Tournament and Seminar Schedule 2010
January

1/8-9- Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Honors Atlantic City NJ  Alan Goldberg (718) 856-8070

1/9-10 Philly Sports Extravaganza and MMA Expo Philadelphia PA) ames Jefferson (609) 923-2663

1/9 Junior National Championships Valley Forge Convention Center PA., Master Jose Torres (609) 871-=6000

1/16- Karyims 24^th  Battle of the Martial Arts (Dundalk Md) Howard Karyim Moore (443) 834-5487

February

2/27 Sport Weaponry Championships Edgewater Park NJ., Master Jose Torres (609)871-6000

2/26-27  Beach Blast Martial Arts Championship 2009 (Virginia Beach Va.) Less S Peregoff-Ken Morgan (757) 474-1030

March

3/6- Dragon Tao Karate 15^th Martial Arts Championships Randallstown MD., John Kellam, Jr. (443) 604-4706

3/   -14^th Annual MercerCounty Karate Championship Lawerenceville NJ., Sensei Ivan Mendez (609) 540-3039

3/13 –East Coast Martial Arts Championship Upper Marboro MD., Diane Jones, Karen Lawerence 240 210-9195

April

4/ -27^th Annual Maryland Open Championship Baltimore Md., Master Apolo Ladra  (410) 370-4433

4/17 – Noble House Spring Youth Tournament Potomac Md., Grandmaster Robert E Belt Jr. (202)291-3198

4/17 - Master Kobaleski’s USA Karate Chapionships Clark Summit PA., Eric Kovaleski (570) 307-5425

4/18 – Renassinesss Citty JPro/Am Karate Championship West Orange NJ., Gerald Eatman (973) 596-7619

May

5/1- The JW Spring Classic Martial Arts Tournament (Oxon Hill Md) James Wyatt (301) 655-6690

5/2 –Delaware Valley Open Karate Championship Springfield PA., Paul Cheng (610) 622-5260

5/15 – Lions Den Grappling Karate Championship Beaver PA., Master Bill LaVoice (724) 495-7646

5/28-30 – Kumite Classic Martial Arts Expo Pittsburgh PA., Bill Viola (724) 861-5162

5/28-30 – The Kumite Classic Pittsburgh PA., Bill Viola (724) 861-5162

5/28-29 – Nafina National Championships Atlantic City NJ., Master Jose Torres (609) 871-6000

5/29 – North American Hall of Fame Banquet Atlantic City NJ., Master Jose Torres (609) 871-6000

June

6/12 – TyGa Hall of Fame Banquet, London England, Soke Gary Wasniewski (240) 997-5647                                                            

6/6- Maryland Super Showdown Baltimore Md.,  (443) 286-9680

6/12 – 4^th  Annual Spirit of the Samurai Tournament YMCA Baltimore Md., Gerald Jackson (443) 857-6448

July

August

September

9/19  – Nobel House TKD 30^th  Annual Tournament of Champions Potomac Md.,  Grandmaster Robert E Belt Jr. (202) 291-3198

October

10/ - The Black Tiger Martial Arts Championships Towson MD.,  Del Art Rawlings (443) 540-

3672

10/ - 27^th Annual Battle of Baltimore Baltimore Md. , John Burdyck (410) 676-1776

November

11/12-14 – EUSAIMAA Hall of Fame Banquet, Pittsburgh Pa, Soke John Kanzler (800) 456-3872

December

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010

Wisdom of the Samurai is available in book form for $29.95.  If you want a copy of this book call (301) 482-0000 and ask for it, and it will be packaged an mailed to you.  Do you want to manage your life and your relationships with others well. These articles with some additional information are in book form.

(Note that we have tried to make it easy for anyone to ask a question or make a comment and get it answered. If you want to ask a Martial Arts related question you can email Gamasensei at Damascuskarate dot com(Translate this to an email address). I will do my best to answer all emails in a timely manner

September 1, 2011

Behavior Traits

Why do we have so many children in the Martial Arts? Let me ask the question another way, what is it that a parent see’s in the Martial Arts that makes them bring their child into a dojo? Let me tell you what I think, children are brought to the dojo by their parents because the parents see something worthwhile in the Martial arts. Now the question of what the parents see that motivates them to bring their most valuable possession into your dojo and entrust you with its care is best answered by a short story about my granddaughter.

I have the privilege of having a beautiful young granddaughter who just graduated from high school and is getting ready to go to college. For convience lets call her Fernanda.

