dennis63

The practice of martial arts is, of course, a very serious pursuit. At the same time, sometimes some very funny things can happen during practice. The fact that we're all trying to be serious can make these things even funnier. Do you have a funny story from practice? I'd love to hear it. I'll start. Once, long ago, a senior black belt from our national organization was in our area and decided to visit. He was there on business, and didn't even bring a karate gi. My instructor gave him a brand new gi to wear to practice, complete with a new white belt. At the beginning of class, the visitor sat in the senior position in the lineup and was introduced as a senior Sandan (third-degree black belt). Our instructor told us he was only wearing a white belt because he didn't bring his gi. About 10 minutes into the class, a brown belt arrived to class late. This brown belt was a bit of an arrogant guy, had never met the senior visitor, and assumed he was a new white belt. (He should have known from his kicks and punches that this guy was no beginner, but he was somehow blind to it. All he saw was that new, stiff white belt) During basics, he immediately began "correcting" the visitor's techniques. The visiting senior, who was tough and serious in practice and also funny and a bit of a prankster outside of practice, went along with this, accepting brown belt's "corrections" very sincerely, as if it were his first day at practice. When it came time for sparring, the two men were at opposite ends of the gym. My instructor, while explaining the sparring exercise, took the brown belt by the sleeve and guided him to a position in line directly across from the visiting senior! We were all "in on the joke," and knew what was going to happen next. The senior, a bulldog of a man who was very fast, graciously accepted the brown belt's orders to attack first in a structured exercise called "ippon kumite." The brown belt immediately learned his lesson, and could barely exhale the words "Good punch, white belt!" after the punch landed, middle level, with a thud, just enough to be a lesson. And, of course, when he said, "Good punch, white belt," we could hardly keep from laughing. The two men were properly introduced after class, and the chagrinned brown belt was never late for class again.

I just got a new heavier-weight gi. The brand says "MAP 2." When it arrived, it was stiff as a board, and hasn't gotten much better. (My older gis from this brand are all as soft as T-shirts, but have been worn for practice and washed hundreds of times.) I've tried a number of tricks mentioned online to soften up the material: 1. Washing it in warm and hot water five times total. 2. Adding a half-cup of baking soda to the water when washing it. 3. Fabric softener 4. Tumble drying it with a ball of aluminum foil in the dryer. So far, it hasn't gotten much softer -- maybe 5 percent. Any ideas out there on how to soften up? Thank you in advance!

I've practiced with Shotokan Karate of America since 1981. When I saw SKA's name as the title of this post, I had to read it. Some of the previous posts are excellent, while others are a bit incorrect or are viewing SKA in the most negative possible way. SKA's members -- there are fewer than 2,000 in the United States these days -- practice a very traditional style of Japanese karate and strive to keep it as close to the way Gichin Funakoshi taught in the early 20th Century. The idea of "Special Training" existed and exists in several Japanese martial arts. The idea is for the student to challenge himself / herself. It recognizes that some big breakthroughs in your practice can happen when you push harder for longer than you previously thought possible. When you've done lots of a technique or a kata, or face people you've never met before in kumite, or are exhausted and still have to fight on, you make breakthroughs. You also realize you were being pretty easy on yourself, and you can do more than you thought you could. That's the idea! So, yes, they have this rule. You can't leave or they'll kick you out of SKA. (That's handed down directly from Japan. too. It's VERY Japanese.). But you know that going in, so you know you're staying for three or four days and doing maybe eight practices, each of which will be somewhat difficult. They will be as hard as you decide to make them by pushing yourself. And you actually can leave Special Training without getting kicked out of SKA if you are sick, injured or have a true family emergency. I've seen it a few times in my 23 Special Trainings. Usually, the people who have to leave don't want to leave. They'd prefer to stay and finish what they set out to do. Hinting that it has similarities to a "cult" is almost funny, were it not implied seriously. SKA is non-profit and costs are low. They don't want your money. They say, "You can be good at this if you work hard," and recognize rank based on ability and character, not how much you've paid in fees. So if working out hard to get better at an activity is a cult, then every high school sports team in every town would qualify as a cult. I get that these days, MMA, BJJ and a few popular styles are all the rage. There are also those who've practices different arts and may be trying to steer people to themselves, and away from traditional martial arts by using descriptions like "outdated,' or "ineffective." I was a police officer for 25 years, and met many people who chose to fight rather than be arrested. Criminals in alleys and tiny apartments and on the side of roads. Two had knives and one tried to take my gun. And because I carried that (loaded) gun as part of my uniform, if I lost, it meant I would probably die. But I'm still here. I'm (living) proof the techniques work very effectively, and I am only a humble nidan.

Watches! I have a small collection of eight watches. Most were gifts. Nothing really expensive, and nothing over $300, but decent for the price. I have a Citizen Promaster dive watch from Japan, and two Swiss watches -- a Tissot men's Classic Dream and a Luminox Black Ops 8800. Looking back, I wish I had bought a couple of those legendary watches -- Omega or of course Rolex -- back in the 70s or early 80s, but who has that kind of money when you're young?

