devil dog

My Sensei's favorite expressions are; "I'm old and frail, whats your problem" and "Do it once more and it might get easier, if it doesn't keep trying it until it does" and "if you woke up and put your feet on the floor this morning you have nothing to complain about" and "no ones thrown dirt on you, so I assume your not dead, now get up and do it again" and "don't try - do" It's like having Yoda for a teacher but maybe a slightly more sadistic version. You gotta love old guy logic though. LOL! The problem is I hear myself uttering these same words and I get the same looks from my students as we gave him. I guess that makes me the old man now.

I appreciate the sentiments and advice. I must say Spartacus hit the nail right on the head. After reading the replies it affirms that I made the right decision. I kept thinking how out of character this was for this guy and thought there must be some underlying reason. Well I decided to call him (I know it should have been him making the call to apologize) and instead got his wife. We talked for a while and I found out that he had been going to what I would call a McDojo for the last year and had mentioned to her and their daughter that it takes too much time to get rank at my school. Apparently he will be testing for Shodan in two weeks and has been teaching classes for the last three months. (Shodan in a year??) I thanked her for her time, I told her that her daughter could return if the other school did not work out and wished them all the best of luck. Unfortunately I know the school she was refering to and the best that I can say about it is it's a belt factory. The chief instructor wanted me to join his school for a guaranteed two belt promotion over my current rank without testing or having taken a single class. He said something about having me as his student would cement his standing with in certain circles. I told him that it was an insult to even suggest such a thing and that it came off as a bribe to me. I turned him down and have not heard from his since. The real problem was his school is not even of the same country much less the same style. As I said the best I can describe it is McDojo. I came away from that call thinking that he had probably had this confrontation and end result in his mind for a while and was building up to it. I guess his daughter not having the necessary skills was the perfect opportunity. It's a shame because he was well within reach of his Shodan this year. I guess it's for the best but I don't understand why he just didn't tell me that he was unhappy and had decided to make a move. I would have shook his hand and wished him luck on his journey. He wouldn't have been the first student that I have lost to this used car salesman. Now I have to wonder how good my judgement in students is. I have always prided myself in being able to read the true intentions of others and this guy had me completely fooled. I wonder how many students have just been able to put on a good act in front of me? I would have promoted this guy to Shodan thinking he was of good character. Here is dishonest as the day is long. The real problem is I have been doing this for well over 30 years and apparently I don't know my students. I think it's time to get more involved into teaching and getting to truely know my students. Good eye openner if nothing else. Definitely taught me a lesson.

Oh and I forgot to mention that some of these techniques do not work. I said I've been knocked out but I have also chuckled to myself when they were attempted on me and nothing happened. Again find a qualified teacher. I'd hate for you to put full confidence in this and find out it doesn't work. Especially when it counts. We practice around 50 points and I would only use 12 in an actual confrontation.

First I have to warn you this is not something you learn by trial and error. We have Kyusho Jutsu as apart of our Yudansha curriculum. I have experienced the side effects and have practiced it on others. If you do not have a skilled teacher this can be very dangerous to practice. We have had guest instructors knock guys out and not be able to revive them. It works differently on different people and some are more susceptible than others and can have very dramatic adverse effects. I'm not saying that you are going to kill someone but it is possible that you could injure someone severely if you do not know the proper amount of force and the proper angle and with what technique to use to practice it safely. There are basic points that cause major pain or discomfort that can be used in day to day practice along with Tuite without ill effect but you need to be taught where they are and how to attack them and which points to stay away from for everyday practice. Just my 2 cents but it would be better to find a qualified teacher (tons out there and in fact there are entire styles that put huge emphasis on Kyusho) than to find willing practicioners that may or may not have the knowledge. Oh and I've been told by those much more knowledgable than me that if your over 40 you do not want someone employing these techniques on you. This is not magical, it's science and it works. Believe me I have had a headache for an entire day that felt like an ax split my skull from being knocked out with a vital point. But without the proper training you could unintentionally hurt your partners. You need to find a teacher that not only knows the points, how to attack them, and with what technique and at what angle but also knows how to revive you and more importantly how to practice it safely.

