devil dog

Move out of the way. It's as easy as stepping to one side and as they pass they offer up a slew of targets. If your more of the grappling type step to the outside and as they pass throw them using their momentum. I understand that it is sometimes scary when someone like this attacks you but the number one component in any altercation is to keep your head so you can capitalize on their mistakes. By staying calm you can think clearly and your emotions do not cause you to make mistakes. Highly aggresive opponents usually get to emotional and go berzerk which is when they make stupid mistakes. If someone charges head first at you, their head is down. What better target? They do not see it coming and you can practice putting their head thru the up rights. On a more serious note; as a karateka you should not be looking for the altercation. If they are constantly engaging you then switch up your routine. If they wait for you then take a different route. The best way to end a fight is not to put yourself into one in the first place. You win everytime and no one goes to the hospital. The only reason I say this is because of the way you wrote the post seems like your looking for the fight. This never ends well especially if it is a group of guys. Best advice is to avoid them all together and if they do corner you maintain your composure and try to talk your way out of it. If that does not work be prepared to engage multiple opponents. If you take one down the others will want to take you on as well. Trust me I've been there. Like I said it doesn't end well.

I would not add takedowns to the test unless you have been taught them because you could injure someone if you do not know what your doing and even if you know what your doing. Our Soshi has a torn ACL because of a testing with one of his students. This student, according to Soshi, has extensive knowledge when it comes to take downs do to his back ground in other arts. However he still caught him wrong and his ACL is still torn. If you were to test with me and you added unnecessary takedowns that could jepardize your fellow students it would be an automatic fail in my book. If you were to hurt someone trying to execute things that you have not been taught it will be held against you and you will probably be viewed as reckless. Don't ask your Sensei or anyone else to double grade. If you're at that level, your Sensei will already know it without you trying to bring his attention to it. The test is to gauge where you are in your journey not where you want to be or think you should be.

With all due respect I do not think this kata is fake and I know it is not a goju ryu kata because I studied Goju Ryu for many years when I was younger. Based on my research this Kata is neither fake nor a Goju Ryu Kata. In fact it pre-dates Goju Ryu. Just because you have never heard of it does not mean a Kata is fake or new. I remember the first time a friend that was studying Shotokan was telling me the Kata he was learning. I had never heard of these names before but that did not mean they were fake. In fact many were the same Kata's I was learning in Shorin Ryu but with different names. There are many that have never heard of Hakutsuru but I can tell you they exist because we learn them in our system. Sorry but the last person I would ever consider to play a trick on me is our Kaiso or Soshi. No... this Kata is not fake or modern. Both Patrick McCarthy and George Alexander has made mention of this Kata and both indicate the 48 techniques of quan in the bubishi - #18 throw as being shown in the Wanduan Kata. In knowing what type of historians these two men are I tend to believe their research in such things. I have also read that masters such as Iwah, Gokenki, Wai Shin Zan to name a few taught this Kata or Quan. Again no disrespect meant but this is not a fake Kata as you indicated.

Well I did a little more reseach on it and found that it was one of the oldest Kata along with Channan and others that were taught to the original founders of Shuri Te and Tomari Te if the websites can be believed (gotta love the internet). I found a pictorial of the kata on someones website and it doesn't look to be too complicated. Maybe the Bunkai will prove differently however at first glance... not what I would consider advanced. Of course once the applications are revealed I may understand more about this Kata. I have not been able to find any styles that have it as part of their curriculum except one Shito ryu site which is in spanish which I do not speak so dead end there. I do know from my research that this Kata comes from Five Ancestor Fist practiced in the Shaolin Temple which pre-dates White Crane fist or Hakutsuru which means it pre-dates Matsumura, Sakugawa and Kusanku and therefore was not created by any of the Okinawan Masters. I have found several sites claiming that it was a well known Kata and that it was brought to Okinawa via the Chinese emissaries and was also taught in the Fuzou and Fukien Temples. I guess it is possible that our founder or someone in our lineage was taught this Kata and past it down to certain students rather than in the curriculum but I will have to ask to get more insight. I could think about this another way, in that, it is good that we still have it where we do not have others. Channan was said to have been taught to Matsumura but we do not practice this Kata today. So if this is an earlier Kata or foundational kata that others were structured from, I guess it's good that we still have it to study. It may even shed light on some of the other kata's and give us a better understanding of the applications. Who knows but it's exciting never the less. This is actually what I love about Karate. There is always something else to learn. You never truely know it all.