I partially disagree, in fact, modern or mixed martial arts in some ways is worse in terms of attracting criminal elements and the way it advertised does attract thugs and gang members. Its just that with MMA, I felt like traditional martial arts was no longer "cool" and so it would no longer attract morally bankrupt characters or egomaniacs. Maybe just a McDojo operator at worse. The thing is though, with the MMA, people get "checked" when they want to flare up their ego unless there is an alpha frat house dynamic and if there is, they are out of business in a hurry. Traditional martial arts is great because you get to build skillset in an environment that is much safer for the human body than an MMA style gym but that safety can sometimes create arrogance because the egomaniacally inclined character will train in the art but will not be tested and not be humbled. So overall I agree, bad people are in MMA. Heck, tons in boxing and ego is kind of encouraged because some trainers from the old school days are cherry pickers and they will give their golden boys special treatment and everyone else has to get verbally beaten down. I'm not sure where we disagree, if at all. I'm a traditionalist at heart. The "old" styles have been handed down to us over at least 400 years, including times when practicing them was banned and times when martial arts was used in self defense against invading soldiers with weapons. The techniques that survive come to us from the people who lived through those ordeals. But the traditional arts carry with them an element of philosophy and ethical conduct. Along with that comes a level of trust and mutual respect between instructor and student. There is absolutely no place for an instructor who berates his students. And I agree that MMA schools attract a higher percentage of the wrong people. The whole attitude and the way MMA is presented, to me is the opposite of what martial arts has always been, and should continue to be.

By its very nature, martial arts (both traditional and more modern) attract an alarming number of the wrong people. They train for the wrong reasons. Some have serious issues with maturity, ego, self-esteem and empathy. There was a time when masters of martial arts would carefully consider whom they would teach. For a long time in history, fathers would pass their martial art to their sons or daughters, and maybe not all of them. Today, that doesn't seem to play into the equation. One more student is one more fee paid toward the school's bottom line. And if the student is a sociopath but keeps paying, showing up and practicing, they can climb up the ranks and become the instructor of whom you speak. And making him an instructor / leader? He should never have been allowed to start practicing! I agree with much of what you say here, but if you're arguing that bad people and bad instructors don't also exist in modern, more free-style or mixed martial arts, I think you may be mistaken.

Awesome response, Journyman74. All very accurate, I would say. I would add that SKA's teaching is that "power" comes not so much from speed but from the application of kime -- relaxed and fast until the instant of impact, then tightening and connecting on impact. (Think: Light / heavy.)

When I first started to practice karate as a (relatively) young 18-year-old back in the 1980s, I attended some events with instructors who were much older Japanese men. I noticed that they said something I found unusual. When I did a punch, a kick, or a kata, I thought of myself as "doing karate," and used the same verb as 'doing the dishes." But my Japanese instructors used a different English word to describe the act of performing techniques. They used the word, "Making." After my Intro to Japanese language course, I realized that the Japanese word is the same for "doing" and "making," and they were choosing to say "making" when they spoke English. Like an artist making a sculpture, you are making a kick. You are making a kata, as if it is a physical thing that exists, however briefly. And because it exists only for that single moment -- maybe just an instant -- it is even more valuable. Therefore, you are trying to make the most perfect, the most beautiful and exact technique you can. This changed my perspective in practice then, as it does today.

A degree in a martial art? I don't think that will ever happen, and don't see colleges doing it. We here may find incredible value in our personal practice. Academics, in general, don't see it that way. I recall a tiny Massachusetts college that had a Japanese Studies department, and the chair taught intro courses (1 credit, I think) in Karate, Kendo and Kyudo, as well as a basic Japanese language course. The college had clubs if the student wanted to further their practice in the physical arts. The college was very liberal -- no grades, and you got a mentor/advisor when you entered as a freshman and graduated when he or she thought you were ready. The intro courses basically enabled the students to experience what the art was like in real life, rather than playing a video game or watching a martial arts movie. If you took the course, at least you had a small taste of karate practice and learned the basics in 14 weeks. And those who loved practice joined the club, which was reasonably successful. These days, colleges are very concerned about civil liability. My alma mater effectively killed the karate club, once the largest registered student organization on the campus, by constantly moving it to smaller spaces and later times until it was practicing in a tiny, dingy multi-purpose room starting at 9 p.m. These days, if you mention the words "karate club" to this university, you'll get banned from campus.

Thank you for the friendly welcome, everyone!

My favorite was: Third Rock from the Sun Every show, they stumbled into some aspect of human behavior, dissected it, took it absurdly too far and, finally, understood something about it. It mocked everything equally, and it was hilarious. John Lithgow is too funny for words, and they had a big "win" with William Shatner appearing in a few shows as "The Big Giant Head."

I've always been somewhat skeptical of karate being marketed to families with children as a cure for poor grades and hyperactivity. I understand that any school wants to have lots of young beginners. In the schools run as a profit-making business, kids are often the life-blood of that business. But look at the result. If you talk about karate in the United States, the average (non-martial arts) person thinks of a 9-year-old in an ill-fitting gi doing some horrible technique. An adult who says he or she practices karate would be mocked by most Americans. The image of an adult, of the karateka as an elite athlete similar to say an NCAA football player or gymnast, does not exist in the United States, even though the athletes who do all three sports would have a lot in common. Karate is viewed very differently in Japan, and is considered a much more serious pursuit. The questions I ask myself are: Does a small child have the maturity to learn techniques that could be dangerous; and Is it really smart to market karate as some kind of holistic cure for Attention Deficit Disorder? By marketing karate to kids, are we actually reducing its popularity among adults? I'd be interested to know what people here think.

Hello, everyone. I'm Dennis, a longtime member of Shotokan Karate of America (SKA), where I am a nidan (2nd-degree black belt). I'm a couple of hours away from the nearest dojo, and, at 61 years old, I mostly practice basics and kata for exercise, strength and flexibility. Prior to my retirement, I was a police officer for 25 years. I can say with certainty that: a) the techniques are highly effective and work in a real fight (because I am still alive); b) every police officer in America should train in some martial art of their choice; and c) I would not be here but for practicing karate. I appreciate the intelligent level of discussion on the site here, as I've seen SKA get harshly criticized on other sites with false claims and the typical American misinterpretations of this very Japanese art form. Since I was a child (long, long ago), I've had the greatest respect for all martial arts and look forward to reading of the great experiences of others here.