Worry About...

[sensei8]

"Worry about your own style, and I'll worry about my style", one practitioner says to another practitioner. Hype? Sincerity? Compassion? Rudeness? Devotion? Truth? False? Yes? No?

No matter the entity, let it worry about itself! Unless...what if the 'it' is effecting your style? Matter? True? False? Having said that, I shouldn't be worried, no, I'm not worried, because, for my style to be effected by another styles' opinion and/or opposition, I must first allow those others who would be worrying about my style effect/affect me. Kind of like the...you worry about your backyard and I'll worry about my backyard....just as long as your backyard doesn't affect my backyard!

"Don't stick your nose where it's not wanted and/or belonged", one practitioner says to another practitioner. Safety from anonymity versus safety from the self-appointed critics of the martial arts world. Which one is preferred? Which one matters? Does it matter at all? "I stand on the fifth", is this an all to convenient statement which becomes easy to hide behind? After all, we're not in a court of law? Or are we? We are always passing judgement on styles that aren't ours. Is it effective? Is it false? Is it this or that? Is it for the betterment of the martial arts?

Shotokan needs to worry about Shotokan!

Tae Kwon Do need to worry about Tae Kwon Do!

Mixed Martial Arts needs to worry about Mixed Martial Arts!

McDojo's need to worry about McDojo's!

Judo needs to worry about Judo!

WTF needs to worry about WTF!

Sports Karate needs to worry about Sports Karate!

The Olympics needs to worry about the Olympics!

Shindokan needs to worry about Shindokan!

Brazialian Jujitsu needs to worry about Brazianlian Jujitsu!

Karate needs to worry about Karate!

Kung-Fu needs to worry about Kung-Fu!

[Fill In The Blank] needs to worry about [Fill In The Blank]!

My point is this. How effectively am I to the body of Shindokan if I'm worried about other styles of the martial arts? I'm not! I'm not of much use to the body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the entire student body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the Shindokan Hombu! I'm not of much use to the betterment of Shindokan!

How much time do "you" spend worrying about the comings and goings of another style of the martial arts? How much time do "you" spend worrying about the politics of another style of the martial arts? How much time do "you" spend worrying about if another style of the martial arts is doing whatever correctly? How much time do "you" spend worrying if another style of the martial arts is doing whatever better than you?

I'm not referring to the training exchanges between practitioners! That's improving thus widening ones knowledge base through one being eclectic, and this, I see it as, being a good thing!

Bob needs to worry about Bob...it this same context...Shindokan needs to worry about Shindokan! Let the other styles of the martial arts worry about themselves because, frankly, it's none of my business!

[JusticeZero]

Very little if any. I end up knowing some vague amount of current gossip just in listening to it in between things I actually care about in conversation with people from other arts.

[bushido_man96]

Safety from anonymity versus safety from the self-appointed critics of the martial arts world. Which one is preferred? Which one matters? Does it matter at all?

I think just the nature of what we do lends to a bit of curiosity about what goes on in the MA community as a whole. However, I think you are right in stating that one shouldn't let it cloud up his own classes just for the sake of what seems to be in or out.

My point is this. How effectively am I to the body of Shindokan if I'm worried about other styles of the martial arts? I'm not! I'm not of much use to the body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the entire student body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the Shindokan Hombu! I'm not of much use to the betterment of Shindokan!

I think that this is the right attitude to take on, especially in delivering your curriculum to your students. If an instructor is looking to add or subtract something to the curriculum, then it is important to evaluate these additions so that one knows if it is going to benefit the system, or just fade away in a year or so.

[sensei8]

My point is this. How effectively am I to the body of Shindokan if I'm worried about other styles of the martial arts? I'm not! I'm not of much use to the body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the entire student body of Shindokan! I'm not of much use to the Shindokan Hombu! I'm not of much use to the betterment of Shindokan!

This doesn't mean that I ignore the effectiveness as offered by the other styles of the martial arts. To do this would be...well...stupid of me! The betterment of Shindokan includes absorbing what is effective, not different, from other styles of the martial arts!