A contious decesion

[fireka]

after i had to leave the dojo, i continued to study the seisan and saieuchin katas, as well as the histories and philosophies of Isshinryu. Through this study i have learned something about myself and the style i have chossen to learn and have came to a contious decesion. This may seem idealistic and pumpous to some, but i hope you can still consider me a felow martial artist anyway as i am about to, in a way, forge my own path.

 

I have decided not to study a single style. Through learning about Isshinryu i think it had great roots but i do not like the politicts it later developed and i do not think they were in Shimabuku's intrest. I have decided instead of returning to a perminit Dojo and learning from one master to work towards black belt i will study everything. I will look for students and masters alike of all sorts of arts, spar and train with them for splurts, learning about there history, philosophy, technique, theory, everything. I have chosen to say, when asked what martial art i study, to respond by saying Bushido, the way of the warrior. I will learn things from all diffrent arts. I have chosen to keep the gi as my uniform of choice, and have died my Obi grey. this is to represent me as a ronnin. I will be always between the helpless student and the grand master, the only show of my skill will be by way of the fist and not the color of my belt.

 

I plan on starting with a very close study of Sun Tzu's way of the warrior. If anyone sees a reason this path is ignorant or blured, please tell me now and i will have an open mind, for i do not wish to fall into oblivion, however i will keep in mind that it is pioneers who are known and not followers of slowly corrupting ways. I see this as the best way to get a well rounded experince in the Budo.

[Drunken Monkey]

the politics only affect you if you let them.

 

if you see a problem why not try to solve the problem before "taking your walk" (sorry, translating from chinese phrases here).

 

it is always good to go out and learn but first you must learn all you can from your current style. otherwise you might miss some answers that were in your own style.

 

only by understanding all about your style can you ask useful questions about your style.

 

only by finding answers about your own style can you ask questions about other styles.

 

yes you have to empty your cup before drinking someone else's tea but if you don't know what your own tea tasted like to begin with, how will you know if the new tea is any good?

[delta1]

If anyone sees a reason this path is ignorant or blured, please tell me now and i will have an open mind, for i do not wish to fall into oblivion, however i will keep in mind that it is pioneers who are known and not followers of slowly corrupting ways. I see this as the best way to get a well rounded experince in the Budo.

 

It is a good thing you kept an open mind. If you've read many of my posts, you know I am an advocate of cross training, working out with and learning from other stylists. But I advise you not to take it to the extreme you are talking about. You need a base style both to teach you the concepts and principles of the martial arts and as a benchmark- a constant which you can compare what you are learning to. The principles are pretty much constant in the martial arts, but their applications varry considerably from style to style. And the concepts can be really confusing if you don't have a base understanding in at least one art. For example, Wing Chun centerline theory and Kenpo dimensional control theory are closely related, but also very different. On the surface, the WC theory is easy to visualize. But believe me, when you face a practitioner who really understands how to use it, you discover it is a little more complex. Having some understanding of my own styles related theorys helps me to understand what I'm dealing with better.

 

There is more to the martial arts than simply basics, though they are the foundation. The foundation is meant to support a greater understanding, not just a set of skills to be mastered. Hopping from class to class, you will never get past this basic stage. And you will likely find that the basics you do learn will conflict with each other when you try to apply them.

 

My advise is to work out with as many different stylists as possible. But stay with one base, and learn it well.

[fireka]

it is a mortal sin among artist now, to train yourself no matter how good your resorces and no matter what your natural skill for comprehention is. In some factors i agree with that. But it dosent stop me from feeling this way. You must understand, leaving the Dojo was upsetting, i get a pain in my heart everytime i think about it but i simply have no choice. I dont feel like abandoning the martial arts until i just happen to fall into a position were i can take them again, and 9 chances out of 10 i will be no were near an Isshinryu dojo when i do get to that point. Simple fact of the matter, thats easier said than done, and in fact, may just be immposible. What you are saying is i cant start training in this new fasion because it will fail, but the fasihon demanded for me to get were i want to be is finachiealy and time wise impossible.

 

im happy for all of you who are lucky, who get to stay in your Dojo's. Im not gonna lie, i hated some of the attidues other people had in my dojo but i liked my sensai and i loved to train and now i cant train at all except this one little sphere that i learned in four months time and thats just not fair! ive been craving the Martial arts since i was very small, its like giving a six year old a thimble of ice cream.

 

I wear my grey belt no matter what i do, it is a rebelion against the rank structure and im keeping it. But as far as training goes what on earth do you suggest i do? this martial council gives me no options. am i to be excommunicated from the martial arts simply because i am doing what my sensai always taught and trying to do well in school?

 

"Karate is like boiling water, if not given constant heat, it will go cold."

 

I cant just stop training! Im really fustrated.

[delta1]

fireka, I understand your frustration. And working out with other stylists as an interim measure is a good thing. But as a long term solution I doubt it would work very well. I can empathize, but I can't change the way things are.