A couple of weeks ago one of my parents pulled me aside and told me to stop disrespecting his daughter. I asked him what he meant and he replied that I had passed up his daughter several times for testing and he felt that was disrespectful towards him and his daughter. I must explain that he is also one of my students (Ikkyu). I explained to him that she did not have the physical skills to perform some specific techniques that were required for advancement to the next grade. I explained that this is nothing to worry about as everyone develops at different paces and that she would eventually catch up. I explained to him what she needed help on and that he could help here progress faster if he helped her, but instead of doing what I would expected any student to do and say he would help her, he cursed me and told me that if I did not test her he would pull himself and his daughter out of class. I tried to remain calm and understand his rage. I have kids myself and understand how difficult it is when they get disappointed but I would not demand my Sensei test my kid after he explained why he wouldn't. I took a breath and explained that if I made an exception for his kid I would have to make exceptions of all of my students. (Side note his kid is 15 years old and should not be throwing hissy fits at home but...) I explained that it was his right to make that decision and that if that was the way he felt some other dojo may be a better fit for the two of them. To that he cursed again and walked out. Well last week the man showed up to one of my classes. I waited until after class to confront him. When I started walking towards him he almost tripped over his own feet trying to get out of the door before I stopped him and asked why he was back. I expected an apology but instead he said he decided to return to classes and pull his kid from my class and put her into one of my assistants classes. He explained that he was his friend and he would treat his daughter fair and give her a chance to test. I explained to him that she was not ready and until she was she would not test. In fact at this point I was a little befuddled by his attitude. I told him that she was welcome to take my assistants class but that he would not judge her any more harshly or any more lenient than I had. I explained that there are requirements and unless met she would not be invited to test. At this point he cursed me again which is when I told him that she would be welcome back because she had not as of yet done anything wrong. As for him, I asked him to leave and told him that he was not welcome back. Now to explain a little further this man has been with me for 3 and a half years and has always been very respectful to me, my assistants and the other students. He has never said a cross word and has always been a very hard core student, staying after class to ask questions and I could tell he trained at home and not just at the dojo. This whole situation took me off guard and I'm not sure if I should have given him the benifit of the doubt and pulled him aside to ask him what was really bothering him since this was outside of his normal character. The problem is we try to teach respect and having him talk to me or anyone else that way is not acceptable which is why I told him he was not welcome back. I called our new Soshi and asked him if I handled this correctly and he said that I made the right decision based upon my explaination but also asked why the sudden change in his personality. This got me to thinking whether I may have acted before thinking things through and also made me wonder if I had wronged him or her in someway other than not allowing her to test. My question is would you have handled this differently? If so how? A little more info - we do not have a set testing schedule. We evaluate each student and when we feel they are ready we invite them to test. He actually progressed faster than his friend that joined at the same time so I would think he understands this. I feel now that maybe I should have cooled down and let cooler minds prevail so I could get to the root of the issue. I have talked to him in the past about his daughter when she was doing just enough to get by and I have also brought her physical limitations to the forefront in previous converstations and he did not give any indication that he took these remarks personally or that I disrespected him or her in someway. In fact each time he said he would work with her and that the issue would be resolved. He even thanked me for giving him pointers on how to help her and for bringing it to his attention. She has not returned (not a surprize) and it just makes me wonder if that was the right course of action at the time. I will say if it was anyone else I would not be torn in my decision but it was just so out of character for this man.