Now Fernanda is a beautiful young lady who is wrestling with all of the problems any 18 year old would have. This has driven me to examine her status and I have concluded that several of the problems she is grappling with have Martial Arts implication.

First of all is that she has no knowledge or experience about what she is getting into, and furthermore she does not want to listen to anyone who does. This doesn’t mean Fernanda is a bad person, it just means that she struggling to find the right path for her. It also cast some light on the types of problems teenagers have to deal with. When teenagers are young we teach them such things as “share”, “ Don’t Steal”, “Don’t hit your friends” and other basic behavior traits. As they grow into teenagers they have to deal with many more complex challenges like, “ How do I gain independence from my parents”, or “What do I do about drugs, or alcohol, or sex” , or “What is the proper relationship with my parents ” and on top of all this they have to worry along with their parents about an education. Now what the Martial Arts can bring into this potpourri are several traits like discipline, self respect, hard work, and respect for others, which can help a child learn and adapt to meet these challenges. How these traits get into a student is another story but I believe that parents believe these traits will help their children as they grow and this motivates most parents to bring their child into the dojo. The parents see the need for these traits in their child and they view Martial Arts as a tool for inserting these traits into their child’s character.

What this means to us as Sensei’s, is that we should examine our classes and as necessary insert more character education. It is not the punching and kicking that the parents seek, it is the improvement of the character in their child that they are looking for from us.

June 1, 2011

A Thought

I saw this and I thought it was so good that I had to show it to everyone. I can't take credit for it because it was written by Mother Teresa

People are often ureasonable and self centered

Forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives

Be kind anyway

If you are honest people may cheat you

Be honest anyway

If you find happiness people may be jealous

Be happy anyway

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow

Do good anyway

Give the world the best you have and in may never be enough

Give your best anyway

For you see, in the end, it is between you and Him

It was never between you and them anyway

Feb 7, 2011

Culture Wars

As a Martial Artist I have thought long and hard about the subject of how to reduce violence in our communities. Unfortunately in our society today people no longer fight with their hands and feet, today people vent their feeling by picking up knives and guns. This of course has the unfortunate consequence of a lot of destroyed lives. The question of interest is how do we convince members of our society to resolve disputes without the use of knives and guns. Of course the answer to this question is important if you can answer this question you can nationalize the answer and eliminate wars. I will not discuss the problem of eliminating wars in this article, that is far beyond the reach of this little vignette.

I believe we can alleviate the tendency to fight with guns and knives in our society by changing the culture of our society. There are a plethora of events which have occurred in our society which illustrated the need for some action to curb violence. All of these events don’t seems to have the same cause, but let’s note some of them so we can identify the ones the we can help. The Columbine school massacre by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold which killed 13 students at Columbine High School near Denver Colorado didn’t just happen, there were a series of mistakes and failures which allowed this event to happen.

Plaxico Burres the New York Giants football player accidently shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub in New York city. Mr. Burress was punished for this accident, on Aug. 20, 2009 Mr. Burress pleaded guilty to a weapons charge and agreed to a two-year prison term for accidentally shooting himself at a Manhattan nightclub.

You do not have to look far to find a horrifying list of shootings by students in and around schools in this country,

Lets talk about some of the characteristics that these events have in common. The first and probably most important thing to note is that people who plan violence often tell others of their plans ahead of time. They “brag” about their plans. This emphasizes the need for education. If you went to work and became convinced that one of your co-workers was going to bring in a gun and shoot someone who would you tell? There needs to be and education program about violence which identifies who should be told about potential violence. The bosses and the coworkers need to be taught what to do if someone makes a statement identifying potential violence. So also should the coworkers be educated about what to do if they find themselves in the midst of a violent situation. Who knows how many lives had been destroyed by the lack of this kind of education?

Another aspect of this problem is the prevailing belief that “guns are cool”. This astonishing belief is evident among both children and adults. Consider Mr. Burress a national league football player who ruined his career by carrying a gun. An consider the multitude of children who have had their lives destroyed because on of their classmates decided to settle and argument with a gun.

What happened to and educational program which teaches that people who settle argument with guns are cowards and that guns are a sure way to ruin you life. Where in our society do we dispute the idea that “guns are cool” and that power doesn’t flow from the barrel of a gun but power flows from knowledge. This is a lesson our opponents in WWII learned at the cost of many lives. Where do we teach adults that carrying a gun can ruin a career, not to mention a life. Where do we teach students that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are not some type of superhero’s but murders who cut short the lives of 13 students

What must be done to stop violence in our society is to support a culture war designed to convince members of our society that there are other alternatives to resolving disputes than the use of a gun.

