JR 137

IMO you can only regret things you could’ve changed or done differently, but didn’t. I’m in the dojo as much as I realistically can be. Family and work commitments keep me from training as often as I’d like, but that’s the way life goes. Sure I could’ve made it to a few more classes here and there, but not too many in the whole grand scheme of things. I train hard every class. I could push myself a bit harder, but that realistically wouldn’t change much. I wouldn’t dwell on not being able to accomplish something like a certain rank or learning a specific kata. While I’d never feel I accomplished 100% or what I wanted to, I’d known I was on my way the best I could under the circumstances. Can’t regret that. What’ll I regret? Hopefully I’ll be able to say goodbye and show my appreciation for all everyone at the dojo’s done for me. No awards ceremony type stuff, but a heart felt thank you. I’d regret not being able to if I couldn’t. What would I miss? Easy - having a good laugh at myself along with my teachers and classmates. I don’t take myself very seriously; when I mess up I can laugh at myself. Usually the others are laughing or are trying not to when I start. And I’ll miss that feeling of struggling with new material and that feeling when I finally get it down. If I got news today that I could never train again, I’d be pretty devastated. I’d be mad, I’d be disappointed; I’d be a lot of things. I wouldn’t regret anything though. Unless of course my not being able to train was my own doing, then I’d deeply regret whatever I did.

Uchinaaguchi Is the native Okinawan language, correct?

Sensei8, Soke wasn’t wrong. It’s his system and organization, and he’s entitled to do as he chooses with it. It doesn’t matter what anyone and everyone else is doing, as they’re entitled to make their own rules in their own organizations too. But if I’m interpreting your original post correctly, Soke did make a mistake; he didn’t make it explicitly known there was a minimum age from the beginning. Had he made this known, the complainers wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Because they didn’t know, they were under the impression/assumed that it was like most other places they’ve seen or heard of. If I was under the impression that my 7 and 5 year old daughters would receive a black belt after say 4-6 years of hard work and adequately fulfilling the syllabus, then when they were at that point and I was told for the first time that they simply weren’t old enough, I wouldn’t be very happy either. I’d have the feeling that my kids held up their end of the bargain, and the teacher was reneging on his end. Had I known from the time I agreed to allow my kids to train, it wouldn’t be an issue at all. If I wasn’t told until the expected time came, I’d be pretty upset. Think about it this way - my kids have been working hard to achieve something and I’ve been encouraging it to help keep them focused and motivated. Not in a be all, end all way, but in a positive way. They’ve done everything they’ve been asked and more, and they’re excited about it. And now I’ve got to tell them “sorry, it’s all been wrong. You’ve got to wait several more years before you can get it.” It would be like telling them Christmas has been moved back 5 years on Christmas Eve. Make it known, and there’s no issue. Yeah, some people will still argue, but they’ve been told, so it’s easy to dismiss their protests. Don’t make it known, and you’ve got people exercising their entitlement of being able to leave as they see fit. For the record, I don’t believe in kids wearing black belts, junior or full-fledged. But I understand the counter arguments and think they’ve got some great points. If I were to start my own school, kids would get a different belt color than black when they reached that point - either gray or a sort of camouflaged belt that incorporated all the kyu belt colors. But I’ll cross that imaginary bridge when I get to it

Thank you, gentlemen. My definition of bunkai as a term on its own fits what all of you have said. It was the rest of the terms that get confusing to me, as I’ve heard them used in different ways here and elsewhere. I guess the only universally agreeable term here, if there is one, is bunkai. The rest are used differently by each teacher/school/system. Please correct me if I’m wrong... Spartacus Maximus calls oyo bunkai the most obvious and simple interpretation/bunkai, whereas Sensei8 calls this omote. Most call oyo the personal interpretation, meaning of sorts that you’ve been shown the obvious, surface, teacher’s, etc. interpretation, and oyo is what you’ve come up with on your own. Renzoku bunkai is when the entire kata (or at least most of it) is used in a continuous and non-stop flowing way. Rather than taking an individual part or a few parts of a kata and coming up with a “fighting move” or two strung together, the entire kata is basically one continuous “fighting move.” I really like P.A.I.’s yakusoku kumite reference. The Wastelander throws a few terms I haven’t heard yet. Tichiki and henka. What’s a quick or simplified definition of those? Thanks sensei8 for the types you’ve listed. I knew one or two but haven’t heard the rest. Don’t get me wrong, I get at the end of the day it’s really all just semantics and what’s important is what you’re doing and not what you’re calling it. But I like to know what I’m reading and it helps me better understand bunkai and helps me look at bunkai from different angles if I’m aware of the different types/approaches to bunkai. I doubt I’m not the only one who’s been confused by the different terms. Keep them coming if you’ve got more, please.