Tegumi is Okinawan grappling. I was told by Sensei that Kuda Sensei said that it is indigenous to Okinawa and apart of the original Ti arts of the Okinawan people as compared to Tode or Chinese Hand which gave root to Karate. As far as a relationship to Shima, I do not see a relationship after googling it. I would come to the conclusion that it is more of a recreational sport. No disrespect to any of you that practice this art. It's just my assessment based on 15 minutes of surfing the web. I'm sure it has more substance to it but from an outsiders perspective it looks more like a sport rather than an art for self defense.

Does any one here know this Kata? I can't find a single art that lists it. Our new Soshi told me and two other instructors that he would like to pass this Kata on to us. It's not in our list of Kata. He says that Sensei taught it to him and one other instructor and also said it is a Kata that is usually only taught to the highest of students. I have googled it and found a little history on the Kata but do not understand why it would be taught to us when it was not taught as apart of our curriculum. I have no idea if it was taught by the founder and was passed down as he said to the highest students. If this was so why would it not at least show up in the curriculum? Hakutsuru is apart of the curriculum and that was only taught to the highest students. I don't really get it but I am excited to learn something new so I will. Any insight or thoughts? Any additional history would be appreciated as well.

I could not have expressed this better. This is exactly how I feel about it. I do not have a set time frame that students test. We have a minimum time in grade for every rank in the students manual. I tell every new student that you must be superman or wonderwoman to meet this goal and that they will not be tested until I feel that they are ready and have met the requirements of the rank. I still have the occasional student get upset with me when they do not test within what they think is an appropriate amount of time. And they always use this minimum time as an example. Personally I wish the organization would remove these bench marks from the students manual. And I agree whole heartedly that the best students are the ones that feel that they are never ready no matter how much time they have been at a certain rank. They are the ones that meet the minimum later on in grades because of the attention to detail and hard work they put into it during the beginner grades. Well said and great insight. As I said I could not have said this any better and it hits the nail on the head.

Tricky question. The problem is there are a vast amount of different styles and different teachers and everyone has their own way of doing things. Even in the same art you may have different thoughts about what qualifies for rank. For me it is simple; can he perform at that level and does he have the knowledge befitting that level. In the end it really is up to the instructor and the organization to set the standards. The main goal for most is to learn how to defend oneself. If this gentleman is able to defeat others of equal or higher rank your sensei may take this into consideration over say Kata, terminology, kihon, etc. The danger here is at some point others that are learning their Kata, Kihon and Kumite will have a knolwedge base to draw from that trumps his and may overcome his natural ability. If he were in my organization he may be able to get through the Mudansha ranks but once he tested for Yudansha he would find himself held back. We require the signatures of three high ranking instructors besides the instructors on every Yudansha certificate so at this point his lack of ability in key area's or lack of knowledge would be readily apparent and he would not be promoted. Of course your organization may not operate this way and he could continue to climb the ladder just on his natural ability alone. But more importantly why should you give it a moments thought? The journey you are on is a personal one and the only persons skil you should be concentrating on is your own. It does not include or depend on what this other man does. If your Sensei thinks he is ready then he probably see's something that you do not. Instructors promote students for many reasons. I am sure that he has his reasons and there are extenuating circumstances that you are not privy too. In my mind there are two courses of action that you could follow; one would be to not worry about it and concentrate on your own training and the other would be to help this man if your truely feel that he is lacking in some area's. The later would be my suggestion but maybe that is the instructor in me talking. It already sounds like your Sensei has his mind made up so any other action would be a mute point. I would drop it and concentrate on my own training and how I am progressing. But like I said if it bothers you ask him if he needs help in those area's and help him. There is more to Karate than just learning to fight. It is also a pursuit to improve ones self and character. One way to improve your character is to help others. You may find an added bonus in doing so. Often times we learn more by teaching and helping others than we do just taking instruction. You actually start to really think about the techniques and this leads to a better understanding. So if you decide to help him out, you help yourself in the possess and it solves the issue altogether. Good luck.

