aurik

I'm on episode 9 now. Quite a few twists and turns.. good stuff!

We actually have one student who will be testing for her sandan-sho (she is an adult nidan) this Testing Cycle, because she is too young to test for full sandan. However, she has been training and teaching for years (she runs several classes at one of our rec centers). She has enough TIG as a nidan-sho to test for a sandan-sho, and as a sandan-sho, she can apply for a Shidoin's license, which would allow her to open her own school if she wanted to.

Have you considered swapping out the lat pull downs for barbell rows? If you do 160x5 on the bench press, turn around and do 160x5 on the barbell row. Keeps your front and back balanced.

Reposting this from the "Equipment and Gear" section from one of the replies, but it very much pertains here as well. So I had an atrial flutter ablation procedure yesterday. The absolute worst part of it was the prep -- they had to shave almost my entire chest and back (to apply the various cardiac leads and parts of my groin area (for access to the femoral artery). And then they had to insert two IV's. My skin is pretty thick and tough (it's always been, and I'm sure the years of kotekitae haven't helped). The left arm was an easy stick in the crook of the elbow. On the right arm I have this really nice vein on the back of my hand that is usually really easy to draw blood from, but yesterday it wasn't having it. The nurse tried it and by the time the needle punctured the skin, the vein just... moved. Then they pulled out the ultrasound machine to try two different veins in the forearm - no joy. Then the anaesthesiologist steps in and finds what looks like a beautiful vein in the crook of the elbow, he brags, "If I can't get that vein..." and then it takes 4 different sticks to get a vein in my forearm. By that time, I felt like a danged pincushion. The procedure itself went by pretty quick. I think it was about 1 hr 45 minutes. They went in through the femoral artery with a camera and a few other tools. The doctor was able to trigger the atrial flutter, then he did the ablation, and was unable to trigger it afterwards. He then checked for other abnormal rythms, and was unable to trigger any of those. So nothing unexpected. For recovery, I had to lay flat on my back for an hour afterwards and was able to have some water, then another hour at 30 degrees, and after 2 hours I was able to sit up fully and have something to eat (By this time it was about 4pm, and I hadn't had anything to eat since 9pm the night before. I was able to go home at about 6:30pm, with instructions to apply pressure to the wound site anytime I change positions (sitting->standing), etc. Take it very slowly up and down stairs for 48 hours afterwards, no showering for 48 hours, and no driving for 5 days. That's primarily to let the incision site heal -- they told me if things start bleeding, I need to apply hard direct pressure, and if it doesn't stop in 10 minutes to call 911, no exceptions. So I'm taking that pretty seriously. Other than that, no showering for 48 hours, no driving for 5 days. I have a postop appointment to check the wound site, and assuming that looks good I can resume physical activities afterwards (but I'll probably wait until after Thanksgiving to be on the safe side). I no longer have to take the Diltiazem (for the atrial flutter), and I can stop the Eliquis after 30 days. So after 30 days, I hope to put this difficult chapter behind me and move forward. I'll probably be seeing a cardiologist for the rest of my life, but it's just one of those things about getting older, I assume.

So I actually had the procedure yesterday. The absolute worst part of it was the prep -- they had to shave almost my entire chest and back (to apply the various cardiac leads and parts of my groin area (for access to the femoral artery). And then they had to insert two IV's. My skin is pretty thick and tough (it's always been, and I'm sure the years of kotekitae haven't helped). The left arm was an easy stick in the crook of the elbow. On the right arm I have this really nice vein on the back of my hand that is usually really easy to draw blood from, but yesterday it wasn't having it. The nurse tried it and by the time the needle punctured the skin, the vein just... moved. Then they pulled out the ultrasound machine to try two different veins in the forearm - no joy. Then the anaesthesiologist steps in and finds what looks like a beautiful vein in the crook of the elbow, he brags, "If I can't get that vein..." and then it takes 4 different sticks to get a vein in my forearm. By that time, I felt like a danged pincushion. The procedure itself went by pretty quick. I think it was about 1 hr 45 minutes. They went in through the femoral artery with a camera and a few other tools. The doctor was able to trigger the atrial flutter, then he did the ablation, and was unable to trigger it afterwards. He then checked for other abnormal rythms, and was unable to trigger any of those. So nothing unexpected. For recovery, I had to lay flat on my back for an hour afterwards and was able to have some water, then another hour at 30 degrees, and after 2 hours I was able to sit up fully and have something to eat (By this time it was about 4pm, and I hadn't had anything to eat since 9pm the night before. I was able to go home at about 6:30pm, with instructions to apply pressure to the wound site anytime I change positions (sitting->standing), etc. Take it very slowly up and down stairs for 48 hours afterwards, no showering for 48 hours, and no driving for 5 days. That's primarily to let the incision site heal -- they told me if things start bleeding, I need to apply hard direct pressure, and if it doesn't stop in 10 minutes to call 911, no exceptions. So I'm taking that pretty seriously. Other than that, no showering for 48 hours, no driving for 5 days. I have a postop appointment to check the wound site, and assuming that looks good I can resume physical activities afterwards (but I'll probably wait until after Thanksgiving to be on the safe side). I no longer have to take the Diltiazem (for the atrial flutter), and I can stop the Eliquis after 30 days. So after 30 days, I hope to put this difficult chapter behind me and move forward. I'll probably be seeing a cardiologist for the rest of my life, but it's just one of those things about getting older, I assume.

