Zaine

It's a great homage to the older arcade cabinet games of my childhood. Updating them to make it interesting without trying to break the mold. Exactly what I was hoping it would be.

The new TMNT beat-'em-up, Shredder's Revenge, is excellent. I've been playing it with my kiddo and it's been a blast.

Congrats! Well deserved!

Happy holidays! Latkes are so good. I make them all the time!

12/20 Bike Ride: 30 mintues, 11k

Ask a doctor. I know that isn't what you want to hear, but it is the best, and only, advice that is legitimate and sound. The internet is full of people trying to sell you the next best artery cleanser or power diet. If you can, go to your doctor and ask this question. In the meantime, follow general best practices. Go for walks. Make sure that you are eating nutritious meals. Take care of yourself. Go see a doctor.

Hey everyone, it's that time of year again! What is everyone's new year resolutions? It could be Karate related or general. The only one I have, and I usually one pick one, is to do 1000 kata in the month of January. I wanted to do something fun, that I would enjoy doing in the process. Resolutions work best when the goal is obtainable and something that you already have started doing. I did the math, and I need to do 32.26 kata every day, or 2.7 every hour for 12 hours. I have decided to learn and perform Kusanku Dai for an upcoming tournament in February, so a large portion of my practice will focus on that (thank you Wastelander for having a clear video on YouTube of one that is close enough to my style's version for me to compare). However, I plan on sprinkling others in to keep things interesting.

12/19/2022 MA Training: 30 minutes of solo training, followed by 30 minutes with my daughter. She was very excited to continue training after the tournament, which only confirmed that her placements did nothing other than light a fire under her love for Martial Arts.

You bring up something here that I've been thinking about lately. As stated above, I disagree, even though I personally seek out schools that include sparring as a non-negotiable for myself. Specifically, it's that martial arts teaches you how to fight.I think certain martial arts teach you how to fight. Kyokushin, boxing and it's children, etc. all teach you how to get in a ring and fight someone. However, I don't think that's what something like Shorin Ryu teaches you, necessarily. I think traditional karate has absorbed sparring and stand up fighting out of desire to either stay competitive with full-contact arts, or just out of love for them. However, I do not believe that kata and the focus we should have on bunkai are conducive to this. I believe that karate, at it's base, teaches us how to defend ourselves and desperately hopes that this is enough. Full contact stuff, in my opinion, is a necessary add-on, but not one that takes away the martial aspect.

I told her that I tried to play Minecraft and did poorly. She called me a noob and then was very condescending about the fact that "I wasn't doing too bad, but maybe stick to creative mode..."

Of all time? Wow, what a question. 1) Getting my Shodan. I started when I was 11 and got my Black Belt just before my 18th birthday. I grew a lot during that time, as we all do as children. More than anything, it felt like the moment that I became an adult. 2) Starting my own school. The last 3 months have been amazing. I can't wait to see what the future holds. 3) Seeing my kid take a passion for martial arts. I'm just so dang proud of her. She's really an incredible kid.

