evergrey

OSU, thank you both!

Also: MYTH: Because you are a friend or acquaintance of mine, and I am a full contact knockdown martial artist, I will totally beat someone up if you ask me to or try to pay me to. FACT: No.

OSU, thank you all. *bows*

Back in the day, our Shihan, then a Sensei, used to call them "badges of honor," lol!

OSU, I thought I would share a little something with you all today, something awesome and sad and joyful and a little bit amazing that happened to me. So in Kyokushin, there are some very rare books that are greatly sought-after. One such book, which is very well thought-of, is "The Budo Karate of Mas Oyama" by Cameron Quinn, who was Sosai's translator for a number of years. This book is unique, because while many Kyokushin books go over technique, this one goes over history, the meaning behind what we do, and some of the internal parts of Kyokushin. It was self-published by Quinn Shihan (long before he became a Shihan) in 1987. While he is planning to print a new edition some time in the not too distant future, right now the books often go for $400 or more. My birthday is coming up, and when people asked me what I wanted, well, I had a hard time coming up with much of anything. When you spend most of your time poor, you start to learn to think only in terms of necessities, and it gets harder to think of little things that you just want, instead of big things you need. Well, I really wanted a copy of that book, but I knew it was just not ever going to be in my price range, and it was too much to ask for someone to buy for my birthday. I was up at about 2am, as I often am, and I guess I felt like torturing myself by looking up the book online and seeing what it went for. I went on to amazon.com and I found this. http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/Kyokushin/0812/abestdealever.jpg ! !! !!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that this was for real. $1.90? You can see what the other two books were priced at. I don't own a credit card and I never have, so I couldn't buy it myself. Actually, I didn't have enough money to, either. I poked at Sensei, who was also up, but he was just as broke as me! I had one other friend online, and I begged her to buy it ASAP, swearing I would pay her back as soon as I was able. "Oh, you don't have to pay me back hon, consider it a birthday present!" So, she bought it, and I was really excited. I hoped it was real, but was also thinking it was more likely that it would be a photograph of the book, or a zerox of the dust jacket or something. Then earlier this week, this arrived at my front door: http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/Kyokushin/0812/apackingfail.jpg Better World Books is an organization that sells used books and uses the profits to fund literacy programs worldwide. As it was, as far as they were concerned, a $1.90 book, they shipped it in this vacuum seal bag. Heh! The corners and the dust jacket of the book were a little battered because of this, but lo and behold, it was real... http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/Kyokushin/0812/abook.jpg I gently flipped it open to a few different spots in the book, to find that many passages had been highlighted by the previous owner. The description said "may have some marking inside the book." Oh yes, there was some marking, as I discovered when I opened the front of the book. http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/Kyokushin/0812/asigned.jpg Whoa, signed by the author! But who was Diogenes? That was a distinctive name. I thought about the book being hand-signed to someone, and highlighted, and I thought, "someone treasured this. How did it get out of their hands? Did it get stolen or something?" Knowing how precious the book was, I was determined to make certain that it had not, in fact, been stolen. I googled the name combined with Kyokushin, and discovered only one person- Diogenes Perez, a Sensei in Henri-Oh's dojo over on the East coast. Herni-Oh is a pretty big deal. I found the number for the dojo and called. That's when I discovered the sad truth- Sensei Perez had passed away in February of this year. It made sense then. Whomever was in charge of his estate donated all of his books to Better World Books, not being aware, I think, of the value of them. I let the people at his dojo know, and I let an instructor he had taught with know what had happened. I let them know how I had gotten the book, and that I would take very good care of it and always treasure it. I heard back, and they appreciated the fact that a fellow Kyokushin Karateka had it and that it was in good hands. After that, I turned a couple more pages and found this: http://www.niceboots.org/~evergrey/Kyokushin/0812/sosaisig.jpg Sosai Mas Oyama himself had also signed the book! I could hardly believe my good fortune. I told Shihan Quinn about all of this, and he did remember visiting Sensei Perez with Sosai 20 years ago, when they both signed the book. I hope that some day I'll be able to meet Shihan Quinn in person, and that he will sign it again... and that some day much later on, I will be able to bequeath this book to my favorite student, along with the book's story, and that it will continue on down the line of my lineage, always treasured. I don't know how I got so lucky, but it feels like providence, like I was meant to find it, somehow. I'm so very grateful. The next day in class, our head instructor showed me some of his Kyokushin books, and we talked a lot about the history of my lineage. There is so much more to a martial art than punching and kicking and throwing. It is also a way of life, and it is a legacy. May the stories of Kyokushin live on. OSU!

