Spartacus Maximus

There is always a wide gap between merely being able to do something well and understanding why and how to do it well.

The only thing that can be know with any accuracy, is the approximate time each "style" was officially named. The problem with this of course is that none of them actually began at the same time. Shorin ryu, Goju ryu and Uechi ryu existed and were taught on Okinawa long before being named, never mind before karate was introduced to Japan in the early 1900's. Karate or "tuidi" was the only name before the notion of ryuha or "style" was introduced.

It is not very accurate to include any "te" as "karate styles" because these are earlier forms of martial arts. Matsumura Sokon is the originator of Shorin Ryu but it was called "Tang(China) Hand" in his lifetime. Everything before that is one form or another of Chuan Fa, which is a generic name for chinese boxing. It is difficult to know with any reliable accuracy what the oldest system is. Tomari-te, Shuri-te or Naha-te were just local interpretations. Today all of these localities are within less than 5km from each other and all are within Naha city today.The most probable scenario is that what became "tuidi" was developed in the Ryukyu kingdom around the same time cultural and political exchanges with Ming China began. It really depends on where one starts to look, but for strictly "karate styles" the oldest one to be defined as "XYZ ryu" is probably Shorin ryu. Goju-ryu and Uechi-ryu existed, but were not called that until later. Shorin ryu was named and systemized when Itosu was teaching it. Itosu was older by a generation than Miyagi(Goju ryu) Uechi(Uechi ryu).

Teaching in public has a very different dynamic than private individual training in the same setting, which is what the original topic of this discussion was meant to cover. The most important difference might be that it is less likely to be disturbed or recieve negative attention when not alone because of "safety in numbers". The other side of this is that a group training in public is also more visible than a single person.

The meaning of "as a new person" is somewhat unclear, but a good first step would be to do some research to find what martial arts are taught nearby or within the distance a person is willing to travel for training

Here is what is needed: A striking bag that is self-supporting(not a hanging type). It must be usable indoors and easily movable to store in a room closet when not in use. Does anyone have any brand or specific item to suggest? Any help is much appreciated.

Never had natural talent and worse still, terrible coordination and was much slower to learn. However, after all this time I am still there and many "naturals" have given up or moved on to other things because karate was "too easy and boring". The only thing that makes a difference is how much one works to learn and improve, not the initial qualities one starts with so long as one never stops.

In the same position as the nidan previously mentioned, there are quite a few who would have done the same thing. It is not such an unusual thing and mostly happens when a student has trained for a long time and has a close dedication and intense loyalty to the sensei. Grading and rank cease to be relevant when one is still learning and still trains as a lifelong habit. If one respects and accepts the intructor's teachings, it should be no problem accepting whatever grade said instructor believes the student deserves with appropriate gratitude. Otherwise why train with that instructor?

While few will be in perfect agreement about the methods, the mere fact that a instructor makes a living teaching is not a new idea, nor does it follow that doing such a thing is wrong, dishonourable or unethical. A so-called mcdojo is a mcdojo because of how it makes profits and what it sells, not just because it makes a profit. It is much more complicated than that and one should be careful not to sling that label about too hastily.

Gaining and refining or improving skills is relatively easy in martial arts. The real challenge and lifelong goal is maintaining these in spite of getting older. The first step towards doing this seems to be to never stop or slow down. However, the older one gets, the harder one must train to make up for age-related issues such as reduction of muscle-mass and slower recovery process. It is feasible, but it is hard work that few are willing to put themselves through for the benefits.

When it comes to whether or not one is ready to test, the last person to trust is oneself. Part of the skills an instructor has is knowing where and how to recognize students progress and the only way to do this accurately is years of training experience. This is the reason why a skilled and qualified instructor can evaluated a student better than the student him/her self. In the end it is a question of character and self-confidence for the student, but generally if the instructor is convinced that the student is ready, the student is ready whether or not said student thinks so.

Indeed there are many very successful schools with much less than 100 total students. From memory, the very first dojo where I started had around 70 total students for the first years and had been doing very well for at least 5 to 7 years before that. Then again, the instructor had a very good day job as a technician in a private hospital at the time. There is an obvious difference when the instructor has no other source of income. Breaking even is still a very good start and the first step to making it work.

What is the bare-bones minimum number of students to maintain your dojo operational under the present rates? With this number in mind, how many students can an instructor manage at one time without anyone else assisting? This is a question often overlooked when planning to start up a dojo. According to the author of "Small dojo, Big profits" the number an instructor needs to stay open(rent, overhead, etc) is over 100. Does this sound reasonable?

In the previous organization and first dojo, out of maybe 20 who reached shodan roughly around the same time only 1 other person is still training. In total there are only 3 who were there 15-20 years ago. If one is still training after that time, one is a rare exception. Very few people who start training as teenagers or children keep it up for more than a couple years. Life and other priorities combined with the "I want it right now!" entitlement mentality makes such a long term commitment difficult to do for the average individual. In dojo-business speak they are called "dojo door holders" because their presence allows the dojo to remain open.

Training can be a risky activity and there is always the possibility of getting injured. What is your worst martial arts training injury? How did it happen and how did it/does it affect continuing to train? Did you learn anything from it? Maybe it is just luck, but nothing serious. Here are the two memorable ones: #1: Black eye. jiyu kumite for shodan in previous organization. Punched in the face by senior BB when moving in to strike and not covering up. #2: Badly sprained, nearly broken thumb. Doing intense oyo bunkai/kumite and blocked with a loose fist. Opponent's limb landed directly on the thumb resulting in pain and sensitivity for two months. Keeping fists tightly closed prevents this learned the hard way.

