Time To Close Shop!!

[sensei8]

Your thoughts...

http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Cfa/Pages/cfagrade_registry.htm

Well, having read this, I suppose that my last act as Kaicho of the SKKA should be to just simply....

CLOSE SHOP!!

Lock the door...dissolve the SKKA...and disavow Soke and Dai-Soke...sorry, I meant to say...Fuyuhiko Saitou and Yoshinobu Takahashi and all before them...have a big bone-fire, and use our By-Laws and Densho Scrolls and the like as fire kindle. Why not!!??!!

Proof, I have...facts, I have...history, I have...declarations, I have...affirmations, I have...two peas in a pod, I have that too...I have all that one might need to be confirmed...but first of all, they have to accept them by THEIR STANDARDS, which, I suppose is above all...whatever "all" truly means.

Yes, Okinawa approval would make things so easy....CONFIRMED by the JKF and/or the like and/or some other Okinawa government entity...BUT, why?? I accept the birthplace of Karate being Okinawa, but for the love, I'M NOT OKINAWAN, neither is anyone of the SKKA!! However, Saitou Sensei and Takahashi Sensei ARE, and our lineage supports that.

Our Soke, and I've spoken about this in length here at KF, DIDN'T want to any recognition and/or approval and/or being a member of ANY Okinawan Governing Body and/or the like because he wanted Shindokan to stand on its own two feet without Okinawa interfering with him in any shape, way, and/or form, hence, him and Takahashi Sensei moved to the USA. To start away from that type of judgmental harassment from Okinawa. To be expelled...to be disavowed...to be this and/or that; to not be his own man having found his own style of Okinawa Karate-do. Oh yeah, Saitou didn't get their permission to found Shindokan.

Well, on my way to close shop, seeing that we don't meet expectations!! Time for me to man the phone, and call each CI, informing them that the SKKA is closed!!

Proof is on the floor!! I've no reservation about sharing the floor with some of Okinawa's legends!! I welcome it!! I respect them and all that they stand for and behind, but I'm donkey dung under their feet...BECAUSE THEY SAID SO!! Why? There are legend Masters on Okinawa right now, that I respect wholeheartedly through and through; I bow to each and every one of them because they've earned it, But, you know what? I'm nobody from a nobody style from a nobody founder and successor!!

I'm going to join a reputable style, and start from scratch, and put all of these past 50 years of wasted time behind me, so, I can meet the expectations of others!!

Do I sound bitter? NO...just hurt and tired of being constantly reminded of our worthlessness!!

I walk into this lonely room, and I feel so all alone!! Am I lonely tonight? The floor welcomes me, but is that enough?!?

[Judodad_karateson]

Makes you just want to open a Kempo school and be done with it, doesn't it? I think you should just go the way of the Gracies, rename all the moves, and call it "Texan Karate," lol. Everyone can scream "Yeehaw" instead of Oss or Kiai, the Gis can have patches (But only if the patches are of the Cowboys, Texans, Aggies, or Longhorns), and the belts, instead of being tied, will have giant buckles. Instead of a bow, everyone can do the head nod and say "Howdy." Weapons training will be a pocket knife, lasso, and a pool cue.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Knowing the origin and history of what one does is important, but obsessing over it is futile. It is admirable and respectable to continue practising as one was taught. It is an even greater thing to continue passing on what one was taught faithfully and precisely.

However, there is no better way to honour one's teacher than making one's own discoveries and growing on the same path instead of just following it and stubbornly refusing to look for oneself merely for the sake of being " the succesor of Master So-and-So".

[sensei8]

Makes you just want to open a Kempo school and be done with it, doesn't it? I think you should just go the way of the Gracies, rename all the moves, and call it "Texan Karate," lol. Everyone can scream "Yeehaw" instead of Oss or Kiai, the Gis can have patches (But only if the patches are of the Cowboys, Texans, Aggies, or Longhorns), and the belts, instead of being tied, will have giant buckles. Instead of a bow, everyone can do the head nod and say "Howdy." Weapons training will be a pocket knife, lasso, and a pool cue.