Yes definitely. I love when you ask someone what they study and they say Karate. Mind boggling why they do not know what style they are learning. I do not agree with this. Tang Soo Do and TKD do use Karate to describe their art and you do see signs saying Karate but as others have stated this is I believe more for name recognition rather than a merge. Traditional arts like those I have studied had nothing to do with Korean arts. I can't speak for their systems but I have not seen a merge. Most traditional styles use the Japanese language to describe the techniques. However I have taken arts that use only english as well. I believe it's more a matter of tradition but if you do not wish to learn a second language there are plenty of schools that do not use or seriously ddown play the use of Japanese. As for me I do not mind it. I can take or leave it either way.

I agree and understand that there are those that only seek to further themselves by means of perception rather than substance. However I will never understand how they do not feel like frauds. I personally would feel like a first class idiot if I was actually at a lower level but wore a higher level and was passing myself off as the real deal. That would be akin to being a Shodan, starting your own art and promoting yourself to Judan. Do these people have any pride in their art and themselves at all? How can you feel any pride in anything just given to you especially when you do not deserve it and have not earned it? I'm perplexed and shocked at someone that I thought was a serious student of the arts. I'm even more frustrated and angry with myself for not being able to see what kind of person he was before now. I have always prided myself in teaching only those deserving. I do not teach as a means to make money so I do not need a ton of students and will chose to accept or not accept them based on an initial interview and though watching them in class. I only charge enough to keep the lights on, pay for insurance and pay the rent so I do not have to accept everyone that walks through the door and will not. I have told those with dishonorable intentions or those that are just there to get a quick belt to impress their freinds to take a hike on more than a couple occasions. But this guy just really made me look at myself and my down falls. How could I have been so stupid and blind to miss this guy right under my nose for four years that I trusted and valued as a student and future Yudansha? My students are like my family and I have to admit I am taking this hard. It reflects on my judgement and on me as an instructor. Anyway what's done is done and you can't change the past. I guess I need to take a hard look at myself and figure out if I have gotten too lax in my old age and what I can do to change it for the sake of my students.

Well that is food for thought. I guess if they were both equally knowledgeable and equally skilled I would chose the one with the additional experience. There is alot of good that can be learned from the ring. How to take a punch/kick and maintain your senses, how to control your emotions (which is hard for most young people and some adults), physical fitness, etc. However I do not think based on my experience that it out weighs good reality based self defense experience. Having said that if given the choice between two equal instructors I would probably pick the one with ring experience because it compliments the training as a whole and may give you the edge you need if you ever needed it. I am a firm believer in finding what works best for each individual. I tried as many arts as I could gain access to. Each and every discipline has something of worth that can be taken and made your own. This can only make you a better more well rounded Karateka. However I would not choose an instructor solely based on their ring experience. it's just my humble opinion but based on my experience it does not replace good common sense self defense. The problem that I would have with a system that puts heavy emphasis on the ring would be that there are rules inside the ring. There are things you can do and things you can not do. This limits you and builds in mental blocks that could get you seriously hurt or even killed in a street fight or out of ring confrontation. I teach self defense similarly to how I was taught in the Marine Corps. End the fight quickly because you never know if they have buddies waiting in the wings. Obviously we do not teach our students to use deadly force unless warranted but as I said in my previous post, ring experience is great but I always fell back on my self defense and tradional training. I agree that there is someone in the ring trying to knock you out to end the fight, but I also know that the mind set is different. Your opponent is trying to win a fight and knock you out not kill you. The violence of force is not the same in these two instances which is why I personally would choose a traditional based art with a good reality based self defense curriculum (Tegumi, Kumite, Tuite, Kyusho Jutsu, Etc.) over ring experience. IMHO they are just two different animals really! However it is a good compliment to any MA program and does have a lot of value and worth to it. And just a quick clarification. I am not trying to minimize your thoughts on ring experience. We all join the arts for different reasons and to get what we want out of it. If you have a good instructor and you love to get into the ring, then by all means thats what you should do. There is no wrong or right when it comes to what you want out of the arts. Only you can decide that. I am merely giving an opinion as food for thought. Look at Mike Stone, Joe Lewis and Chuck Norris. They made their entire careers on their time in the ring. Competion was what they loved. There is nothing wrong with that but if you are asking is ring experience a necessity for some one to be a good instructor or for others to learn under that instructor, I say no. It does not take ring experience to be a good instructor. In fact most of the old Sensei had zero experience in the ring including the aforementioned Karateka's instructors. Their experience was life or death. One of the greatest teachers I ever had the priviledge to study under, albeit a short time frame, was Hohan Soken. He had zero ring experience but I would think more than twice about attacking him and he was twice my age at the time.

