cardinal95

Thanks so much wagnerk! I saw that one too, I reached out to the vendor, I was hoping to find the "final edition" this one is a little earlier. Though it is def my backup plan.

Hey All! I reached out to Hanshi Trias last week in an attempt to get my hands on Master Robert Trias's famous "Pinnacle of Karate" book, but have yet to receive a response. I am having a heck of time trying to track this book down. Anyone out there know where I can find it, I am well-aware its an expensive and somewhat "rare" book, but I am determined to track it down!

Thanks for all the examples all! This has been super helpful!

My day job is actually Technical Writing, so engineers are my buddies

I like the written requirement, but I'm a writer. I'd imagine not everyone is thrilled over this type of work.

I know this is a considerably older post, but I truly enjoyed this piece Greg! The part where you target "praise given too freely becomes valueless" really struck me. So often in this artform/sport we encounter the notorious "ego" which is so ironic considering the emphasis on kenson ("humbless") in this sport. I've seen it before where students are put on this pedestal only to either get knocked down or end up impacting other students' ability to learn. So many awesome points here. I love the incorporation of the SMART goals in the dojo. I use this as a guideline at work, but what a great idea bringing it into the dojo. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome, thanks Canadian77!

Thanks Wastelander! Sounds like our requirements are immensely similar. As a kid of course you want to believe that your school is harder than others but as an adult I really wanted to know if that was actually the case. Your explanation has definitely shined some light on this for me, thanks a million!

I also find it odd that student would test if they aren't ready. We wait until the student looks ready to offer them testing time. If the student is over eager asking us to "sign off" on something and they aren't ready we simply say what they need to work on and give them a rough deadline of when they can try testing again. More of a "I will sign off on this after you've worked on x, y and z. We can try again in two weeks" type of thing. But these scenarios are rarer (in my experience).

I've always been curious about other school's testing requirements. Since I haven't branched out to other dojos (yet) I wanted to inquire if any of you are willing to share some example curriculums? I am examining where my current school stands in comparison to others in the industry. I've been told that our school is one of the more difficult to advance in (thats what I have been hearing since I was a child). My Sensei, who is a Sandan, has never promoted anyone to black belt (I am hoping to be the first). Our curriculum is usually broken down as follows: - Basics (with Japanese Terminology, roughly 15-20) - Kumite (usually 2-3 sets of Ippons, Tazeus and/or Kihons) - Self Defense Techniques (varies). - Kata - Japanese Terminology (roughly 20 terms/phrases) - a written examination or paper - misc requirements such as dojo etiquette, cpr training etc. I am obviously aware of the dojos where you "buy the belt" and all of that, I am definitely considering those types of school with this comparison. Our ranks also go white, yellow, orange, blue, green, purple, brown (3 kyus), Shodan (+10 dans). But the above curriculum is usually the same for each rank, just with new and more advanced techniques as the student progresses. I appreciate any insight that you can offer!

Excellent point DavidB!

Thanks Archimoto! I am already finding everyone so nice and insightful here! What a great group.

Thanks Sensei8!

You literally took the words out of my mouth. I say this all the time. I feel so conflicted when it comes to Rousey because she is one of the best fighters I've seen (and only getting better) but her attitude is just horrendous. It blows my mind that she was originally a judoka, such a respectful discipline.

Believe it or not, I have heard of scenarios like this before. I am not sure what the requirements are at your dojo, but at our dojo we too have the obvious kata and kumite exercises required for rank. In addition, we have a significant amount of Japanese terminology that must be learned, along with numerous research papers on the history of the style and dojo, dojo etiquette components such as how to tie your obi and gi, who to bow to, how to enter the dojo (etc). Once past purple belt our school also has a particular teaching requirement that must be fulfilled along with CPR and First Aid certifications. I think it short what I am trying to say is, for any promotion more is required than just flexibility, kata and kumite (as you all already know obviously). Maybe if the other requirements (that cannot be found online) are brought to this guy's attention than he will rethink his request and realize there is way more to the martial arts than kata and kumite. His response may also allow you some insight into his motives and potential loyalty to your school. With that said, I completely agree with everyone's responses. Its a tough and somewhat unsettling situation (in my humble opinion). Really, if he is that talented, he can fly through the ranks quickly worst-case scenario.

I definitely plan on incorporating a lot with kime (in our style it translates to "focus of power"). This article is interesting, I will definitely be sending it to my Sensei. What a great perspective in terms of semantics and translation. I wish I had a little more wiggle room with the the criteria, but the "power" and "snap" elements are musts. That is a great idea though, perhaps, incorporating the precise amount of snap and power to a particular kime example could prove useful.

Thanks andym!

Thanks for the welcome! You hit the nail on the head there. Our style descended from Master Trias to Master Pachivas to our current Hanshi, Leo Kozloski, and so on. The main dojo where Hanshi teaches is out of GA and my dojo is out of Boston MA. We are the only Shorei-Ryu dojo in New England from what my research tells me. Our dojo is really a hidden gem, no one knows its there or really knows what we do. We don't really recruit students, its all by word of mouth. Its pretty exclusive but on the flip side its super hard to find resources to study when outside the dojo. Though there are various similarities between the Shuri and Shorei styles there are definitely some noticeable differences (e.g. extremely deep stance work, never moving backwards at the zero degrees, etc). I also plan on starting some BJJ training next year, so we'll see how that goes!

Thank you both so much! I am actually quite glad you both targeted the inconsistencies and lack of information. Research is what I am known for and coming up short with information was already driving me nuts, so I am almost glad this is a trend and not just me. I plan on narrowing it down to the theories and applications specifically in the Shorei-Ryu style. Though, this style has either been a) grossly perverted from its original traditional ways or b) has very little written record on the stylistic characteristics. I suppose interviewing our Hanshi and other Senseis may be the best course of action to take here. Thanks again all!

So I have a promotion coming up, my first one in 12 years (after my very long hiatus). One of the requirements for my next kyu is writing a paper on the theories and application regarding "power" and "snap" in the martial arts (specifically, karate). I am a writer by profession, so little does my Sensei know that he is likely going to receive a full on research paper from me. However, in my preliminary research, though I am seeing some reputable resources regarding power, I am coming up short on the "snap" factor. Though a lot writers blog about snap, I need some more authentic sources since I will likely submit the piece for publication. I was curious if anyone could point me in some sort of direction on this. Any insight at all is beyond appreciated!

Hello all! I've actually come to this site sporadically over the past few years and finally decided to become an active participant in the numerous, engaging conversations. I have recently returned to my childhood dojo after 12 years and have been back for 5 months now. I am a 3rd kyu chairo obi in Okinawan Shorei-Ryu and am currently in training for a promotion at the end of September. This transition back to the dojo after such a long time (with a very out of shape and different body) has been quite the experience. I have a lot of questions that I am hoping to get some insight on, and this seems like a good place to start.