CredoTe

Sweeeet! I was wondering how long it would be before they had a good MA simulator for xbox kinect. I may actually look into getting one if it's really that good...

ROFL...

For us, it's basically the Dan grade equals the number of years to train before eligibility to test for that Dan grade. 6 years from 5th to 6th Dan 5 years from 4th to 5th Dan 4 years from 3rd to 4th Dan 3 years from 2nd to 3rd Dan 2 years from 1st to 2nd Dan 1 year from 1st Kyu to 1st Dan 3-4 years from 10th kyu to 1st kyu, making 1st Dan a 4-5 year trek on average. And, that's not counting normal life getting in the way and slowing things down... I've been on my MA journey for ~24 years, now, and I'm nowhere near a 5th or 6th Dan...

And from: If you combine what Wastelander and yamesu are advising, you get my 2 cents. I agree with Wastelander that the differences in the arts are enough that you wouldn't have any trouble confusing them and that they will compliment each other greatly. Also, I agree that over training is troublesome on your health and lifestyle. However, as mentioned, some people can handle more than others; you just have to figure out what your limit is. I also agree with yamesu; IMHO, focus your MA training on obtaining your Shodan, then branch out. Getting your Shodan first would give you enough understanding of your Karate to devote time to judo/bjj. If you divert training time from Karate before you have adequate understanding, your Karate skills could suffer. Also, adequate understanding in Karate would give you "a beginner's mind" with any judo/bjj training, meaning that any new concepts learned in judo/bjj, you would have enough understanding to adapt them to your Karate / fighting style. Just my 2 cents...

Absolutely... Great post...

I walk around the house c-stepping because for some reason my feet don't want to work the right way and me trying to move without making noise, not easy, I can't sneak up on anyone...no ninja here LOL Lol... Yeah, as you get more into your MA journey, you'll find yourself breaking out in sporadic block, check, strike, etc combos going around the house doing your normal day routine. What's even funnier, IMHO, is when you will be at the supermarket or the like, you'll be looking at items or whatever, and, all of a sudden, your arms break out into block, check, strike combos seemingly of their own mind...lol... and, then, people around you look at you like you're hallucinating or something...lol... It's happened to me too many times...lol...

VERY solid post IMO. Very much agreed... However, I like Wastelander's look at both sides of the coin here: IMHO, I agree in most cases that proper execution of a technique will make it effective. However, "proper execution" depends in large part on the background and application of the technique / art. It's the old "the right tool for the right job every time" mantra. For instance, I wouldn't use a spinning hammer fist or spinning back kick to open a fight or while engaged in in-fighting; in either case, even if "properly executed", I'm most likely going to get my rear end handed to me. If I use either move as a follow-up during a series of multiples / combos at proper ma-ai, then I could effectively use them. But, that begs a question: if I attempt a spinning hammer fist or spinning back kick as a first or opening move, or while in-fighting, would that really be considered "proper execution"? This question applies to any technique attempted in the "wrong" instance...

Absolutely, bushido_man... JASmama, unfortunate to hear this happened... Sounds like you're on the right track, though. Only 2 cents I would throw in is if you're going to confront the instructor, make sure someone else is with you to witness...

Congrats! Looks like you're entering into a new phase of your MA journey... Don't let any new or increased difficulty / challenging training daunt you... Keep it up, face it squarely and you'll persevere!

Sweet... Pinan Yondan is one of my favorites; Godan is great, too. They both have a lot going on in them. Glad to hear that you're confident in your practice; a positive attitude goes a long way to performing well during your test.

Ah...OK. Thx

And, uh... a "Tesco" is...? Please forgive my American ignorance of things British... I would guess it's something like a McDonald's, Starbucks, Walmart, etc?

Are you getting paid to strike / picket? Just curious...

Absolutely! Best of luck to you both!! BTW, which two kata are you being graded on?

Fantastic post! We do some of the things you mention, and I do many of them on my own time. But the rest, I may have to add some of the things you listed to my workout... I've been looking into that Stronglifts (Strongman?) 5x5 workout. What you've listed may just do it for me...

We actually instruct in these things...at least, things very similar to what you describe. What you're sharing is actually touching the surface of some of the concepts of Te (Ti). I tagged your post "thought provoking" just to reiterate and bring more attention to it...