Spot on and solid post! I totally agree with Wastelander. Makiwara and heavy bag practice are great for increasing your power. Start slow and concentrate on putting your body into the strike and not just your arm. Breathe out when striking. The speed will come once your muscle memory starts to develop and it becomes second nature. It doesn't happen over night. With all things, it takes time to get good at.

I kick boxed when I was in high school. Great experience but I found out latter in life that it does not always translate to real life because there are no rules and no referee or bell to stop the fight. When I joined the USMC I got into the occasional bar brawl and found this out first hand and ended up falling back on what I was taught in class and not in the ring. Kickboxing is great for getting into peak physical shape but I would not translate it to self defense just like I would not confuse point sparring with Kumite or a street fight. Just not the same animal. Here is what I do know... you do not need to be an expert fighter to be an excellent teacher. I had a teacher when I was young that was short and skinny and told us that he had never been in a fight in his life. When we sparred with him we would usually score more so than he would. However he had such a knowledge about the art that even though we would be able to score on him he would correct the way we were doing things and make us even better. This is not to say he was a push over by any stretch of the imagination. He could handle himself and he practiced what he taught. The difference was he was better at passing on that knowledge than he was implimenting it himself. Didn't make him any less of a great teacher in fact he may have been the best teacher I ever had now that I look back on it because his lessons still stick with me to this day. So no ring experience in my mind is not a prerequisite for teaching. Knowing your art inside and out and being able to logically explain it and show it to others in a way that they understand and benifit from it is.

Ok well I thought I would post an update. One of my students came to class last night and told me that he had ran into my ex-student. He was told that he had his Shodan test and was meritoriously promoted to Sandan and given the advanced classes. He also said that he had told him that he should join so he could be elevated to the rank he really deserves. Now as his last teacher I guess I should look at this as a compliment that my ikkyu was promoted in another art to Sandan. However this man has only been training there for a year (Actually less) and has been promoted to Sandan! It's not like he went to another Shorin Ryu school where the techniques and kata would be the same or similar and was promoted to Shodan. The art he has been learning is Korean. How does 4 years in my art and one year in this other art translate to instant Sandan? I hate to say this about someone I don't personally know that well but this other instructor is a flat out joke! The question I have is how does someone covet a belt or rank that much that they would ignore all of the red flags and accept something that they do not rate? Not only that but what is up with this school owner promoting someone that does not deserve the rank? I can not believe that giving a (possible) Shodan the rank of Sandan and allowing him to teach advanced classes could be good for his schools reputation or business. Any one that has training and holds the rank of Yudansha would realise that this man is not a Sandan. I hate to say it but they are a match made in heaven. He got a student that, it seems, only cares about the belt and rank, and the student got an instructor that is willing to down grade his art to make his students happy. Like I originally said... MCDOJO!!