The age-old nature vs nurture argument Are some people “born MAists?” Sure. That doesn’t mean they’ll ever pursue it nor put in the work to get to the next level. The more we study genetics, the more we learn personalities have a strong genetic link. One such study of personality and genes... http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/temperament/bouchard.04.curdir.pdf Then there’s those people who certain things just make sense to. Some look at math equations and just get it. Some look at art, science, machinery, etc. and it it’s easy for them to figure out. Same with sports and the physical activities. Take a look at sparring. Some people get in there and they get it. They understand the strategy and the timing. They “see things” happening that others don’t quite see. You can teach this, but I genuinely think a lot of it is instinctual to some people. You can explain it until you’re blue in the face to some people and they’ll never quite grasp it; others, you just have to give them a pointer or two that they easily pick up and use. I’m not talking about throwing the perfect kick, I’m talking about when, where, and why. Some need bare bones instruction in strategy. I’ve been around some phenomenal athletes who were just in the wrong sport. On paper they checked off all the boxes of what a player in that sport should be. But they were lacking that “field/court/mat sense.” Some of them may not have been coached right in the past, others may just not “get it” enough to be as effective as the ones that do. But that’s the nature vs nurture argument.

I like that teacher! Everyone thought it was weird to see a guy tell a bunch of college students to throw themselves and roll around on the pavement, while the students were having fun with it. It looked pretty odd from the outsider perspective. Once I figured out what was actually going on, I thought it was pure genius. I would’ve loved to join, but the club met right smack in the middle of my work day. Absolutely busiest time of the work day for me too. I’ve always wanted to try judo and he seemed like the perfect guy to study under, not just because of that, but that tells you everything you need to know about his approach to it. Being in one of the toughest sections of NYC, literally the area where the movie A Bronx Tale was set, his highest priority was real world self defense. His students were all there for that too. And did I mention it was free for students and staff? The only requirements were you trained hard and were respectful. He was a very old school Japanese guy who had the strong presence, yet was very polite. I spoke with him many times and can’t for the life of me remember his name. To me, he was sensei. He’s one of those people that left a long lasting positive impression on me.

It was just a joke. It was analogy of looking around and trying to spot the weird guy and not seeing one, only to realize YOU’RE the weird one. It’s happened to me a few times, where I’m sitting there in a group and wondering “what’s the matter with these guys” when it dawns on my that they’re all probably saying “what’s the matter with HIM (me)?” I tend to look at things from an odd angle and get a chuckle out of it.

I don’t think you’ve messed up by becoming personal friends with your sensei. We’re all human after all and the split isn’t something you saw coming. As far as austere training, is that something you want long term? I don’t know how long I would enjoy training under someone who was like a taskmaster. While I want serious training, I have to enjoy being there and have fun with it. If it’s “all work and no play” and no one’s ever having a good time and joking around occasionally, it would end up becoming another chore to me. But again, I’ve never been in either teacher’s class to say I’d prefer one or the other. And we’re all looking for something different. Just things to consider.

Agreed 100%. Only one hitch - mushybees stayed that the CI isn’t as experienced nor as high a rank as the person leaving. That would be like if I opened my own dojo as a sandan, and a yondan or rokudan from another dojo transferred to my dojo and was helping teach. I’m the owner and CI even though he outranks me. Not a typical situation, but not impossible either. But your post reminded me of one I made in another thread not too long ago... People looking for a teacher put far too much emphasis on the teacher’s personal skill. Watching them is certainly entertaining and inspiring, but if they can’t teach, what’s the point in being their student? My former sensei was a phenomenal karateka. And probably still is. He was a very good teacher too. My current teacher is 35 or so years older now than my former sensei was when I trained under him. My current CI is also putting off another hip replacement. Needless to say, my current CI isn’t as entertaining as my former teacher. But he’s a better teacher. He’s got more depth of knowledge, and he’s analyzed my faults and made great corrections that I can realistically implement. He’s done that better than my former sensei did. A great MAist is entertaining. A great teacher doesn’t have to entertain; he/she has to get you to mentally AND physically understand the art. D’Amato didn’t have to impress Tyson with his physical skills. Dundee didn’t have to impress Ali. They just had to teach them.

