How Much Do I Remember?

No one was in the building.  I walked into the dimly lit warehouse and found an open floor space.  I wanted to know how much I remembered...if anything at all.  And so I began....

What Makes A Good Training Partner?

A few weeks ago, I was at the Honbu for a kobudo training event.   We worked weapon applications for about an hour before the group was split up.  Hanshi sent the instructor level students to the first floor to train.  There were six of us on the floor led by two Kyoshi. 

The workout began....

The Kyoshi led us through material at a pace and intensity level I had not practiced at for a long time. 

It was wonderful.

I watched how they trained together.  They were great training partners.  They pushed each other to move faster and conserve movement.  They would stop briefly to answer questions or discuss a movement but would immediately resume the workout with intensity.

I returned to the dojo with a better understanding of what it means to be a good training partner.

In your opinion, what makes a good training partner?

I Don't Know

It has been a while since I posted.  I work for a company that specializes in Halloween and Christmas supplies.  Halloween is over and we are heading toward 8 weeks of Christmas shipping.  I am trying to juggle more than I can handle.  One of the direct results from my schedule has been a temporary absence from the blogosphere.  I would love to announce that "I'm Back!" but I foresee sporadic posting until the beginning of December.

The following topic has come up at work in the last few weeks.   Often I overhear employees respond to questions from the boss with a shrug of the shoulders and "I don't know".  When I hear the words I cringe.  It is not because of the "I don't know" part.  It is because the words are not followed by a "but..."

but I will find out.
but I will look into it.
but I will let you know.

Other responses could be...

Let me get back to you.
I will get you the information you need.

The same is true for the karate instructor.   When students ask a question, it is ok not to know the answer.  The amount of knowledge to acquire while learning a martial art is endless. There is always something to practice, read, learn and explore. Similar to my work example, "I don't know" could be followed with:

but let's find out.
but we can research the topic.
but let's explore the question.
and so on...

In fact, "I don't know" opens the door to new learning opportunities.

Enjoy your training!


Thank you to the readers and followers of this blog.  I appreciate your comments!

19 Days

Last night was my first night on the dojo floor in nineteen days.  I was surprised when I checked my calendar and counted off the days.  Has it really been that long?

June has historically been a slow karate month for me.  The beginning of the month is busy with end of school activities for my daughter.  In the middle of the month, we drove to Miami to go on the Cruise I won at the AAA travel show. During the past week, I was busy procuring items for a raffle to benefit a local children's theater.

Time flies...

There was a time when missing time in the dojo would make me feel bad or a bit guilty.  I don't want to feel that way about karate.   I accept there will be times when I am able to practice more....and sometimes practice less.

Roll Falls

Teaching karate students how to fall properly is part of our curriculum. We drag the mats out and practice our falls…front, side, back and roll. The kids in the karate school love to practice falling almost as much as they like to spar. As an instructor, I have seen people practice falls that make me cringe. One student could not get over the fear/feeling of falling. He was so rigid and he would fall like a plank of wood. In fact, this teenage student was attacked by a group of older kids at a community festival. He was pushed back and fell with his arm stretched out resulting in a compound fracture.


Have you ever needed to do a roll fall outside of the dojo?

Yesterday, I took a walk around the neighborhood. I live near a lake and there are many trail entrances close by. I wanted to see where one of the trails started so I walked down the path. The beginning of the trail was muddy due to a few days of rain. The trail opened up to stone road used by the Park Rangers.  I walked on the stone road and my foot caught the edge of a loose rock. My ankle twisted and I stumbled forward. I tried to regain my balance but the momentum pulled me forward.

My mind screamed “ROLL!”

I did.

I stood up and brushed myself off. Tom was walking with me and witnessed the fall. He commended me on my textbook roll fall. I think he gave it a 9 out of 10.  :)  The dirt tracks on my clothing went across my left shoulder to my right hip and leg. My head, knees and elbows did not make contact with the ground. The palm of my hand was cut where I scraped across the stone road. I woke up today a little sore across my ribs and the heels of my hands.