Jan 1, 2011

Motivation

As Sensei’s, most of us have asked ourselves the question “What motivates our students??“. I mean what makes a student walk out of class with a feeling of dedication and accomplishment to the Martial Arts. This is not an easy question to answer but I will try.

In our own lives, if we stop and think when did we get better at managing our life, it wasn’t when times were good for us, it was when times were hard on us. What happens to most of us when times are hard in our life is that we rise to the challenge. “Rising to the challenge” is another way of saying we discovered capabilities we didn’t know we had.

Motivation is a powerful force, let me discuss two other events which occurred in the Dojo which illustrate the power of motivation.

I had a young man who no matter how many times I told him refused to keep his hands up when he was engaged in Kumite. What you would expect happened, he fought another young man who was adept and kicking and with a very controlled kick he kicked my student in the head. After the mandatory discussions between the boy, his parents, and myself we all concluded that the boy was ok. I however noticed something else, for the rest of the kumite the young man kept his hands up, in fact whenever the young man stepped out on the floor to engage in Kumite his hands were up. It seems like the kick to the jaw changed his fighting habits for the better. In fact when I talked to the young man about this episode he agreed with the above statement.

I have another young female student who as part of her Blue Belt test engaged in Kumite with a young man who was later to become her husband. During the Kumite her future husband hit the young lady so hard with a side kick that I though he had broken one of her ribs. When this happened I immediately stopped the fighting and asked the young lady if she was ok, her response which taught me a lot was “I’m ok, I can get thru this”. Indeed the young lady was ok and did finish her test successfully and I promoted her from Green belt to Blue belt

Clearly these students had changed for the better. They were no longer the same students who walked in the door and put on a white belt. The question of interest is what happened to these students to make them so motivated. The more general question is can we make the same thing happen to all of our students. I don’t think I know the answer to this question but there are some things that seem apparent to me. Below is a list of things which are important in training any student.

1. Drills: Any student needs to practice their techniques, this includes both adults and children. This not only makes the students proficient in executing their martial arts techniques but it also instills in the student a confidence that they can execute a technique properly.

2. Education: What is the history of the art? To be a good martial artist a student much know where the techniques they learn come from. This allows the students to connect with their art. Answering questions like “Who was Bohidarma?” and “Who was Gichen Funakoshi?” help the student to realize that they are one of many who have studies the arts. This helps the student develop all of those characteristics like work hard, shake off punch or a kick, and try to improve, that we like to see in students.

3. Character: This is a tough question. How do you develop character in a student. There are some things that seem to help. Protocols like bowing when you enter the Dojo and bowing to an opponent before you engage in Kumite, refering to your instructor as Sensei ,or Grandmaster, or Sifu, and listening to your teacher all help a student develop traits that will help the student in life as well as in the Dojo.

There are a couple of things one should be careful off when training students. It is easy to hit most students so hard that they give up during kumite, that is because we are black belts and generally the students are under belts. This is cruelty, and it teaches the student nothing. Most of us think “I would not be cruel to the students in my Dojo”. But how many times has a student been hit to hard, or a student has had the air knocked out of them. The Martial Arts is full of stories about instructors who have been cruel to their students under the guise of “making them tough”. I had a young lady who told me that he previous instructor had hit her on her shins with a nunchucku every time she make a mistake doing kata. I don’t know what the instructor was trying to accomplish by striking his student but what he succeeded in doing was driving the young lady from his Dojo.

So this raises the question “How do you make a student tough?”. The answer is in control. If a student is in fear for their safety they will learn nothing, All kumite must be carefully monitored and a student should be challenged to engage in kumite which is 5% faster and harder than the student normally engages in. This is one of the reasons why only a black belt should lead a kumite class, since only a black belt has the training to observe a kumite class and judge whether or not an adequate level of control is being exercised.

Another danger in the Dojo is the creation of a lax enforcement environment. By this I mean we as instructors don’t talk enough about control, or history, or respect for your fellow students. This is hard work, and to do it correctly means we must be prepared for every class. This means we must pursue our own education so that when a student asks us a difficult question we can answer it in a timely manner.

If all this seems like hard work, it is. Building a good student is a hard and time consuming process. The ability and knowledge to perform this feat are what the students are looking for when they walk in the door of your dojo.

