Montana

There's an upcoming tournament about 2 1/2 hour drive from me that I've never attended before and was thinking of going. I got to looking over their rules and it was kinda odd how they do their kata judging. I was wondering if anybody else had seen this and what you thought about it. After competitors are bowed in they all sit down to the left side of the judges. There are 3 empty chairs on the right side of the floor. The first competitor does his thing then is told "You are in first place" and takes the chair closest to the judges. Then the 2nd competitor does his kata. Then he's told either "You're in first place" so he takes the chair occupied by the first guy, who moves down to the 2nd chair, or he's in 2nd place and takes the 2nd chair. The third competitor does his kata then is told either 1st, 2nd or 3rd place and takes that chair, potentially making the other 2 have to move depending on where #3 is placed. Any other competitors after that will be replacing or moving occupants of those 3 chairs, or not sitting there at all. I've never seen this and it just seems to be a really poor way of doing it, let alone telling non-chair people they sucked and are out of the running. Thoughts?

There needs to be a category on here for Martial Arts Tournaments. Anyway, a quick background. I've been an Open, all style tournament judge since 1982-ish. I judge Open hand kata, weapons and sparring. I've done breaking but try hard to avoid it because I consider it so much garbage. but that's for another thread. I thought I'd put down my thoughts on what I've seen in kata performances and what I like, and what I dislike. Feel free to comment. EMPTY HAND KATA What the judges are looking for: 1. Good opening presentation. Personally, I'm old but not deaf! I do NOT like being yelled at by a white belt, or black belt master. Tournaments are noisy so speak firmly and clearly so the judges can hear you, but DON'T YELL AT US! State your name, name of your school, instructor and the name of the kata you are going to show us. Wait for confirmation, back to your starting point and begin your kata. 2. Judges may, or may not, know the kata you are doing, so if you screw up JUST KEEP GOING! We're not judging if you do the kata correctly, we're judging how well you do it. 3. Please, do NOT put on a warrior face when doing your kata. It makes me think you're constipated and mad at me about it. Be at peace, be calm, be ready. I'm not impressed by sneers, angry looks , or EXCESSIVE ANGRY YELLING! I am impressed by cool, calm and precise kata. 4. Remember your stances. I see this a lot in black belts especially. Straight legs, movement when their shouldn't be any, etc. karate needs a firm foundation, and that foundation is your stance. 5. Don't do flips, splits or other acrobatics (unless you're doing sports karate). Personally, I will make you down a full point for it because it has no place in a kata. 6. Finish the kata facing the judges, bow and wait to be dismissed. WEAPONS KATA 1. Same as #1 above, but also present your weapon to the judges for inspection if they'd like to. 2. Use a "real" weapon. No, I don't mean a razor sharp katana, but don't use a toothpick bo/staff. I will knock you down a full point from the start for it. 3. Know the name of you weapon. If you come up before me and tell me you are going to do a "numchuk" kata, I'll take a point off before you even start. 4. Know how to hold and manipulate the weapon properly. I'm constantly amazed at even black belts that haven't a clue how to use a kobudo weapon. If your sensei taught you that, he/she doesn't know what they're doing, so it's not your fault, it's theirs! 5. Limit kicks (it's a weapons kata), easy on the screaming, control your weapon at all times, and a killer for me is watching with a sai, tonfa or kama and they're holding it wrong. 6. This one is my biggest pet peeve. NUNCHAKU! A. if you hold the weapon close to the string/chain, deduct 1 point, and this is NOT good technique! B. If you start twirling the weapon like a cheerleaders' baton, just quit and go sit down, because I'll give you the lowest possible score allowed. OK, comments?

I do 3 Nahanchi kata. The first 2 both have open handed strikes/blocks. Do you have a video? Shorin Ryu Matsumura Seito/Orthodox (we call it Kenpo now)

I've been in Shorin Ryu since 1975. ALL movements in ALL kata have multiple applications and yes, they can transfer from one kata to another.

Sounds GREAT!

