Spartacus Maximus

There is not nor has there ever been any sort of explicit or implicit rule that prevents martial arts schools to organize social events. Socializing is part of any group activity and there is nothing really wrong with holding these non-training events as long as they do not interfere with the main activity, which in this case happens to be the practise of martial arts. Birthday parties, barbecues, haunted dojo's, whatever. If everyone trains seriously and with honest effort when it is time to do so, whatever happens afterwards may as well be fun. Traditional or not, most schools have a student body made up of children and youth. A majority make more than 80% of their income from these students. It only makes sense to appeal to these ages groups.

Perhaps the key to knowing and keeping one's role is knowing when it is one's turn to listen. People who know when to listen, usually are most aware of what role they must take and what role they are expected to have in interactions with others. A fathers must listen when his child comes to him for advice, just as it is the child's turn to listen when the father speaks with the voice of experience. If either fails to, or refuses to listen; eventually at some point there will be somebody to remind the person of their role. Depending on whom is doing the reminding, it may or may not be very gentle.

Buddhism is a lot more common outside of Asia than it was only a few years ago. When I was a student, only large cities had some kind of place or resources for people to learn about and practise it. Only the largest and most common currents had any kind of presence. The tibetan school, Zen/Chan and maybe one or two more were on or near campus. Now there are all sorts, but one should be careful and thoroughly research before getting involved. There are many sects and branches that are not recognized and exist only to take advantage of naive people and the weak-minded searching for alternative spiritual endeavours. True Buddhism is not restrictive of dogmatic. It can be philosophical or spiritual. Sometimes it is both at the same time. All that matters is that one reaches an enlightened state of mind where selflessness prevails over selfish unnecessary wants for the betterment of oneself and the lives connected to oneself. All Buddhist thought stems from this fundamental principle.

Shito-ryu was, as you might know, developed by an Okinawan called Mabuni while he lived on mainland Japan. His teacher and fellow students where of the Shuri-te school as well as his contemporary, Funakoshi who is known from Shotokan. In other words, all styles, and there are dozens; originating from shuri-te would have many similarities with Shito-ryu. The most similar would probably be Shotokan and all the Shorin-ryu styles which are much older. The pinan kata as well as the Naihanchi series are all included in some form in all these styles. The techniques differ out the pattern and order remain exactly the same making these kata easily recognizable. Whatever the choice, it is best to trust and listen to ones teacher once one has chosen which style to practise.

It would probably be accurate to say that if the karate one has been learning does not include any kind of trapping, locking, throwing or take-downs then, either it has not been taught correctly or one is learning a system adapted to sporting competition. This is not a bad thing so long as one realizes that original karate was never intended for sport and there is a whole world of difference between sport matches and defending oneself in order to survive and escape violent encounters that may come unexpectedly.

Years of experience training under native Okinawan teachers who spoke only Japanese tell me that they cared far more about passing on karate correctly than how well their foreign students could pronounce japanese. They certainly are surprised, proud and thankful if one can but they rarely insist on it. Having learned to speak and read the language as personal but separate endeavour, I have come to the conclusion that it is both unfair and idealistic to expect people to pronounce the native terminolgy precisely and it would be somewhat pompous and futile to attempt to insist on correcting them. Then again I have been told that I have "gone native" more than once.

The size of the dojo and number of students can also determine how loyalty develops. The one I attend is very small with a total of less than 25 regular students. Weekend sessions are semi-private with five or less showing up and about three who are there each and every time. After training there are always some students who stay to have supper together and drink while discussing karate and anything else interesting. Very much a family-like atmosphere.

Loyalty and how it is expressed depends largely on the type of social relationship one has with one's instructor. It can be as superficial as a customer or as deep as a filial bond. It also depends somewhat on individual personalities of both student and instructor. Filial type loyalty were and are most common in the past. Even in the cradle of most martial arts, these types of relationships are rare. In any case loyalty and the expression of it is something that develops over time. A student who has been training under the same instructor for a decade will have a completely different social relationship than one who started 6 months ago.

There must be something an instructor sees in a student that said student does not or cannot see for the instructor to trust that student to teach. Perhaps it is a question of confidence, but at this point I do not trust my own judgement or evaluation of skills.

Unless one trains under a Japanese or Okinawan sensei, it matters very little if terminology is not correctly pronounced. What is important is for everyone to understand one another and most of alll being able to do the techniques. It is karate and not a language lesson. It is not very reasonable to expect people to correctly pronounce terms in a language they do not know. Learn and use the correct way for yourself but do not expect or attempt to change what others say. Not everyone is able, willing or even interested in changing anyway, especially if it is something they learned a certain way from their own teacher who probably was not a Japanese speaker themselves anyway.

Assisting and helping during practise was always a part of the dojo training. In Okinawan style dojos it is expected that each karateka help those at a lower skill level whenever asked by the instructor. However this is entirely different than the responsibility of teaching. To teach a system, one must have a solid understanding and grasp of all the fundamental principles and techniques as well as being able to demonstrate these. Self doubt about these skills tell me that I have not yet begun to really get it. At 1 kyu and nearing shodan there is no way I am qualified to teach anybody anything about karate. Maybe 5 Dan is good enough but will I "get it" at that level? How does one know when one is "doing it right?". Difficult to ponder indeed.

Training and practising are part of my daily habits. Summer is the longest season and it can get dangerously hot and humid. It regularly reaches up to 35 degrees in the shade. There is no need to reduce intensity if proper precautions are taken against overheating or heat stroke. Summer usually means drinking more water more often and eating salt rocks. It is also a good idea to avoid the hottest time of day whenever possible.