Aug 7, 2010

A Potpourri

The following is a collection of events whose discussion I thought would be instructive:

My wife, who has worked with the Daughters of the American Revolution for the last five years to further Patriotism, Historical Preservation, and Education , was visited by some friends from out church, and when they left my wife started crying. When I asked my wife what was wrong, it seems like the following comment was made by one of her visitors “How can you believe in the Constitution, you are a Democrat” It seems like in this election season a willingness to accommodate other points of view has evaporated. We should probably all remember that the students in our Dojo’s bring to the Dojo many different points of view and we should teach our students and ourselves to respect all of these views.

I had the fortune of teaching the father of one of my students. Now this was a middle aged gentleman who was police officers and I found myself thinking what could I teach this gentleman that would be useful to him. I could not teach him any of the advance kata because he did not know any of the basic kata. So I decided to work on some basic kata with him. I found myself talking about power and how we generated in Karate with body mechanics. We went over some basic kata and I found a whole host of corrections to make in his Kata. During this process I noticed the my student was sweating. It seems like he was well on the road to getting physically fit by doing the basic kata of Karate correctly. We worked on things like making a tight fist, twisting the hips, and stances all of which seemed to help this gentlemen understand the basics of Karate, of course it helped that he was a police office who had fought before and saw the need for all that we discussed.

I had the fortune to be an instructor at a Karate summer camp. It was interesting because most of the students were poor underprivileged children mostly preteenagers. Since I had a chance to help develop the curriculum for this camp I had to stop and think about what would be worthwhile to teach these students. If I could teach them to resolve conflicts I would so I started to think about what to teach regarding conflict resolution. After some thought I came to the conclusion that there was no magic bullet which I could teach these children on how to resolve conflicts if there was I would globalize it and stop wars. Having reached this conclusion I was still faced with the problem of what to teach the students. I believe that  fights start because people get mad at each other so I should then teach the student emotional control. Now then what do you teach the students to instill in them emotional control. This is not an easy question to answer. It involves both physical and mental conditioning and of course it had to be tailored to be age appropriate for the audience. I started my class with warm up exercised and proceeded to what we call back pact drills. In these drills a student (Not to heavy) rides pigy back on another student while the other student performs a kata.  The children liked this drill and of course had a lot of fun performing it. After the back pack drills I had each student talk to the class about Martial Arts History. I then helped each student to better structure their history discussion and had them present it to the class again. The object of this drill was not to teach history but to practice communication. By the end of the class all of the children seemed to have a good time and they all wanted to stay in class and learn so more martial arts.

Martial Arts is truly a life enhancing skill and we as instructors should remember to teach it like a life enhancing skill to improve our students teaching ability.

May 24, 2010

Commitment

I closed my Dojo yesterday. It was a sad event but frankly I am glad to see it gone. I am 67 years old and teaching Karate six days a week was beginning to wear on me, I will continue to teach Karate but not at the same schedule I maintained in our dojo.  It is worth mentioning a few things that happened.

Because I was a little sad about the Dojo closing I called my Master in England, Soke Gary Wasniewski. Soke Gary continues to be the most honorable man I know. I found comfort in talking with him and discussing the closing of the Dojo. Why do I  Iike Soke Gary so much? Soke Gary has a sterling character plus commitment to the Martial Arts, plus expertise in the Martial Arts and is a fine example of what all of us strive to become as  we progress in our Martial Arts careers.  After I finished talking to Soke Gary I found my attitude had improved perceptibly.

I found myself reviewing much of what I had learned in my 25 year career as a Sensei. Reviewing these facts here would seem to be instructive.

·         The most important factor in success in the Martial Arts is Commitment. So how do we teach commitment to the Martial Arts?   I am not sure I know the complete answer to this question, but good training habits is a good start. The child or adult comes into class and he or she wants the skills of an accomplished Black Belt. But we generally do not tell them that those skills take 5-10 years to master and  a lifetime to perfect.

·         Character is important. In the final analysis people (Both your friends and non-friends) will make decisions about you based on their opinion of your character. It is easy to mislead, cheat, and steal, but that is not the way of the true Martial Artist. Honesty, integrity, and dependability are something we should all struggle to achieve in our Martial Arts careers.

·         Character is an invaluable asset to any Martial Artist. As we go thru the trials of achieving in the Martial Arts and in life in general those who know us will make decisions about us based on our character. Character is never easy to achieve, as each of us struggles to select a path in life we must make sure that the path we select is a good one for those who will come after us.