Can i petition for a role as your disciple? For a small cut of the monies received i can attempt to open the eyes of more potential acolytes! (or convince some gullible people to pay us both money - you can choose the definition you prefer!) Yes, my young WORM! You may kiss my feet and I will give you tiny morsels of knowledge that will feed your starving soul! That'll be $250, please...

My $.02 worth. Aesthetics, which are found in the kata and basics, teaches you proper stances, punches, kicks and blocks. It teaches your body to move in a certain way to be "proper" in the eyes of your particular system of martial arts. But then there's sparring, and all that great technique you've learned goes flying out the window for the most part. Why? Because those perfect blocks, punches etc that you've learned and practiced for YEARS are to slow for a real fight. WHAT???? Yes, I said it. Basic techniques, for the most part, and perfect kata technique, don't work in a real fight! BLASPHEMY!!!

I AM MASTER X! Also known as Lord High Master of the Entire Friggin' Universe! You may bow down now...and pay me money. Lots and lots of money!

I've been on here for years, and still haven't made BB yet! Of course, I don't get on here nearly like I used to. lol

I ran an unsuccessful for-profit dojo for about 3 years. I really wasn't interested in making more than breaking even, but to pay the rent and other expenses you almost HAVE to have kids. Parents will pay for kids where they won't pay for themselves. In my garage/basement I resisted taking kids as students because I wanted people that I could work with myself. money wasn't the object, training partners were.

After you wash your gi put it in the dryer alone with a tennis shoe or two. The shoe will beat it up and help soften it as it dries. Or a baseball, but that's going to make a lot of racket! lol

Dye them. Get a plastic bucket at the dollar store, pick a color you often test for (yellow, blue, green), dye them then hang them somewhere to dry (outside is better so it doesn't drip on your floor). Give them away to students that test. Costs you little, makes students happy. Don't put them in the dryer or they'll shrink.

I tried to watch their kata videos they had on there, but it kept stalling out and after 5-10 minutes of each and not getting anywhere, I gave up. But what I did see of the grey haired black belt, he didn't "move" like a black belt should be moving IMO. Realizing of course it was a demo video of their yellow belt kata, I thought the technique was sloppy and the transition from one move to the next was very poor. Also in some of the punches and blocks that I could see, his fist was bent back, not straight so he struck with the knuckles instead of his fingers. As others have said, the main Judan (10th) seemed legit in his background with a few oddities, but I still think 2 10th dans and a 9th in a dojo are a bit odd. I'd love to watch a class sometime.

100% agree! I like to visit a lot of different dojo's when I travel places and watch what other people are doing. No so much to critique, but just see the differences between what they do compared to what I do. If you've done this also, I'm amazed how many dojos where the head sensei don't do anything other than bark orders! They don't participate in the warmups, basics, kata, kumite or really anything other than stride around telling people what to do.! DRIVES ME NUTS!!!

AGREED! Mine is hung in my "man cave", along with my college diploma, dojo charter, some pictures and a couple of plaques.

In my experience, there are generally two types of dojo's that have very high (7th dan+) ranked individuals in the same dojo. The first are the self-promoting belt factory garbage schools that are run by frauds and only after your $$$. I'm not going to worry about the 2nd type, as I'd bet a lot of money that what you're looking at is the first type, especially when they said your Shotokan ranking was a fraud. PLEASE, post a link to them (Facebook, website, whatever) so we can all take a look. Even just a name and city so we can google them.

Congrats!

I agree that this seems a bit "questionable" at the least. Do they have a link to a page we can all take a gander at? Or the name/location that we can google?

