Kata are not simply a bunch of techniques one after the other;…. no, each and every kata were created to record the key principles and strategies of a complete fighting system. . Historically, an individual would formulate a kata to record their own personal fighting methods, the styles of the time. . It obviously would…
Category: Sensei
If you decide to use Japanese language throughout your dojo, make sure you try, at least, to get it right.
Karate has an Okinawan/Japanese cultural background, thus it is common to use Japanese terminology and cultural characteristics in the dojo. It’s important that if someone uses Japanese terms that this someone is using them right and knows what they are saying. . In every field of interest, there is a certain risk in using technical…
Some people just can’t be taught.
Some people just can’t be taught. Not because they think they know it all, but because they are stuck in their ways. Their way is the best and only way. . Someone actually has to WANT to be taught. Everything can be taught, but not everything can be learned. . If someone thinks that the…
Most instructors are not trained to observe intentionally.
Most instructors are not trained to observe intentionally. . When students are in your presence, not just when they are training, practicing or competing, it’s a time to see, evaluate and give feedback. . As instructors you need to learn to become a good watcher and listener, you’ll be rewarded with a wealth of information….
Within the martial arts, being respectful is paramount.
All of us live in a world which is filled with conflict. The vast majority of us like to believe we’re open-minded toward individuals and other martial artists who may see the world differently to how we do. In the martial arts dojo, teaching respect is one of the core tenets most students learn. Students…
I guess you can’t fix stupid!
A comment on one of my recent articles stated; “Come step onto a jiu-jitsu mat and you’ll will be humbled. I guarantee it.” . A great many people are dying to be reassured that their martial art is the best and most effective. They evidently believe that their martial art is superior to all others…
Stop calling yourself “sensei” is just narcissistic, weird and presumptuous.
You’re not my sensei, so why do you call YOURSELF sensei? . If I see somebody labeled as, and calling themselves “sensei”, and I don’t know them, it’s just plain wrong. They aren’t teaching me… so they aren’t my sensei. I’m not choosing to call them sensei. . The term can’t apply as a blanket…
“Do not pretend to know something you have not experienced.”
Open-mindedness involves being receptive to a wide variety of ideas, arguments, and information. This doesn’t mean that being open-minded is easy. Being open to new ideas and experiences can sometimes lead to confusion. . What you once practiced as a “block” or “punch” doesn’t seem to work the way you thought, and realizing is wasn’t…
“Power is created in a combination of correct respiratory breathing and correct posture.”
In many kata, and indeed the techniques of karate, there should be a great deal of emphasis placed on abdominal breathing. That is, in which you are supposed take very deep, audible, abdominal breaths, synchronized with foot and hand motions. . If we take Sanchin kata as an example, many students I have witnessed practicing…
What does it mean to be a senpai?
What does it mean to be a Senpai (sempai)? Senpai (先輩) translates as “Senior” and can be applied in any situation where someone is senior to you. But the meaning for those in a traditionally run martial art school is far deeper than simply ‘Senior’. The senpai of a dojo has usually trained for a…
“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
Be passionate about your martial arts training and your martial arts training will improve. . People join martial arts schools for many different reasons, perhaps wanting to learn how to fight, how to protect themselves, get fit, gain confidence or a combination of all those things. Often times those reasons change when there is a…
It’s not the number of techniques you know, but how well you know them.
Some instructors teach their students “just enough” and often these instructors believe that they themselves have been taught all there is. . Learning is often taken to mean memorization, and advancing from one grade to the next as education, and passing that grade to mean they are competent. . If instructors just follow the curriculum,…