Spartacus Maximus

Good memories! I used to own the entire series both the manga books and the animated episodes. All I have now are the movies with real actors, starring Sonny Chiba. It was a popular series in the 80’s and 90’s. If you are in a good sized city in Japan, I strongly suggest visiting “book off” or other used manga/DVD stores. I found most of mine there and some more under a huge pile of junky old books. Also a few more were gotten off adds in personals and fan magazines.

Everything depends if one belongs to an organization or association. Most do belong to one and are or ought to be pursuing their own training. As a shodan in any martial arts, running a dojo should be left to the judgment of whoever evaluated one the grade. In short, one is allowed to do whatever their instructors say they can. Traditionally and usually when the main dojo is in Japan and Okinawa, a minimum of godan and the system/style head. There are almost no exceptions if one wishes to start a dojo. Outside of Japan, it is more common for a lower dan to operate and teach independently within their organization for Japanese/Okinawan arts. Either way, shodan is a very low and unusual level to be teaching independently, ie: in one’s own dojo apart from doing it where one trains under the supervision of one’s own instructor. Going against this is very much seen as an arrogant, prideful gesture and is usually seen as grounds for being removed from one’s organization. In Japanese it is called “Hamon” or disowning. This is where a chief instructor or style grandmaster decides to completely erase his connection and relationship to a dan ranked student for serious offences often related to dojo politics, face/honour or shameful and criminal behaviour of a student. Personally I witnessed this three times in under twenty years of involvement in Okinawan karate. The first time was for embezzlement of association fees for personal gain, stealing monies owed to the organization. Second was for teaching without explicit permission. More recently all dan grades of my small dojo were informed of the disowning of an 8th dan for heinous, unspeakable crimes against his step-daughter. I have personally never seen my instructor so angry and deeply saddened. It just proves that it is not always possible to see into a person’s true mind. And it is a reminder that one can never truly know what goes on behind their eyes. In the end, what one does with one’s training is one’s own responsibility.

People usually take up learning martial arts for a reason and are usually inspired by something. The only thing that truly matters from an instructor’s point of view is that no matter their inspiration or reason for starting, students keep coming and train as long as possible. The media can be a good way to spark initial interest in martial arts, but on its own it is not a very strong inspiration. The other thing to keep in mind is that a student’s reason for starting may wildly differ from the reason(s) for staying and pursuing martial arts over time.

Lowering standards or, rather rearranging the material into smaller parts is nothing new. The first time this probably happened historically was around the early 1900 when “tou-di” or “Chinese boxing and its ryukyuan adaptation” became known as karate. This shift in standards and curriculum is a direct result of a once secret or semi-secret self defense technique taught largely one on one or one at a time to teaching to groups and training in groups with more and more students. As telling experiment, it might be interesting to ask this question to the chief instructor or founder of one’s organization, especially if this person is culturally native to the art being taught. Personally, all those who ever taught me admitted at some point that if they kept the exact same teaching methods they were taught with and taught exactly as their own instructor taught them, they might have only about 3 or 4 and no less than five truly dedicated students who Everyone else would run away or claim excessive hardness. They sure would be getting enough students to earn a living from teaching martial arts, though. That’s probably one of the reasons my instructors all had a day job or several and karate was something left for weekends and after work.

Although creating kata isn’t something done to my knowledge, it is a grading requirement from 3rd dan to come up with logical and possible creative interpretations of existing kata. The only limit are the main principles and guidelines. Within these loose boundaries, almost anything that could or might work is acceptable.

The reason why so many if not all karate styles have 10 dan levels is because when karate was introduced to Japan from Okinawa, its structure was copied from what had been established for judo by the founder, Kano. Kano became friends with Funakoshi and other Okinawans teaching on the mainland. He was instrumental in spreading his new evaluation system to karate as well as all others Japanese martial arts, which had previously used an older system better suited to much fewer students. In Okinawa, before the kyu and dan systems became the norm, an instructor knew each student personally and evaluated them by how long they had trained. Techniques were much less codified and curriculums weren’t as clearly defined as they are today. Instructors just taught whatever they knew and in as much depth as possible. Students learned whatever they could, and were encouraged and introduced to different instructors if and when necessary. Experts were masters of two, at most three forms. Nowadays this is very rare and in some cases even frowned upon. This is too bad, because there is so much to learn between styles.