Can I join in? I've not done Naihanchi in a really long time, and would love to learn something new. I'd be happy to teach a Uechi-Ryu kata or two -- maybe our versions of Sanchin and Seisan?

Congratulations!

There are days where training is easy. There are days where training is hard. There are also days when training just plain sucks. Throughout your training you'll have ups and downs. You'll have days that things just "click", and your understanding of your art jumps to an entirely new level. The thing is, they rarely happen if you don't train through the suck.

Even after you're gone, whether that be in 5, 10, 20, or even 30 more years, you will continue to have an impact on this world in everyone you've touched. Whether that is your family, friends, students, associates, or those who you influenced on here.

When we spar, adults are only required to wear hand pads. We are encouraged to wear mouthguards, and shinpads + footgear are optional. Students under 16 are also required to wear headgear and footgear. I'm with you, sparring is about learning to get around/past your opponents defenses with light contact. Generally adults should be able to control their techniques so as to not injure their partner. However, in sparring the unexpected often happens (someone steps INTO your attack instead of away from it), so some padding definitely helps avoid injuries.

I love sparring someone that doesn't believe in the quick "out-and back", because I'll happily eat that kick, trap it, and then step in and pummel the snot out of them

Congratulations again

We don't use the term English "master" very often. We do have a number of well-defined instructor and shogo titles. For example, one can earn the title of shidoin (apprentice instructor) at 3rd degree after completing a certain number of hours teaching under guidance of an instructor; this allows you to open a school relatively independently (but you still must nominally train under a shihan ). Likewise, you can earn the shihan title (nominally "master instructor") at 5th degree, which allows you to teach independently without oversight. We then have the shogo titles of renshi (generally awarded at 6th dan), kyoshi (awarded at 7th/8th dan), and hanshi (awarded at 9th/10th dan). Again, we rarely use those terms; we generally refer to our CI just as sensei, and if there is another instructor teaching, I'll usually call them <name> sensei to differentiate from our CI. The exception is our CI's dad, who we'll usually just refer to as hanshi.

空手の日, "karate no hi", or Karate Day, celebrates the meeting of karate masters on October 25, 1936, where the name 空手, "karate" was officially adopted for the art we know today. It also established the kyu/dan ranking system. In 2005, the Okinawan Perfectural Assembly officially established October 25 as Karate Day to celebrate this anniversary. Each year, karate-ka from around the world gather in Okinawa to celebrate, culminating with a massive group demonstration of kata in Naha, Okinawaa. In fact, the 2016 Karate Day celebration established a Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously performing a kata. This year, my CI and his wife went to attend the celebrations and to train with other high-ranking instructors in Okinawa. The video of this years' celebrations is posted below. The Uechi-Ryu contingent performs the kata Sanseiryu (三十六) at about 9:40 into the video. My CI is front and center in the contingent for most of that segment.

Sad to see the Avs losing to the Blackhawks... of course, the Avs have been struggling a bit this year. Heck, so have my Blues, too

Exactly. A certain amount of flexibility and diplomacy should be expected. Everyone's situation is slightly different, and understanding their situation definitely helps with the instructor/student and provider/client relationship. It is certainly within your right to treat everyone the same and be firm with everyone. However, keep in mind also that the customers literally pay the bills (whether you're looking to turn a profit or not), so you need to weigh how close you toe the line with each student (and/or parent). Fortunately as an assistant instructor who doesn't deal with the financial side of things, that's something I don't need to worry about.

I understand what you're saying. By the time Zach is able to test for his (adult, full) shodan, he will have been a shodan-sho for 4 1/2 years, and a total of almost 10 years training in Uechi-Ryu. Assuming he continues training, he'll be running into the minimum age requirements instead of the TIG requirements. I think for our organization, it's 15 years for shodan, 17 for nidan, and I'm not sure what the minimum age for sandan is.

