Blade96

just shotokan resolutions =] btw i was just thinking that, I had not wished anyone here a happy ny's yet! andi was gonna make atopic....then Patrick did it for me. thanks Happy new year's everyone, and best wishes for a happy andprosperous 2010!

at least in our club, we need to know Heian 1-5, Tekki Shodan, Jion, and then Bassai Dai. Bassai Dai is the test kata for 1st kyu and BB. yeah that's why myfriend can't test for her BB yet - she doesn't yet know her bassai dai (at competition she did heian godan instead)

Speaking for myself...I'd never do that to you....ever!! More than anything I pray that I'm completely wrong on my thoughts on this topic. I only support you and any decision(s) that you've made!! I just want to offer an ear and a shoulder to you for when it's needed! That's really really, awesome, Bob-sensei! and I verymuch thank you for that! Or to use a phrase I made up - a pocketful of fly. =] Its awesome that I seemto have friends and allies on this forum! it warms myheart. LIke in my dojo, I feel I belong to a family here.

Thanks maybe so. who doesnt like it when they get someone who genuinely admires them. I see it in hockey players cause im a hockey fan. they tend to be most interested in the ones who are knowledgable about the sport and especially if they are their fans. I met one Russian american hockey league player once, and when he found out i was not just a hockey fan but i also spoke Russian, oh my =]

I crosstrained, so that I did 2 months of Kenpo karate as well as my mainlove, my pride and joy, the ma i simply adore, Shotokan of course! In the kenpo class sometimes after a night of training, oneof the sensei's assistants(his son, who was acting as sempai) would show us some ju jitsu moves of how to get out of holds that people might have on you. In oneof them, the attacker and the defender had to both fall down, with the defender on top. We partnered upand we each did the technique,one at a time. When onewhite belt girl was doing it with one of the guys, and they both fell down with the girl on top, somebody else (think it was a blue belt) next to me said loudly, jokingly, "Get a room!" We all cracked up, including the sensei and his son

youmean he could be doing something and notknow he's doing it? andyousaid exploit, that means he would belookingfor something.what would he be tryingto get? A sensei? what could hepossiby need? as for talkingto someone, Idontknow anyoneto talk to. oh. one other thing that comes to mind that i forgot to mention. situation that smacksof favoritismandnot pushing a (sexual) boundary. A tuesday night of training, 4 days before the competition. Me and the other white belt (who i beat) were running through our Heian Shodan, and i messedup at first so I started over and redid the kata without mistakes (likeI said, Me= Perfectionist. Knew I'd only haveone chance at tournament to do it so.....*shrugs*) . I kiai'ed very loud (as I can do now,as i learned after only about 2 months, somewhite belts take years to kiai properly, I know but i took 2 months) and Sensei complimented me on my kiai....theother white belt,admittedly, didntkiai asloud (as I said they dontseem as enthusiatic asme) but sensei never said anything about his Kiai. Not only that he pretendedto be a judge; he marked me higher than mywhite belt friend. Maybe cause I had a better Kiai. Maybe because the white belt always forgot the part where after the second gedan barai you do the wrist thing where you yank wrist and twist it before you oi zuki. Who knows. In his defence though, he wasnt one of judges who gradedme at actualcompetition and I still got highermarks. Maybe that tuesday night it wasnt really favoritism because the truthof it was that I was better. Like I said, who knows. but i noticed he never complimented my friend on any of his kata, I think not verymuch. complimented me more and was not subtle. The truth was,I was better, but still. Mademe alittle uncomfortable but I forgot about it until just now. Btw sorry aboutmyspacebar. Thing is being evil with me

