shotochem

It is an SKIF kata which is only being taught to BB. Kanazawa started to teach it in our organization a few years ago as he did not want the kata to become lost. It is still not widely practiced and I would think you will be seeing more of it in the next few years as more people are learning it. To my knowledge he does not have any publised video of this kata at the moment and I have not found any diagrams out there. It is basically taught only to BB from person to person. If I send you the kata I'd have to kill ya!!! (or the ninjas would kill me )

Hi Laurie, That is the right attitude. Just keep enjoying and getting the most out of your training. I recently did not have a good experience with my BB grading and I still have not decided if I ever want to retest. I feel much more relaxed and am trying to enjoy myself again. Before the grading I was miserable and pressured. It felt like being at work. If I want a second job I'll get one this is supposed to be for fun. Don't get too hung up on belts and rankings (I know you won't). Take my humble advice, test when YOU are ready not when others tell you you should. I wish I had listened to myself. For me it's just not the same as it was. I may just start a new art all over again. It really is the journey not the destination for you may find as I did that where you end up may not be where you want to be. Marc

I would love to stick with Shotokan. However, I have become interested in many arts over the last couple of years.

Thanks Afi, I'm just a little bumed at the way things turned out. I feel that all that I have been striving for has been cheapened. I went back and took one class a few days after the grading. It did not feel the same it felt empty. The pleasure I have while training was not there. I'm not sure if I want to remain with my organization even though I enjoy those I train with. It may be time to move on and take another art and start over again. It really is not about me getting a belt. I would rather start over as a whitebelt somewhere and recapture what I truely enjoy. I had said many times in the past it is better to be a really good brownbelt than a really crappy BB. I still believe that today. No matter what I choose (I still have not decided yet) I will always be the real deal. I want to earn it and there will be no doubt about any rank I choose to wear. Marc

Update. I had the pleasure of being paired up with the partner from hell. He had no control, the attacks were erratic, his technique was poor. He called one attack but made another and kicked me in the knee. He was a good foot taller and heavier than me. While attacking I owned him and he defended poorly. Result...... He passed. I failed due to exceesive contact. The testing instructor was quite nasty and yelled at the others testing. Only 2 people passes out of 20 people testing. One was a 9 yr old the other, the one I was pummelling. Go figure??? It makes me wonder why I listened to the others and bothered to test. To me the value of the belt is diminished. I wonder if I wasted my time and efforts all these years. I am giving serious though to changing organizations. I will not say which group I'm with as I have great respect for my instructor and consider him a friend. I do enjoy training with this group of people and we are quite a close knit group of friends. We have trained together for years. My problem is with the organization. I really don't care too much about the belt it's just that the worst 2 people there passed and there were a lot of baffled people standing around wondering why. I do this because I enjoy training but I consider the outcome insulting to my years of training and I do not have any desire to test again as it won't mean anything to me. This is a very sore topic for me right now and I will not comment on it again for a while. I thank you all for your kind words.

That all may be true but as of now I have no other thoughts of ever testing again.(I will probably change my mind later. )) I will definately continue my training I love it too much to ever stop. I find myself very interested in many other arts and would like to expand my MA portfolio. So many arts so little time. I will always hold Shotokan dear to me it is my first art. It is my base and my core it is who I am. Ideally I would keep up my Shotokan and add other styles of interest. I have been on a more intense training schedule of late and the big day is next week. I will let you all know how it went. Thankyou all for the kind words..... Marc- AKA: Shotochem

I don't believe a jury would ever convict him. If it actually would go to trial think of all the publicity it would get....... Movie deals, photo ops, time to write that book ect.... No one in their right mind would hold the person accountable. Morally, if you feel bad send flowers. There is an inherent danger of being killed while performing an armed robbery. Robber gets killed, sucks for him.

The fighter with no conscience is the one who would win. The one who is most comitted to injuring their opponent without regard for consequences.

Hi everyone, I've been ranting and babbling on these forums for a while now. I have grown as a MA and have learned a lot from our discussions. I will finally take my BB exam in a couple of weeks. I must be going insane. I don't feel overly nervous or excited as of yet. It actually feels kind of anti-climactic in a way. All this time and effort to get to this point and I have just realized. Are you a better MA the day after you pass your BB exam or is it just another thing to wear around your waist while you jump around in funny white pajamas. I never really thought I was ever going to make it this far or test for that matter. For me it was always about the journey not the destination. I just enjoy the ride. Am I just a strange guy or are any of you others feel the same? With all this being said I plan on going out there 100% and giving it my all and having some fun. Fail or succeed I have passed already.

I resemble that statement . In the past few years I have been injured more outside of the dojo than in the dojo. Sprained wrist while tripping over a garden hose. My hand got slammed in the front door (2 broken fingers(again)) Threw out back for a week moving sofa. These are not the injuries of a warrior, the karate gods are laughing at me as I speak.......

