Zaine

Congrats!

Awesome video, thanks for sharing!

My favorite is still my Shodan test. During the kata test I was to perform a Nunchaku kata. The kata was simple enough, but I hated it (and so did my Sensei, which is why I probably didn't think it was as important to master). So I get through the first part and realize that I have absolutely no idea what is supposed to come next. So I improvised and finished up my kata. On the testing board there were a few visiting masters who complimented me on how good the kata looked and that they could see no fault in it, but they wanted to know what my instructor thought. My instructor furrowed his brow and simply asked "John, could you do that again?" I smiled and said "No sir, not if my life depended on it." He then related to the other members of the testing board that he wasn't sure what kata I had performed but that it certainly wasn't the one that he taught me. I ended up getting compliments on how well I did masking that fact and making something up off the cuff but I was super nervous about it in the moment.

Find a few people who want to learn and train with them while teaching for free again. It really helps to find a couple of people who are passionate about training and learning and spending time with those people. If that rekindles your love for MA then awesome! If it doesn't then maybe you're a little burned out and need a break, it happens to the best of us.

And if your gi doesn't shrink, or doesn't shrink enough, well, then get out the sewing kit and make it to your specifications. OR...send it back to the company you bought it from so that you can get a properly fitting gi. Nowadays, gi's are tailored for a many body types. In the days of old, gi's were in whole sizes, 1 - 6, so they either fit well or they just didn't. Tailored gis are nice! If you have the disposable income I would definitely suggest investing in getting your gi tailored to your body.

Welcome to KF!

They're actually in Cedar Hill, which puts it at 3 hours. That being said, Kenshin Kan is headed be Fusei Kise who is also the GM of Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu at the time.

In Arlington there is a Shorin Ryu school under the banner of Neshmahat Elohim called house of courage Karate. However, they won't promote him to 1st Dan because he's so young. Arlington is about 2 1/2 hours away from Fort Hood.

That's no good! Get well soon!

I shiver with enthusiasm at the asking of this question! While I believe that out there somewhere, there exists a foundation for the philosophy of martial arts upon which we loosely build all of our conceptions about what makes a martial artist. I have seen schools that list what they believe is the foundational ground work to which you usually see words such as "integrity, compassion, courage etc." written at various places in the dojo. I have read books full of what someone's philosophy for martial arts. Are any of these things correct? Maybe. I absolutely think that these different conceptions of what it is to be a martial artist are true to that person. For me, the philosophy of martial arts might resemble something similar to the Shaolin concept of "middle path." I've added a bunch of western conceptions to this, being one who IS a western, but what I believe is at the core of the philosophy of martial arts may be different from others. For me, a martial artist embodies many different concepts, such as patience and compassion. A martial artist also embodies one who thirsts for knowledge. We endlessly and tirelessly delve into the varies systems that we practice to glean some bit of new information that we can use. It is our obsession. It is our noble endeavor. However, this is not the answer to your question. In asking your question you have taken the first step into becoming a martial artist I think. Decartes said I think therefore I am. What he meant was that he has the ability to take apart ideas and the world in his mind to get at the answer to anything. This process is what you have started. From here, you will (most likely) endlessly struggle with what it means to be a martial artist. Through this commitment to this question you will find yourself delving into whatever knowledge bank you can find to pull into the light what you believe it is to be a martial artist. Whether you come to an answer that is a spiritual one or otherwise. Good luck. If you come to an answer please publish, I'd love to read your work.

How old is he and what is his current rank?