·         Confidence building is an important part of any Martial Arts program. I undertook the task of tutoring one of my students in Algebra 2. After only a few sessions it was clear to me that this young lady had intelligence and a good and strong work ethic. Her problem was not that she couldn’t learn Algebra, it was that she lacked confidence in her own abilities. I told her a  lot that she had these abilities and I made sure to do it around her parents and teachers. To this day I am convinced that her main problem with Algebra was her lack of confidence in her own abilities. Her type of training in the Dojo needs to be a positive experience where she learns and achieves and is complemented in front of others. This means that you have to talk to the students a lot. You have to praise them and tell them how to improve their skills.

·         Children come into the dojo knowing very little about the Martial Arts. The most experience that many children have is in a video game which requires little physical expertise. So one of the major facts we have to teach children is that Video games, Harry Potter, etc. are so popular because they require little skill. Real life is not like that. Children have been trained since birth that that can accomplish without much effort. Our job as Sensei’s is to introduce them to the world of training.

·         In our society, women are taught that they can’t defend themselves. This is false in many ways but it effects the attitude of the female student. Some of the most dangerous fighters I know are female.  Women have speed, agility, accuracy, and an excellent sense of their bodies orientation in a fight. These attributes can be used to overcome a males natural advantage in strength.

I could continue on with these lessons learned in the dojo for many more pages, but I think I would loose the attention of many readers, so I will close here.

In the final analysis, the value of our lives is how we affect those around us. I look forward to teaching the Martial Arts for the rest of my life, I can think of no nobler profession than being a Sensei.

Feb 22, 2010

Violence

A good friend of mine named John Desmond sent me the following quote about violence, “violence is like duct tape, if it doesn’t solve the problem you didn’t use enough.”

The issue of Violence doesn’t often arise in a Dojo , after all, this is what we train so hard to be able to handle. However, students have to deal with violence or potential violence in their everyday lives. What do we teach our students about dealing with violence and how do we teach the students to deal with violence are important aspects of any Martial Artist training and we ignore it at the risk of producing poorly trained students. Almost all of us have seen examples of behavior we do not like in students. How do we deal with these students, what can we do for them, and how do we train them would seem to be questions we have all asked ourselves. Now most of us as Sensei’s do not have real violence in our Dojo because we do not accept students who are violent and we have an emphasis on safety in our Dojo’s besides we are well trained to deal with violence. But how do we teach our students to deal with violence in others. Remember, if someone is a jerk and you knock them out, they are just an unconscious jerk. We need to educate our students to deal with violence in others.

A good place to start our discussion would be with a definition of violence, for our purposes violence is the use of force against others with the intent of compelling a course of action. Note that we have purposefully left our suicide (violence against oneself), war and genocide, and other types of problems, not because they are not worth discussing but they are not relevant to this discussion. Note also that the purpose of violence is to compel a course of action. This gives us the first clue that violence starts long before a blow is struck, there is a planning phase, an assessment phase, and an execution phase. This illustrates something that all of us who teach self defense realize, there is a movement to violence and it starts long before a blow is struck.  Students don’t misbehave because of some flaw in their personality. the fundamental problem with these students is education i.e. they see  no alternatives to compel a course of action. This indicates some need for negotiation and mediation skills in the students or at least the ability to teach these skills to others. This clearly indicates why teaching skills in an advanced black belt are so critical.

It is instructive to see what the Government has done about violence. To quote from the county website “County Executive created the Office of Community Partnership (OCP) in 2007 to help break down the barriers of race, income and religion … VVV voice versus violence recruits professionals volunteers who have expertise in violence prevention, conflict resolution/mediation and counciling skills at workshops held at various elementary and middle schools throughout the country”. The other organization in the local government the addresses violence is the Department of Juvenile Justice. Let us look at how this part of government deals with violence.

From the county website we have :

As one can see the government has developed several programs to help deal with the problem of violence, but I think even the people in the programs would tell you that they don’t have the answer to how to deal with violence. So how can we as Martial Arts instructors contribute both for the good of our community and for the good of our students? I think we need to do a couple of things, let us discuss them.

First, recognize that dealing with violence is a complex issue and one lesson is probably not enough to cover the topic.

Next, a good self defense course is essential. This course should cover the planning phase, the assessment phase and the execution phase of violence. In this course attention should be paid to how to interrupt the planning and assessment phase of violence.

Communications, negotiations, and mediation skills should be taught in this course. Some amount of role playing should probably be included to ensure the students have learned the necessary skills. Students must learn that violence is the end result of a process and what they must do to interrupt that process.

Discipline needs to be taught to all of the students. This can be done as difficult exercises which force the student to work at the edge of their abilities and as classes where the students get a chance to demonstrate and practice their emotions and their discipline

If this seems like a lot remember the Shoalin Monk who developed Kung Fu from which we get Karate and Monks and trained in these types of techniques incessantly.

