CredoTe

Since we've swerved a little into outraged / FLAMING TROLLS...lol I found this "how to be outraged" (flaming / trolling) that is worth a good laugh... Make sure you check out the hilarious / ironic comments posted at the bottom of the blog post. http://thepessimist.com/2013/08/07/how-to-be-outraged-on-the-internet/ (No, I'm not much of a pessimist...just where I found it...lol)

12 Aug 13: Core & strength: knuckle pushups, leg-lifts (lying on back), burpees Body conditioning: training advanced kyu students in breathing technique to absorb blows to abdomen Endurance: rapid execution of strikes, kicks, etc on bags / target mitts until pass fatigued 13 Aug 13: Core & strength 100+ kicks with each leg in various combos (front, side, roundhouse, back)

Welcome to KF! May you find and share knowledge and wisdom...

WOW. JUST WOW. I'm just sooo offended now....lol

Glad we could be of some assistance... Absolutely... couldn't agree with you more

We began discussing "Dojo Disease" in an interesting topic, IMHO, posted by bassaiguy here: http://www.karateforums.com/dojo-disease-vt45017.html The discussion was regarding students that aren't active partners and basically just go through the motions. That thread led to some philosophical questions that I had, in which I created another thread that expounded upon this idea of "Dojo Disease". The expansion merely questioned whether or not Dojo Disease is related to, or is the same as, "just going through the motions". My expansion thread can be read here: http://www.karateforums.com/dojo-disease-going-through-the-motions-vt45333.html Well, now, I would like to pose a follow-up discussion that aims at what I think is the larger issue. From my Dojo Disease & Going Through the Motions thread, sensei8's post swerves into this larger issue: So... To fully posit, the idea in our society that "short-cutting" to any known goal (in our case, becoming a "black belt" / MA) is better, more efficient, more economical than going on the full journey has created the McDojo. In turn, the McDojo, in order to show their customers (students) they're getting their money's worth and to "coddle" their customers' skill level, just promote belt levels de facto. Essentially, McDojos = Black Belt Factories. In turn, these Black Belt Factories, in order to further ingratiate themselves with their students and to further "coddle" their students' skill levels, tend to encourage "Dojo Disease" because I think it leads to "Tournament-itis". This Tournament-itis is developed in students who are taught to believe in winning trophies at tournaments (some students inherently believe in winning trophies). So, Tournament-itis is a Dojo Disease in which students train specifically to win trophies at tournaments. To clarify, "tournament" as I use the term does not include any sort of hardcore competition like K1, full-contact kumite, MMA, or the like. Furthermore, McDojos / Black Belt Factories and their propensity for Tournament-itis, IMHO, are a major contributing factor in the stigma that Karate / traditional MA are useless; useless on the street, useless versus MMA, or useless in the MMA (for this, I know there are now some MMA'ers emerging that have Karate backgrounds, but this emergence seems more recent). Remember, I'm not making a futile style vs. style discussion...this is not about Karate / traditional MA vs MMA. The MMA movement figured everything out by itself for itself. They rightfully found a niche market that "originally" served people who were disillusioned by the McDojos / Black Belt Factories. Now, they've grown into their own behemoth that churns out some of the top athletes of the world. We, as Karate / traditional MA, need figure out our future for ourselves by ourselves and not look at anyone but ourselves. If we do not do this, I fear that Karate / traditional MA, particularly the Te (Ti), will die off forever... -----> -----> What do you think or feel? What can we do, if anything, to change this issue? Can we better organize or market our Karate / traditional MA without just becoming a different form of MMA gym? Or, is that what we precisely need to do, to become a variant of an MMA gym? Again, what must we change to keep our MA alive? I really don't want the Te (Ti) / Karate to die... *Steps down from soapbox now...*

Do you have a video or link to video showing the kata? Do you have any background information on the kata you can provide?

Absolutely... That's a rule that applies to everyone coming into our dojo, as well.

Biggest part of any fight (competition) or street situation is mental / psychological. Most situations end before they get physical because one party has enough mental fortitude to either deescalate the situation or "psyche out" / intimidate the other party into giving up...

We don't insist that our youths' parents bow in and out of the front door, but most of them usually end up doing it anyway after a month or two of attendance... Their kids do it, they see other students (kids / youth and adults) do it, they see us instructors do it, and they eventually do it, themselves. Kind of a "lead by example" thing for us...

Congrats!

Glad to see you survived! So, was your victory a "happy accident" or "intentional chaos"? Lol... jk... Takes great courage to do that... well done

Yes, it most certainly has applications. In Okinawan Karate-Do (Japanese styles do this, as well), we have what is called kakie. It trains students in sticky hands / weighted hands similarly to Chi Sao.

And from: Oops... sorry sensei8, maybe we're getting off topic, and I need to rectify my earlier post..? Yes... IMHO, bowing belongs in our dojo. My previous post contains details why do bow (as well as what we're not bowing for...)