I needed a good laugh...thanks, Judodad_karateson!! ::sighs::

[sensei8]

Knowing the origin and history of what one does is important, but obsessing over it is futile. It is admirable and respectable to continue practising as one was taught. It is an even greater thing to continue passing on what one was taught faithfully and precisely.

However, there is no better way to honour one's teacher than making one's own discoveries and growing on the same path instead of just following it and stubbornly refusing to look for oneself merely for the sake of being " the succesor of Master So-and-So".

I agree...and for nothing, I believe I held my breath the entire time I typed my rant!!

I'm/We're proud of our history and the like, and we forge forward under our own banner and brand. Not because some Okinawan Governing Body said so, but because WE said so!

We are the successors of what Fuyuhiko Sensei created, and what Takahashi Sensei supported, and we continue to strive forward in their visions, and we've never applied to any official Okinawan Governing Body, and we won't be because I support the reasoning's of Fuyuhiko in this regard.

I'm only human, and being constantly reminded that if ones not been blessed by some powerful great awakening force from an Okinawan Governing Body, that starts to hurt...prick me, don't I bleed!!

[JR 137]

About 5 minutes before I read this, my mother called with some news. Apparently she and her sister have been doing geneology/ancestry research. She just did some DNA testing to see what ethnicities might pop up. Guess what? I'm 8% more middle eastern than I thought. Thanks for that bit of info, mom. I guess I have to adopt more culture than the 50% Armenian and until recently 50% Italian I thought I was. My whole world has changed! Everything I knew has been wrong! Well, I was only 8% wrong.

Thanks for the futile information, mom. I still love you, even though you've wasted countless hours and more money than you'll admit to digging up information that doesn't change anything. We all still know who our grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings are/were. Glad you didn't uncover a serial killer or tyrant ruler in our family tree. We can all sleep better now.

Same story applies here. Why does the site have registration for black belts, their lineage, etc.? Very, very simple: Marketing. They have a new customer list! Think they won't sell you a gi or anything else if your lineage isn't what you claim it is/unverifiable? Think they won't sell your and everyone else's information to anyone who's willing to pay a few bucks for it?

[JR 137]

Makes you just want to open a Kempo school and be done with it, doesn't it? I think you should just go the way of the Gracies, rename all the moves, and call it "Texan Karate," lol. Everyone can scream "Yeehaw" instead of Oss or Kiai, the Gis can have patches (But only if the patches are of the Cowboys, Texans, Aggies, or Longhorns), and the belts, instead of being tied, will have giant buckles. Instead of a bow, everyone can do the head nod and say "Howdy." Weapons training will be a pocket knife, lasso, and a pool cue.

Would sensei be replaced with hoss?

Would the gi tops be the Texas flag pattern like the shirts I saw in store windows when I was in San Antonio, with the pants looking like Wranglers?

Would the honbu be the Alamo?

Would a mechanical bull be used in dan grading?

Would kyu ranks use a white dipped foam Stetson for head protection, and dan grades use a black one?

Would the cluster on said Stetson get more intricate as you advance in dan grades?

Would we get dipped foam cowboy boots for foot gear?

Will all formal events like rank testing, seminars, and tournaments be sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon, with a truck with taps on the sides in attendance and beer being poured by ladies wearing Daisy Dukes shorts?

Would every class end with "Y'all come back now, you hear?"

If you said yes to the above, in addition to your proposals of course, I'm in.

Maybe I got carried away with that. I have that tendency. Add that to my list of obnoxious Yankee traits. I've added stuff to that list at least 5 times. It's all in good fun.

[Spartacus Maximus]

I personally always somehow felt that it was somewhat odd to "register" one's grade with a governing body. Skill and progress are individual and the only approval or recognition that are really meaningful are from one's instructor.

[The Pred]

I personally always somehow felt that it was somewhat odd to "register" one's grade with a governing body. Skill and progress are individual and the only approval or recognition that are really meaningful are from one's instructor.

Agreed

[JR 137]

I personally always somehow felt that it was somewhat odd to "register" one's grade with a governing body. Skill and progress are individual and the only approval or recognition that are really meaningful are from one's instructor.

Absolutely. Be sure to add yourself to the people whom you need approval from.

The only governing body that needs to be concerned with my rank is my CI's governing body - Seido Juku.