Enter the cold and practical Shotochem....... Disclaimer.....this statement is not meant to be insulting or to demean any parties in any way. It is meant in a helpful yet opinionated way. Do you PAY for instruction? Why do you have to follow a code of conduct outside of the activity you are paying to take? If the services that are being provided do not meet your needs, there are other places to go. Loyalty and dedication work both ways. To stop a student from learning and improving themselves is self serving and dishonors the student as well as the spirit of teaching. I do what I choose outside of the dojo. Quite frankly it's none of anyones bussiness what I do before or after I walk in that door. I have a Sensei which I highly respect and consider a friend. Yet, he is not my daddy, my conscience, priest, rabbi or any other means of comuning with a higher power. He is my teacher. This is the 21st century, the time of following masters and having them involved in our personal lives should merely be in a bad MA movie. Open your eyes grasshopper, sometimes all is not as it seems.....

I vote all of the above and then some!!!!

The last time I went fishing I caught 2 six packs and a 16" Porgie that won the boat pool.

LOL!!! Welcome to the world of MA!!! You will soon find out that you will do a good deal push ups every class. The only thing different is that your teacher will think up new and more interesting reasons for you to do them. (Its not punishment its all part of your training and conditioning.)

Maybe they are all just named Dan.....

I would personally want any of my belts or gi looking as neat and clean as possible. It is 100x more sanitary and a lot easier on the wallet . The longer it lasts the less frequently I have to pay for a new one. Hey, I'm a cheapskate. (a good quality belt or gi is expensive)

Another pheonmenon I frequently encounter: That same person who hardly blocks is constantly attacking and attacking with no regard for any type of personal defense. When I spar these people I tend to just sit back and block everything the throw at me then periodically throw a punch or kick a mm short of their face to try and get them to defend. They just have to start every sparring match with the ol suicidal charging roundhouse to the head. Very predictable, very readable, very dangerous.....

A very good post SJ. I agree with your personal philosophy on the grade and rank. It's all about learning and improving. I will most likely take my Shodan grading within the next 6 months or so (scheduling is tough this time of year). I have been procrastinating for a while and have not been anxious to grade any time soon. The turning point for me was my dojomates telling me as far as we are concerned you are a BB already inside and outside you have nothing to prove to us. Just please take the test already your making us look bad!!!! That respect from those I train and learn with is worth more to me than a piece of cloth. That one statement changed and re-dedicated me I WILL grade!!!

If you rotate hips first and then extend your hand, you hazusu, or negate/deadlock your power). Do not rotate the fist yet. You should be palm up, and assuming you're angled off, your arm should be across your chest at your target. Keep your chest flared. Keep your wrists straight and locked (make sure they aren't bent outward too much or curled inward too much). I find I get quite a bit of power when I engage the lead legs' hip followed by the rear fist slightly ahead of the rear hip which is driving through the target propelling the punch. I liken the motion to a follow through or the same feel as a whip cracking. It's hard to explain but once you get the feel of it you can tell the difference.

You'll have no problem when your'e over 35!!!! KRISPY CREAME DONUTS!!!!!!! A dozen a day and the pounds will pack on!!!!

This sounds like a standard Shotokan reverse punch.

Blind kata is definately a challenge. You never know how or where you finish. We have drill where you are blindfolded facing your partner with your arms making contact. Your partner moves to strike you in the stomach while you block. It is a very interesting drill as you learn you react on feel and sound as opposed to what you can see. After a few minutes you block just about everything your partner throws at you. Then remove the blindfold and do the same drill. You will find that you are actually faster and react more quickly blindfolded. Of course this will only work when you are making contact (unless you use the Force or Dark Ninja Magic ).

hypothetical situation: Person trained for many years attained Sandan ranking. Took off 5 years no training. Has wife kids and job. Is he any less a Sandan after earing it because he is not up to the standard currently? Were you there when "Nick" was a Shodan and before? You do not have to worry about how good anyone else is. Set your own standard for yourself and keep true to it. As for rank I've trained with Shodans who did test any higher and have remained the same rank for 10 + years. To me they are the meaning of what karate should be.

I do believe that perserverance is an inherent trait. Some people just have a greater mental toughness where others give up sooner. When it comes to goals IMO, is comes down to how badly you want something and what it means to you. This is what motivates us in our MA training. This type of perserverance can be taught and influenced by who and what you are surrounded by. I consider this more of a determination kind of thing. To perservere in regards to living and surviving and overcoming a dangerous situation I would consider a more primal survival instinct than anything you could be taught.

It's very easy to separate the two. When I go to an asian restaurant I order the food and I eat it. I don't commune with it. The Bhuddist decor and the Bhuddist cooking in back would have little impact on my enjoyment or digestion of the meal. Now in-sert the word dojo for decor, karate teaching for cooking and simply replace the word meal with the art which you are learning. Its a viable analogy. Just becaused you are exposed to different cultures and religions dosn't mean you have to practice them. I personally find all that bowing and Ossing to be a little odd and unnecessary. It is however the way in which they teach and practice in our dojo. I just consider it a cultural oddity and take it with a grain of salt. I am there to learn and train anything else is just atmosphere.