The student was not told that it was the test until it was finished. It was a complete surprise up to the end of the session when it was announced that the student was tested and successfully earned the next level. For this student, the source of anxiety and nervousness was the idea of being tested rather than the test itself. In total he made maybe only one or two very minor mistakes and amazingly enough, the pressure of having an opponent and having to move without hesitation did not seem to phase him.

That quote is quite meaningless and empty. It does not at all sound like it comes from a knowledgeable person. Saying that martial arts are theoretical and MMA(a sport) is real is equivalent to comparing children playing with water-pistols and a game of paintball. Neither is more real than the other, both occur in a controlled-rule bound environment and have nothing to do with what a real live fire fight in the chaos of noise, blood and death that is war. The only combat that is real is the real thing. Aside from all of this, the real reason a modern military uses MMA or similar type training has nothing to do with battle. It is no secret and has been clearly explained by the instructors themselves.

It is already difficult to manage juggling a regular day job, family and daily training. Being in any kind of high responsibility and time consuming executive role in addition to all these other important roles is not within anyone's capacities or stress threshold. To be fully effective, would require one to make sacrifices and compromises and that means one set of responsibilities will inevitably get less attention. Will it be training? Familliy, or something else? Personally, wealth and luxury mean nothing if it means being away from family most of the time, not being able to train everyday and not having any time to enjoy said wealth.

Great helpful input everyone. For the student in question, it is likely that most of the stress felt comes from within the individual's own mind. It is a classical case of a person who clearly underestimates himself. Basically he does not know that he knows despite the instructor being certain that the student has the skills level to deserve the new grade. Testing by nature is stressful and anyone who has been through any kind of test can attest to this. The way the instructor dealt with it in this case was to remove the psychological stress. In other words, the student was asked to do everything required to the best of his ability without being told it was the test. This took away all nervousness or anxiety and allowed the student to do his best without any pressure. The only ones who knew it was not just a regular class were the sensei and a few blackbelts. The student passed with success because there was nothing to worry about and all he had to do was concentrate on doing his best.

The way instructors in Okinawa explained it, the Fukyu or Gekisai kata were specifically devised to promote karate locally and on a wider scale. There was and still is several occasions where karateka of all styles gather to train together and exchange. Those kata were made as something everyone could practise together in larger groups across the 3 main schools: Uechi ryu, Shorin ryu and Goju ryu. The pattern is generally the same and the techniques have only slight variations depending on the style. In recent years, practically all karate dojo practise some form of Fukyu kata or Gekisai.

When teaching or discussing self-defense, it is useful to have a few stories to use as examples to illustrate what to do or what to avoid. These can be from personal experience or accounts of situations witnessed. Here are two of mine: #1 while out enjoying the nightlife and on the way to the next stop a violent drunken incident happened at the first place. Several locals were injured and that business's property front heavily destroyed. Believing I was the culprit, a group of 3 aggressive locals suddenly approached. All were firmly convinced that I was to blame. As soon as the first and most aggressive individual was close enough, a single strike to the nose was all that was needed to run, find a taxi and get as far away as possible. Lessons learned: avoid seedy areas, reasoning does not always work and hit-and-run is a good strategy. #2 An acquaintance asked for advice on dealing with violence at work. A group was constantly threatening and one day cornered him with intent to rough him up. After managing to escape, he finally called the police because despite reports, the management would do nothing about the situation. Nobody was seriously harmed, but the management and the police blamed him for causing trouble. This man was a combat veteran quite capable of defending himself but he was a foreigner and double standards applied. Furthermore, the situation was a social setting(workplace) with people whom he dealt with regularly. Eventually after convincing him he did the only sensible thing to do, he followed my advice to find a safer place to work. Lesson learned: Escape is the best way to deal with social violence. Sometimes it is the only solution. Not every situation is, nor should it be treated as do-or-die. Who else has stories useful for teaching about self-defense?

Maybe starting by clarifying the request would help others help you. What do these accronyms stand for? Assuming the K stands for karate, but at a loss for the rest.

Any kind of executive position demands a great deal of time and work. So does being the head of a very large governing body. There is no difference, aside perhaps from the salary, between the two. Head of a governing body overseeing thousands IS an executive position! In fact, as far as work load is concerned, it is akin to being president of a large company! There are not very many people who could manage work two high executive positions simultaneously and with equal attention. One of the two is bound to fall behind the other. Something will give and it will be either one of the positions or the person in charge. Maybe the wisest choice is to pick just one and think it over with much caution. In which position would one be most content? How would one continue training?

In case it may be difficult to imagine a governing body with more than one hombu, here is what the structure looks like: The most senior students of an instructor are asked or chosen to be responsible for teaching their martial art in different wide regions(ex: by continent or country). These senior instructors answer only to their common teacher for any advice. As far as administration, they are free to manage however they see fit. So instead of a pyramid structure, it is more like a network. The heads of each hombu may meet and train together as often as feasible but none has any authority over another as far as administration or dojo management is concerned.

This realization came up after hearing the instructor reminded everyone to move into the attack, stay close and move the feet into one another making the stance narower. After all this time, the meaning of this suddenly started to make perfect logical sense. Understanding this principle improved every application learned so far. It still requires much more work, but at last how it works is clearer.