A few things:

Rocks and dirt are much harder than the dojo floor.

Even though my hands were scraped, I sustained only minor injuries from the fall.

I believe karate training took over and advised me to roll instead of bracing against the fall.

If I wouldn’t have rolled, I would have went Splat.  I most likely would have sustained injury to my knees, arms, wrist and head. The fall may have been severe enough to warrant a trip to the ER, a few stitches and time missed at work.

Do you have any stories to share? Do you practice falls in the dojo?

In Between

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a seminar taught by Kyoshi Bill Hayes.  Major Hayes is the author of “My Journey With The Grandmaster”.  I wrote about a previous seminar I attended in the post Get Uncomfortable. 

If you have the opportunity to attend a seminar by Kyoshi Hayes, I highly recommend attending. Make sure to bring paper and a pen…you will need them. If you have not read the book “My Journey With The Grandmaster”....read it. It will change the way you think about training.

I want to share with you one of the concepts presented at the seminar.  The dojo wall was lined with charts, definitions and concepts.  I have pages of notes but one line of text on a chart jumped off the page for me.
Written on the third line of the chart comparing "martial science" to "martial arts" was the following:

Martial science - end of motion bunkai. 
Martial arts...in between motion.

Wow...
Focus on the "in between".

Enjoy your training!


Welcome and thank you to the new Followers of this blog:  Patty Pitman and Yamabushi.  I appreciate all the Readers and Followers!   Thank you to all who comment and share their insights!

Blank Page

It is what I am staring at when I try to write a blog post. I have ideas for posts in my draft folder but there are only titles or a few sentences. In an attempt to get back on track, this post will list the random karate thoughts in my brain.

Confidence. How do you teach confidence? We are working on kata presentation. I am talking about presence not showmanship. The confidence needs to come from the inside with training as the source.

Stress. I need to use my karate training as a resource to handle stress. My only New Year’s Resolution was to NOT accept other peoples stress. My family uses me as a repository for stress. I will get panicked calls about missing cell phones, keys, ATM cards, heavy traffic on the way to the airport and forgotten homework. I was determined to not let their stress become mine. I am trying.  I need to take a lesson from one of our young white belt students. It was told by his parents that he practices kata during breaks at school. The teachers reported the boy seems calmer when he returns from his break.

Brotherhood. I have been thinking a lot about the use of the term brotherhood in martial arts. I often hear male practitioners use the word brotherhood or refer to each other as brothers. I never felt as if the male practitioners were using this term to exclude the female practitioners.  I asked several of the male black belts in our dojo what they mean when they say brotherhood. Some of the answers were…a group with a common goal, an alliance, or fellowship. I followed up with the question…Are female practitioners part of the brotherhood? The answer was a unanimous “Yes”.

Any thoughts on the above topics?

Uncomfortable

A little less than a year ago, I wrote the post Get Uncomfortable. During an excellent training seminar, Kyoshi Hayes, author of “My Journey With The Grandmaster”, told us to embrace discomfort.

Today…I am feeling uncomfortable. It has everything to do with a project we are working on in the dojo tonight. It involves a deck of index cards with the 51 open hand and weapon kata written on the back, a similar deck with the names of the black belts and a timer.

I am trying to embrace my discomfort. I’ll keep you posted.

Check out the new feature on this blog…subscribe via email.

Accountability

My schedule has been busier than usual. It seems like I am always in the car driving with my daughter…school, work, basketball practice, choir and play practice. On a night when I teach karate, I have one hour after I leave work to pick up my daughter and get ready for class. This pattern is affecting my dietary habits. Sometimes it is much easier and faster to pick up a hamburger or a pizza on the way home from work.

I want to break this habit.

My sister encouraged me to write down everything I eat on a daily basis. I found the website Calorie Count which is a free online food log. It takes a few minutes each day to log your food intake and activity level. Each food is given a grade from A – F. There is a report card at the end of the day which totals your grade for the day. The site offers a tool to analyze the recommended daily nutritional requirements. You can easily see which items are too high, good or too low.