its true that some 'people' (and i use that term loosely; peoplewho set out to harrass others are worse than animalsbecause animals dont think of doing that stuff) may start by doing things that are fine and actuallylegal and al right and then steadly progress as time goes on; mine wasntlike that but some are. So I'll keep this new postofyoursinmind and I'll keep an eye out; I dont believe my sensei's are like that asI said but as I'veonly been in karate 4months as of January 10th I will certainly keep an eye out. myown assault in 2001 wasnt that way it happened really fast there was not 'grooming' so to speak. I was able to take advantage of something he didnt do though and defendmyself and get away. If it turns out to be true I guessyou'll be feeding me crow as well since I disbelieve the lot of you here haha, eh, Sensei Bob? I read every post here and I do pay attention to what you said even though I disagree. Ireally hope its not true!!! I love that dojo, i love the people in it, Ilove the senseis very much, I love shotokan and I believe I have a gift for it, a natural talent, a flair for Shotokan, and it would be sad if I hadto leave that dojo, its like mysecond home now! Ihope, as I believe, its simply favoritism and it would be great if resentment amongthe students/jealousy continues to be the only thing I have to wrry about, even a 60 yearold sensei attracted to me is not in itself a problem unless he's one of the 'people' I just mentioned. but i dont think he's attracted to me, and I'mnot attracted to him, either.

Thanks, Bob Sensei, but I know for a fact that this is not harrassment. How? one of the key words there is hostile. another one is bullying, intimidation, fearful, etc. and these do not existin our dojo. as I said, there is no place in the world that I feel any safer than at our dojo with my fellow students and senseis. another thing is that - they just havent done anything. But I've already said that. =] and another - is that i was sexually harrassed/assaulted at university once by an african immigrant man (in 2001) so i know the difference here. nor do i think there is any kind of sexual anything either from them. I think im just a favorite. Iknowyou're trying to help though and thanks anyway. and Sibylla, about getting criticized to pieces....whilemy instructor didnt criticize me to pieces, thetimewhen he held my leg when doing kicks, he made a Very. Big. Deal. of the fact my kick wasnt right. and he wasso eager to help me with it. Sempai was with us too teaching us and he never. Sensei didnt criticize but it seemed awefully importantto him that i got my kick just right....wasnt as important to the Sempai.......

know the first 4 or 5 moves of heian nidan now i'll catch it all quickly once i start working with a black belt on it though, can't wait to start, i'm an advanced white belt close tomy 8th kyu test now

That is funny. I am a practitioner of Shotokan; one of the oldest, most traditional forms of karate. We are taught that the traditional way of tying the belt crosses in the back, and the ends of the belt exit the knot parallel to the belt that's tied around the waist. I apologize in advance for being so blunt, but you appear to not know what you are talking about. that is howits done. my friend might think mine's weird because it dont look exactly like hers....but its correct =]

Hehehe =]

national lampoon christmas vacation....that movie is nuts =] I love it its a wonderful life The Santa Clause Home Alone

I define myself as a Shotokan-ka so guess which style i practice=]

make yellow belt (and orange belt if they allow meto test for it again in fall/winter since theynormally have tests twice a year) goto a 2010 competition and win another goldmedal be come really good at not only heian shodan but also heian nidan (yellow belt kata they learn) and heian sandan what else? Oh. sparr =] learn all thejapanese terminologyfor those, learn kata kihons, and kumites and get my spacebar working! its being evil on me and further live by the 20 principles of Mr Funakoshi.

in my dojo you take the belt, make sureits equallength, hold it behind you and bring it aroundsothat the two ends are in front one on each side. Then cross them ate stomach area, above the waist, then you endup with both ends beindyou. Then holdingittogether behind your back, drag it aroundin frontofyou. Then tie the knot rightover left and pass it under the whole thing right nextto your stomach. Then tie right over left again and this time dont go through the whole belt butjust doit just likeyou're tying a shoelace. MY brown belt friend thinksmy knots are weirdlooking.But I guessits fine though because the senseis and sempai dont complain =]

thanks so much for understanding and btw my sensei is the opposite - he is pretty good at showing it =] I will have a talk with him - to ask him why he would pick me as a fave cause im curious. Second, to mention to him my concerns about jealousy. btw yessssss, oss, or osu, as some here spell it, btw I am no yellow belt, havent even started heian nidan but already I know the first 4 or 5 movements of it. yesssss, I dearly love shotokan - far more than I love the senseis! and I am good at it. =]

Isaid on the otherforum thati loved my senseis somuch and some things iliked about them and they took it tomean i was sexually into them as well Not true, I have never ever had any interest in datingany of my teachers or profs, they've all been good friends or like father figures to me, as the other girl said. Same with these senseis. I told them I never minded what the senseis do because they never did anything wrong(think i said that) and they dont hurt me. Its really not THATimportant theylikeme the way they do, I never deliberately set out to make themlike me, I just wanted Shotokan! as you said. I love the artmore. Itsjust it turned out that way. I didntlook for it,it happened! I lookedfor shotokan learning and THAT's what I wanted.