I haven’t had this happen either, but I’ve heard of it several times. At the end of the day, you have to make the right decision for yourself. If you’re there to learn from the CI, stay with him. If the assistant is the one who’s really teaching you and keeping you training, go with him. Be aware there’s typically egos involved. Some CIs won’t let you come back if you leave to follow someone who left. I don’t think that’s right, but I’ve it happen many times. I mention that because being a new dojo and all, what if the dojo doesn’t last long? What if he doesn’t get the students and type of new students you want to train alongside? Now you’re looking for another place. None of us have the whole picture here. You’ve got to stay true to your own path above all else.

I was listening to Howard Stern this morning and realized something about myself (yeah I know how that sounds). He had Kevin Nealon on and Howard told him “a thing I’ve always admired about you is how you always want to learn.” He talked about how Nealon took up playing guitar, art, etc. It dawned on me that that’s one of the biggest allures to karate for me - I’m constantly learning something new. New kata, standardized stuff, different ways of using what I’ve alread got, etc. I think this is where my previous post comes from. I want to learn it and perfect it. I’ll never perfect anything in karate, but I’ll do everything I can to perfect it. But if I had only one reason for restarting karate and staying with it, it’s easily the stress relief. The outside world doesn’t exist for that hour and a half. It’s moving meditation. It’s inner peace through violence. It’s therapy. It’s all that and more

That’s a huge thing for me, in a sense. If I absolutely had to narrow down one reason alone for restarting karate and staying with it, it would be for the stress relief. When I’m there, the outside world doesn’t exist for an hour and a half. Going through the movements, I can’t think about anything but what I’m doing right then and there. And if I could let the outside world in, it would end during sparring. There’s no time to think about work when someone’s punching at your stomach. There’s no time to think of family issues when someone’s kicking at your head. It’s moving meditation. It’s inner peace through violence

It appears to me as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD doesn’t have to be triggered by war; it can be triggered by anything the individual views as traumatic, henc one reason why the name was changed from “Shell Shock.”

Is that really self-motivation, or is it a realistic lack of time? If you’re sitting on the couch and making up excuses or just plain-old don’t feel like going, then yeah, lack of motivation. But if you’re at work, kids’ wrestling tourney, etc., I wouldn’t call that a lack of motivation. I’d call that higher priorities.

It’s like I hear from poker players... There’s a sucker at every table who everyone’s taking his money without him knowing it. Next time you play, look for him immediately. If you can’t spot him, you’re definitely him.

A college I used to work at had a judo club. Every semester, the sensei would take the class out to the parking lot and have them break fall and roll. New students would stay in the grass. The first time I saw them I had no idea who they were and what they were doing, so I asked the guy in charge. He said “what are the chances they’ll get attacked inside a nice padded dojo? If they can’t do it out in the real world, there’s not much point in doing it at all.”

Playing devil’s advocate and giving the benefit of the doubt here... The rules seem quite strict, but perhaps they’re there because people’s behavior in the past? Perhaps there were incidents with drugs and sexual activity in the past and they want to squash it before it becomes a problem again. Perhaps people were showing up for certain things and leaving, causing some logistical problems. Needing permission to leave is a bit excessive. Kicking someone out for leaving is pretty extreme. These are consenting adults who are most likely paying for the training. Pretty nonsensical sounding that they feel the need to come up with the rules. I get that they don’t want issues surrounding drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. If they’re renting a place that has strict policies regarding this, I understand them conveying that to the students. Remember, they’re renting a private boarding school, so their rules could be the source of some of it. But there’s a different way that could be better. But needing permission to leave and be expelled if you’re not granted permission? Absurd. My organization had a week long camp/seminar/whatever you’d call it for our 40th anniversary 2 years ago. There were rules, but they were common sense respect rules. Some were a bit strange, but they were the university that was being rented’s policies. And couples were allowed to dorm together if they requested it. My CI and his wife weren’t forced to get separate rooms.