I think everyone to some degree emulates their teacher but whether intentional or not we all teach slightly different than our teachers. It may have to do with personality or limitations in body structure or just the way you explain things as opposed to the way your teacher does or it maybe due to influences from other arts. It's inevitable that things will change and that is not a bad thing. There are some that think that in order to be traditional you must preserve what has been handed down exactly as it was handed down. Thats great but unless you clone yourself into your teacher this will not happen. They do not understand the true history of their arts. The arts are ever changing and improving. The founders took what they were taught and added additional learning to create their art. Take Okinawan karate for example, lets say my art, Sokon Matsumura took what he learned from his family system of Ti and incorporated what he learned from Kusanku, Chinto, Kanga Sakugawa, Iwah, Wai Shin Zan and the Shaolin Temple to create his art. He then passed it down. If anyone thinks it stayed absolutely in tact as the art he passed down, they are very much mistaken. It was a common practice to search out other teachers to broaden your base of knowledge and develop your own style of teaching. This did in fact have an impact on what was taught. We can see this through the inclusions and reductions of kata from each teacher in the line of lineage. This is evidence that other teachers/arts were involved. The point is whether the art changes due to other influences or whether it changes due to the way you teach compared to your teacher, it's a natural process and a necessary process. If you are a traditionalist as I am you try to maintain the teachings and pass them down in tact as much as possible but there are always going to be differences and that is just the nature of the arts. Ulimately whether you want to or not you will change the way it is taught unless you and your Sensei have the same body and brain. You will add your flare and personality to the art and find your own teaching style. If this where not true then explain why all Sensei of a given art do not teach exactly the same. In order to progress and become a well rounded martial artist you have to inject yourself and your experiences into the art and thus into the way you teach. We do not set out as teachers to make clones of ourselves. We want you to find your own way on the path. We only guide you we do not dictate how you walk the path. You can maintain the core foundation of your art as it was passed down but inevitably you will teach the art differently than your teacher and your students will teach it differently than you. This doesn't mean go and change the Kihon, Kata, Tegumi, Tuite, etc. It means that you will teach differently and that may be a great thing that changes the way people perceive the art. We have all had teachers that where an encyclopedia of knowledge but that did not necessarily make them a great teacher or even a good teacher. Then you have those that can explain things and have a better common sense understanding of how things fit and they teach us in a manner that greatly progresses our understanding of the art. If they both had the same Sensei does that mean one way of teaching is right and one way is wrong? If you could learn from their Sensei you would find that he teaches similary to them but still teaches differently. It's human nature. We are not robots we are individuals with our own personalities, likes and dislikes and we all teach the way we perceive as right.

First off, SEMPER FI! Second if your joining the reserves you'll be right back in your state after boot camp and get stationed at a reservist base close to where you live so what you have in your town will be what you will be stuck with after boot camp. It's too bad your not getting stationed at Lejeune in NC. There is just about every flavor of MA you could ever want. No Matsubayashi Ryu when I was there but just about everything else in the way of Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, etc. martial arts. I agree with Credo. Depending on how close you are to the Ohio border there is a huge Matsubayashi Ryu presence. Our Soshi said he took Matsubayashi Ryu in Cincinnati OH when he was a kid and I know there is a huge presence the further noth you go. I also agree that Shotokan (Japanese Karate) has stark differences from Matsubayashi Ryu (Okinawan Karate). The stances are deeper and less natural. They tend to pay attention to the level/plain of your head as you move from one technique to the next and their Kata although similar is different in it's practice. However if you do not have access to Matsubayashi Ryu any MA can be benificial to you. I have studied several arts and they all have their benifits and I got something out of all of them. Believe it or not you will actually learn things about your own art like it's strengths and weaknesses through the study of others. I believe it helps make you a more well rounded MAist. But thats just my opinion. Anyway good luck Marine.

I don't teach kids under the age of 12 but my classes are broken down as follows; Sandans and above 3 hrs on Monday, 3 hrs of Wednesday and 2 hrs on Saturday. Hachikyu to Nidan 2 hrs two to three nights a week. Some of the younger students parents opt to only let them train for an 1-1/2 which is fine because they start to loose focus. If I were to teach kids under 12 I would probably limit it to an hour or an hour and a half. It's not my decision though since my organization will not allow us to take kids younger than 12. It actually used to be 14 yrs old but that was changed about 10 years ago when Sensei's grandson wanted to start learning so he changed the age. I am actually hoping that our Soshi changes this to all ages when our Kaiso/Sensei retires but I doubt he will.