Not sure I understand the question. The way the association is structured under Soshi is the board of instructors have pretty much all of the power and that power comes directly from the student body. If anything is to change (say fee's) then the instructor representing his portion of the student body take the vote to them and ask them to vote. Once the votes have been tallied and lets say the votes were a majority of yes votes, then the board instructor will in turn take that back to the board with a yes vote. Soshi has pretty much made it so that no one individual will have control of the association. We may at some point vote in a Soke, since Soshi turned the position down, but even at that point the new Soke will only take over Soshi's responsibilities. In order to change our by laws the entire association must vote and have no less than 80% in favor for the by laws to be re-written. As far as I can tell our student body is in good hands and have all of the power, indirectly of course, but they all have a equal vote including Soshi. There is no one person that has the power to change or implement anything without the boards and the student bodies approval.

Great speech. I got a god laugh and I agree with you but I'm old and grumpy too.

Sensei8, We went through a similar reconstruction but not really the same. Our Kaiso decided to retire and move to Okinawa where his wife is from and announced this a year before he decided to actually do it and did not make his intentions to name his senior student the new Soke. As a result he left and joined another association thinking that ours would become stagnant without the possibility of advancement. This sent our organization into a tailspin and the rats were ready to jump ship. Realizing this he announced that he would name his second most senior student Soke (which I pretty much covered in my Promotion without Warrant post). Any way everything worked out and the new Soshi put the control of the association in the hands of it's instructors and the board. We do not have the same rank guidelines as you. Our instructors can be appointed at Sandan as long as they meet the criteria. I took the advise about reading the by laws thoroughly and feel pretty comfortable now about where the association is headed. Soshi refused his position unless the by laws were ammended. Kaiso allowed this and I think he made it so that the association and the art came first and that no one person can dictate the direction of the association. Basically every two years instructors get nominated for the board. They can not ask to be nominated. The board takes all of the suggestions and 6 months prior to the new board vote they send this list out to all of the instructors to get their opinions. I am told this narrows down the list to about 20. The board then performs interviews with their students, parents and fellow instructors and this also narrows down the list to about half. This new list is then sent to every instructor and they are asked to vote for 8. These are then tallied to get the 8 most voted for instructors and they are then appointed. Once appointed they are assigned x number of schools that they will represent. This is done randomly like pulling names from a hat. If there are issues that require a vote the representing instructor must go to his assigned schools and get a yes or no votes. If their are more no votes than yes then he must vote no when in chambers with the board. The Soshi can at any time request instructors represented by a particular board instructor to resend their votes directly to him to verify that the board members are honestly representing their instructors wishes and not just voting the way they would like it to be. This keeps everyone honest when they know that they could be called out on the carpet for casting a fraudulent vote. Each members vote counts as one including Soshi and the Chairman. No one has over riding authority unless it concerns the art itself (Kata, Kihon, Kumite, Tegumi, Tuite, Kyusho, etc. and the changing or augmenting thereof). In these matters it takes a 100% unanimous vote from all board members and the Soshi can still overide the vote if he feels that it does not represent the best interests of the art and keeps within the original intent of the founder. The board has deciding authority on Teaching Licenses, Title Promotions, Kodansha Promotions, Soke appointment, and day to day business decisions and any and all decisions that effect the association it's instructors and students. Soshi wanted it this way so that no one person could dictate to the association body one way or the other. This way the governing body, all instructors and students have an equal voice in how the association is the proceed. This is a stark change from the way Sensei had set up the board where they had a vote but Sensei always had the final say. The other thing that makes me feel comfortable is the by law that states there is no rank in chambers and what happens in chambers stays in chambers. Roughly stated; I do not have more pull than say a Sandan and a Hachidan does not have more pull than me. If in chambers all instructors including Soshi are viewed as equals. If some one votes a certain way or counters anothers argument in chambers they can not demean that instructor once out of chambers and use their rank to sway them. This is grounds for immediate dismissal for which Soshi has the authoritative power. It sounds like this will be a unique experience and one that is designed to bolster the association versus individuals ego's. But I'll only be able to tell once I am appointed next month and have our first meeting. Either way I'm excited to contribute and honored that I was chosen.

