Zaine

While this isn't strictly related to Martial Arts, I think that anybody who is a Martial Artist can learn a lot from Leadership and Self-Deception published by The Arbinger Institute. It really puts your training into perspective and shines a glaring and sometimes uncomfortable light on how we hinder ourselves not only in MA but in our day to day lives.

I voted karate here because at the heart of all that I do Shorin Ryu still guides me more or less. However, I like to think that I belong more to Martial Arts itself (metaphorically speaking). I think that I identify most with the path of a Martial Artist who is dedicated to bringing some form of virtue into the world, whether that virtue be the Spartan translation of might and martial discipline or the philosophical translation of Aristotle and Kant (i.e. what we generally mean by virtue in modern times).

Congrats!

Congrats! That's fantastic!

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

I'm a big fan of having students learn the history behind what they practice. For me it adds a whole new depth to training that I think is really valuable for students. The difficult part is getting them interested. I think you have some creative ideas that will create some interest in the students for the system. You should also pay attention to how your students learn. Some students have a genuine interest in reading texts about this while others want to learn from videos and so on. Part of your job as a teacher is facilitate the best learning environment for your students and while it isn't always practical in MAs to bend your teaching to fit the physical side for every student, learning the history is definitely something that you can work with every student differently on.

I often change the kata that I learned in Shorin Ryu to be more Kung Fu oriented by utilizing the deep stances in Kung Fu with the movements and patterns in the kata. It's interesting to see the way that the power generates when changing stances and how it affects the techniques that I perform.

I'm going to keep mine simple this year. 1) Just keep learning

Picture Martial Arts as a hallway. At the end of this hallway is a door. As you progress towards Shodan, you get closer to the door until eventually you reach the door and, upon opening it, you reveal another hallway. Shodan is only the beginning. Shodan shows that you are committed enough to stick through to the end and the reward is deeper knowledge. I wish you luck on your test and I can't wait to see you on the other side of the door.

There are a lot of clubs around here. I'm not entirely sure why but I do know that we have an active SCA crowd throughout the state as well as Scarborough Faire. Other than that I don't know why so many develop in Texas but I am definitely not complaining.

I didn't encounter this when I was starting, but I might be able to offer some explanation. There are many ways to generate power in Martial Arts. When we turn our heel as we punch, we generate power by the turn of the body helping the momentum of our first. When we keep our heels on the ground, we lose this power. However, when we don't have power we must focus on technique and find a different way to generate enough power to make the technique effective. I imagine that when you are doing formal practice, you keep your heel on the ground so that you can work on technique. Again, I didn't encounter this as a beginning karateka, so someone may have a better answer.

Welcome to KF 15 love, glad to have you! I look forward to your updates. It's always awesome to see someone else delve into a world that I love so much. Good luck to you!

I tend to agree with you sentiment about auto-grading being a sign of a McDojo. However, as this forum has proven many times, the line between legit and McDojo isn't always clearly defined. I certainly understand auto-grading, keeping students is hard and if you can get them hooked by ranking them up, even if they haven't necessarily earned it, what's the harm? Certainly they can catch up. The problem with this logic, I think, is that now the student has to catch up to their own rank and then become proficient enough to be promoted to the next and that can take a lot of time. I feel that I earned all of my ranks. There used to be a time where it would make me angry to see people rank up who didn't deserve it because I had worked so hard for mine but I've gotten over that. Now I feel sad because they will never have the same sense of accomplishment that I achieved. I wouldn't worry too much about your old dojo. If the instructor wants to take the school in that direction then that is their choice. As an instructor of your own school, you should focus on your students and give them the training they deserve.

Welcome to KF! It's good to have you!

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

Welcome to KF Jeremy! Great to have you!

Awesome to hear that you're healing quicker than expected! It's also great that you have such a supportive MA family, it really means a lot to know that you have a group of people who are just there for you.

Congrats! Well earned!

It has been my experience that the heavier gis have a better pop. It's also a lot more satisfying to hear as well. I don't think it is that useful during kumite. In kata, it helps to show the power you are using. In kumite you do that with your partner. This really depends on the person. It's hard to nail down an average gi weight preference without crunching those numbers. Gut feeling tells me that 12 oz is about average, it's what most of the people in my old dojo wore. I can't speak to this but I would imagine that there are a couple variables that come in to play here (i.e. manufacturer, how well the gi is kept, etc.) While doing a kata in a heavy weight gi can produce impressive sound and demonstrate the power you have put into a technique I don't think that it matters. A testing board isn't only looking at power and power alone will not cause you to pass a test. Does it help? Sure, it can. How much will it help? That really depends on the people on your board but in the long run I don't think that it is that important.

Congrats Alex! Good luck!

I really enjoy spears. My favorite has to be the long sword. Ever since I was a kid I loved European sword play.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Wow, great stuff Bob. Thanks for sharing.

Happy Birthday! I hope it was a good one!

First off, welcome to KF! It's great to have you! I don't think that it is offensive but I would suggest that you slow it down. If you focus on what is in the future you fail to absorb what is in the now. Enjoy practicing and mastering the kata and techniques you are learning now. When the time comes, you will learn the new thing and you will have a deeper understanding of it because you took the time to understand the simpler things. It's like someone attempting to do calculus when they still struggle with algebra.