"Old man tricks" - I like the sound of that -- that's a lot of what I do when I spar. For example, if someone does a roundhouse kick to my midsection, I'll eat it, grab it, and then step in, give them (what would be) a good solid punch to the midsection, grab them by the gi, step in again and take them down to the mat (again, with good control). I also keep an eye on my opponent's feet - when they step in to deliver a jab, I'll do a quick sweep of their front foot -- like a kouchi gari in Judo. The idea is to land this right BEFORE their foot hits the ground, but they've already committed to the step. If done right, it won't necessarily take them down, but it'll off-balance them enough that you can step in and land a few strikes on them. Also, in our sparring legs are a valid target, so I like going after the front thigh with a low roundhouse kick. The usual defense to that is to lift up the leg in a crane block. Do that once or twice, then step in a bit deeper, and when they raise up for the crane block, follow that roundhouse kick through to take out the back of their opposing thigh. Again, it may or may not take them down, but it'll distract/unbalance them long enough to let you land a few strikes. Do I do these in such a way to hurt my partner, absolutely not. I make sure to never strike at a joint, or put my partner in a position to get injured (bad fall, etc), and I don't strike hard enough to injure. But you know what they say, "old age and treachery wins everytime"

In Colorado, the use or possession of nunchaku and throwing stars are specifically banned in public places unless being used in a public demonstration or a class. And they must be stored in an "unaccessible" container. Now to my knowledge, I've never known someone to be prosecuted over this law, but it is on the books. Now I do know that my CI and his wife were once traveling to Okinawa with a layover in Canada. Their bags went through security screening, and the authorities siezed and destroyed their brand new set of purpleheart nunchaku. Even though they were only in Canada for a layover.

My instructor's philiosophy on belts and ranking is, "the colored belts aren't for you (the student), they're for me (the instructor) - they give the instructor an easily identified reminder as to what part of the curriculum you're at and what is appropriate to be teaching you". So with that mindset, I have absolutely zero problems with TIG requirements. At our school, junior kyu ranks (up to 5th kyu or so) have a 3 month TIG requirement and senior kyu ranks (4th kyu and up) have a 6 month TIG requirement. This is for your average student who attends a minimum of twice per week. Students that only attend once per week will test less frequently. These TIG requirements are set by our organization, and are fairly standard across Uechi-Ryu styles. Kyu gradings are done purely at the local dojo, so technically my CI can adjust TIG requirements slightly depending on the student's circumstances. However, when a student tests for shodan, their entire packet gets sent to our organization, since they will be awarding the dan grading. As such, any discrepancies in TIG requirements will need to be justified. As I mentioned, the belt is a guideline to the instructor to let him/her know what the student is ready to learn. So if a student shows above-average aptitude, then the instructors will recognize this and introduce him/her to more advanced techniques earlier than other students. For Dan-level gradings, the TIG requirement is generally 2 years to test for nidan, 3 years for sandan, etc. If you are an instructor, they can reduce that TIG requirement by 6 months at the discretion of the CI, since instructors are required to teach at least once per week in addition to their normal training. Again, these are guidelines and minimums. Any and all test candidates need to be invited by their supervising instructor to test. Generally the instructor in question will run a "pre-test" evaluation in class the week prior to the testing board to make sure the eligible candidates are ready to test.

Our CI is very open and welcoming of us attending seminars both by our organization and others. In fact, he frequently brings in outside instructors to our dojo and hosts seminars to give us outside perspectives. He also leads a trip to Okinawa once or twice a year so we have the opportunity to train with senior instructors there. He is a firm believer in the value of learning different ways of doing things, and letting us incorporate that into our own karate. Now as far as testing at such an event goes -- it just wouldn't happen in Uechi-Ryu without the knowledge and/or consent of that student's CI. One organization's senior instructors simply would not test students from another organization, and they would not perform dan gradings of students within their organization without the consent and recommendation of that student's CI. In any case, beyond a certain level (6th dan or so), Uechi-Ryu, at least in the USA, gets to be a really small fellowship, so everyone basically knows (or at least knows of) everyone. Everytime I've visited another school and mentioned who my CI is, they either know him or his dad. Maybe it's because my CI tends to attend (and teach at) a couple seminars every year himself. Now if you had a situation where the CI of the school didn't feel like he had sufficient instructors of grade to run a testing panel for a student (for example, a sandan instructor had a student testing for nidan), I can certainly see how that CI would either invite another senior instructor to visit and run the testing board, or send that student to another instructor to test. In fact, we had a very similar situation at my school a couple years ago. We had a student from Nebraska whose instructor was not senior enough to promote him, so he came to our school to participate in our testing cycle. Now, as others have said, if a student earns rank in another style that's another story entirely. We have a couple students who have dan level ranks in other styles. However, when they attend classes at our dojo, they wear the ranks that they've earned at our school.

My wife and I were discussing the procedure yesterday evening. It's a 2-3 hour outpatient procedure, you have significant activity restrictions for 5 days afterwards (no strenuous activity, no driving, careful going up and down stairs), and then you can begin resuming normal activity afterwards. You'll continue to be on blood thinners for about 4-6 weeks afterwards.

That's exactly what I'm on. I technically have atrial flutter (which is a form of afib, but easier to treat). I recently spoke with a cardiac surgeon who suggested a surgery to treat it -- basically go in through the femoral vein with a laser and create a small patch of scar tissue which prevents the signals from going haywire. So I'm most likely going to have that done later this year.

I mainly avoid sparring right now because I'm on blood thinners, so the potential for excessive bruising is pretty high.

Do they have ones to fit a 78” bo?