It is easy to understand why some might think the traditional training clothes are obsolete. If the majority of East Asian martial arts maintain them it is mostly for the sake of uniformity. Originally the martial arts “uniforms” were based on the everyday clothes people would have worn in those countries around the time martial arts were developed. One must not be too preoccupied with uniforms or training clothes. What really matters in the end is whether or not one can effectively apply the techniques of whatever system one is learning regardless of what clothes one might be wearing. The best way to do this is for students and instructors to take or make time to train in plain clothes or whatever they habitually wear.

The particular lineage I belong to has several “main dojo’s”. One in Okinawa, two on mainlaind Japan, one in USA and two in Europe! The chief instructor of each one are all direct students of the same instructor who approved each one before he passed away in 2010. This makes things very complicated for students of these instructors if they want to open a dojo. If a direct student of the mainland Japan instructor moved to North America or Europe and wanted to start teaching, there could be problems because the same style and organization are already represented there.

Training outdoors has its advantages such as adapting to the kind of ground where one is most likely to be if ever self defense is unavoidable. In the other hand training outdoors, especially in public places it might be difficult to avoid distractions or unwanted and unsolicited attention from anyone who happens to pass by. As for myself, I do enjoy outdoor training but take great care to find a spot where few people are likely to pass by.

Up to tenth dan as with the majority of Okinawan karate organization. Each dan grade is technical and requires evaluation of some kind. Never heard of anyone being given any grade just because they’d been there long enough. There is no such thing as everyone’s progress is different.

At present both applications and kata are taught together. The instructor teaches this way and so does everyone under him. It wouldn’t make sense to differ from this, as knowing what each move is supposed to be and how they work is key to understanding what skills each kata is meant to train. It may seem overwhelming and take more time to learn, but it is more productive and efficient than just learning the sequence of moves and waiting until shodan or later to start learning applications. As far as adding grades so as to divide the existing ones, it seems like a reasonable idea. All his students who teach under him at their own dojo have more belts. It’s all the same material, but taught at a different pace. Most of my peers are from the same cultural background as the instructor. One of the most important things about teaching is that the teacher must adapt his teaching if he is to bring out the best of it in his students. Maybe it would be a good start to set a milestone(rank/grade/new belt colour) for each kata and bunkai/applications sequence drills. All kata in the curriculum can already be divided in three or four parts. Except of course the kihon kata, which are much shorter. The only difference would be having three or four short tests instead of just one long one before each kyu. Does it sound reasonable?

As someone whose interest and beginnings in karate came a few years time after the original trilogy was released I thoroughly enjoyed the first two seasons. The nostalgic feel of remembering watching the movies over and over again when I was myself just slightly younger than the main characters made it instantly awesome to me. It is with great impatience that I await the release of season 3.

In my particular dojo, those who come in fresh with no martial arts experience whatsoever are a minority. Coincidence, maybe. Personally I was already at sandan in the same style. There are many others who held dan grades with years of experience in different karate styles and various other martial arts systems. What brings everyone together is the instructor’s great personality and attitude. He welcomes anyone and puts his all his heart and energy into bringing out the best in every student. The only condition for students is to be ready to be taught and set aside whatever they may have learned before. The point is he will gladly teach everything he knows, if a student is ready and willing to learn in good faith. Most of my peers and seniors held at least a shodan grade or equivalent in something else when they started. Maybe this previous experience impeded progress as many notions and to be unlearned or at least set aside to learn what is being taught.

Following the expectations of my instructor and my sandan grading early next year, it seems like starting a branch dojo is the only way to continue personal improvement. It has recently become inevitable that my future will make it impossible to travel more than once a year. At the present, everyone without exception and regardless of previous training starts at white belt, then three kyu grades(green, blue, brown) and shodan etc. There are no precise requirements or minimum time in grade. Except for the kihon kata, each student’s test is personal to them. Each grading is evaluated by the 9th dan instructor(headmaster and hombu dojo CI) and everyone holding the grade being tested for or higher. Each grading consists of all kata learned so far plus the oyo kumite and kata applications for one random kihon kata out of five, one Naihanchi out of three and two Pinan kata out of the five. Each grading also includes a breaking test of a certain number of one inch thick boards with a technique chosen by the instructor. For second dan and higher the test is breaking a standard baseball bat at the handle with a instep kick. I realize this is a lot of details but I know that students outside of Asia, particularly the West and especially youth and teenagers may find it easier to see their own progress if the material is divided into more milestones. I also know that one reason my instructor works the way he does is that it is probably better suited for our small group of less than 40. Most of his dojo directors use a different belt scheme and organization. Each dan also has a kata to demonstrate which is usually the most recently learned. I would appreciate suggestions on how to break down the curriculum. Basically dividing the material and maybe adding kyu grades. There are 5 kihon kata, 3 Naihanchi, 5 Pinan 2 Passai, 2 kusanku and Gojushiho plus the applications sequences for each. This includes basic bunkai and one or two variations. It’s quite a lot material to take in.