Dec 7,2009

A Lesson in Effectiveness

I must apologize for being off the air for so long. My computer decided to self destruct and Santa Clause just delivered a new one to my house. So now I am back on the air.

A lot has happened since I last wrote for this BLOG  in August of last year. We met Kathy Long at the EUSAIMAA conference in Pittsburgh  and found out she was victorious in her first MMA fight and I want to issue  her a belated congratulation  for her victory I look forward to seeing her in many more MMA matches.

We traveled to London in June of last year to attend Soke Gary Wasniewski’s Hall of Fame Banquet. It was a wonderful event and chance to meet old friends and see new Martial Arts talent on display. We look forward to attending this event next year and seeing the world famous Shizumi Manale perform. For those of you who don’t recognize Shizumi Sensei she was an actress in the movie commonly known as “National Treasure II” and is a world famous Dancer and Opera Singer who has performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and  at other notable venues worldwide.

With all of this going on, let me not forget to wish all of the readers of this work a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Like the famous Mr. Spock says “Live long and prosper”.

 Let me talk about some interesting things that have happened in the Dojo regarding training.  We have a brand new Black Belt in the Dojo. She is everything and instructor could ask for in a student. She is young(15), dedicated, and works hard. I struggled with what to teach this brand new Black Belt. One of my instructors taught a lesson on commitment to this young ladies class. The objective of this lesson was to teach student not to execute a technique unless they were committed to the technique. We worked on things like targeting, speed, control, and effectiveness. I was amazed at the end of class when we engaged in some Kumite and the students looked much more like fighters. They were committing to their techniques and no one was getting injured.

I started thinking after this class about what lessons could be learned from this class. It is sometimes difficult to teach young people the concept of sending unwanted messages during a fight. They are simply not ready and to young to deal with this issue and frankly see no reason for learning about unwanted messages. Effectiveness seems to be easier for the young student to grasp. I am going to explore with this young student other area’s for improving her Martial Arts capability. Maybe my amazement  is due to my lack of education and experience in the Martial Arts but I always worry about what to teach someone who achieves the rank of Shodan. It seems like I have found and answer to this question. One goes back and improves the students existing capabilities. This does not require the young student to try to grasp concepts for which they are not ready and see no need, and allows you the Sensei to postpone some of these more difficult concepts until the student is ready for them It is clear that if we must tailor our teaching to what our students in the class can absorb.

Aug 1 2009

Emotions

As Sensei’s we have to deal with the people who walk thru the door of our Dojo. We don’t get to choose our students, and the highly disciplined skilled Martial Artist that many students envision themselves becoming is the product of years of training. This makes the job of being a Sensei a very people oriented position. If we are aware that emotions drive the reactions of most students then what should we tell the students about emotions?

In our Dojo’s we tend to have young people and adults. Adults often accompany their children into the Dojo so the focus of many adults in the Dojo is to oversee the Martial education of their child. These adults would like not to be injured, not to look foolish in front of their child, and to grow themselves in their Martial education.

Young people are difficult to understand. Their view of the world is radically different than adults it is influenced by odd things such as the fact that the distance between their wrist and elbow is different every day. 

Young people are wonderful little balls of energy, they can move fast, strike hard, and have an almost inexhaustible supple of curiosity to try new things. It is this last trait that ends up getting young people into trouble. Here are a few questions for the reader. Where should a young person turn if they get into trouble? Are we offended by the rude and sometimes boorish behavior exhibited by some young people. Of course we are, but the rules of the Dojo apply here just as well, you would not let a young person do something to injure them selves or others in the Dojo so in life you should not let a young person out of ignorance do something to injure themselves or others.

This lack of experience in young person means that the most difficult thing they have to deal with is hidden agenda’s. Young people are not unlike the rest of us, most of their time is spent in searching for the truth. Almost always the only person a young person can count on for an honest opinion is their parents. You may not like what the parents have to say but almost always it is the accumulated wisdom of a mother and father and is as unbiased as is possible. Young people would be foolish to ignore this repository of wisdom that exists in almost every home.

Some guidance on what we should teach students about their emotion would seem useful. For the sake of clarity and at the risk of being dull the following is a bullitized list of advice to all students in Dojo’s :

• Be of good character: The bottom line is that in life as well as in the Dojo people will make judgments about you based on your character. Are you honest and truthful, are you fair with those you deal with, do you take advantage of the weak and powerless, do you forgive those who have wronged you, are all important questions that each of us needs to answer in our lives and in the dojo.