Yes... We bow entering or leaving the dojo, entering or leaving the training deck, beginning and ending class to our Shinzen and then to we the instructors and then everyone to everyone. To clarify, I do not subscribe to the notion that "respect goes up from lower ranks to higher ranks / yudansha, and no disrespect goes down." In other words, all lower / kyu ranks must "respect" all the higher ranks / yudansha, and as long as a higher ranked student / yudansha doesn't deliberately "disrespect" a lower ranked student, then protocol is followed. To me, this is a cop-out. To me, bowing is more than a sign of respect to those that came before us in MA, it is also a sign of respect from one human to another. Just because my instructor and I outrank the other students doesn't mean we can ignore respect towards them. They're still humans. For me personally, IMHO, when I bow to my students, I am respecting them for the gift they give me; that gift is willful submission to my instruction and authority. The instant I disrespect / abuse that gift, I lose integrity and credibility, and my students will leave.

I'm definitely with you regarding Jubei... Also, "Nameless" from Hero, and...Mr. Miyagi of course! Another 2 that make my list: Uncle Iroh and Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Good luck... I shall say a little prayer for you...

To accommodate work schedules of our adult students and parents of youth, we start class at 6:30pm. It's not so bad for the youth students, because they're whisked home by their parents, but with the adult students, sometimes we're training as late as 9:00pm. By the time we get the dojo cleaned, swept, deck mopped / sanitized, I'm not home til after 10:00pm some nights. I experience similar issues, and yes, it's because of training so late. If I can't fall asleep and meditation / prayer doesn't calm me enough, I will take a natural melatonin supplement. That works...

Unintended private lessons like that (when no one else shows for class) are usually a great boon to both the instructor and the student, as long as they only happen every once in a while. If they happened often, then the school would soon be out of business! We only do private lessons by special appointment, and then our fees for private lessons vary depending on what the student wants out of training. Do they want the full extent of traditional Matsubayashi-Ryu Karate-do? Do they just want an abbreviated version that only includes self-defense training? Etc... Yep... Our policy is once a student becomes a Shodan, monthly fees are waived and s/he may attend class and train for free. The trade-off is s/he is required to teach / help with class.

I was on a different forum that was Matsubayashi-Ryu / Shorin-ryu specific for a while, but it lost funding or something and was shut down. I searched and lurked for several months on a handful of forums, including KF, before I registered and started posting here; I needed to ensure this place was troll-free... Similar to what blacknebula said: I mean, who needs trolls yelling at you with "WOW. JUST WOW" or "DIE IN A FIRE" or some similar rotgut just because you want to have a civilized discussion and happen to disagree with them on something? (For some reason, to be a troll, you must use ALL CAPS when yelling PHRASES LIKE THAT...lol )

Absolutely... No hurries, no worries ...another reason I didn't venture out on my own. As Qui-Gon Jinn told Obi-Wan, "You have much to learn, my young Padawan." CredoTe <--- Nerd! Lol...

Name in kanji on one, style on the other. I believe in those cases the stripes represent the titles of Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi. If we're thinking of the same thing, that is--it could certainly be something else. My sensei told me about an organization where they give one stripe for every 3 dan ranks, so they could really be anything. In traditional Matsubayashi-Ryu, stripes on black belts are only permitted for Rokudan and above. Those Godan and below aren't allowed anything other than their names and style. Also, the "colored" black belts (red / black, white / red, etc) are not used. There are Matsubayashi schools in which some of their seasoned black belts have these colored black belts, but these schools are not typically a part of the WMKA...

100% accurate... My MA journey has been going for about two-and-a-half decades, now, but because I'm less than middle-aged, some of our adult students over the years didn't take me seriously or outright ignored anything I tried to teach them. Even now, people say I look young (I'm not that young), and I think my perceived age plays a role in some of our adult students' acceptance of my experience / knowledge... I'm forced to "prove my pudding" to our adult students on a somewhat regular basis... That's an interesting one. So, if you are not yet middle aged but have studied for 25 years, conservatively that puts you at 14 when you started (or younger)? Is there a perception that what you learn / do as a kid training - doesn't really count - as you were more than likely doing by rote – as opposed to a cerebral process of internalisation? IE. You understand what you are doing and why? I only ask as I have heard this mentioned before... K. Yes, I was younger than 14 (I'm in my 30s now) when I started in MA. You have a point regarding rote vs. internalization. It may very well be that the adults I encounter that ignore my instruction "do not count", as you say, my kid years in MA... very insightful, thank you. This is actually one of the primary reasons I have not ventured on my own and opened my own dojo. My instructor, who is the chief instructor at our dojo, is a business partner, as well, and we opened our dojo together. I firmly believe that if I were to open a dojo on my own, prospective adult students would take a look at me and think, "what does this guy know about fighting? He doesn't look old enough to [fill in blank]". The only reason, IMHO, they give me the time of day is because my instructor backs me and out of dojo etiquette / respect. I'm no master, but I've understood many things in my MA for a while, now (of course, I still have much to learn ). If I only counted the years that I've understood my MA from an internalization aspect, then my "experience" maybe drops to 15 - 20 years. I include wisdom from experience in that number because it was about 16 years ago that I encountered my first real street situation. BTW, I appreciate your directness. You won't offend me...

Welcome Looks like your 31+ years on your MA journey will add to the great pool of experience here!

OK Thanks for the clarification