Chunmonchek

Domo

Domo

Domo! Well deserved! Domo

Domo!

Thank you sir.

Thank You!!!

Shureido still makes quality weapons...but the bo that we purchased 3 decades (or more) ago had better wood. Their Sai have always been well made, and years ago we were able to order sai made to our rough specifications. Visiting Shureido in Okinawa is always a treat... Regarding the Shushin Eku, I suggest ordering the 5' 6' model with the shaft to your specs. That way the butt end or blade end can be shortened to your preferred balance preferences.

ND, I suggest that you carefully read and consider the bold, above. Consider the best case scenario that you find an Art that you love to train, and can find a way to train under a qualified teacher in that art... In my experience, high quality/deep martial arts have a progressive way of teaching, developing and cultivating the particular attributes and methods endemic to such Art. For most, its harder to unlearn bad habits, than to actually learn the correct way in the first place. It's like retrofiting a Chevy Vega with a small-block Corvette engine. It can be done, but it would have saved much time and money buying the Vette to begin with. I suggest that you search for the less public, less known martial artists in your area...those who don't have commercial dojos, don't advertise in the yellow pages, and don't cater to the masses...they are out there. Just my $.02.

I would agree for short weapons. For long weapons, most woodworkers don't have the long-bed lathe required to turn bo. That said, years ago I had Glen Grabow make me 2 eku. Not having a long-bed lathe, Mr. Grabow shaped the shaft by hand. They came out VERY nice, with much better heft, feel and balance than my Shuredo.

In an interview, Meitoku Yagi claimed that Yamaguchi came to him several times for kata instruction after Miyagi’s death. Yamaguchi was apparently interested in preserving Miyagi’s kata as much as possible, and he considered Yagi the foremost authority on Miyagi’s kata. The Miyagi family gave Yagi Miyagi’s belt and gi following Miyagi’s death, thereby officially recognizing him as the head of Goju Ryu. As to how much Yamaguchi actually trained under Miyagi, that’s the subject of much debate. What is clear is that Yamaguchi was chosen by Miyagi to be the head of Goju on mainland Japan. 1. Yamaguchi Sensei did visit/train at the Meibukan on a number of occasions. I've seen the photos from Yagi Meitatsu's personal photo albums. I can't speak to the amount of actual training nor its depth though. 2. Regarding the scissors take down, we train a variant in our ground work.

Taught and trained correctly, All will get something from the experience... ...Not all will get the same thing, but most will get what they need...

Point 1. Anytime you have more than 3 people "in the room", there's the potential for "politics"...an unfortunate truth. Point 2. I couldn't agree more...I wish more did.

So sorry to hear about this. I'm sure that you will do the best for yourself and your students, whatever that may be...The Road Not Taken... Politics sucks, and, at the end of the day, any organization is only as good (or bad) as its leadership and members.

Historically, we've sourced our kobudo weapons from Shureido, California, but have not purchased much lately due to the rising cost of their weapons. Lately, I've purchased Eku from Shushin, and will be placing another order soon. I like that they offer varying sizes and wood selections. I don't believe that they make a tapered bo. So far, my experience has been good with them. https://www.shushinkobudo.com/

The Good - If done right, it's egalitarian nature. The floor could care less about your social status, the amount of money you make, the car you drive, who you date, or the failures you experience off the floor. The Bad - The economic aspects that have crowded out, and often become paramount to, the training aspects. The Ugly - The EGO and what it wraughts...

And there are differences between males and males, and females and females, too. I've had students test for black belt that were from 15-70 years old, with varying abilities. If I'm willing to present a student to my teacher for Shodan grading, I've already determined that they have command of the necessary curriculum, and have the physical, mental and emotional ability to wear the belt. The "test" is more of a milestone... and formality to stress test their command of the Art. Accordingly, Shodan candidates could be tested somewhat differently, depending on their own particular physical, mental and emotional abilities. We really don't "test" for gradings past Shodan. Personally, I don't care where I stand in line, as long as I have a place in the line...