Hey - my gi my choice right? Just kidding Ev. Your freedoms end where my knuckles begin! Er, wait, maybe that's not quite it... but I don't wanna get any snotrockets on my fists! Haha! Though of course, who in Kyokushin DOESN'T get the speckles of red on their dogi from time to time when a classmate's punchin' knuckles split?

Heh, ever get this one, when someone finds out you're a martial artist? "Oh, remind me not to mess with you!" Why? Do you think I'm a thug? Alternately, would you "mess with" me if you thought I was easy prey?

In my dojo, the adult class is quite different from the kid's class... but the spirit is the same!

Sounds like great fun! Haha, I feel ya on that last bit... I have three instructors. They contradict each other often. "OSU" and doing whatever the current one watching me wants is usually my tactic, too. OSU!

Woohoo! You may have to step up your own personal discipline, but I think you'll find it to be a whole new level of training, and as you're quite dedicated, I think that you will find it to be very rewarding as well. Congrats! Now, if the adults pick their noses and wipe it on their dogi, then there's a problem. ;}

Congratulations!

Yeah, I'd put substance abuse into it's own category for sure. I wouldn't want to go to a school that had a political or religious agenda. My dojo has people of all different lifestyles and orientations, all different kinds of races and religions... but nobody pushes their beliefs on anybody else. We are all karateka, we are friends and family, and that is what matters.

Yeah, I'd say you are old enough for the older people's class. Usually at my dojo, teens join at age 13 if they're bigger, more mature kids, or 14. Some even younger if they are well-behaved and dedicated, but that is rare. That kind of thing would never fly in my dojo though. The head instructor (who teaches the kids) is strict but they just adore him. If they don't behave, it's push-ups, or being the demo dummy, heh! (Not that he abuses them, mind you.) But yeah, two separate issues here. One is, you are very likely ready for teens or adults class. Two is that the students need to get reined in... but that isn't your job. I totally understand your frustration though. It's disrespectful of them, to the space, to the instructors, to their fellow students, to the style. As for rolled up and chests showing, meh. I wear a shirt under my dogi 'cos they require that of females, though I hate it. We live in a hot area and I have to wear a couple extra layers of clothing, thanks to being female. Some people roll their sleeves up, but many others just cut them short to a certain degree. It's harder to get grabbed that way, heheh. And when practicing knockdown karate, well, our gis come open a lot. It's hard, messy work! OSU!

My first dogi was $2.50 for what was a $60 or so gi. With it I got another dogi for $2.50, which was a nice heavyweight gi that I gave to my Sensei as a gift. Craigslist is great. Along with that came four belts, though only two of the colors are used in my style, haha! If they let you provide your own stuff, that's much better. My dojo provides a dogi free of charge, but charges $25 at ranking. They can sell mouthguards to us but we can also go out and get them, and we're free to get our own dogi, obi, and whatever else we want as well. Hmm. Well you can always ask, eh? As for losing weight, on top of your training and practicing your basics and kata outside of class, try swimming or walking. :} OSU!

I do not know anything about that style. I will say, however, that some of the best dojos are NOT always the biggest and fanciest. Sometimes a dojo that's low priced like that means the instructors are teaching out of love for the style rather than wanting to make a profit. There is nothing wrong with making a living off teaching martial arts, of course! But sometimes when money is not the bottom line, the instructors have more room to ensure quality of instruction and to decide who is a good fit as a student. What are you looking for in a martial art style? Do you want contact in your sparring? Hard or soft or a mix? Or no contact? Are you more interested in kata/forms or combat? Are you more interested in the internal side of martial arts? Learning to defend yourself? Competing in tournaments? Most often, the best way to decide if a school is a good fit for you is to go check it out. Watch a class, or take a free class (most schools offer a free introductory class.) That it charges by the month instead of requiring a long contract is, in my mind, a good sign, though I will admit to being biased in that regard. Wikipedia has an article on this style. If you google it, the style will come up, and it appears that it is in fact related to TKD. It does seem odd to me that it is a karate dojo that teaches an TKD style. I am sure you could ask them about that? They should be comfortable answering an honest question like that... though reading more, the person who founded the style trained extensively in Shotokan, so maybe that's where it came from? Do they have a website, and do they list their training lineage anywhere? But anyway yeah, don't let the small size of a school deter you. Sometimes the really flashy schools, well, you end up just paying for flash, know what I mean? OSU!