I have studied multiple systems, but most of what I know comes from Shorin Ryu. Through that I have learned: Bo Nunchaku Sai Kama Tonfa Through Schola Saint George I am learning: Longsword Daga Sword and Buckler Polearm Rapier Spear

I think that you hit the nail on the head here. There will always be some political structure in any organization, regardless of how small or large. I think that this goes double for MA! Look at us! Regardless of how independently we start our schools, there is almost always some nod to the authority of those who trained us and it comes up in this forum all of the time. Sensei8, you refer to your soke and dai-soke as someone of authority who you listen to within your organization. Others, such as my teacher (at least in the beginning) followed the rules of his teacher, who in turn followed what the our GM said. Even those of us who don't agree and end up breaking away from the system proper follow some political structure with us at its head. We have officers of our policies, others who help us enforce our rules and so on. No politics in MA I think goes against our want for a disciplined life as well. It is our political considerations that help us run a formatted and helpful class. It gives us structure enough to know what is required of each rank and what is expected of them if they are to progress. Our politics are an extension of who we are as a Martial Artists. Those of us who lead (or at least try their very best to) a disciplined life need that structure to show the importance of discipline to our students. So I think that politics in MA will always be necessary, regardless of how much they may infuriate us.

I had the exact same experience with my first school. I really liked the relaxed environment. Despite that, we did listen when he spoke, and we followed his instructions to the letter. That being said, he was Steve, not Master, Sensei or anything else. Just Steve.

It depends on the school. I've seen schools that, when a kid moves the the adult class, their next test will be for whatever rank is equivalent to their knowledge. For example, if the kid was a 3rd kyu by the kids class standards, he/she will be tested for 5th kyu by adult standards. I have also seen school where once the student moves into the adult class they are held at the rank they have (again, lets say it's 3rd kyu) until they have the proficiency to test for 2nd kyu by adult standards. I don't know which system is better, but they all seem to work more or less.

This was a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing.

I consider my BB from American Street Karate honorary. The GM sat on the testing board for my Shorin Ryu BB and said that I also met the requirements for BB in his system so he wrote me a certificate and awarded me a BB.

I disagree. I've done some pretty boring Kata. That being said, I've never done a Kata that wasn't useful to me. Sometimes boring is something you just have to look past.

Luckily for me, I have a convenient website that lists my lineage. Kusanku Takahara Peichin Satanuka "Tode" Sakugawa Sokon "Bushi" Matsumura Nabe Matsumura Hohan Soken Fusei Kise James Coffman Al Gagne Steven Pinder Myself Gotta love it when websites allow you to be a little lazy.

I agree with Wastelander here. For me, I would definitely not spar until it is healed. The last thing you want is to make it worse.

This is definitely a difficult problem to overcome. When I started doing Kung Fu after years of doing Karate it felt like I was learning how to walk again. Eventually you get in the hang of things so just keep on practicing.

I actually feel lost after each new kata . today was my 3rd kata and I am completely lost A good rule of thumb is for each time you practice a new kata, do the ones you already know twice. This does two things. First, it makes sure that you don't forget you old katas while you were focused on the new one. Second, it helps improve the katas that you already know so that you become better at them (also so it doesn't appear that you just stopped training the other ones). It becomes time consuming after awhile but it is well worth it. Just remember what my signature says: Martial Arts is 30% classroom training, 70% solo training.

Welcome to KF!

Anger many times needs and outlet. That outlet can be anything you would like it to be (although I would suggest it be something healthy). When you bottle it up it festers inside of you and eventually you explode. Karate helped me by both giving me an outlet for all the aggression and anger that I had built up and, when I started caring about what it meant to be a Martial Artist, it gave me an example to live with. It showed me how to let go of all of the things that I had been building in my twisted tower of hate. Once I was able to get rid of the anger and learn patience, my life got 1000x better. It was not easy. I made a goal for myself and through sheer will I overcame my insecurities. I had to teach myself that what others thought about me was not as important as I had made it. I learned to pick and choose what I let effect me and how it effected me. That wasn't easy. At first it was insurmountably difficult to separate critiques from personal attacks. However, through Karate I was again able to learn patience and learn how to have confidence in myself. Confidence is the greatest tool one can have to battle that victim mentality. Confidence allows me to take criticism and say "You're right, I could work on that" without taking it as a personal attack. Thanks so much Zaine for taking time to answer my questions. it's actually a good answer that I really need More than happy to help!

Send him my congrats!