I do. My teacher learned Kingai Ryu and Kobudo from Matayoshi Senseei in the early 70's, when Matayoshi Sensei and Sekichi Toguchi came to the United States. Many interesting stories were shared regarding that visit. Kingai Ryu is Matayoshi's family system. It was taught as an empty hand art, as well as a weapons art. My Dojo brother visited the Kodokan circa 1992 and I did circa 1994. During our respective trips Matayoshi taught us Kobudo and Goju Ryu. Matayoshi Sensei taught me 2 different versions of Pechulen. During my trip I had lunch with Matayoshi Sensei and a very high ranking Goju Sensei from Okinawa. During that meal, the Goju Sensei spent almost the entire time questioning Matayoshi Sensei about Sanchin and Sanchin breathing. An interesting trip for me...

I think we are all a bit, and maybe more than a bit, obsessed... Comes with the territory... I'd share the floor with you...

Interesting and thought provoking post. IMHO, martial artists are made, trained, forged and cultivated...they are not born. That said, one can be born with attributes that are conducive to making/training, forging a "Martial Artist". I guess the starting point is"what is a martial artist?" My view on what a martial artist is has changed over the years. Anymore, I train martial arts to be better than the Yesterday Me, notwithstanding that the Today Me is older with declining physicality as compared to the Yesterday Me. I would also add to my post that training Martial Arts is more of a marathon than a sprint. It's been my experience that of my students/former students, "Gifted" is often trumped by "Stubborn"...

Interesting and thought provoking post. IMHO, martial artists are made, trained, forged and cultivated...they are not born. That said, one can be born with attributes that are conducive to making/training, forging a "Martial Artist". I guess the starting point is"what is a martial artist?" My view on what a martial artist is has changed over the years. Anymore, I train martial arts to be better than the Yesterday Me, notwithstanding that the Today Me is older with declining physicality as compared to the Yesterday Me.

This worries me if it's true, because it means that masters of bygone times were as useless in a fight as any of modern times. Why? If the applications are meant to be taken at face value, then this suggests that the person that made it up expects us to believe that genuine violence follows a nice predictable pattern. It does not. It assumes that you can tell someone that 'when your attacker throws a straight punch with his right hand towards your head from arms length away at this angle while his other hand does nothing and there are no weapons involved and you see it coming, then you can easily block it like this then punch him in the torso and end the fight instantly'. I really, really hope that wasn't what the creators of kata / forms really were trying to tell us. To the above Bold. 1. I believe the the originators/masters were far from useless fighters. To the contrary I would guess that they were fighters first, and teachers later. And some were better fighters than teachers, and vice versa. 2. Training kata and it's principles and applications is merely the pedagogy and lingua franca of the martial arts. To progress from the training methodology to actual application requires pressure testing in the dojo (and sometimes out, for some) so that one replaces the untrained "deer in the headlights, OMG just shat my pants" reaction with a measured martial response. The rub is how do you get there from here...

It was just a joke. It was analogy of looking around and trying to spot the weird guy and not seeing one, only to realize YOU’RE the weird one. It’s happened to me a few times, where I’m sitting there in a group and wondering “what’s the matter with these guys” when it dawns on my that they’re all probably saying “what’s the matter with HIM (me)?” I tend to look at things from an odd angle and get a chuckle out of it. AHHHH, Got it!

When I started training I had blisters on my feet for a few weeks. After a short while they become conditioned. I stood lightly on a drawing pin last year, it penetrated the ball of the foot near the big toe by quite a bit and I didn't feel a thing. I won't be modelling hosiery any time soon but my feet are tough! Feet are a funny thing. I have a sewing needle lodged deep in one of my feet. Somehow it penetrated the sole of my foot, migrated upward and broke in half. But for the x-rays, I wouldn't have ever know it was there.

Just mentioning a reason why there is a disproportionate amount of weird/strange compared to some other activities.

Approach your teaching methodology, style and approach the same way you approach your training... ...teach in a logical and progressive manner... ...always look to improve... ...try to avoid past mistakes... ...build on past successes... ...teach the way you wish you could have been taught... ...do not forget what it's like to be a beginner with a beginner's mind... ...teach from the heart... DO NOT BE SENSEI KREESE! And, lastly, understand and remind yourself that each person that enters the dojo does so for their own reasons, which may not be the same as yours. Just my .02 yen