It has only been a week and I am surprised at the difference it has made in my daily diet. There have been a few nice surprises and some shocking revelations. One thing is for certain, the food log has changed the way I think about food. When I make choices, I wonder what grade the item will have. Some of choices I made, which I thought were healthy, were actually a grade of “C” or lower.

At the end of the day, it is not easy to be “good” on all the daily nutritional requirements. The most surprising results from my first week are “too high” sodium and “too low” calcium.

Logging the food makes me aware of accountability. I am responsible for making quality, healthy choices.

The same can be said about martial arts practice. I have a supportive dojo community, excellent instructors and helpful training partners. But at the end of the day…

I am accountable for my practice.

Solo Karate Training

A few weeks before Christmas, I saw an old friend. We we both in line waiting to fill our gas tanks. The line was long because the grocery store was running a promotion and it was the last day to redeem gas points. I earned $.80 off per gallon! He was parked a few pumps away so I did not recognize him at first.

There were several people in front of me. I parked my car and walked over to talk to my friend. It was a Saturday night and I had just dropped my daughter off at the school dance. My friend lives a few towns away so I was surprised to see him. He told me he was headed to the dojo to workout. I asked if he was going to workout by himself. His response...

"It is one of the best ways to workout"

I have been thinking about our brief conversation and my own practice. As a kyu rank student, I learned in a group setting. The classes were large and the students were of all belt ranks. When I was training for shodan, there were four of us working together. My one friend and I would work bunkai in the living room. We would move furniture to clear out an open space. Once I began teaching, class time was for the students. I would go to seminars and Honbu workouts to focus on my material. In our dojo, a group of black belts meet each week to work on material (contact drills, two-person forms, weapons, kata...etc.)

But how often do I walk through the dojo door and train alone...

Truth...not often.

My goal for the month of February is to spend more time in the dojo practicing karate alone.

What is your experience? Do you train alone, with a group or a combination of the two?

Things I Only Understood After Black Belt

The Wednesday night class in our dojo has been mostly black belts. Two of the students (a father and son) are new black belts. They tested for their shodan in Okinawa Kenpo Karate and Kobudu during the summer of 2010. The father told me a story about how he expressed to his wife (a 1st kyu student) how different it was to be a shodan than a 1st kyu.

It reminded me of Sue C's excellent post called The Black Belt Paradox where she makes the following observation:

When I look at who it is that tells me it’s not about the black belt or that we don’t need coloured belts, I realise that they are all (no dis-respect is meant here) – black belts! It seems to me one needs to acquire the wisdom and experience of a black belt to realise that getting the black belt is not important and only really represents the beginning. I can ‘know’ this but it remains precisely that – knowledge, not wisdom. I have to go through the process myself of converting this knowledge into wisdom through practice, learning and experience and to help me do this I need my belts, all of them! I call this the Black Belt Paradox – you need to acquire a black belt in order to truly understand that ‘it’s not about the black belt’.

Sue is right. There are things I only understood after I earned a black belt. Here are a few:

1. Black belt is the beginning. The kyu rank students in our dojo hear this statement a lot. We tell the students how much more there is to learn and study.

2. Black belt kata are those kata that come later in the syllabus. I remember learning a "black belt kata" when I was a new brown belt. I learned the pattern to Passai at a seminar. I thought it was cool that I knew the pattern to a "black belt kata". I didn't realize at the time I didn't really "know" it. I could move through a sequence of movements. Turns out it wasn't so cool because I should have been focused on my current material. We do not try to let students get too far ahead with their material. As a kyu rank it is tempting to want to learn "new" and "more". There is simply too much material that needs to be learned before shodan.

3. The use of the word "Know". After I tested for black belt, I realized how little I actually knew. This feeling hit me the moment I tied my black belt around my waist. We test for shodan at the Federation training camp. The guest instructors are dojo heads, karate federation leaders, war heroes and authors. They are people who have been training 30-40 years. And there I was with a shiny black belt and three years of training. I have been a black belt for almost 15 years (in July 2011) and I still feel the same way. The amount of information to "know" is incredibly overwhelming. There is a lifetime of learning.