For anyone teaching, a couple questions: was the teaching role your own choice or initiative or were you asked or encouraged by your own sensei to teach? Was there a time when you doubted whether you were able, qualified or good enough to be teaching others? How did you deal with it and what dan or level were you at the time?

Probably not ever. Ever tried to explain or discuss martial arts with someone who is not interested? Or with someone who insists that popular depictions and misconceptions are accurate no matter how little sense these make?

Not particularly fond of the idea of wearing any martial arts clothing or martial arts themed apparel. Judging by the wide variety of items available from suppliers such as Century, the idea seems to appeal to some people. My interest in and practise of martial arts is not something which I care to advertise, flaunt or make obvious for all to see. I might wear part of a gi or something with the dojo logo, but only at specific times and never as regular clothing. Having said this, free range of motion and comfort are definitely how I choose my regular clothes. With obvious exceptions, I refuse to wear any clothes that might restrict my movement or get caught. I especially loathe tight collars, neckties and suits with jackets.

As a general rule, any kick aimed at a low target is both effective, difficult to counter or avoid and safer for the kicker. A low side kick to the outside of the knee is very effective. A low roundhouse aimed at the side of the leg just above the ankle can fracture or break the leg. There are many more, but kicking is more effective if it is used as a strategy in combination with hand strikes. Kicks should be used like artillery in that they support and are immediately followed by strikes using the hands. Relying on kicking alone is not a good idea.

A sixteen year old is not an adult. There are always some people who have a higher level of mental maturity at that age, but the fact of the matter is 16 is much, much to young to be chief of anything. There is absolutely no way a 16 year old can run a school or other business alone and idependantly. The skills or technical knowledge or talent he may have do not matter and change nothing to what the average prospective student will think.

I am somewhat able to breathe right when trying to cool down or relax. The problem is trying to do it while in action. It feels as if the breath will not go any lower than the solar plexus area, not the belly where it is supposed to go. After a while of intense effort I have trouble breathing deeply and unconsciously revert back to shallow chest breathing until exhaustion. That is usually when whatever I am practising falls apart. Mind blanks, adding or forgetting techniques or steps etc.

Quoth a wise man I met once in a past life: self-evaluations are always biased, even when done in good faith. Dishonest people will often elevate themselves with lies or exaggerations if there is any adavantage from doing it.

Plain as plain can be is my dojo. The floor is cement with thin office type carpet and covered with 2 inch thick hard foam puzzle mats. The only things on the walls are wood name tags for us students, certificates for sensei's rank and several framed photos of sensei's teachers and Okinawan masters of the lineage. As far as equipment there are piles of roofing tiles and 2 inch pine boards as well as baseball bats for breaking/conditioning. There is also two sand/pebble-filled bags and that is all. The rest is essential furniture because sensei works and lives there on weekends.

That was certainly the case while I was on Okinawa. Practically everyone has had some experience or exposure to it and gnarly hands only means karate. It is actually the first thing people would think of when seeing such hands. That is probably why nobody ever asked me any questions or gave me weird looks. Instead of asking about my hands, they would just asked how long and even encouraged me to keep it up. Different world/culture, totally awesome.

The present location is not on a main street, so there are no other dojos directly on the way there. In the general area within 2km or less, there are at least 5 dojo of kyokushin and offshoots, aikido and perhaps other less popular martial arts. My sensei knows most of them and is at least aquainted with the other instructors in the city. As for me, I took notice of the locations but my interest goes no further. Compared to the other dojo in the area, I would say mine is very private. Looking from outside there are no signs that identify it as a dojo whatsoever.

The idea itself is not a bad one or a new one. As others here have said, karate borrowed the idea from Judo and the founder of judo was himself inspired by rank or level markers used by athletes or school students. Swimmers, if my memory is good. Even nowadays Japanese schools use different colour uniforms for each grade or level. If some teacher somewhere wants to use a similar system for music or whatever else, it will work just as well to motivate young learners. If an idea is useful and works well when applied in practise, who cares where it came from or who thought of it first and where that person may have been from?

Whether or not people ask about it, gnarly hands are probably more likely to give a negative first impression. Only someone familiar with martial arts and the training methods would be likely to think "martial artist". Besides the curious or concerned inquiries I have never heard of anyone having any kind of trouble for having gnarly karate hands. Then again, this the first time I ever discussed this issue with other martial artists. The only stories known to me are about Okinawan karate students being cautioned against ruffians wanting to pick a fight by seeing their calloused hands. One story is of a teacher who prescribed a special treatment to minimize the gnarly appearance. The nature of this ointment, balm or solution is a mystery and I know no way to condition the hands or limbs without eventually developing at least some bumps, bruising or callouses.

Even in Okinawa where everyone knew about karate it was never the norm at any point in time. The most extreme examples of "martial art hands" are those of Morio Higaonna and Pan Qing Fu. Of course these two are fully devoted to their system, but I wonder what it would be like for someone with hands like that working a regular job dealing with people. So far I have been quite good at dodging the subject but I loathe nothing more than getting into the subject of martial arts with people whose idea of it is based entirely on fantasy, popular culture and disinterested ignorance. Nothing is more tedious than talking to people about something that they do not and will not understand. Even if it is obvious and people may be making assumptions I still want to avoid admitting it or talking about it to anyone.