Hmmm. weeeellll being a student's fave isnt new to me. I dont want to say it because some might think me egotistical or something but in university, I was popular with the profs I had (i have a degree.) I knew i was a fave by the way they acted around me. Most of my classmates were fine with me; there was only one class where I heard a student (who was talking about me) say to someone else 'i hates her' because i knew my history in that history class and was popular with that prof. Ditto for my Russian language profs and other history profs. The animosity (as I think someone pointed out) comes when usually its someone else who thinks others get special treatment. This happened in one of my Russian classes where the students expressed resentment not towards me, but towards our prof because they knew he had favorites (i was one of them) and they didnt like it that he paid more attention to some people and not to others. The Shotokan senseis are very similar to my Russian profs who loved me. as I said, I adore the senseis. Very much love them. they've been nothing to me but a pocketful of fly! The differences are that, they are the only teachers I have ever had who have ever been physically affectionate with me, and the university profs didnt make it so obvious that I am a fave like the Shotokan senseis do (well one more than the other because one mostly works with higher Kyu's) at the club where we went for our christmas get together, the sensei said again "You're our girl" to me. Now Sempai and another guy where sitting right next to them and Im sure they heard that! Yeah Im afraid of jealousy. also, I did ask opinions from the people on the other forum, I only managed to look once for replies as they're having forum issues. but one guy said its possible my sensei could fancy me and he might be thinking about a date with me, as I am a young 31 year old adult woman. I cant post back, yet, but my instinct is to think No possible way, as I said I dont believe either of them would ever hurt me not for a minute. They are also in their 60's! say huh? I really dont believe it for a minute. Seriously, I don't. I'm too young for them! But *i grin mischieviously here* if it turned out to be true, that mod who said that would be heading down to my place to feed me crow. =] But as I said I dont believe it. I said my concern is about possible jealousy, not about romantic interest or assault. - and White Owl didn't help ..... Nah, I am joking, White Owl. You're all right and seem like a pretty good person. and jealousy could cause some trouble in the dojo, as it caused a bit of trouble in the Russian classes I did in university where the students resented the teacher (Twas a shame because he is a great teacher. and us Russians majors loved him.) would be a shame if that happened in our nice dojo where we all love each other and everybody is family to everybody else. yes to me my senseis and everyone else are my family. I love them. It is because I care that I write all about this issue. as for favoritism in testing, that happened in one of my russian culture classes I did for my major with the prof whom students resented, some of them. I had just done and passed in a huge essay on one of Stalin's 'scientists' (and i use that term loosely, name was Lysenko if anyone wants to look him up), anyway soon after I got that essay back we had a midterm. One of the questions on that was a question on which the answer was Lysenko. I said to the prof, 'hey, I know that! that'll be marks i never had to study for' He said with a smile 'that's why I put it there' Now if that isnt blatant nepotism I dunno what is. I got a good mark on that, but I had it a bit easier as a result than other students. I hope to God that doesnt happen in the dojo. I havent heard of it, but I've only been a member not even 4 months (it'll be 4 months on january 10th)

when it comes to talking to someone, i was thinking of asking sensei when shotokan starts again, why did he pick me as one of his faves. as 'his girl' as he calls me. I know he paid me a lot of attention over the past 3 months, so did other sensei, but since he mostly works with the higher belts, not as much. but still there. I can just tell. even the way they look at me. they thinks of me as different from the other lower belts. and even higher belts. I have absolutely no fear of either of them, I dont believe for a moment they would hurt me in any way, as I said my concern was about my friends, if they would resent it. as for talking to the other white belts, hmmmm. maybe. the one who went to competition with me, we spent the whole day together, in fact, I helped him learn heian shodan back in november i believe. I learned it before he did, and since he still had trouble, I helped him. I also gave him some of the advice you guys gave me when i asked for it regarding the kata competition. I didnt beat him by much - he got 18.0 and me, 18.2. I was pleased cause I helped him. Its one of my mottos I have in my sig - you dont have to hurt other people to excel at things yourself. We get along well and we train together when he's at class. He has a lot more meh than I do, as I said, but I still help him. The second white belt, I dont have much to do with, because he doesnt talk to us much - he's always with his male 8th kyu friend - the only 8th kyu we have atm in our dojo. and neither of them show up a whole lot to classes. i think i make myself here, when i tell facts about how i am and how my senseis are, sound like a quintessential student and maybe thats why the senseis treat me like they do. But since most of you think it all sounds just a little bit iffy, I'll keep what you said in mind. I also post on another martial arts forum and I also think I might ask their thoughts as well on what they think. see if they agree with you. I want to get a lot of people's opinions on this. Thanks Blade