4. Black belts are students too. I never gave this much thought as a kyu rank. As a black belt student, I am still learning, exploring and discovering.

5. A black belt brings responsibility. I remember thinking a kyu rank student might ask me a question and expect the correct answer. What if I did not know the answer? I found out it is ok not to know the answer and it is an excellent opportunity to search/learn the answer. The new shodan I wrote about early in the post let me know how he makes sure he is in correct stance during class. He noticed the new white belts watching him and wants to be a good example.

6. Your karate changes as you age. It becomes more about technique, function and conservation of motion.

7. You need to make the kata your own.

8. Basics are awesome!

I am sure there are more. The above list represents a few of the things I only understood after I was a black belt.

And it is still a work in progress....

Can You Learn Karate from a Video?

One of my 2011 karate goals is to learn a specific kobudo kata. I have attended a few seminar sessions on this kata in the past but it never stuck in my brain. Small portions of the kata are familiar but for the most part I am learning the pattern from square one.

I have never tried to learn a kata from a video. There are many people who excel at learning in this manner. I know several people who have tried using a TV and a large mirror to reverse the directions to ensure they are moving the correct way. I have witnessed students (from other styles), who learned Okinawa Kobudo from the videotape series, compete in tournaments. In addition to moving in the wrong direction, the competitor added a roll fall and did not properly identify the kata. (Not a good idea when the creator of the video (my instructor) was center judge in the division.)

Here are some of the benefits from learning kata from a video.

1. Flexibility - You can learn at your own pace.
2. Time - You can watch the video whenever you want.
3. Focus - You can devote time to a specific kata or technique.

Here are a few of the disadvantages.

1. No instructor to ask questions.
2. No personal correction by an instructor.
3. Depending on how the video is shot...there may be problems following directional changes.
4. Not enough information due to time limits of the video.
5. You have to rewind...a lot.

Have you ever learned kata from a video? What advantages/disadvantages did you encounter? Would you recommend this type of learning?

So how am I doing with my project...I have learned about 1/4 of the pattern from the video. My plan is to learn a portion of the pattern and practice before I move on to the next section.

One Word

Describe in one word why you write or read martial arts blogs.

My word...

Community

Bring Your Own....

Throwing Knife.

Wednesday night is black belt night. Our first class of the New Year was BYOK. Several dojo members recently purchased throwing knives, stars and darts. Another person brought his personal collection which included a throwing axe. The recent interest in throwing knives was a direct result of trip to Tennessee by two instructors. They stopped at the Smoky Mountain Knife Works. The returned home to PA with a bag full of purchases. It did not take long before other black belt students purchased their own set of throwing knives.

The one wall of the dojo was transformed into our target board. Extra sheets of plywood were added to the wall. Two wooden targets were made as well as several cardboard barriers. For two hours, we took turns throwing. (black belt adults only).

Personal observations from a first time thrower:

It is not easy.
Most of my attempts went splat against the wall.
Knives can bounce back quickly.
The axe makes a cool sound when it flies through the air.
I can only imagine the hours and hours (and hours) of practice to become proficient at knife throwing.
You could hear the knife throwing (in my case knife splatting against the wall) activity from outside the dojo. I wonder what the neighbors thought?

At the end of the night, we packed up the cardboard and targets and removed the extra plywood from the wall. We cleaned up the floor and all the knives were taken home. It was an interesting evening and a different way to start training in 2011.

You can check out this video on Combat Knife Throwing featuring Ralph Thorn and his no spin style of knife throwing.




A quick disclaimer: This activity was supervised in a dojo and the participants were adult black belts. This is my personal weblog which documents my experiences and training.

Returning to Martial Arts Training After A Break

A few months ago, I wrote a post called Managing A Break in Your Martial Arts Training. I was facing a busy work schedule and I made the decision to put my gym membership on hold. I called my Tai Chi instructor and told him that I was taking a break from class until December. It was a hard decision but one I knew I had to make. I struggled but I maintained my training/teaching schedule in Okinawa Kenpo.