The world over a fight simply put involves staying and trying to “ beat” or “defeat” the other person. One cannot ever be faulted for trying to escape. Escape is always the ultimate aim of self defense. The best strategy is to get away as quickly as possible.

Here are two personal experiences with what the OP’s questions. The first was training under a different instructor within the same shorin ryu association. It took at least three months, perhaps more before the new instructor recognized the shodan grade I had earned under my first instructor. To be fair, it had been at least two years since I had trained regularly in any dojo. Later, under the guidance of that new teacher I received nidan and then sandan directly from the grandmaster at the main dojo. It would be a good guess to assume that dan grades are easier to carry over if one stays with the same association or governing body. The next situation is entirely different. When forced to leave because of unforeseen life circumstances, I joined a different shorin ryu association. Same style, but different lineage. The kata were the same but taught differently. I started back at beginning and went through all the technical exams required for all the levels required by the standards of the new sensei and his association. It was quicker than a true beginner, but not by much. Technically I now have three dan grades in two lineages of the exact same shorin ryu. It’s just as complicated as it sounds. This is why I have stopped thinking about grades and ranks. The only thing that matters to me now is that I enjoy training and trust the instructor’s skills and judgement. Perhaps more than my own opinion of whatever progress I may have made since I joined his dojo. If one is truly serious about pursuing and improving martial arts skills, it might be more productive and worthwhile to just focus on learning instead of grades or ranks. The only thing that ought to matter is the quality of what one is learning and how much one gets out of training. This is one reason why the instructor is more important than the style. I matter what the style/subject is, a student will learn more and retain more if the instructor is effective at teaching.

The first and foremost requirement to teach martial arts or anything else is knowledge. One cannot teach what one doesn’t know. Teaching experience is great, but it is it necessary. Many teachers began teaching and improved their teaching skills over time. As far as martial arts are concerned, the instructor is more important than the style. A good instructor must have a thorough understanding of the style, and most importantly of how to get other people to develop skills and retain knowledge. To do that, the instructor must be able to put themselves in their students place. To see things from their point of view and remember what they themselves went through when they were a student. As far as age, there can be no definitive answer; except maybe a reasonable degree of life experience and maturity are certainly required. Said maturity doesn’t depend on age.

One thing often overlooked about defending against more than one attacker is that it isn’t even necessary to go through all of them. It is much more important to get through the nearest threat and leave the rest behind to pick up the pieces while getting out of there before the attackers have a chance to attack again. Becoming skilled in a hit-and-run strategy is vital. There’s no sense in standing toe to toe with a group and risk attracting more trouble or making the situation worse.

It isn’t surprising at all for schools belonging to the same lineage and governing body to have different evaluation criteria and grading structures. Everything depends on how the instructor decided to organize the curriculum. Some of the larger and more widespread martial arts organizations have a general curriculum from which regional directors decide the requirements for each grade or belt.

It is an interesting concept that most of the time, these moves that don’t seem to make any sense can be understood by carefully analyzing and studying what is done before or after. Oftentimes what is seen and demonstrated in the kata is the “ending position” or “beginning position” of a technique. “kanku” is Funakoshi’s rendering and renaming of the original Okinawan kata “Kusanku” or “Kushanku“. The original kata is said to have been named after a Chinese boxing expert whose name was Kwang Shang Fu. Other sources say this was the mans title and that he was an official sent to Ryukyu from Imperial China. The kata was supposedly a synthesis of what this Chinese instructor passed on to Okinawan martial arts experts during his time of business in the RyuKyu kingdom. There are many possible explanations for the initial move in the kata. One of the most common is that it is breaking a two handed shoulder grab and preparing to catch a kick and take the attacker down for a finishing move. It might be useful to comparatively study shotokan’s “kanku” with the shorin ryu renderings called “kusanku dai”. There are many bunkai videos to compare with on YouTube and also kata bunkai DVDs. The best way to get a good idea, is still whenever possible to directly ask a knowledgeable instructor. There will certainly be surprises and the answer is much more simple than any esoteric, obscure or occult meaning.