i just train and let my sensei decide when my 8th kyu test will be. i think i'm about ready, or i mean they think im about ready, a black belt said he thought they might test me before christmas but i guess not. ah well. not like i care much....gives me more time to train. although i did ask questions as to what it will be like and i got an idea, i do everything I've learned in front of them and the black belts. they did say usual time is to wait about 4 or 5 months before testing but i suppose if you know all your stuff and have the right attitude and passion and eagerness and leadership skills...... speaking of attitude, I've heard of people who really dont have the right attitude faking it so they can get a belt (not in my dojo, but elsewhere) I would hope senseis would have the ability to sense who is real and who is faking it for a belt. Just thinking karate is an art, and arts are about people, so is teaching, I would hope that senseis who'd be grading would be pretty good judges of character.

well its true that the other 2 white belts have more of a meh attitude towards it (ok, a lot more) and while they do like it, they just show up most of the time, train, and leave. sometimes they just dont show up at all, while I came to every class, train, and stayed behind to chat with the senseis about the lesson or anything shotokanny (funakoshi and his philosophy, Tsuruoka (often called the 'father'of Karate in Canada) are favorite subjects. I also am quick to learn the names of movements in japanese so rather than say upper rising block I'll say jodan age uke (something the other 2 white belts never do) and can count 2 ten in japanese (something even the brown belts sometimes have trouble with) sometimes i joke that the senseis must be getting tired of my endless questions "sensei, why.....?" Haha. No. quite the opposite, as I have posted in this thread. i just joke about that. I love philosophy, and so while I love learning how to fight i also love the spirituality and philosophical 'way' of it. the 'do' part. the combat life, and the character perfection part. at the competition, my white belt friend, who I beat in kata, I did hear him say that he thought he might not compete because 'white belts cant sparr' The senseis know what they are doing and so they dont allow white belts to sparr, not in competition, because we are just little white belts. I knew that wasnt a very good attitude to take, i know a lot of people take karate cause they like the idea of fighting and when they dont fight it turns them off. Me, I love it all. I love kata and kumite and kihons equally. Its also true that when we are being taught by a black belt (or anybody tbh) I ask a lot more questions that the other white belts. I'm far and away THE most talkative of us. Not a word of a lie. lol. I am young. I'm just 31. I train at an all adult dojo. They teach adults. My senseis are in their 60's and both of them are 6th dans. I asked my parents to come because they wanted to see me compete anyway. (they did the same thing for my bro who's five years older, when he was playing with his band at clubs and such and when they won an award a couple of years ago.) Other than that my parents dont have anything to do with my Karate career (they would if I were a child though but I'm not) I pay for karate myself, they have nothing to do with it. As I said, I cant pin the senseis for anything as they never touched me inappropriately or treated me inappropriately and I said that to my parents. I said I adore the senseis and they adore me. I was just wondering if it was ok for a sensei to have a favorite and why they would pick me to be one of them. Maybe it is my passion and love for the art. but as i said, most are higher belts and they all love it, otherwise they wouldnt be training for years. They even say they love it. The black belts in the group really enjoy teaching you can tell by the way they act. I just dont see how I am any different that they would pick me as one of their faves. I did hug my sensei the first time i did the hugging - but that was different. that was a triumphant thank you hug just after the competition, when i had just been awarded a gold medal (and top marks) for my Heian Shodan. If I was concerned at all (and ok sometimes I felt just a little uncomfortable by the attention) it was because i wondered what the other students (most of whom are my friends now even the black belts) would think. would they resent it that Sensei complimented me in front of them on my preformances in class while practicing blocks and kicks and never gave them the same treatment? that senseis treat me as special? Thats just one example.

