SenseiJ

I have the super heavyweight 16oz duck canvas. I would say that they run true to size.

I bought a Ronin last year and love it. I find it as good of quality as my Shuriedo.

It is a sad time for the members of the Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Goshinkai (Master Van Lenten's association), His students considered him not just an instructor, but more of a father figure and their students felt he was a grandfather. Master Van Lenten traveled to Upstate New York a week before he passed and we were privileged to be able to spend some time with him. He always inspired me to train harder and expect more from my students. He will be missed, but his memory and teachings will live on.

I think you hit it on the head sensei8. I have a peer that refers to himself "master" so and so and when he refers to me to also as "master" and personally I am uncomfortable with this. I do not mind being referred as "Sensei" but being called master I feel is a bit much.

I'm in Central New York.

Unfortunately we have have those Mc Dojos in our respective areas. We have a whole chain here in my area. Now there are off shoots opening up of students from the chain that have left to be on their own. They do not know any better it is what they were taught. I have a hard time with the schools where the instructor knows better but is selling the rank instead of teaching the art. I teach because I love the art and want to pass it on to the next generation, not because I want to own an expensive car or mansion.

I agree with you bb. I have been taught that 5th dan is the first "master" level and can be awarded the teaching rank of Renshi. This usually happens when they are the head of a school (Kancho).

I have not had the fortune to visit and train in Okinawa, yet. I have always thought that Sensei is the English equivant of teacher. Here is the link to the wikipedia entry for Sensei. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensei Maybe someone who has lived or trained in Okinawa or Japan can confirm if this is the correct translation. Nothing wrong with asking questions, it is how we learn. Trying to answer questions is just as enlighting as asking them.

Unfortunately there is a very common misunderstanding in the west when it comes to rank and titles in traditional Okinawan Karate. This is the way I was taught and read in my research. Sensei is the highest and most honorable title that one can hold and is usually the head of the dojo. Shihan is a title used to refer to the head of an associtation or style. For example I call my instructor Sensei and I call his instructor Shihan because he is the head of our association. He would not consider it an insult if I called him Sensei. When it comes to the titles of Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi this are more of a teaching rank to separate the different master instructor levels. An equivalant would be Bachelor Degree, Master Degree or a Doctorate. These are ranks not titles. A person named Dave should not be called Renshi Dave, He should be called Sensei or Shihan depending on his position within an organization. I do not mean to mean to offend anyone with this post, just trying to helo clarify proper use of rank and title as I understand it to be. I do not consider myself the foremost authority on the subject. I was recently promoted to Rokudan and given the rank of Renshi, however I feel that I am far from being a "master".

If you adhere to the system implemented by the Dai Nippon Butokukai, 6th Dan would be the first level one could be considered a master and would be awarded the formal title of Renshi. Here is a link to an article that does a pretty good job of explaining the grading and ranking system used in Goju. http://www.gojuryu.net/articles.php?article_id=43

I'm sorry, I thought they has silk belts, they do have satin belts. They wear similar to silk belts.

I like belts from Eoshin Panther. They are very good quality and will custom embroider, and they offer silk or cotton. Either will wear with time. I have my name on one end and my style on the other in Japanese.

I own a kamikaze gi and am very happy with it. I also have a shureido gi and a ronin. Shureido gis are expensive, but last. The ronin is my newest gi and I was very happy with the quality for the price. I believe it was around $70. Would recommend any of the three to anyone, it would depend how your budget.

My instructor is a student of Shihan Van Lenten and I have had the opportunity to attend numerous seminars that he has taught. Master Van Lenten is very knowledgeable in all aspects of the martial arts. His main style is Goju-ryu but he has also trained in Shorin-ryu and Isshin-ryu and incorporates these styles into his teaching. He was stationed in Okinawa while in the military and had the opportunity to learn from some of the best martial artist of the time, including Seiko Higa, Seikichi Touchi, Meitoku Yagi, and Masanobu Shinjo all of Goju-Ryu, Eizo Shimabuku (Shorin-Ryu) and Tatsuo Shimabuku the founder of Isshin-ryu. He is a great instructor and if you ever get the opportunity to train with him I hihly reccommend it.

When I started training I was taught that you never wear your belt outside the Dojo unless you were at a tournament or a demonstration. It was acceptable to wear your gi. Of course this was before the Karate Kid, Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers. It is now considered a form of advertisement. I still believe that the belt should be worn only in the Dojo.