I don't feel that they are trying to make themselves feel more important or trying to come off like they are smarter that their students. I assume by senior Dan's you mean Kodansha (Nanadan to Judan). If this is the case you have to realize that often times these are the instructors that are teaching the Yudansha who are themselves teachers. When you get to a certain level the generic names are replaced with more technical words. I had a teacher years ago when I was in the Corps that taught the Yudansha classes and had his assistants teaching the Mudansha classes. Our instructor was ill for about two weeks and he filled in for our classes. He was brilliant and highly skilled but I doubt very seriously any of us learned much of anything. This would have been the classes of a life time if any of us could have followed what he was saying. He often times got frustrated with us and just told us to work on our Kata because he had lost the touch of teaching those that did not have the foundational knowledge to be able to understand the words he was using and the explaination of techniques he was trying to teach us. He was just on a different plain. I have had this same problem. When you are teaching those that teach you tend to go into less detail because they already have the basic foundations. When you switch and start to teach those that haven't the first clue then it is up to the instructor to be able to not only spot their students blank stares (because most will not tell you they have no idea what you just said) but also to be able to include those things you expect your Yudansha to already know. I have caught myself doing this and if your really paying attention you'll hear the crickets and see the blank stares. Of course their are those that do this as a means of showing their students that they are smarter but I think this is less the case in most instances. Now the instructors that talk as if wispering to a mouse is a whole seperate issue in my mind. These individuals should not be teaching. I believe this is an indication of two things; one lack of knowledge of the subject and two lack of self confidence which could be because of the first. Then there are those that get very quiet when in front of other Yudansha or Sensei. These are the instructors to stay away from. If you try to keep the same or higher ranks from hearing your lessons that usually means you are a fraud. Personally I find it hard to understand how these individuals are awarded an instructors license. I have visited other styles and schools in the past and have experienced these instructors. I have on occcasion walked up to the instructor and respectfully said that the students can not hear the instructions and ask them to speak up. Some do and you find out that they are just soft spoken but some do not and these are the individuals that do not belong teaching. If you can not speak loud enough and clearly enough for your students in the back to hear you, much less the ones in the front of class, then you lack in confidence and that is usually because you haven't the first clue of what you speak of or you do not know if what you are teaching is correct. We actually have all of our aspiring Sensei teach in front of several classes while being monitored by their instructor and then in front of the board of instructors. They all get told to speak up if anyone can not hear or understand their directions. If told more than once we figure that either they lack the confidence to teach in front of others or that they do not know the subject that they have been asked to teach. Either way they are not granted their instructors license until they can prove that they have the self confidence to do so. If you do not have confidence in what you are teaching it is impossible for your students to have any confidence. This is a recipe for disaster and will lead to students that are not confident in the techniques, their instructor or themselves. Thats if they can hear enough to learn anything in the first place. IMHO it's easy to spot an instructor with a lack of knowledge. They get louder when they feel confident in what they are teaching and quiet when they lack in confidence or knowledge of what they are teaching. Just my 2 cents.

We start with Kata, then teach them bunkai. We break the bunkai down into three seperate parts. First we have them perform the kata against opponents and utilize the techniques for what they think they are. This allows them to see if the technique actually works for the intended application or if it just does not make sense. Then the student is shown the technique for what it is and how it applies whether it is a strike, block, throw, joint lock, etc. This gets the students mind going and they start to realize that there are various applications for each technique. The final stage is allowing the student to examine and difine what they feel best works for a designated technique or group of techniques in the kata. This is very much the same thing you speak of. Bunkai is used to break down and analyze the kata. This allows the student to engage and work out techniques and applications for themselves and thus allows the student self discovery. We test on the second form of bunkai up to Ikkyu. After that the student is asked to provide their interpretation and not only show the progression but discuss it in great detail complete with what type of application it works for and what applications it does not work for. Both pro's and cons. Strengths and weaknesses. It's surprizing how much you can actually learn from your students. They see things with a different perspective that you may never have thought of before. Bunkai is a very valuable core part of Karate and personally I Kata without Bunkai is not Kata but merely an exercise.

Sensei 8, I love the idea's. Especially the reward program. What student doesn't want to punch their sensei? I can also see why you are very hard on them. Making them earn it makes them want to do everything right. Love it.

Our new Soshi sent out some information to get us to start thinking about comparable techniques from other styles to what we have in ours by a comparitive study. He highlighted Tuite and Tegumi as a comparison to Hapkido and Judo. He had taken Judo years ago and noticed the similarities between Judo throws and Tegumi (grappling, wrestling and takedowns). Recently He started taking Hapkido from one of his students that holds a Dan ranking in it and noticed that it had a lot of similarities to Tuite and Tegumi. He sent pictures of the applications for comparison. I have noticed this in other arts as well. My question is do you think they originally came from Karate or at some point in time did they become incorporated into Karate? Since Tuite and Tegumi date back to the original Te/Ti/Di styles of Okinawa I would think they probably came from Karate and were incorporated into these styles and either remained the same, changed or improved upon. What do you think?