1) Your Pastor- Well, my GYTHJA, and yes, I told her I appreciated her support eh, a couple days ago. 2) Family members- Hah, my parents do not like that I practice full contact knockdown, but they are glad I'm getting the exercise. I talk about it all to them anyway. My fiancee is one of my instructors, I thank him daily, haha. 3) Your friends- my friends are a big support, cheering me on and wanting to hear the news. I thank them a lot too. 4) Your employer- Sorry, I'm considered too "crazy" to work a normal job. I black out and have flashbacks. PTSD. Martial arts is really helping with that, though. 5) Your fellow dojo/dojang/etc classmates- oh yeah, big help, we're here for each other, and I thank them too. The other day, a classmate of mine actually gave me a little gift of cash so I could go on a date with my beloved. We're both really broke right now, and it meant the world to me. Heh, even something like that, really helped me, because my heart was high and my training went well that day! 6) oh yeah...Your Instructor(s)- All the time! All three of them. 7) Your Style Headquarters - We're all kinds of fractured since Sosai Mas Oyama's death, and my group of dojos wants nothing to do with the nasty politics and money grabbing that followed. The head of my org is my Shihan, and he hasn't been by in a while, so after seeing this post, and before answering, I gave him a call, just to let him know I cared. Thanks Bob, for reminding me to do that! OSU!

OSU, mostly we go for penetration, but we also DO push to control or move an opponent. I push to get them out of my face, or to stop a charge, though sometimes for stopping a charge I may use penetration instead, to stop them AND drop them. Ideally. Haha! Goodness knows the latter has been used on me enough. Enough to learn that pulling your arms back and up and expanding your ribcage helps a lot when you get the wind knocked out of you!

OSU, great story, Travis! I've only had little moments, here and there. I still consider myself to be a beginner in my style, but I've had moments where suddenly things just seemed to "flow" and just be "on." I mean I've had moments here and there where a Shodan has gotten a surprised look on their face, and even a couple where I sent someone flying, hah. But for me, it is difficult to describe. I am loving the stories though, please continue, folks! OSU!

Haha, I am always amazed by how many people aren't willing to come to open sparring events. It's either "we're not allowed to play with anyone outside of our school/org/style" or "we're too deadly to spar!" It's a shame, because I think everyone benefits from playing with people of other styles.