Hey everyone! As I mentioned a few times, I attended a Karate tournament yesterday and I have returned to give a report. Overall, it was a very successful tournament. I got there early. I didn't mean to get there so early but doing so gave me a chance to help set up and pick a good spot for my stuff. Roughly an hour later, the black belt meeting started. Once that was over, the tournament began. I spent the bulk of my time judging kata and sparring. I love doing the judging, I find it to be a lot of fun. Getting to talk to the other judges about their perceptions, what they look for, and how they ascertain the performances is always interesting. I make sure to pay attention during these moments to become better at judging myself. This was my second tournament with this group, and also my second time judging. I made some great connections last time and furthered those connections this time. If nothing else, I networked my butt off just by being myself and helping out. In my eyes, this is a great win. After another hour, it was my child's turn to compete. She started with kata and got 4th. She was disappointed that she didn't get a trophy, but she handled it very well. The judges, after it was over, took the time to give her some really good feedback that I was actually about to give her myself. They were both supportive, and reaffirming. The experience here was really positive, and not getting a trophy really lit a fire under her. I was thankful that there were no participation prizes, which I personally abhor. It helped her learn a good lesson on losing with grace, which she passed with flying colors, and furthered her motivation to come back better. I was, and remain, eternally proud of her. Afterwards, it was her turn to spar. She lost her first bout, but the improvement from this one to the last was monumental. She scored 2 points to the opponents 6. Every time she had a hit scored on her, she giggled gleefully. She was really having fun out there. Her next opponent, having fallen into the loser’s bracket with my kid, was frustrated. During the fight, before anything any points were scored, she accidentally kicked the center judge with a spinning back kick (which happened very far away from my kid, so she threw it very early). The judge gently coached her, and she responded unkindly. This resulted in a win for my kid, and a 3rd place finish! I was so proud of her for remaining respectful and approaching the whole experience with the idea that she was here to learn and have fun. Aside from her own accomplishments, it made me feel good; both as a father and her teacher. I tell all of my students that they shouldn't be here for accolades, but for fun and learning. My daughter showed that attitude in spades, and the other instructors there took notice and complimented her on it. Later, she was worried that no one would take her 3rd place trophy seriously, but my wife and I made sure to explain exactly why she deserved it. Afterwards, a whole day of judging for me. Luckily, the kiddo got to go home with my mother so that she wasn't bored for the rest. That let me really focus on being present, and I was extremely thankful. Finally, it was my turn to go up. We started with kata. I performed Seiunchin, which I've linked below. I've been running this kata daily, 10 - 15 times, and the results speak for themselves. I competed against 2 others, and they did a great job. When I got the top scores, I was very pleased and very surprised. However, my arduous work paid off! I placed first. Afterwards, I competed for grand champion along with 3 others. I ended up scoring 28.9 and the winner scored 29.0. I can't be anything but happy with my performance, and the winner certainly fought hard for the win. I've extremely pleased with the outcome. If I'm losing by 1/10 a point, then I'm doing pretty good. Next was sparring. There were 3 of us, and I had the bye. The bout was close, but I managed to push out a win for 1st with a score of 7 - 6 in the very last second of the match. My competitor was tough, and I don't feel that either of us made any error. It was 2 black belt competitors who put up a great fight. No more, no less. Afterwards, I fought the winner of the "executive" matches for grand champion, and he mopped the floor with me 2 - 7. It was a great fight, and I learned a lot. Points fighting is still foreign to me, and a lot of my instincts rely on being fine with a strike against me and then coming in. Obviously, that doesn't play well in points fighting, and so he got a few kicks on me due to that. However, even above that, he was an excellent fighter and knew how to use his body type to his advantage. He deserved the win, and now I know how I need to train to get better. I couldn't ask for a better result. That said, this is the second tournament in a row with this league that I placed 1st in my division, so I'm just happy that I could successfully defend my title. That said, I’m not sure that I will do it again in the next tournament. I prefer a different style of fighting and while there is nothing wrong with points fighting, it just isn’t for me. Overall, my results definitely speak for themselves in relation to my skill. I am overjoyed with how I did, and that I placed 1st in both events that I competed in. More than that, I am very happy about the relationships that I forged yesterday, and those that I deepened. This circuit is very clearly based on mutual respect and admiration, and I feel that I have found a good group of people to tie my own school to going forward. If there is a world in which I was not happy about that, then it wouldn't be me. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmUcMRSjenv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Good luck! Don't push too hard! Your instructor knows that you're ready, no need to go all out if you're not 100%!

I know that feeling! My kid still yells at the screen with headphones while playing Minecraft. Not sure what is going on that needs yelling at, but I'm given to understand that the yelling is well-deserved.

12/15/2022 MA Training: 1 hour. Did a sparring class at a friend's dojo as a warm-up for the tournament this Saturday. Since leaving the dojo I was at, I don't have a lot of opportunities to spar (not that I did at the last place either, as they only spar during the informal classes and only if there are enough people). This was a good opportunity to knock off some rust.