Very nice. Love the fact that your looking for the hidden applications in Kata's. Well done.

I called our Soshi and was corrected. The Tsumasaki Geri was the only kick taught and it was taught from the start. It was changed 20 years ago by his Sensei and the ball of the foot was incorporated for lower ranks.

We utilize the toe kick (Tsumasaki) in our art (Matsumura Shorin Ryu but we do not teach it until Nikyu. In our art it is an advanced kick. I have also heard that this was the old style of kicking and that all okinawan arts utilized it. I know that Matsubayashi Ryu utilizes it as well. What style of Shorin Ryu do you study? Shorin Ryu is pretty broad like saying you study Karate.

Everyone trains and teaches differently. What you feel is extreme, some may feel isn't enough. Personally I do not feel you have a dog in the hunt. Your student went to him for direction making him this other instructors student as well as yours. I have trained in old school (hard lessons learned) dojo's and in modern (no contact or light contact) and have got something out of all of them but much prefer the old school training to the modern. Personally I think it's up to your student to decide if he has issues with this other instructor. I do not fell this is your place to go and talk to him. Who knows the teacher could have demonstrated this several times and your student may not have been paying attention or too slow to react. Things happen in training which is why we use liability waivers. I don't know one student or instructor that can say that they haven't been hit hard or been injured during their training. Accidents happen. It's nothing to get upset about. If he doesn't want to be hit he should be looking for another activity. Even in modern dojo's accidents happen.

If the visiting instructor was a higher rank your Sensei should have stopped him and pulled him to the side away from the students and explained to him the error of his ways. If you outrank him it is well within your rights to do the same thing. Either way something should have been said to make sure this instructor knows the proper way to address someone elses class. Whether right or wrong he had no business correcting you in front of your students. No humility or respect what so ever. Being a Yondan I would think that etiquette and proper respect would have been already drilled into his head. That type of ego would not be tolerated in my dojo. He would have been respectfully asked to revise his statement or I would have shown him the door and told him never to return. IMHO it was your Sensei's place to correct him and absolutely should have.

Zaine, I appreciate your point but I must respectfully disagree in some respects. I am sure that some parts of the country are different than others. However I have been in the arts since I was 8 years old and I can tell you that there is a definite difference in the generations. Our parents did not make excuses for us nor did they go to bat for us when we were out of line. I would imagine that most of the instructors on this forum have had behavior issues with a child and had their parents defend them as if you are the cause or there must be something wrong with you for even suggesting it. Or those parents that get in your face if their kids do not test even though they do little more than come to class and put in 10% of their effort. And yes I have had the kid that did not understand that hurting people was not right. The major problem was the parents and they defended their kids actions and got angry when I told them they could leave and not come back. I'm not perfect and have probably commited the same with my kids. However that does not change my point of view. I can appreciate that you disagree and may have had different experiences than me. However with deadly force techniques I for one will not teach them. You may disagree and that is fine and by all means teach the way you wish to teach. I am no authority on kids, parents or what to teach. This is just one mans 2 cents.

Sensei8, I view this in two ways. 1. for kids of my generation and older. I would feel comfortable teaching these skills. Here is the reason why - we used to bring our muzzle loaders to school and make new stocks in shop class or bring our shot guns to school to go hunting when our dads picked us up and no one shot anyother students or went crazy. We did not have the emotional problems that kids do today. And we would not have dreamed of doing the things kids do today for fear of our parents. 2. for kids in this day and age. Doubtful. The issue is kids do not have the same parent structure we had growing up and most of them have their heads in some violent video game. If you teach a kid something that can end life (deadly technique) and they go out and use it, you are liable and in todays society of news media pointing the finger at everyone but the perp, your the one holding the bag. There is less accountability and personal responsibility among most of the younger generation today. Maybe on a case by case basis but not to an entire class of kids. I would have to know their mentality and feel comfortable teaching them these skills. To be honest unless you are teaching one on one thisa may be more difficult than you would think. Getting to truely know someone elses personality is something that can only develop over time. Unfortunately most of our students only see us for 2 hours a day, two days a week. Not enough time in my book. Your right that any of the basic techniques can kill. Sure a punch delivered correctly and with enough force or enough times can kill. However those techniques are common knowledge. I think that is the real difference. Just my 2 cents.