Interesting discussion. I worked as a caregiver for about 10 years. I've gotten very close to some of my clients and have helped them and their families thru the dying process. It isn't easy, nor is it "rewarding" for me. A few years ago my best friend died suddenly, and unexpectantly. He was 50 years old, former high school/college athlete, drank lightly, didn't smoke, exercised often and by all regards, in good shape. He was in his kitchen alone and had a heart attack caused by an undiagnosed heart condition. He left behind his wife and 5 daughters. The oldest daughter was 18 and preparing for college, his youngest was 6. I'm still struggling with that. My first wife died about a year and a half ago from Tongue cancer, usually associated with tobacco chewers. She didn't EVER use tobacco in any form, and alight drinker. She had 1/3 of her tongue cut out, chemo and radiation and declared cancer free. A year later she work up bleeding from her mouth and noise. They rushed her to the hospital and she died the next day. We were pretty close and had been married 17 years with 2 sons. I myself am now 71 years of age with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. It's considered a "good" cancer, as it kills you slowly. It could take as long as 20 years. I was diagnosed with it 7 years and the only way they found it was because I had an infected tooth. They did a blood test and my white blood cell count was very high. Normal is around 4000, mine is in the 80-90,000 range. My Dr says I'll probably die from something else, as I have no visible symptoms yet, but having watched both of my parents die of cancer and patients I've had, it's always on my mind. I've also had a mild heart attack sometime in my life according to a stress test I took some years ago. Everybody dies. Today, tomorrow, next year...it's coming. I've accepted this and don't worry about it. I live my life one day at a time.

My personal 2024 goal is to make3 it to 2025 without more physical problems!

All good responses, thanks! I didn't mean so much as martial arts are dead, but rather just getting sloppy and stupid now. SOOOO many people walking around that tournament with black belts, and after judging their kata and fighting skills, I just about wanted to cry at how bad they were for the most part. |Sure, there were some really good talented karateka there, but they were more of an exception than the rule. I made it a point, regardless of their rank, of meeting and shaking the hand of every GOOD person there and making sure I recognized them as such. For young kids I found some parents and talked to them also. I'm going to try to hit more tournaments as a judge this summer. They're fun for me since I can't teach any longer.

Lively discussion ya got here bud! lol Shorin Ryu is 50/50 hands/feet. Low kicks, fast hands, lots of body shifting as you get better. As for what is a similar sport? Volleyball maybe? Moving quickly, making quick decisions, legs to move, hands to counter. Sorry, best I can do...

WAAAAY back in 1980, my sensei moved from Montana to Minnesota with little notice, leaving myself and the rest of the class high and dry. After being on my own for about 8 years, but still teaching, I heard about a 4th dan (I was a Shodan) in Minneapolis thru my sensei, so I took the train one winter to work with him. He changed literally EVERYTHING from what I'd learned and had been teaching. I didn't like it, but hey, he's a 4th so he knows what he's doing, right? Sooo, back home I changed everything too! Couple of years later I heard about a guy named Ron Lindsey in Bastrop, Tx. A 7th Dan! I couldn't afford to fly to Texas to work with him, so he sent me some home made videos. Guess what? he was doing EVERYTHING the same way as I was ORIGIONALLY doing it! So, I changed BACK to what I was doing before. Couple of years later I hear about a 5th dan (Greg Ohl) in Minnesota, cvontact him, took another train ride there and worked with him for a weekend. Theres been a couple of others, notably James Knoblett (RIP sensei) of Seattle 3 times. It was tough living in Montana and not being wealthy enough to travel the world to learn. I feel blessed I got what I did! lol

For me, it depends on how cutes she is... Oh, wait! You mean as in a fight? Sorry I used to tell my student that your "personal space" is defined by that space between you and another and what makes you comfortable. If a person is verbally abusive, you need more space. If they're a trusted friend, closer. Body language is important. Learn it, study it, be aware of it. Aggressive and potentially dangerous people carry themselves differently when they're looking for trouble. They don't have to be big, burly, hairy men. They can be small, slight and normal looking,but looking for trouble! Learn to spot them in a crowd. I'd take my adult students out to a loud bar on a weekend, plain clothes of course, and just watch and talk about people. Look at different types. Look for things that you can tell about people. Back then, tattoos weren't as common as now, and were mostly worn by guys that were scrappers. Today EVERYBODY has them (except me).

I charged $20/test for many years. Around the 1990's I quit charging for tests. I paid for the certificates out of my own pocket and the student was responsible for getting their own belt.