bushido_man96

Welcome back, quinteros!

I would hope that the parents would do a better job of keeping their kids under wraps. But, as mentioned, I don't see anything wrong with voicing your concerns to your sensei. After all, you are a paying customer, and those distractions, especially if they are running around on the floor, take away from the time you pay for to train. Just respectfully approach your instructor about your concerns, and see if anything gets done about it.

Bob, both our teams got bit this weekend. Although yours did play better. KC just can't win a home playoff game. Travis Kelce blew his lid again, which didn't help, and after that first drive, all other drives seemed to stall out with a penalty, or dropped pass, or some dumb reason. What a nightmare. So disappointed.

Welcome to KF!

Ditto. Glad you are here!

Welcome to KF! Glad to have you here! My dad is a Navy vet, too. Thank you for your service, and I hope you find what you are looking for in the MA journey.

Bob, this is quite the stir-up! How did Iwoa's name get brought back into this? Did he return, and request to be reinstated in some fashion? Or has the Higher Hierarchy decided to seek him out and make this request? I was under the impression that he returned to Okinawa and started teaching his Shindokan there. Am I missing something here? I guess what I'd like to know is has Iwoa already been approached, and has he conditionally accepted the offer to be brought back into the fold? Bob, I understand how this must make you feel, after all that you went through previously. I know you have done your very best to protect Shindokan and the SKKA, so it makes sense that this whole situation is a bit curious to you. I don't blame you one bit. Please, let me fill in these blanks for me here if you can.

"You've got to keep pluggin' away." Advise I got from my dad. No matter what, you got to keep on working.

Good points. If you decide to enroll in a class, be up front with the instructor and let them know what kind of schedule they can expect from you. Work is an important aspect of most of our lives, and in this day and age, Martial Arts practice is something we do on the side that doesn't earn a living for most of us. That's something that instructors have to understand, and will have to accept if they hope to have students.Talk to the instructor. Let them know what you do for a living, the kinds of hours and shifts you work, etc, and what kind of class attendance you can have. Hopefully, the instructor will be considerate and work with you. If not, then look to a different school. I work in law enforcement, so I'm right there with you on the goofy shifts and surprise outings.

If your instructor thinks you are ready to test, then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't test. You can still be critical of yourself, and keep working to improve; that shouldn't change, even if you do start to "feel" the techniques. Being critical of oneself can be a good thing, but I think at times it can be taken a bit too far, which could end up holding you back. In the end, its a decision you have to make for yourself. Either way, you have to just keep on keepin' on.

Ok, I've been slacking here. We've got two tournaments under our belts now, and things are going pretty well. I'll give as quick a rundown as I can here. The first tournament we made was the Roger Richter Memorial, held in Great Bend, KS, on 1/7/17. Both boys ended up with first place finishes, and for Kenneth, it was his first time taking home a bracket, and he really thought that was cool. I'll start with Kenneth. He had two matches (they wrestled a round robin), and both against bigger kids. I signed him up at 70 lbs, and the bracket he was assigned was designated 73-80. He came out in the first match and got a pin in the first period, and his second match he won by a tech fall in the third period, score of 19-2. Kenneth is still a work in progress, but what he as gotten better at is staying more aggressive. Kenneth's major issue is not finishing his moves off, and dropping and driving the right way when he shoots. In practice on the throwing dummy, he'll hit that quick step/drive step/post and cut every time. Get someone live in front of him, and he starts bending over and reaching for the leg. In that first match, he got the leg, circled around and got the takedown, and then got into good position with a half-Nelson and got the pin. The second match was pretty much a scramble. Kenneth could take him down, get some back points, but just couldn't quite get a pin. He ended up scoring 19-2 because when the ref counted off the back points and they got up, he didn't look at the score until after Kenneth got another takedown, so he got a few more points. But he did a good job being aggressive, and smiled the whole way. After the last match, he was actually bent over huffing and puffing from all the work! Kendall is wrestling 10 and under, and in the 150 lb weight class this year. The jump is from 130 to 150, which kind of stinks, as he is weighing right around 140 lbs, so is likely to be giving up weight in most cases. On top of that, at this tournament, they combined with heavyweights, and so out of 5 wrestlers, 3 were heavyweights, one was Kendall, and the other was a girl in Kendall's club, and this is her first year. Kendall came out and pinned the first two heavyweights he wrestled, hitting takedowns on both. On the second match, the kid charged at him to start things off, and kind of shoved Kendall backwards, so the second time the kid came in charging and pushing, Kendall just dropped into the takedown, and that kid's momentum coming forward and Kendall's going forward made for a really nice, deep, penetration step for that takedown. He had trouble keeping the bigger kid broken down, so he swung out to the front and ran an Iowa twist, and got the pin in the first period. His third match was a bit tougher. He won 5-3, but really seemed to struggle with the bigger kid. He took shot that wasn't totally clean, and got caught underneath him for a while. Once he was able to improve his position on bottom, though, he was able to get up and out, which got him the points he needed to win. In his last match, he wrestled the girl from his club. He tried to work with her during the match, but in trying to do so, he slowed down a lot, and made things really sloppy. So that's something he needs to work on. He won the match in the third period with a pin. Again, first place finishes for both, which was pretty cool, and a first. The second tournament we made was the Ellis Open, this last weekend, 1/14/17. I'll start with my 6U, Kenneth, again. He came out tough and won his first match by pin in the first period. Got another one of those dancing takedowns, and into a somewhat half-Nelson position, and got a pin. He's getting better pinning position, getting chest to chest and staying on his toes. His second match was a loss, 5-0, in the third, against a taller kid, and likely heavier (classes were 67-73 lbs). He was on the bottom often, but what he did a good job of was spinning around and getting into something of a sit-out position, from there he just couldn't get himself to stand up. Unfortunately, they haven't worked much on the sit-outs, so he just needs to get more familiar with it. His third match was more of the same, lost 5-2 in the third. In the last period, he was so close to getting the takedown he needed to win, but he danced around and ended up falling, and kid covered him and got the points. His last match he won, 17-6, in one of those kid-scramble matches. There were a few times where one of them would be getting position, but then they would stop for some reason, and the scramble would go again. Just more to work on. He finished the day 2-2, and got third place. Kendall's bracket this week was all 150 lbers, another five-man round-robin. He came out an won his first match by pin in the first period. He took a shot that he got stuck under, but he kept driving, doubled it off, and got the takedown, and then worked the pin. His second match, he also won with a pin. He was working his ties standing, trying to get position, and the kid ended up standing himself into a headlock, which Kendall threw really well, and got the pin from there. His third match was against the girl from his club again, and this time he won 11-2 in the third period. A side note on this girl; she got her first win at this tournament, as well. She's got a really good attitude, and moves really well. Kendall has been trying to help her along, and he's done a good job working with her. Kendall's third match was against another kid from the same club as the first match he wrestled. This kid was tough and aggressive. Kendall took a shot that he got caught under, but what he did well was he kept turning and turning, trying to stay with the kid as he kept turning to get behind Kendall for the takedown. Kendall kept working, but after a while, the kid eventually got the points, so Kendall was working from behind. He was able to get out and escape. In the second period, he was able to escape as well, work some more points. In the third, he could break the kid down, but couldn't keep him there. He kept trying to work a new pinning combination the coaches had showed him but couldn't quite pull it off. He got a tough win, 5-2. We always find someone like this early in the year, which is really good for Kendall, making him work more in practice. A good day for the boys. Kenneth was a bit disappointed, but he when he found he placed third, he was pretty happy. For Kendall, he got to see four other wrestlers from his weight and age that are in our district, who we will see at subs and districts. Hopefully, I'll be more on top of next week's tourney, at the Norton Open.