You say you are a Sempai. What rank do you hold? Have you taught classes before this under the watchful eye of your instructor? The reason I ask is all too often instructors will have an intermediate rank such as Sankyu to Ikkyu and have them teach the beginner ranks such as Hachikyu to Gokyu. The most popular reason is because the instructor gets a free instructor and can then add a class to his schedule and make more money and increase his attendance. Not saying there is anything wrong with this but it hinders the assistant instructors training at times and it could also hinder the beginners training as well if the student was not trained proficiently to teach. If you are a Shodan or higher disregard my earlier statements. We do not refer to our Dan ranks as Sempai in our art. That term best discribes the intermediate ranks for us. My suggestion would be to have fun with it. Use this time to perfect your teaching style and learn from the lessons you will most certainly learn. Small children are sometimes very hard to teach because they have a very short attention span. You will feel less like a teacher and more like a student because you will be working twice as hard as with an adult class trying to keep the class flowing. My suggestion is to sit down and devise a plan and then expect that plan to be blown out of the water. Once you have a few weeks of training under your belt you will figure out what works and what doesn't. Personally I would rather teach 1000 adults than 20 young kids. My best suggestion is try to get them engaged in what ever you are doing. You have to have high energy in what ever you are doing. Kids feed off of your energy. Make sure you switch off to a new excersize about every 10 to 15 minutes. If not you will loose 80% of them and once some have lost interest it will not be long before you have lost the entire class. Good luck. I do not envy you.

We call this Kata Pinan Shodan. We teach the bunkai to this series of techniques a couple of different ways. 1. you are on the outside of the attackers left arm and blocking with the left Chudan Shuto Uke which transitions into a grap of their left arm. The Nukite Zuki is actually the throwing arm. As you step foward with the right leg you are placing it behind the attackers left leg and with the right hand (Nukite) you push the attacker off balance and to the ground or choke the attacker by maintaining your grasp of the left arm. 2. same sequence but instead of pushing with the right hand you grab and turn for the throw. 3. you are on the outside of the attackers right side blocking with the right chudan shuto uke, you move forward into a natural stance with your left foot and instead of a block you trap his arm by lifting and dropping down into what looks like a chudan shuto uke with your left arm and press his head with the left hand to open the throat and execute a nukite zuki to the throat. There are many more sequences and probably three dozen different versions. I am not sure which is right or what was originally intended by the founder because there are so many different scenarios taught by other arts. We actually ask our students to tell us what they think the movement is before showing them our accepted Bunkai. Its great practice and a way to develop more techniques and self defense sequences and gives the student a deeper understanding of the kata itself. What do you think it means? Look at the sequences and figure out what you think they are. Try them out with a partner and see if they work. That is the wonderful thing about Kata, it's a universe of possible techniques waiting to be discovered and all you have to do is open your mind to the possibilities. Good luck.