 

References are great, and as a means to continue for a while until you get to where you can join another school they are a good option. But you'll never be as good or learn as well as with a good instructor. I'm not suggesting that you give up, or that you not work with videos, books, or other martial artists. I'm just saying that when you can you should find a good school and move forward. And don't get discouraged in the meantime when you aren't learning as much or as fast, or as well, as you would like.

 

I'm talking from experience here. I'm in a lot the same position as you are in some ways. I may be looking at some changes, possibly a style change. It is extremely difficult to leave a style and a school that you love. But if I've learned anything in fifty years of existence it is that life is not fair. We can either give up, or make the best of things and move on. You sound like you want to move on, but you are having a problem making adjustments. The two go together, so my advise is to reasses yur options and do what you have to. And make a long term plan. It may not work out, but it is something to keep you focused and moving in the right direction. Good luck.

[telsun]

I was forced to find new instruction when my sensei emigrated about 8 years ago. I looked around the clubs in my area only frustrated to find that noone was teaching any quality stuff. I stayed at the dojo's for a while but really I just wasted those couple of years.

 

I started my own dojo as this was the only way, at the time, I could see of maintaining my training.

 

I stumbled upon my current instructor 4 years ago and I got quite a slap in the face!! My sensei has showed me how shallow my karate was!

 

What I learnt from this is that good clubs are very hard to find but there is always a club better than the one your at!!

 

So should you stay or should you go? You have a good instructor in isshinryu, do you think that you are going to find an instructor of his quality? I train with my sensei because he is the best I could find, I will train with him for as long as he is teaching, NO MATTER WHAT. Hell, his 20 miles away.

 

I'm not too sure what you intend to do. Are you giving up life and going on a pilgramage of Martial Arts discovery or are you just going to train at a few different clubs?

[mArTiAl_GiRl]

I'm so stuck with one style, one Dojo and Karate. I love that style, I love the Dojo and I love Karate. But I've seen many masters who can do many different styles and has done everything, not only one thing. And usually, they are even better than those who do one thing all the time.

 

I'm a green belt right now, I wanna reach my goal in Shito-ryu and get at least a black belt, so later I could focus myself on other styles. But, I don't know if that's right. For example, my master has black belt in three styles. The problem is, I just don't want to leave Karate like that. I've strained hard for many years to get somewhere with it, and if I leave it, then everything I've done would just be a whole waste of time.

 

I really don't know what to do. I'm kinda confused. I absolutely love sword arts and Ninja's. My real Sensei is right now in Sweden, he will come to Estonia in winter. He has done many styles and he has chosen one of them - Karate. He has done Kung-fu, Iaido, Kobudo and so on.

 

One of my biggest dreams is to learn how to fight with a sword. So, I have two choices: Kendo or Iaido. Also, I like the way how Ninja's fight, so maybe Ninjitsu. Should I wait till my Sensei comes here and ask him if he can teach me Iaido? (actually, I have two Sensei's, one of them is a woman and she's the instructor of this Dojo, but the other one is the Sensei who is practising Shito-ryu and is teaching her that style so she could teach us, in the Dojo). Or should I leave Karate, like fireka did?

 

If I leave Karate, then I have to go to that Sensei, who is teaching sword arts to his disciples (and theres only one in Estonia! which is kinda frustrating), and if I continue with Karate, then I can still practise Karate and I have to do extra trainings, because I belong to the estonian female Kata Team. And at the same time, my swedish Sensei comes to our Dojo and teaches us, and he can do private (or how to call that??) trainings for me, to teach me something else than Karate. What do you people think?

 

*sigh* it's not easy at all. But the problem is, I like so many things, there are so many things I'd love to do, but then again I love karate too and I cant imagine that I would not practise it.

 

anyway, fireka chose not to go to the Dojo, and.. well, I guess that was a right decision and I agree with him. It's better to do everything, than just one thing and to follow only one Sensei. That's great if you listen to everyone and see many different ways, yeah.. that is the best way to get a well rounded experince in the Budo.

 

oh well........ *sigh* any opinions?...

[hajime]

heck in a single style of Karate you get to learn so many techniques how could you learn several styles at once?

 

I'm sure this would confuse anyone.

 

Get to the 1st dan of one style and if you want to then go and do another style

 

Are you a full time martial arts person?

[fireka]

"full time martial arts person"? I do not know what you mean. I follow the Budo as my life code. I train every chance i can. I seek to perfect my mind, body and spirit, and to serve my master with my skills (my master being my country) but to be a full time martial arts person seems to refeer to taking martial arts four or five times a week in which case i have already stated that as the problem. right now i can not go to a Dojo at all.

 

I felt better today though when i put the gi on and trained, however i cant do kata anymore, there slowly shapeing way from what there meant to be and if i don't have a visual aid soon im going to miss the point. Oh, speaking of which, i have to give a book editorail, Isshinryu History and Kata: the history part is great, the kata part is crap, i could have done a much better job, that was terrible.

[fireka]

i.e. if anyone knows were i can find an online video of seisan, that would be really nice, and youll be rewarded in heaven or..umm...where ever it is you plan on going.