Myth: "Kyokushin people never punch to the head and can't deal with it when they get punched in the head. They're like dandelions- punch them in the head an they fall to pieces!" Truth: Many dojos do head punches. We just don't do them in tournaments. My dojo, for example, has sparring sessions where we put on MMA gloves and throw controlled punches to the face. I've gotten a couple split lips, and once in a while someone will get a black eye, but that's about as bad as it gets. Usually we punch light enough that there is no damage, because hey, most of us have jobs to go to in the morning. They always say, at my dojo, "the one thing you can't toughen is your brain. It's going to slosh around inside your skull, and you can't stop that." Because of this, and because we do KICK to the head, INCLUDING in tournaments, we are always encouraged to keep our guard up. When I don't keep my guard up, my instructors smack me in the face, and they will encourage my fellow students to punch me in the head (controlled) to help me learn to keep my guard up. Heh. Myth: Kyokushin is just a sport style of karate! Truth: Kyokushin is a martial art that is considered to be a way of life, not a sport. There are people and dojos that focus mostly on tournament fighting, this is true, but there are more that do not, and it is a complete system. Kyokushin has budo. Kyokushin, when one gets deep into it, does have a spiritual aspect (which does not conflict with the karateka's individual religions) and is not about trophies. Observe our Dojo Kun: Hitotsu, wareware wa, shinshin o renmashi, kakko fubatsu no shingi o kiwameru koto. We will train our hearts and bodies for a firm unshaken spirit. Hitotsu, wareware wa, bu no shinzui o kiwame, ki ni hasshi, kan ni bin naru koto. We will pursue the true meaning of the martial way so that, in time, our senses may be alert. Hitotsu, wareware wa, shitsujitsu goken o motte, kokki no seishin o kanyo suru koto. With true vigour, we will seek to cultivate a spirit of self-denial. Hitotsu, wareware wa, reisetsu o omonji, chojo o keishi, sobo no furumai o tsutsushimu koto. We will observe the rules of courtesy, respect our superiors, and refrain from violence. Hitotsu, wareware wa, shinbutsu o totobi, kenjo no bitoku o wasurezaru koto. We will follow our religious principles and never forget the true virtue of humility. Hitotsu, wareware wa, chisei to tairyoku to o kojo sase, koto ni nozonde ayamatazaru koto. We will look upwards to wisdom and strength, not seeking other desires. Hitotsu, wareware wa, shogai no shugyo o karate no michi ni tsuji, Kyokushin no michi o mattou suru koto. All our lives, through the discipline of karate, we will seek to fulfill the true meaning of the Kyokushin way. Myth: Because their training is so crazy and hardcore, Kyokushin people are thugs! They are violent and will run around beating people up! Truth: Some of the sweetest, most humble people I've met in my life have been advanced Kyokushin karateka. One of the first things my Shihan ever said to me was "I abhor physical violence." We prove everything we need to, not to others, but to ourselves, out on the mat. There's no need to run around trying to prove ourselves. Acting like a thug is against the teachings of our Sosai, Mas Oyama. We train to defend and to protect, not to bully. I haven't met any Kyokushin karateka that were total thugs or bullies, but I have met many who are soldiers and law enforcement officers. OSU!

Oh man, I already worry that I'll end up on "People of Walmart" every time I go out shopping. Going to Walmart in my dogi... noooo.

OSU, as one gets older, responsibilities can trump even our greatest passions in life... but as karate is a way of life, we can take what we learn there everywhere we go. It's easier when you don't have to support yourself and others yet, heh. Our Shihan, even, skips class when he has important stuff to do. I haven't seen him in a couple weeks in fact. *misses him* I don't know what to do with myself when he's not there. It's too weird not being in trouble, LOL! OSU

Sounds like that quote is form someone who hasn't really had a family and a life where they really needed to work to survive. If I have something really important going on, I skip class. I call in and let them know I am not coming, but I skip class. I might practice a little more outside of class to make up for it. I think there really needs to be a healthy balance, in all things.

Hah, today I wasn't able to get to class until late. It was a breaking class, but I had no bricks (could not afford them) so I just took pictures. Did spar after class, against a guy who was so much bigger than I am that I just flailed in a futile manner, trying to bust through his arms or slip past him to somehow reach him. His arms? Way longer than my legs. LOL. It was SAD. But hey, I will learn from stuff like that too. Happens to us all!

Hah, funnily enough, I actually learned Pinan 1 before I learned Taikyoku 1, because my Sensei felt that Taikyoku 1-3 were a waste of time, and that it was better to just go straight to Pinan 1. When we joined up with a formal dojo, however, I had to learn the Taikyokus. Actually his Sensei, now our Shihan, also didn't teach him the Taikyokus back in the 70s. They started, formally as an org, using it I guess in the early 1980s, around when he got his Shodan or Nidan... so I ended up teaching him and another nidan from Back In The Day how to do the Taikyoku series. Great students, no attitude, haha! I don't know if Sosai always had people doing Taikyoku, in Kyokushin... Don Buck left IKO for a long time, and then came back again. So I am not sure, heh. I'll see about taking some videos in a while. I'll do both Taikyoku 1 and Pinan 1, in my particular lineage's style. The Taikyoku tend to be simpler than the norm, but a number of the other katas, including Pinan 1, are a tiny bit fancier, with just a few slight changes to make it a bit more complicated. OSU!