90% of my sogo bujitsu training was in civilian clothes. This was conducted in the Renbukan (the name of our glorified garage). If we went into the SeiShinKan (actual formalized dojo) then we wore gi. It's a complex one actually. The primary objective for anyone that trains in a koryu is to keep the tradition going, however that doesn't mean approaches shouldn't change. The key thing is the core principles or the ryu-ha remain intact! It's a mistake to think the art shouldn't evolve. K. Absolutely! Great post

Welcome to KF! Glad to have ya!

I have been using some of the stretching techniques in this video. Great share We pretty much do the same thing for stretching in our dojo. As advised in previous posts, we get a good warm-up in, then go into these stretches.

Welcome to KF!

I lost many, many hours (probably adds up to many days' worth) of my life to Diablo II... Great game, great party play... Every once in a while, when a few friends of mine and I get nostalgic, we'll organize a Diablo II weekend and power through it once more... for the drops! For the good of all mankind!! For the victory!!! *snaps out of nerdy reverie* I'm OK, now, really...

Great post We have several low-income families as part of our dojo family. When they expressed concern over affordability of gi's or monthly fees, we found other ways to work it out with them. For instance, when one needed a gi but couldn't buy one, the dojo bought it for them, and then they worked to pay it back (staying after to help clean dojo, set up, etc.) It's a great way to show both charity and respect for the work ethic it takes to earn a dollar.

Yes...! EPIC... Lol

In what way?? If memory serves me, the notes of Lee were formulated into the Tao of JKD, and if that's true, while Lee didn't actually pen said book, the notes and all were Lee, thus, Lee "wrote" the book. In the words of Chris Kent: "HOW MANY BOOKS DID BRUCE LEE WRITE? There is a scene in “Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story” which bugs me a bit. It is the scene in which Bruce Lee, in the midst of recovering from an injury sustained during a challenge match with members of the Chinese community (an extremely “Hollywood” elaboration on what actually took place), receives a copy of The Tao of Jeet Kune Do from the publisher. I understand the need for the film business to heighten dramatic elements, and am not one who watches movies looking to find mistakes or inaccuracies. But the reason this scene bugs me is because it leads people to mistakenly believe that the book was written by Bruce himself and published during his lifetime. So, for the sake of historical accuracy, how many books did Bruce Lee actually write? The answer is that he personally wrote only one book. “Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense” was a 97 page book written by Lee himself and published in an extremely limited edition in 1963. The book was re-published by Ohara Publications in 1987. “The Tao of Jeet Kune Do” was actually published in 1975 by Ohara Publications. It was then re-published in a revamped format in 2011. While the material contained within came from Bruce Lee’s written material, the book was not actually written by Lee himself. It was compiled and edited by Gilbert Johnson, a noted writer working for Black Belt at the time. A four-part book series titled, “Bruce Lee’s Fighting Methods” was published in the late 80’s or early 90’s (I don’t have a copy with me at this time so do not have the exact publishing date) by Ohara Publications. The text for this series books was put together by the publisher, Mito Uyehara, utilizing material from the Tao of JKD as well as other articles pertaining to JKD published by Black Belt magazine. Uyehara was both a student and good friend of Bruce Lee. In the late 1990’s Tuttle Publishing released a series of books containing Bruce Lee’s notes which were compiled and edited by John Little who worked in conjunction with the Bruce Lee estate. There have been countless books concerned with Bruce Lee and JKD published in the forty years since Lee passed away, including several I have written myself. But as far as Bruce Lee goes, he only wrote one. (Note -- For the sake of historical accuracy it has been noted that Bruce Lee did assist James y. Lee in writing the book “Wing Chun Kung Fu” which was published by Ohara Publications in 1972. However, his name does not appear on the book)." The biggest problem is people pick up the book and think they are reading what Lee actually meant. They aren't. It's not an instruction manual and quite possibly includes ideas that Lee actually decided not to use in his art. Great post, very good insight. So, I guess the questions I have are: if Bruce Lee were still alive today, would Tao of Jeet Kune Do have been published at all? If so, what would Lee have actually written in it? How much different would it be, how much different would the JKD art / community be? Also, since Tao appears to have been a sprucing up of Bruce's notes by Ohara and / or Black Belt, what has the JKD community done to clarify or mitigate what Bruce's actual beliefs and teachings are?

Very cool DIY striking dummy... I'm in the middle of acquiring and building a mobile makiwara based on some of Hawkmoon's great DIY tips, here: http://www.karateforums.com/diy-training-gear-vt45313.html