My former sensei learned kobudo through Nishiuchi’s videos. I’m not sure of how much communication he had with Nishiuchi himself through it all. He started it about 20 years ago when the internet wasn’t what it is now. He had them on VHS if that gives you perspective. A little background is in order here... My former sensei broke away from his organization (Kyokushin offshoot). The former organization had kobudo integrated into the syllabus, but it was pretty disjointed and seemed far more of an afterthought than anything else. It amounted to a weapon kata at specific ranks; a bo kata here, sai kata there, etc. There were no standardized drills, no real use of the weapon other than performing the kata. When he left, one of his first priorities was addressing the kobudo portion. He did a ton of research, and once he cane across Nishuichi’s stuff, he knew it was exactly what he was looking for. As a yondan he had proficiency in handling the weapons and his karate knowledge, so it wasn’t exactly like a guy who knows absolutely nothing buying them and going backyard wrestling with it. He bought several videos and started practicing. When he felt somewhat comfortable, he had a few of his higher ranking and dedicated students (myself included) practice stuff with him informally outside normal class times. Once he felt confident with doing and teaching it, he slowly brought it to the rest of the dojo. A little while later he found an instructor directly under Nishiuchi and visited him for a weekend (that gentleman was about 5 hours away). He states he was pretty close to what he was supposed to do and it was mostly sharpening up a few things and learning some more ways to effectively teach it. He’s still teaching it and makes trips to that person every so often. The best thing he did IMO was take 99% of the kobudo out of the karate syllabus and make it a stand-alone thing. Karate students are responsible for some bo and I believe tonfa material at certain ranks, but more as a general knowledge thing. Some students love kobudo, others don’t care for it. The ones that want to learn it get a lot more depth to it than if it was part of the karate syllabus. He’s got a solid core of his karate students learning kobudo at designated times and days. And he has a few kobudo only students too. He’s got them as separate programs with separate ranks. He’s not charging his karate students much more than their karate tuition if he’s even charging them extra at all. Long story short, you can get very good at Nishiuchi’s stuff if you invest the time and energy and general basic knowledge. It’s a great system IMO. It’s not just doing a few kata and calling it a day. There are a lot of solo and partner drills involved.

So long as you’re working hard, meeting your teacher’s expectations, and being respectful (ie not saying “this would never work), I hate to say it but I don’t see a problem. Not everyone in the dojo is there to be the next ultimate fighter. Everyone’s got their reasons for joining and staying, and none of them are inherently wrong. I look around the dojo I train at, and I can tell who’s there for the exercise, who’s there to socialize, who’s drinking the Kool-Aid, and who’s there to fight (in a good way). None of that makes any of those people not worthy of being there. That said, there’s no where else to train that better fits your expectations? I watched my teacher the other day, set the class off doing a form, then turn his back on the class while he spoke to another instructor about something completely unrelated. I notice these things more than ever because I'm currently sidelined due to injury. This might go some way to explaining why I don't get corrected as much as I did in other styles, despite me knowing there is a lot of correcting to be done. I know I'm a very long way from perfect, do if I'm not being corrected it means one of two things. Either it's not perfect but it's on the right track, which is what I used to think, or its not perfect but nobody is watching. As for somewhere else to train, I'm sure there is. There's plenty of clubs in the area. But right now I feel disillusioned with martial arts in general. I have yet to find one that isn't fundamentally flawed. They all seem to assume that you have a fully working body free of faults. The flaw there of course is its about combat at the end of the day. Advice like 'keep moving all the time, stay light on your feet' etc is great. Until you consider that in a real fight, your enemy is going to try very hard to make you physically defective, and he only needs one half decent leg kick and all your footwork and agility and solid structure goes out of the window. Or there's BJJ which seems to be the only one that considers that. However while they're considering the ground game, they seem to ignore the multiple attacker scenario or the possibility of weapons being used. So class looks different from the outside looking in, rather than from the inside? It’s always an interesting phenomenon, seeing what the teacher sees rather than what you’re accustomed to seeing. Honestly, it sounds like your issue is how the art is being taught and explained, and how the teacher’s teaching style. My advice is to look around and see what else is out there. Either your priorities have changed, or you’ve gained enough experience to be able to see the flaws that inexperience covers up. It’s like when I first started out as a white belt, I put the black belts on a pretty high pedestal. They were so good. Their technique was flawless. Then when I got closer to that rank and even more so earned that rank, that pedestal got a lot lower. I recognized the flaws; I saw the imperfections, and I saw them struggling with their material just like everyone else. I still had a ton of respect for them and all they’ve done, but I realized they’re human too. Now that you’ve got a better eye for it, look around. As far as training for multiple attackers and against weapons, I’m of the (perhaps very small) camp that those things are largely a waste of time. Just about everything I see with weapons disarms is a guy standing there holding a weapon out and freezing for the counter. Just about everything I see with multiple attackers is like the movies - one attacker at a time with his “friends” waiting their individual turn. Maybe I’m jaded.

