Big Sensei :P

[seersin]

^^^ I absolutely agree.I just started over in Enshin and we usually only do 30,and that's not even every class.I'm much more concerned on having good technique,good accuracy,good punching power and speed,good kicking power and speed.Dont really wanna waste time doing 100 push-ups.

[informer]

knuckle push-ups teach you how to have a good fist and good punch and strong wrist just like makiwara.

[informer]

we dont do 100 every class but probably only 30-50.

 

pushups can be done by the students at home any time.

 

doing more than you can normally do is a good way to get the student to "push pass their limit"

 

MODERATION is the key. of course I drink beer/booze/wine.

 

my only rule is that you can have no addictions, this of course would include food, booze, sex, drugs etc...

 

I have also seen people addicted to karate or to the dojo...nobody should be at the dojo 7 days a week..they should have a life too

[Shorinryu Sensei]

my only rule is that you can have no addictions, this of course would include food, booze, sex, drugs etc...

 

How about addictions to martial arts forums?

 

The exercises we do in my class are for warming up the body, and I stress to new people that I'm there to teach them karate...not build better bodies. If they want to run 5 miles...do it at home. If they want a 6-pack stomach...do that at home. If they want to do the splits...do that at home. If they want to learn karate...do that in the dojo.

 

That's my philosophy anyway.

[ravenzoom]

Couldn 't have said it better Shorinryu Sensei, great post, I agree with you 100%

[harleyt26]

When I was about thirty years old I suffered a thyroid storm which the doctors treated with radiation to reduce the thyroid gland,shortly after that the thyroid storm passed on its own leaving me with a very messed up metabolism.I was about 190 before and now with continued hard training I have stabilized my weight to around 230-240 (49 years old now). Definitely heavier than I would like but at the same time in order to maintain this weight I must out train everyone else that I train with.I wish you could ask them what it is like to try to keep up with this fat man.My instructors are also a little "portly" but I would not recommend you tell them that,they would hurt you severely.I agree with Shorinryu Sensei the dojo is not the place for excercises like pushups and sittups etc. thats what gyms are for.But the same type of isometrics and cardio results can easily be obtained from kihon training and kata repititions.Now as far as pushups giving you the same results as makiwara training,no way.Pushups in no way teach how to transmit power from the floor through your target.As Shorinryu Sensei said these excercises are great in their own place but they are not part of martial arts.I have a gentelman in my dojo that had a similar attitude as Informer, he had come to my dojo as a fifth dan from another system.He had stated that he could not understand how my instructors could have let themselves go like that.Until he trained with them, he no longer has anything to say about that.The bottom line is "Do not judge a book by the cover". Tom

[JimmyNewton]

AnonymousOne is joking? i cant tell for sure

 

Hell no I am not joking. A martial arts teacher has to have credibility. A martial arts teacher must be able to demonstrate what he expects.

 

An overweight teacher is no example to students at all. A martial artist who is worth their salt, wont have any extra fat at all. They should be at the peak of their physical fitness.

 

One would never expect to see an overweight Miss Universe nor an overweight martial artist. They are as compatible as chalk and cheese

yet, you have out of shape football coaches, some with old and fragile bodies, but you don't see them out there trying to sack 25 yo quarterbacks. I do agree an instructor should be fit, but at the same time, i don't agree he should find a new sensei just beciase of his body type.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

You know, I'm classified by the state as 44% disabled due to an injury I received way back in 1983, yet since that time I have successfully passed several black belt testings myself by the head of our system and others, and have continuously trained a few hundred students reaching as high as 3rd degree black belt level in this art since that accident.

 

I can't do more than a few pushups because of this injury and I have a bit of a pot belly which just won't seem to go away, yet by some miracle, I have managed to defend myself successfully upon occasion against as many as 3 opponents in a STREET/BAR FIGHT, I have done security and body guard work for the likes of Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, been a bouncer in several bars, defeated talented and frequent competitors in one tournament (the only one I've ever entered) and seem to do just fine in the arts.

[ravenzoom]

Push-ups!!!!!! I really don't see the point of push-ups to excel in martial arts. Did I miss something, are push-ups now considered an art and part of the martial arts curriculum where we must spend time learning them in the dojo?

[Chado]

Ok I only read the first few pages of posts and the last page...I'll contribute anyway...

 

My 'main' sensei (I train with his sensei's a few times a year) is 27, ni-dan in the JKF and the POGKF and in some other organizations which he no longer represents...is currently trying to rank in the WKF for kata (WKA as well actually this saturday is the qualifier) and can do well over 60 pushups a minute...He is also a certified fitness/nutritionalist (I'm not sure of the correct 'term' for that).

 

My kendo sensei is 72 years old, not sure of his exact Dan rank (never told me I feel rude asking as I'm somewhat of a 'new' kendoka) and does play kendo with his students...but isn't in nearly the same condition as my karate sensei. He does have an impressive career and still competes in the masters divisions at tournaments occassionaly.

 

Now, would I personally like to train with a sensei for karate that is a 'wise sage type'? No, becasue that's not why I go to karate...I prefer someone who likes to train with us (he will get down and go face to face with you doing pushups, he spars with us...it's great). Is this what everyone wants? I'm not everyone so I have no clue. But I wouldn't want an overweight sensei standing there holding his arm out telling me where a sidekick should be...I prefer to have a sidekick done and stopped .5" from my face as a demonstration

 

Oh and one other thing someone said as a joke 'anyone with a gi size of over 6 shouldn't be allowed to train' I thought that was funny since I'm 6'2 165> and where a size 6-6.5 gi lol.

 

Anyway that's my $0.03

 

Chado