12/13/2022 30 minutes of kata training, followed by training with my kid again. 12/14/2022 30 minute bike ride. I might go for a walk later. It feels really nice here. Tonight, more training with the kid. She wants to nail the competition and is pushing herself to practice. Nothing that is too much for her, but it does me proud.

I will certainly do so! I plan to write up a "tournament report" when it's over. 30 minutes of general karate. I focused a lot on fundamentals. Then another 30 minutes of training with my daughter this morning. We mainly focused on her own kata for the tournament, but did save the last 10 minutes for sparring. 30 minute bike ride

If it's any consolation, when my first teacher got his 5th dan, a master rank in Matsumura Seito, as well, he requested that we continue to call him "Steve." Like you, I am wary of people that rest on their titles as a way of forced respect. It sits poorly in my stomach. That said, title or no, I understand your overall concern. I often ask myself: What do I deserve. It's certainly the question that I asked myself when leaving the dojo. It's the question that I am still asking myself in relation to my own struggling about rank and it's importance. We say that rank doesn't matter, and it certainly doesn't in the grand scheme of things, but it does within the political structure of martial arts, and it has a big impact on the "here and now." It is important insofar as the higher your rank is, the more you are allowed to do within the structure of an organization. At the end of the day, it's your decision. You get to decide how you are represented and you're allowed to take steps to achieve that representation. If a 5th dan is what you want right now, then I say go for it. You might find, along the way, that it was something different that you wanted and abandon the quest for a test. You might realize that the reason you wanted the 5th dan is deeper than you originally thought. You won't know until you take your first step on the path.

30 minutes of kata training. I'm doing Seieunchin for a tournament on Saturday.

Thanks, Brian. I love this forum and how supportive we are here. I was musing with a friend that this part of the karate journey has felt a lot like I got out of the tutorial and now what I do is my choice. Karate feels a lot like an open world game, in this regard. Do I want to follow the main story (i.e., work towards that next belt), or do some side-quests (i.e., train with different people and develop myself to be more well-rounded). For the last 14 years, since my first Sensei stopped teaching, I've been doing the latter. It's been fun, and it's only because I want to teach students and have them feel secure in the fact that I didn't somehow "cheat" the system for rank. My Sensei sometimes had to field questions about that, and while no one could say that he didn't absolutely have the skill to be his rank, it was still annoying to hear people question his lineage. He seemed less worried that we are, and now that I'm older I understand why. I, too, don't really care what people think about how I got my rank. I still want to test and go through the rigors, but I think my skill speaks for itself. As Bob says, I leave all the proof they need on the floor.

I'm curious to hear how it is - it might be a case of a good game that has had too high expectations. The Avengers game on PS5 was similar - i actually really enjoyed it but it was slated everywhere! That's what I'm thinking, as well. As long as the combat is fun, then I'm probably down for it. I watched a few reviews of it that were more generous, and I think that some of the critiques are valid, but the cooler heads seem to think that the game is fine. Considering that I liked Arkham Origins, which wasn't great, I think that I will like Gotham Knights as well.

10k bike ride this morning. Finished in 28:47, which I'm very happy with. My wife and I recently got bikes and it has been a great way to exercise for us. It's fun to go so fast with the lesser amount of impact.

I heard mixed reviews about Gotham Knights. Let us know how it is. I really want to play God of War: Ragnarok. The previous GoW is one of my to 5 games of all time.

Thank you both for your encouragement. I have, actually, considered looking for a remote learning situation. There is an MSSR school in Fort Smith, AR that is only 4.5 hours away. He already has an online program, and I can go through him. I have a friend who recently came into contact with an MSSR guy who just moved to the area as well, so I'm waiting to hear back about that as well. If nothing else, I've been representing the school in a tournament league that is local and doing some great networking. The schools there are run by great people who seem to really love karate. I can continue to develop those relationships and see if they will test me in "general MA." My sensei did something similar for his Godan.