• Love Carefully. Making to many commitments can complicate your life. When you are young you can love many people and many things, Love your parents, love your job, love another person, and love your country are some examples of love that  sometimes present us with difficult problems to manage. Listening   to those you trust can help anyone with these issues

• Embrace Hardship.  Do not attempt to avoid problems, hardships make you stronger. Learn to deal with them in your life and take whatever action your character demands. This may not be an easy course of action but those who know you will respect you for these actions.

• Embrace Work Many students, especially children do not know how to work hard.  Hard work may not be fun but it will make you stronger. Many parents recognize this and therefore support the work done in the Dojo. Students should pay attention to the guidance of those you trust and learn how to work hard

Emotions are the engines which drive our actions. To deal with them take experience and wisdom. Do not fear to seek advice from those wiser than yourself. In fact in life this is why we hire lawyers, doctors, accounts, etc. As Sensei’s, in the Dojo, we have a tendency to think about who has the fastest and hardest back fist, or reverse punch, or front kick, or round kick, but these are not the problems students normally show up with in the Dojo . The original Buddhist monks were priest and although we don’t normally teach Buddhism in our Dojo’s it would improve many of our students Martial Arts to incorporate more of what the old monks taught. .

May 11, 2009

Happiness

Martial Arts students are not unlike other human beings. They are searching for those things in their life which gives their life meaning, love,  happiness, health, and wealth are among some of the things the Martial Arts student looks for. As Sensei’s we are not trained psychiatrist, but we are often turned to for advice by students whose only opportunity for guidance is access to a Sensei. Realizing this it behooves us as Sensei’s to prepare as best as we can to provide our students wisdom in this search for meaning..

One of the questions that try to answer is what makes them happy? This question is asked by both adults and children but most often young people who have little experience with the issues of life.

At the risk of sounding negative I can tell you what happiness is not. It is not having everything you want, or having an easy life, or having people idolize you. So happiness is a fairly complicated emotion which many student struggle to obtain. As we discuss below the famous Philosopher Aristotle links happiness to something called virtue. It is worth remembering something that one of my students told me once, if you don’t have television or radio you are much closer to nature. So the question remains why are students happy?  Where does happiness come from? If you have everything you want will you be happy? By happiness I don’t mean just signing up for another month in class, or another belt rank, I mean satisfaction that you are doing something worthwhile in your life.

First of all, why are students happy? I don’t think the student knows why they are happy or not in class. A student comes to class and says thing like “ I want to learn to defend myself” But if you watch them carefully during class you will see the they are smiling during Kumite. Or some students come to class and behave in such a way that their parents approve of them. I have a young student in my classes whose parents bring her to class and like good parents everywhere they stay and watch their daughter train. As a result of this the young student behaves like a young lady in class. What I have discovered by watching and talking to this young woman is that she likes fighting. She is physically strong, is not afraid to take a hit, and she enjoys the challenge of Kumite but she is not confident of her own abilities, so I compliment her a lot to try to encourage her to excel in kumite.

I had another young student whose mother brought him to me and said “I can’t do anything with him can you help him?” My response was I don’t know but I will try. The student was a young child and  he refused to do even the warm up exercises during  class. After several classes I noticed that he was behaving better during class. I commented about this to his mother and I learned that his dad was a soldier who was serving in Iraq. After learning this I paid specially attention to this little student and his progress as a student improved phenomenally. It seem like this young boy just needed the discipline of the Martial Arts to help him get over the feeling that his father was not at home.

Now, where does happiness come from? Philosophers have debated this question for ages. Aristotle says that certain virtues must be accomplished in order to achieve happiness. He  makes a connection between happiness and virtue, where the individual’s virtues compliment his state of happiness. As Martial Artist we might ask “What are these virtues that Aristotle talked about and what do they mean to the Martial Artist”? It seems to me like commitment and honor are good starts at defining these virtues. A committed student is a happy student,  they are so busy being committed that they don’t have time to be unhappy. How to teach commitment as a path to happiness is a challenge for every Sensei.

