Does anyone have a required reading list for their dojo? (Such as for black belt or other advanced rank) Are there books on karate that you would recommend to fellow practitioners? Are there any that expanded your perspective or added something new to your art? History, instruction manuals, fiction, I’d be interested in hearing about it all. I can start with three that I’ve recommended wholeheartedly and even given as gifts before – - Waking Dragons by Goran Powell – non-fiction narrative of training & competing in a 30-Man Kumite Challenge. Always gets me excited about training. - Okinawan Karate: The Exquisite Art by Dragon Associates – Absolutely beautiful book, published in 2020, and I think the best introduction to karate history in a single book. It’s quickly become a useful reference for me, especially on the Okinawan masters. - Sensei by John Donohue – this is a modern noir novel, the first in a series, about a swordsman-turned-detective in modern day New York. I love the atmospherics and the author is very skilled at writing the action and dojo scenes. I know it’s not strictly karate, but I think any martial artist would enjoy flipping through this one.

I agree with a lot on this thread, but I want to defend the yudansha system a little bit here. For the record, I’ve fallen into the same rank situation described here – I was unable to learn the entire Goju curriculum because it was “locked” behind 5th Dan, it was only through sheer luck that I found another Sensei who worked with me to complete the system (because he has the same experience in his youth). So I am not a rank lover and I’m aware of the pitfalls. But in an idea world, the ranks aren’t just a motivating tool or a goal-setting tool - they are a teaching tool! I don’t think that changes when someone reaches black belt and before doing away with the system I would think carefully about whether this rank structure is helpful for the student. I can think of two reasons why a curriculum exists – first, to lay out the lesson plan and end goal for the student and second, to help the teacher remember to hit all the major and minor points along the way. For that reason alone, I’d say to keep a yudansha curriculum even if you scrap the yudansha ranks. Wastelander, you give the example of having difficulty trying to teach grappling in your late Sensei’s dojo because it wasn’t in the curriculum. Having that stuff somewhere in the curriculum ensures it is taught and acts as a reminder for you to circle back to it regularly. Ok, as for the black belt ranks themselves, I have two branches of thought here – A) If you are studying a martial art/style into the black belt ranks, at some point you transition from studying the techniques to studying the art. More than just the techniques, you want to internalize the spirit of the art and the strategy it follows too. Again, in a perfect world, those black belt ranks are guiding you down this path and making that transition more natural. I worry that a “System Complete, Find Your Own Way to Study” free-for-all at Shodan wouldn’t lead students towards mastery of their art, just towards a sampling of general martial arts. To give an example, Goju-ryu is a style of karate. It has many grabbing, grappling, and even throwing techniques… but the end goal is usually to get close and bash the attacker in the head. So while studying judo may help with throwing techniques, it is not going to help with the strategy of Goju. I’d have to take the time to bring those techniques back into my art some way. Would a karateka do this technique the same way as a judoka? B) Time changes your perspective. One reason I’d argue for having black belt ranks is that it will, paradoxically, guide the student to the realization that belts are not the be-all-end-all of training. Could you see this when you first got your shodan? A few yudansha ranks provide time for the student to adjust their perspective and realize the depth of their art or the martial arts. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the group on this forum has all arrived at the same conclusion – the rank is just a rank – but we had time to get there on our own. Would it work as well forcing your students there immediately? A well-structured curriculum and an instructor whose heart is in the right place could use a few yudansha ranks (maybe three? maybe five?) to give the student time to digest and “own” the material while also providing some guardrails to their study.

Oo this thread hit home for me. I’m in my 30’s now and first beginning to notice that my own warmup needs have grown. I’ve pulled enough muscles to know I can’t just jump into exercise anymore. Luckily, Goju-ryu has a pretty thorough set of traditional warmups called Junbi Undo– something which seems normal nowadays but was probably revolutionary when it was introduced a hundred years ago. Michael Clarke has a good description of them in his book The Art of Hojo Undo, but you can probably find a complete list on the internet. I don’t do all the exercises every time I train, but I like to start at the feet and work upwards to warm up each joint in succession. Gripping the floor with your toes and releasing, rocking from the ball of the foot to the heel, the outside edge to the inside edge, ankle circles, knee circles, hip circles, shoulder circles are pretty standard. I have been in a few classes where this warm up phase takes 30 minutes to an hour. For me, at least 10 minutes is probably the right range. Fitness classes and exercise DVD’s almost never warm me up properly. I’ve found doing a 10-minute warm up on my own before jumping into the workout, even if they have a ‘warm up’, works for me.

Awesome link! I'm going to pretend there was some Seven Samurai like action going on in Europe where a wandering weapons master spent days training village farmers in proper scythe form to defend against marauders. For the East/West difference - how widely used were two-handled scythes in Asia to begin with? I had thought the kama was designed specifically to harvest rice whereas the scythe is more suited to wheat & grass - different climates led to different crops led to different tools... It looks like there are a lot variations on the spear (yari) in Japanese - for example the kama-yari is a spear with a side hook: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kama-yari I'm sure there are weapons traditions for these long weapons across the world, but not something I've come across personally.

Zaine, did you ever move forward with the videos from Jesse ? I've done other lessons from his site which I really enjoyed, but only on weapons I was already familiar with. I was eyeing the tinbe & rochin as a possible future buy.

Thanks for the replies! Lots to think about here – Lol martial arts training definitely increases self-awareness. For myself, I ended up doing mostly what Zaine suggested – sticking with the dojo and moving up those first few ranks. The challenge was that my dojo closed shortly after I got my Shodan-Ho and I went from training 3-4x/week to once on Saturdays. In hindsight, that probably actually helped me stick with training because I suddenly had to become much more mature about it. And it forced me to develop the skill of training alone, which every black belt needs as the training goes from “dojo-centric” to “student-centric”. I wasn’t even thinking about this aspect in my OP, but I've made similar changes as I’ve transitioned from Young Gun to … Not As Young As I Used to Be Gun and different parts of my training have become more/less important. The fitness aspect of my Karate has grown more important to me as other life demands chewed into my workout time – I don't have time to jog, lift, and run kata like I used to, so the kata I do train better get the blood pumping. Sounds like the menkyo certificates in other Japanese arts. I sometimes wonder if that isn’t better – after all if someone put these kata together purposely into a curriculum… seems like there is some mastery to be gained from learning it all. Or put another way – it seems very difficult to get the full benefit of the art without learning the full curriculum. The common themes in these replies – that you continue investigating your art, you tailor it to your own needs, you teach it to others, etc. – are all about your practice and your understanding. It is a personal journey. So in some sense I expect most people who stick with it to have some independence, whether by choice or necessity. (I’m also independent of any organization if you can’t tell)