Buckle up, your boy has an M.A. in English and needs to sort out his thoughts. It's going to be wordy. I left my dojo this week, withdrew completely. I had been there for a year and a half, made sankyu, and was a couple of months away from nikyu. However, I had begun to notice a change in the CI. A quickness to their anger and an increasing shortness with their students. It seemed to me that they had forgotten that, at the end of the day, they provided a service. It is true that they get to choose who takes part in that service, and also that those paying for this service need to be respectful and observant of the rules, but the outbursts from the CI began to come at odd times. Like when a student who has experience was struggling to break a habit, and so the CI yelled at them in front of the class. Or when another instructor, who is inquisitive and always trying to get the CI's thoughts on things so that they are teaching the correct thing, is told to take off their belt, and that they do not deserve their rank, because of a single thing that the CI felt was incorrect. I had noticed a decline in the general atmosphere of the dojo over the last 2 months, but it was these 2 stories being told to me on Friday that put the final nail in the coffin. It also gave me a lot to think about. I've seen posts all over the internet from martial artists who, after years of noticing red flags, finally think to ask someone if what they are seeing is bad. It got me wondering about why I was able to pick this out so quickly, and what made me okay with leaving. I joined this dojo because it is the closest Shorin Ryu dojo in my area. It teaches Shobayashi (and Shudokan), which was not the Matsumura Seito that I learned (in which I have a Shodan), but it was close enough and my goal was to reach Sandan, so that I could open up my own school. I had little intention, both at the outset and at the end, to teach Shobayashi and Shudokan, but I love to learn, and I knew that I could use what I learned there to increase my understanding of my own style. I have been a martial artist for 20 years, so I knew that this was a viable path. In this, I was successful in using what I learned to increase my proficiencies in Matsumura Seito, while also developing a style that was distinct from both styles to teach. Of course, I did not reach that goal. This has brought other concerns. I still want to move up in my own journey, but I do not want to start again in a style that I do not intend to teach to do so. Finding a way to increase my rank so that I feel comfortable teaching my own school is a very real obstacle for me now. On that, at best, I have about 5-6 years to accomplish (due to the fact that I have, in fact, already opened my own school a little earlier this year). Given that I had such clear goals, I wondered what made me okay with leaving. In short, I know my worth. Primarily, I know that my skill level, both in martial arts and teaching, is of a level that my perception of my own rank is the only thing holding me back. In this, I have experience. I have been in this long enough to know that I do not need to achieve the highest rank at this school. I know that when something happens to make my relationship with the dojo no longer mutually beneficial, that leaving is my best option. I lack the worries of the Sunken Cost Fallacy. I have the black belt. In the end, I do not need another. We often say that the thing that separates a black belt from a white belt is time, and experience. I began to wonder if the reason that I see so many posts wondering if the poster had made a mistake is this lack of experience. They do not know, necessarily, that the dojo has all of these red flags. This is often their first experience. Why would they know that? They have never been a part of a good experience. If their perception is that their experience is universal, then of course they would not ask questions. They want that black belt. It is, often, not until they hear of the experience of others, or someone brings to their attention all of the red flags, that they begin to wonder. It seems obvious that we should move on from things that do not make us happy, but what does that unhappiness look like? Like the proverbial frog in the boiling water, do we not notice the change until it is far too late? There is no list of things that are 100% red flags. Even within the world of martial arts, some things that look like red flags can be fine, just as things that appear to be good are indications of malfeasance. It is up to us to apply our own critical thought to these things. However, are we not distracted? Do you remember your first year doing martial arts? If it was anything like mine, it was filled with too much incoming information for me to be cognizant of the cracks that may have existed underneath. Perhaps I am overthinking this. Turnover in martial arts is very high. Perhaps it is only those of us who spend the time and find love who experience this. Either way, I now have a new journey to set upon.