In my experience those that quit after achieving brown belt or Ikkyu, quit for two reasons when asked. One they do not feel that they can pass the Shodan test or feel that it gets too hard to train for the test. We have our student candidates perform the entire curicullum from Hachikyu to Shodan, all kata, bunkai, oyo bunkai, kumite (yakusoku, ippon, sanbon, and Jiyu with 10 students of the same rank and 10 yudansha), tegumi, tuite, self defense, kihon, terminology, and history of the art. They have to write an essay for acceptance to test and they have to teach on their own, twice while their instructor scrutinizes them and once for the board of instructors. This all takes two days of testing. Most of my students that quit, when asked, they stated that they did not feel that they would ever be prepared and the others said they just thought it would be too hard to train for this. Personally this does them and the MA community a favor. The MA is all about overcoming obstacles and meeting challenges. If they do not have it in them to meet the challenge and over come their fear then they were never meant to be a Yudansha or to teach and pass on the art. However in my experience most students do not quit at brown belt but rather at the lower ranks or after they acheive their Shodan. I think that the MA community has put so much hoopla in becoming a Shodan that they forgot to tell students that this is nothing more than the beginning of understanding the art. Most people look at Shodan as if it were the ultimate test and the pinnacle of achievement rather than just another rank in the life long pursuit of perfection of onesself. In my experience Shodan is the number one drop out grade not Ikkyu. I believe this is because we have made becoming a black belt the end all to everything. The ones that stay are surprised to see there is a lot more to learn and the studies go more indepth than the mudansha ranks. The ones that don't, sadly leave feeling like they got the best out of the art and either quit all together thinking they have achieved some momentous goal or begin a new art. It always makes me laugh to see those that have had training in one or more arts. 95% of the time there last rank was Shodan. These are the people that then go out and make their own art because they are ranked in two or more and think they are now an expert. Little do they know they have only scratched the surface of any of the arts that they have studied. This is why we stress that Shodan is no more than another stepping stone along the path of the way and not an ultimate goal. Don't get me wrong Shodan is an achievement but it's not what everyone makes it out to be. Some even quit because they thought somehow they were going to become bullet proof and be able to jump over buildings and fight off hoards of opponents when they reached Shodan. When they figure out that they have only just begun they get discouraged and quit.

No matter how old, what your rank is or how many years you have trained we are all still just students of the arts. The point at which you stop training is the point when you should leave. I can't stand seeing guys with higher ranking that could not perform at a Mudansha level much less Yudansha. The ones I have known in the past have their Shodan and Nidan teach all of the classes and they sit on their rump and watch and give instruction. Although there is something to be said for their knowledge, it's mostly lost when seeing them lathargically attempt to teach the class when their assistants are not available. We all get old and develop issues later in life that make us slow down. However you can definitely tell the difference between someone that has slowed due to age or ailment compared with someone that thinks they do not have to train any longer. My Sensei is retiring at 84 years old and still teaches all of the classes every week. He can deliver a strike to the makiwara that puts our yudansha to shame and can still move like he is floating. He says that even Soke and Hanshi are still but students of the arts and are ever learning. There are so many aspects of the arts that it could literally take a life time to learn and master them all. There really is no excuse for an instructor to stop training except laziness.

Well I guess I can give an update since everything has been finalized. Our Sensei appointed shogoshin as Soshi. Had no idea what this meant and had to look it up. It basically means head instructor of an organization or art. It's really the same thing as Soke in terms of what his responsibilities are within our association but without him being officially appointed as Soke. The board and shogoshin will appoint a Soke when someone is shown to be worthy of the position. Until then he will oversee along with the board day to day business. Unfortunately shogoshin blew out his ACL and will be out of commision for up to 6 months. He will not be able to teach for a while and then only verbally since he will not be able to demonstrate anything for quite some time. I feel pretty bad for him. He got flak from me and other instructors within the organization and now that he has been appointed he is out of commision. We work things out and I have been told that I am being appointed to the associations board of instructors. Quite an honor after making such a fool of myself. I have told him that he should use this time to post here as he has a ton of knowledge that could be shared with this forum. Not sure if he will but I hope he does. Either way all's well that end well. I wish him a speedy recovery.

With us the magic rank is Sandan. Our Shodan and Nidan are not considered Sensei. We even have some Sandan that have not been granted the title of Sensei. However to open a dojo you have to be at least a Sandan and been granted the title of Sensei. I don't think that there is a hard fast rule but this is ours. Of course ever association, organization or club is different. I have seen Shodan's being called Sensei before and have seen Sandan's being called Shihan. I have seen Shodans with their own dojo's and some with multiple schools. It really depends solely on what your organization accepts and allows. I think that our rule is good for us because in order to be granted the title of Sensei you must have taught under your instructor for years and have passed an exam to be considered a Sensei. We actually make sure that not only do you know how to teach but that you can effectively teach. Being a Shodan (in some schools this is only 2 to 3 years of training) and being able to effectively teach and have the depth of knowledge to be able to pass on the art in such a way that the student not only understands but also benifits from what they are taught is a challenge to say the least. Not saying it can not be done but we have found that students are much better instructors after being mentored in how to teach and having the time to gain an indepth understanding of the art in order to properly pass the art on to their students. But that is just us.