They are the same but also very different. Isshin Ryu is Goju Ryu and Shorin Ryu combined. You will find that there are major influences of both. This may be different but you will also find a lot of value in it. The fist for example; Even though my main art is Shorin Ryu I still use the Isshin Ryu fist with the thumb tucked to the side because it strengthens the wrist. There are benifits to every art. Go take a few classes and find out if it's for you.

First off welcome. I see by your signature your a Marine so Semper Fi. It really depends on what you have available to you where you live. All martial arts will be benificial to both you and your kids. The best thing to do is talk to people to find out which schools are good and which schools are McDojo's. Talk to the instructors and to the students and ask straight forward questions. Find out if they are affiliated with any organizations and then do a little research. Find out if their art suits your needs and maybe take a few classes to try it out and see if you like it. The best thing to do is find a good school and just dive right in. You'll soon know whether it's right for you. And just a little food for thought; just because they have a ton of first place trophies adorning their walls and go to a lot of tournaments does not mean they have a strong foundation in reality based self defense. What works well in tournaments does not necessarily work well on the streets. Good luck in your journey!

It sounds like I'm going into politics the way you describe it. I don't mind saying I was pretty excited until reading this post. Something I should know about sitting on the board? From the way it has always been set up in the past 8 instructors are appointed/voted in every two years and the Kaiso (Soshi now that Sensei is retiring) and the Chairman of the board make 10 total. I am told it is very non-political and is structured towards the betterment of the association. I was also told that it takes a full unanimous vote of instructors to replace you before your two year term is up. I did not think about this as a cover myself type of situation but rather a chance to make a difference and participate in the betterment of the association for all of our schools, instructors and students. Sort of a meeting of the minds type of thing. Mix ideas and go back to the instructors and schools you represent and talk it over with them to get a common consensus and then put it to a vote. What do you know that I don't know? Should I reconcider my acceptance? I definitely do not want to get caught up into dirty politics and arguing with everyone over things that do not benifit the group as a whole, but I've been assured that everyone is in this for the common good of the whole association. I know from reading your posts you've been in the upper side of management so what can you tell me that I don't know?

Well I would love to go back but it's not up to me. My assocation makes those decisions. However I am being appointed to the board of instructors in September and will have a voice on these decisions but I doubt anyone else would want to make such a drastic change.

This is going to be hard for you to research because every art does things a little differently. I can try to help out from our teaching perspective only. We train two ways on the Makiwara. One would be difined as power. We start from the feet (the toes grip the ground), pushing off with the leg, twisting the hips, then the torso, then the shoulder and the arm is driven through the target. The second is what I believe you mean by snap. This is done in much the same fasion except the hand (knuckles) only impact for a split second and is pulled back (we call this the pulling hand but this is meant for another discussion). The idea of the first is to drive through the opponent. This is shear force. The second is energy transmittion. In the first scenario some of the force is transmitted back to you. Think of hitting a heavy bag with all you have while driving through the bag. You feel the weight of the bag come back on you. In the second scenerio the force is focused into the target and because your hand is removed it can not transmit back to you, leaving the full impact on the target. We use a 6' 2x4 that is set about 18" into the ground and is wedged at the bottom. This causes a whipping action when hit (it springs back on the user). In the first scenario your knuckles hit twice, once when you hit the makiwara and once when it rebounds the energy. In the second scenario your knuckles only hit onces leaving all of the energy in the makiwara which can be seen when the post vibrates back and forth. This inflicts all of the damage on the opponent and not on you. Not sure if this helps you but it's be best way I can desribe how we employ these principles. Hope it helps you out.