So long as you’re working hard, meeting your teacher’s expectations, and being respectful (ie not saying “this would never work), I hate to say it but I don’t see a problem. Not everyone in the dojo is there to be the next ultimate fighter. Everyone’s got their reasons for joining and staying, and none of them are inherently wrong. I look around the dojo I train at, and I can tell who’s there for the exercise, who’s there to socialize, who’s drinking the Kool-Aid, and who’s there to fight (in a good way). None of that makes any of those people not worthy of being there. That said, there’s no where else to train that better fits your expectations?

Whenever a bunkai thread or even question comes up, I hear about different types of bunkai, such as oyo bunkai and several others that I can’t recall at the moment. I also hear that people quite often misuse the term bunkai as there are many forms of it. So... What is the definition of bunkai as a whole? What are the various forms of it and what do they consist of? - Videos go a long way to get everyone to understand I’ll start with something more specific: My former sensei has heavily gotten into Taira Masaji’s Goju Ryu, and has officially joined Masaji’s Goju Ryu Kenkyukai (what does kenkyukai mean?). I mention Masaji because I keep seeing “Renzoku Bunkai” and I have no idea what the inherent difference is between Renzoku Bunkai and any other bunkai. Here’s a Masaji video of Gekisai Dai Renzoku Bunkai:

What motivates me is being a perfectionist, of sorts. I want to know my material inside and out, and I want to do it perfectly. I’m not satisfied until I do it better than I ever thought I could. Seeing as how I learned Taikyoku 1 around 1995 and I still have room to improve it, I’m going to have to go out on a limb and say I’ll never perfect ANYTHING. But I’ll definitely keep trying Attaining that which is unattainable is my motivation. I don’t care about outdoing the next guy, I just want to outdo myself.

The heat and humidity here have been absolutely brutal this summer. And while we have a window unit air conditioner in the dojo, we really don’t have air conditioning to speak of. And the gentleman who teaches on Tuesday night’s war cry is “I don’t believe in air conditioning.” IMO it just makes it more fun. It brings me back to my high school wrestling days where we were crammed into room that was way too small for a wrestling team. Too many guys working out in a tight space, wearing multiple layers to cut weight, and a built in space heater that my coach would always turn all the way up all combined for interesting workouts. The walls and mats had a thick layer of condensation on them during practice. Not the smartest nor safest thing in hindsight, but it built character.

“A number of styles (such as Bujinkan, created by Masaaki Hatsumi) include additional levels of Judan which for consistency are also referred to as 11th - 15th Degree. These are actually steps within the rank of Judan, as Shodan to Judan are the traditional Dan levels.” https://www.villariwestboro.com/dan-ranking-system.html I find it interesting he say “a number of styles” have up to 15th dan, as Hatsumi’s Bunjikan is the only one I know of. I’m not trying to fraud-bust; I’m just trying to understand it all. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if there are only 5 dan ranks (original Shotokan), 10 dan ranks (most MA), 15 dan ranks, or 100 dan ranks. What matters is what’s being taught and how, and if the students’ needs are met, regardless of what those needs are. Master Ken promoted himself to 11th dan so he’d be ranked higher than everyone else. I think a 16th dan is in order here

Congratulations on your promotion! The most difficult"test" for me, and the one I stressed most over, was when I presented my first generation of Brown Belts to my teacher for their Shodan grading. I’m not an instructor, but I can definitely see that being extremely stressful. You presenting your students to your teacher for dan testing IS you being tested as well.