I made a list and planned my break from Tai Chi class. Let's see how I did.

1. Keep in contact with your instructor and the other students. I had minimal contact with my instructor and classmates. I made a few phone calls and sent emails.

2. Stop by for a class...even if it is once a month. This would have been great but it didn't happen.

3. Practice on your own so you don't forget the material. Not often but I did practice the form occasionally.

4. Keep reading and studying. Absolutely!

5. Set a date for your return. Don't leave it open ended. Yes. I set a date for December 1st. I started going to the gym but did not make Tai Chi class due to my schedule.

6. Invite your training partners for an informal workout. Unfortunately...no.

7. I invited my tai chi instructor to teach a guest session at our dojo. Yes. We tried several times to arrange for a visit but could not coordinate schedules. :(

How hard is it to walk back into class after a break in training? It is not hard at all! Last night, I walked back in Tai Chi class, briefly caught up with everyone and started training. It is that easy!

As an instructor, I know many students who take a break never return. I have heard many excuses...I don't remember anything, I am behind the class, family members/friends are ahead of me now, I missed a testing or I'll never catch up. The list could go on and on. The longer the break...the harder people find it to return.

So, if you took a break and want to return to martial arts training...Do it!

What Rank Are You?

Stop...don't answer that.

I cannot recall ever asking anyone about their martial arts rank. I did not even like typing the question. When non-practitioners find out I am involved in martial arts, they inevitably ask me if I am a black belt, the style I practice and my rank.

My usual response:

Yes, I am a black belt. I study Okinawa Kenpo and have been training since 1993.

When friends and co-workers find out you practice a martial art, what is their reaction? Do they ask you about your rank? How do you respond to their questions?

Let’s Start at the Beginning

Imagine stepping on the dojo training floor feeling excited and a little nervous. You may be wearing a gi for the first time and it feels awkward or unusual. How do you tie the belt? Is there a right way and a wrong way? There are other students in the class wearing belts of various colors. The black belts are standing together in a group. Class is about to start and the instructor asks the students to line up according to rank. You are in the back of the room and at the end of the line.

Do you remember your first impression? Were you overwhelmed by the vast amount of information presented in the class? I wondered if I would ever get the hang of things. My arms and legs did not cooperate with what my brain asked them to do. My legs ached from the nai hanchi stance. I was so grateful when an instructor pulled me aside to work individually on basics and the first kata. Class ended and we lined up again and bowed to the instructor.

As an instructor, I find it valuable to remember my first class when there are new white belt students in the dojo. During the first few weeks teaching a new white belt, I am careful not to overwhelm the students. There is a delicate balance between too much information and not enough. A new white belt student in class provides an excellent opportunity for the dojo community. The instructors must start teaching from the beginning. The kyu rank students help and encourage their new classmate. The black belt students assist in class and develop a deeper understanding of their own material.

Do you remember your first karate class?

It Would Be So Easy...

For the past month, I have been working a full time and 2 part-time jobs. My karate training has been non-existent. I can count on one hand the number of classes I taught in November. Thanksgiving Day marks the end of our busy season at work. I am starting to see the light at the end of the work tunnel.

It would be so easy NOT to resume regular karate practice. The holidays are fast approaching and I have a lot of catching up to do. I need to file eight weeks of paperwork, balance my checkbook (I am behind 2 months), post to write and cookies to bake. I would like to complete several half-finished projects at home. I look forward to getting more than five hours of sleep a night. I have December 1st circled on my calendar because my gym membership will restart after a three month hold.

It would be so easy to take a break from karate.

While I was contemplating extending my karate break, John Vesia's post about Making Time appeared in my Google Reader.

Everyone has a busy life. If you have a family, a career, and various responsibilities, life can indeed be a burdensome. It's easy to say "I don't have time to train with everything that's going on." And every time you let it go, it just gets easier and easier to say that. But if you can slip in just one training session a week, you'll be better off.