i was wondering what you think of this. do you instructors out there have favorites? why did you pick so-and-so as your fave student(s)? do you think its al right for senseis to have favorites? I was wondering because my sensei told my parents, who attended my shotokan competition on dec 12, that I am one of his and the other sensei's fave students. Over the past 3 months he paid me a lot of attention, attention he never paid to his other students. for example he would compliment me on my preforming the blocks and punches in front of everyone. Never saw him do that with anyone else (and I attended every class and was never late i think i was the only one in the whole dojo who never missed a class ) He is always complimenting me. calling me 'his girl' and physically helping me with my techniques (he'd hold my leg when i was practicing kicks) he never did that with anyone else. Also physically affectionate, rubbing my back and touching my shoulder. At the competition he rubbed my back in front of my parents. On our last class before christmas holidays, he hugged me and kissed my cheek when i gave him a christmas card. called me his girl again. Both of the senseis are like this. affectionate. mostly with me though. there was only once i saw one of my senseis hug someone else. just one time. No, he never did anything inappropriate or anything, neither of them do or did. I'm writing this because I'm wondering if you think its fine for sensei's to have fave students. and how do they pick them. i mean its not like im a 3rd or 2nd kyu or even a sho dan. I'm not even a 8th kyu (havent had my test yet) so why would they pick me as their fave? Yes, its true I'm wildly mad and passionate over shotokan and someone told me that instructors love enthusiasm but idk if that can be it. after all - we all are enthusiastic! Thats why most people here have been in it for years and there's only 3 white belts - me and 2 guys. (i'm the only girl white belt.) we all love it! Its not like I mind, because I am very fond of them, I equally adore and love them too. Just wondering if some of you might be able to help me sort it out or at least understand. with all those higher belts they have, why would my senseis pick a 3 month - almost 4 month now - white belt as one of their faves? and i'm just a little white belt. go figure. and is it ok for teachers to have faves? and do any of you instruuctors on this board have them?

There is a Sho Dan in mine with glasses. a Ni Dan too, i believe.

Its normal to be scared. when i first joined the shotokan dojo, (I've only been in it 3 months) I didnt know anybody and at the time i was the only rookie. But i wanted shotokan really baaaaaaaad so i didnt really care. But everyone is pocketfuls of fly there.....and they made me feel at home. If yours are like that (and they should be) they will too. and don't worry about looking bad at something the first few times! Very few people can do something right or perfect the first time. Example was when I was learning to turn. Man did i suck, lol. Eventually, I learned that if I was gonna turn 180 degrees to the left, that the leg behind me, the left one, moves a couple inches to the right before you turn. that way, you're stance is wide when you do turn. A recent example took place on Tuesday night. I'm pretty good with snap kicks (nearly took out a black belt with one, which i like to tease him about, that a little white belt almost took him out, haha) but when I first tried a front thrust kick (also known as a Mae Geri kekomi ); they're different than a snap kick because you're using your hips to propel yourself forward and push with the leg - on a punching bag (the first step to teaching us to sparr and kick a moving target) I lost my balance, missed the bag completely, and almost fell over. LOL. It happens. I learn fast though. After about 3 times I could hit the bag. Dont worry if you dont learn fast though. It comes with time. Karate-do, right. Its a way of life. and just like life, it has its challenges - and its joys.

It is. "Blade" is the nickname of a comic book character, who was reproduced and changed for the movies, and who was played by actor/martial artist Wesley Snipes, who holds 5th dan in shotokan and also trains in capoeira. Blade is my fave movie character btw and i also quite likes snipes. Its how i first got interested in shotokan because he does it in the blade trilogy. shotokan has been very good for me. as I've written, I just won a gold medal in my first tournament/kata competition. I just told my parents to thank snipes =] although blades are also on skates, and the number 96 is the number of my favorite Detroit Red Wings player. Tomas Holmstrom. Glad your wife is doing well. congratulate her for me. I dont know what i want really. the newspaper job is just something i was thinkin about.