Jaypo, I could not agree with you more. When I started we had two belts. White and Black. The only way to differentiate was by see their skills. The Yudansha and Kodansha ranks were the same minus Kanji or up to three stripes to notate there teaching license. Now we have the rainbow (White, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Green, Brown, Black) and the Yudansha and Kodansha have four seperate belts they can wear to signify Renshi, Shihan, Kyoshi and Hanshi. Personally I liked it when it was just White and Black. When I was a teenager we adopted a four belt rank system similar to Matsubayashi Ryu (White, Green, Brown, Black). I was so excited to get a Brown belt to signify my achievements. The problem is it became more about the belt than about the skill and knowledge. Tests were a formality back then and it was more to prove that you had learned and became proficient in the techniques that had been taught, kind of like quizes in school rather than a stepping stone to another belt. I agree with you whole heartedly that it has become about the belt rather than the individuals skill and knowledge. Granted you must have the knowledge and skills to advance but it's surprising how many Brown belts have to go back to brush up on there basic skills before testing for Shodan. It's like a race to get to the next group of techniques and the old are maybe not forgotten but certainly not as important (because they are some how beneath their new level). We used to go home and practice all of the techniques for hours, even the basics, especially the basics. Kids (in my art fourteen to eighteen) today have to be prodded to keep practicing the basics. It's almost like, "I already learned that so why keep practicing". Which is why those students may take up to 5-7 years to be ready for Shodan. We tell them but it goes in one ear and out the other, and when they get to the intermediate Kyu levels and we start looking for mastery of the basics, they figure out that all of our preaching wasn't just to hear ourselves talk and they realize they are well behind those that did listen to us. It's a different generation and it's hard to understand them. I think it boils down to lazyness. They would rather play video games, play on their phones or watch the TV rather than perfect their Kata or Kihon. Personally I would love to go back to the old ways. I'd loose a lot of students but the ones who stayed would be the hard core students that put knowledge, skill and self perfection above belts. I think it would be refreshing to know that your whole class is there for the right reasons. But I guess that will be left up to people well above my rank. I have tried to illustrate my point to them by wearing a white belt during classes, in fact I wore one for almost two months at one point. When asked I tell them that the belt doesn't make me any better or worse and it doesn't make me who I am. My skill and knowledge and years of blood, sweat and tears do. I get the funniest looks and have been asked on more than one occasion "why would you wear that belt!" as if it wear a plague. I have frequently asked my intermidiate ranks and Yudansha ranks if the belt makes me any less skilled or knowledgeable and if so would they like to test their theory and I would use only basic techniques. I have yet to get any takers but I'm not sure that they truely understand my intent. I have tried to also explain that the foundation techniques if mastered could trump the advanced techniques if the practitioner where only proficient. I have demonstrated this several times with my Nidans and Sandans which is when they finally start to realize that without a very strong mastery of the foundation (basic) techniques their advanced techniques will never be perfected. The foundation techniques are what all of the advanced techniques are built on. I end by telling them that a white belt that has spent 5 years perfecting the basics could defeat a black belt that has never spent the time to perfect each belt before moving to the next. You should see the cross stares I get but it does sink in to a few and those are the few that would stick around if belts were removed from the picture.

I guess I agree with that statement. It is very possible that the application of the techniques were flawed. But I'm sure you could agree with me that we have all experienced those techniques that do not work and it does make the student wonder about the validity of that technique. In fact I had dismissed certain hand strikes and kicks as a younger man that I now use because I discovered that I was not implementing them correctly. On the other hand there were certain kicks I loved to do as a younger man that I would not attempt anymore because I found the fundamental flaw in their application (atleast for me). I think it really comes down to experiences. My trash may be anothers treasure and vise versa. We teach them all but I can not say that I would use certain ones with any amount of confidence because they have not worked on me and I have not been able to get good results using them on others. I know the value of the art and respect what the applications can do however I still believe that besides a few most of these applications are next to impossible to employ on a moving, violent opponent. But they do have merit and we do use and teach them. I guess I should not have used the phrase chuckled. It was demeaning to the art of Kyusho Jutsu. No disrespect was intended.

Ours is similar; Terminology both in Japanese and English History Kihon Kata Kumite Tuite Tegumi Bunkai Kyusho -Jutsu Of course these very depending on the grade. Also we have a written essay for Yudansha ranks to display their knowledge of the art and oral questions for the Mudansha ranks.