Thanks, Gunner! So close, yet so far....

I understand that this is a tough journey for you, and its ok to break down and let it out, too. At times, it helps more than anything.

Yes, that was a rough one. The Steelers are a tall order. Unfortunately, KC got crushed by them earlier in the season, and Todd Haley returning to KC should be motivation enough for him and the offense.Its going to be a tough game, but there is some good news. Spencer Ware and Justin Houston are both good to go for the game, and Houston's pass rush will be much needed. Ware's has been so consistent on offense, and his return will only help the likes of Travis Kelce, who will need to be huge, as well. And Andy Reid has a really good run going against teams he plays when he has an extra week to prepare, so hopefully, this year, KC doesn't suffer from the bye-week blues.

Happy Birthday, Heidi!

Thank you so very much!

Yin Yang isn't Western or Eastern it's Universal and within this realm the laws of nature apply to all of us.The Yin Yang is symbolic of how balance is a way of attaining harmony. Bruce Lee used the Yin Yang symbol in his JKD logo; why? JKD is American and not Eastern. It is born out of eastern concepts. Do we have similar ideas in the west? Likely we do, but no terminology comes to mind. Perhaps the idea of the "Renaissance Man" is the closest I can think of in Western aspects.

Be strong, and know that you can overcome it. Its just another fork in the road of the journey, and you will get through it.

Yeah but the heart and soul of boxing is sparring. If you don't spar, you don't know boxing. I didn't say that you wouldn't spar. Just that it might not be the main focus. But, I've never had the opportunity to train in a Boxing gym, either, so all my speculation is based off things I've read or heard.

What age of children are they looking at allowing? Suggest a number you would feel more comfortable with, like perhaps 14 or 12, to try to prevent from having what in many schools can amount to an hour day-care after school. You could also try to get them to cut the number of ranks they want to add. I do see the value in adding ranks; they help the student see goals and objectives. A question here is, would they be added and also be used to generate revenue? This would need to be discussed so that it doesn't become soley about the money. Change can be a good thing, but it has to be for the right reasons. I would look further into these things.

I don't teach it. I don't really focus much on it. Its an eastern thing, and I'm a westerner, so I tend to stick to more western approaches.

I understand that. Come here and vent. We'll pick you up.

I'd be less inclined to ask my doctor what they think, but I would be inclined to ask them if they can look at my back using x-rays, MRIs, etc, to see if they can figure out what the problem is, and see if there is a way to treat it.

I think you can Box for as long as you want to. The most important thing is to monitor the sparring so that you aren't taking too much to the head. I'm not sure how much the average gym will spar, but I'm guessing the bulk of your training time will be spent drilling and working the bags, with some focused sparring thrown in. I think it would be a ton of fun, and you should enjoy it.

For me, learning the bunkai unlocked the kata, unlocked the intensity needed, unlocked the intent for movements I didn't understand and it gave the understanding of why this stance with this strike, why a certain timing is necessary. Without bunkai, it's strictly a blind performance. It's essential for me. Kata is one of those situations where it's way more than meets the eye. The only way IMO to perform it well (not necessarily for aesthetics) is to understand the application. I see what your saying here, I really do. What I'm trying to help others understand is that there are some systems out there in which applications aren't taught with the forms. The ATA forms were designed as teaching tools for the techniques assigned to each level, and thus, each form gets a bit more difficult physically. They weren't built from a self-defense application aspect first. So for me, trying to discover ways of training applications is a bit of a different adventure.