After reading his post, I realized I needed to start "showing up".

Thanks John! Your post was exactly what I needed to read.

Quitting Karate - A Response

Over a year ago, I wrote the post "Should They Have Been Allowed to Quit?". This post received many comments and even prompted responses on others blogs. When I look at my site statistics, I am always surprised by the number of people searching for "quitting karate".

Last week, an anonymous commenter shared his story about karate and quitting. I want to share his response.

My Dad.
Once when I was a struggling Brown Belt, my dad came into my room and told me to get my uniform on, it was time to go to class. "I don't want to go anymore dad," I said.

"Ok," he replied, "Put your uniform on it's time to go to class."

"Dad, you didn't hear me, I said I don't want to go anymore," I answered.

"I heard you," he said with a smile, "put on your uniform, it's time to go.

He made me go. For at least a month, I begged, cried, pleaded, acted up and did everything I could to not go. After that month I realized that this was important enough to him, that I didn't have a choice. It's like eating my veggies, going to school, going to bed on time, doing my chores, taking my epilepsy medicine. Did I mention I was born with epilepsy?

I didn't know it, but the doctors had told my parents I probably wouldn't live past 30, either the seizures would kill me, or the medicine would destroy my kidneys.

Through my training I learned breath control and deep meditation. Through meditation, I learned to control my seizures. I am 46 years old, have two kids, 9 and 10, a wonderful wife and a career running my own school.

Through meditation I learned to control my seizures, I've not had a seizure or medicine treating them in over 20 years. I still feel my epilepsy, it's there, tingling on my right side, but I control it.

In that one moment, when my dad said, "Put on your uniform, it's time to go," he saved my life and insured the birth of his grandkids.

Think carefully about your decision to allow your kids to choose a destiny you have the wisdom to see, but they do not.

Everyday I see my father's wisdom, more and more.

Also, this is a good example of the butterfly effect.

Anonymous, thank you for sharing your story.

Should Karate Class Be Fun?

Every so often the topic of karate class and fun is discussed among the black belt in the dojo. It is a difficult balance especially when working with new and younger students. Last night I taught the second intro lesson to an 8 year old girl. It was the girl’s idea to take karate lessons. In my experience, there is a big difference in the student when it is their idea rather than their parent’s idea.

The intro lesson included straight punches, front snap kick, blocks and self-defense against a push. We used the punching bags and the foam blockers. It was a good session and the girl looked happy when she left the dojo. After the class was over, the other instructor in the dojo asked me if the girl seemed to like karate. His comment about the new student was that during next lesson we need to make sure we do something fun. My reaction was immediate, “Class was fun!” His response, “Fun for you…”

The black belt instructor made a good point. Karate class is fun for me. I like drills, kata, kobudo, self-defense bag work etc. A few weeks ago, we spent 45 minutes discussing the U-punch. That was a fun class too. My idea of a fun karate class is probably not the same as a young student’s idea of a fun karate class. In our dojo, when teaching young students, we disguise basics, movement drills, and balance/coordination exercises in a “game”. We devote the last few minutes of class to “fun” drills.

Flash back eight years ago. I worked as a karate instructor in a dance center for one year. The woman who owned the center wanted to get more boys involved. The owner had a prosperous dance center for young (3-6) children. She saw moms drop off their daughters and walk out of the center with their sons. The owner thought karate was the answer. The program only lasted a year because the facility was not equipped to handle dance and karate. The karate classes were only offered on off-nights due to space limitations.

The owner of the dance center was very good at what she knew. She offered princess tea birthday parties, princess dance camps and beginning ballet and tap. The facility was in the middle of a shopping mall and parents would drop off their children, shop for an hour and return for pickup. The owner did not know anything about traditional karate. At the end of my classes she would stand outside the door and ask each child (in a sugary sweet artificial voice) “Did you have fun?” I realized quickly that teaching a martial art in this environment was not going to work.

So back to my question…should a karate class be fun?