Nowadays the student is usually paying money for being taught and therefore, more likely to consider cost as a deciding factor. The school, style and instructor’s reputation will not be of any importance if a potential student knows the price is too high. Before martial arts schools as businesses became the norm, potential students sought out or were referred to instructors based students on mostly skill and reputation of said teachers. If the teacher/school was reputed to train the skills the student wanted to gain, then testing would be more readily accepted. Now that most people pay for their training, the mere notion of being tested before being allowed to train is enough to make a large number of potential students look elsewhere. This is in part because of the consumer mentality people have developed. Especially in our most modern societies. People have grown up being told constantly that the right amount of cash can get you anything almost instantaneously with a guarantee; and most of all the least amount of hassle or effort. Personally, there was always some sort of character, skill or willingness to learn test for every dojo joined. Only the first one, which was neither in Japan/Okinawa had no “entry test”. Even though students in Okinawa and elsewhere pay dojo and training fees, instructors, especially if it is the main dojo (hombu) still want to have a good idea of what kind of people they will be sharing their skills with. None of them would ever be happy to learn later on that they have trained a thug or troublemaker. You can’t blame them for discriminating and being carful who they teach, even if they are paid.

Karate was developed and intended as a martial art. It’s purpose and application absolutely do not or have they every been any sort of religious, esoteric or occult practice. What has happened is that over the generations of instructors, each one integrated the karate they taught with their own views reflecting their philosophy or whatever beliefs they held. That’s just human nature and the same thing can be seen in other martial arts. It isn’t specific to karate and continues to this day. As far as kata is concerned, there are no actions that are without applications to self-defense. Nothing is merely symbolic or for meaningless posturing. It’s all supposed to fit together. Each and every move is meant to either create and opening or a counterattack against and a single attacker directly in front.

Tests of character, endurance and perseverance like the one mentioned in the OP are less common than they used to be. Depending on the instructor and the style the test can anything and continue as long as the instructor sees fit. This used to be the way a teacher would select the kind of people who make good students, but mostly people who would not use the skills they learned to cause trouble or give their teacher and school a bad reputation for thuggery. Testing potential students in any way, especially physical efforts have become a rarity since paying for instruction has become the norm. As one would expect, the student is paying and each student represents additional income. Therefore the instructor/school must always consider whether or not rejecting someone is an affordable loss. Students can also decide if they really and truly are willing to invest their time, effort and money learning from said instructor. If yes, then by all means go ahead and practise until you get it or close enough . More often than not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that one has shown that one has the patience and mettle to train and the will to continue even if the hurdles get higher. In Western (Euro American) thought, people often focus more on specific goals. Sitting in a stance, for instance. They don’t are how, just that it is the goal and it must be reached. Eastern thought(China, Korea and Japan), people usually try to see what can be gained or learned(one’s strengths, weaknesses or endurance limits) from training towards the goal. These benefits and lessons are seen as much more important than how well or if the goal is achieved. In short, it doesn’t matter if you can’t do it or not, what matters is what you learn each time you try as long as you keep trying. The desired result will come eventually and much along with it.

When living in Naha and the surrounding areas, it was a common sight to see groups of karate students running/jogging around. Before moving there it was also the first thing done before practise and of course the Shodan and above tests required the candidates to do an endurance run of a few km/miles before anything else. Same for the beginning of all PE classes in school from kindergarten to high school. Everyone had to run.

Besides the size of the bike, which is quite easy to find out in person when you visit a store, it is also important to know exactly how much riding you will be doing. Your bike must be built for what you intend to put it through and it’s main use. Road bikes are usually light weight with tyres that are almost smooth. They’re built for speed and riding on cycling tracks or very even surfaces. Mountain bikes, as you might have guessed are built for riding on rough surfaces. Their tyres are usually thicker/fatter than road bikes and have deep treads. They also have either front, rear or both suspensions. The best possible advice is to go to a store in the area where you live.(and plan to ride) Even if you can’t find the bike you want there, you are more likely to find someone who can help you narrow your choice.