Honor is another virtue of the chronically happy student. Can one be happy without being honorable? I think not. Acting with no honor in your life is a path to unhappiness. I want to be very clear here, following a path which leads to no honor is sometime easy and the converse i.e. following a path which is honorable is sometimes difficult. But that is why Martial Artist are such respected people. We are expected to walk a difficult path. I don ‘t think I need to elaborate here on what is honorable behavior, but everyone who can read this article knows where the pitfalls to honor lie, in drug abuse, in dealing with money, in alcohol abuse, and in dealing with other students to name a few places. Can one behave without honor? Certainly, but the destination of that path is unhappiness. The road to happiness is paved with honor, this is not an easy road, and in fact in may sometimes be very difficult, but that is why Martial Artist are such respected people because they can walk difficult paths.

Now, the final question, if you had everything you want would you be happy? Happiness lies not in possessing things but in disciplining yourself to not need possessions. Possess nothing so that nothing can possess you. Now, you must be pragmatic in applying this rule If your family depends on you for housing, food, etc. you need to spend enough time in your life acquiring this things so that you do not fail in your obligation to your family.

The truly difficult decision that most adults deal with is how to balance these two competing obligations.

What then brings us happiness? If I had to sum it up in one word I would say “ Balance”.

If you are unhappy something in your life is out of balance. There are certain virtues associated with being happy, Honor and Commitment are two of these virtues. This fact argues that we need to undertake some training in our Dojo’s in these area’s.  

Feb 2, 2009

Hatred

My lovely wife Linda is a Historian for the Daughters of the American Revolution. As a result of this I have had the privilege of visiting several Revolutionary war battlefields and have learned a lot from this process.

There was real emotion driving the actions of many of the Revolutionary war figures we read about in the History books. It took a lot of courage to say things like “Give me Liberty or give me death” with one of the largest standing Armies in Europe camped on the American continent. There was I suppose always the possibility that someone in this large army would take up the challenge embodied in this request. The other thing that is notable is that the populace didn’t like the British, you can see this in many of the writings and descriptions of events which occurred during this war.

This started me thinking about the Martial Arts implications of what happened during the Revolutionary war. Most colonist would take the life of a British soldier without hesitation. Most British soldiers were not bad men, they were husbands, brothers, and fathers simply serving out a tour of duty in the army of Great Brittan. Also most colonist were not bad men, they were simple farmers and merchant who felt compelled to take up arms against this large British army. So the important question is what happened to make these two large groups of men start killings each other?

Of course there are places like Lexington and Concord but to hurt someone is a very personal act which takes commitment far beyond dislike. So where does the commitment to injure someone come from? I think it starts with dislike and lack of communications. If you dislike someone and do not talk with them their actions build up real or perceived slights who cumulative effect is to nurture your dislike and help it grow into something move sinister. This had tremendous implications for the art of self defense.

As Martial Artist most of us would not knowingly injure someone. However how many times have you snapped out a jab a little harder than usual to show your opponent that you could defeat them? In fact this is one of the occurrences we have to be careful to monitor during kumite because it is almost a subconscious reflex in many students.

In our dojo’s we demand respect and commitment from our students. I think we should also add communication to that list. We must led by example. Out students should be encouraged to come into our office and talk with us. We should encourage our students to talk with each other during kumite. We should remind out students that kumite (sparring) is not street fighting and we should admonish our students to be good partners and remind them that it is hard to learn when you are getting the pie beaten out of you.

This doesn’t mean out students shouldn’t be able to take a punch but it does argue for a more controlled introduction to that event. 

So what happens if we let out emotions run free during kumite? Generally you end up with the bigger and more experienced students beating up the smaller and less experienced students. This is a poor way to teach students the art of kumite. What must be done to teach kumite is to teach perfection in the basics. Drills with speed, power, accuracy, intensity, and strategy will all improve a students kumites capability. Soke Gary Wasniewski is one of the finest examples of this strategy that I know off. His style which he calls Ty-Ga consists of much work in perfecting the basics of Karate. He is lightning fast, immensely accurate, and extremely powerful. I told Soke Gary one time that I could have stopped his first kick but I could not have stopped his second, third, and forth kicks. 

So what lessons does the Revolutionary war hold for us as Martial Artist? I think encouraging communications between our students is a primary one, teaching your students to be good partners and help your opponent learn is another one, and finally it is important to teach your students to control their emotions during kumite.

Jan 5, 2009

Reality

First of all I am a little late but Merry Christmas!!! to all of my students, both past and present, I hope you are doing well wherever you are and please remember you are all always invited to stop by the Dojo and say Hi!

I had two  new students stop by and enroll in the school and I was struck by the opportunity these new students represent and I though talking about it would be educational.

First of all, the first question I had to answer was ‘What am I going to teach these students in their first lesson?” We did some preliminary work on stance and blocks, some basic Japanese terms, and protocols used in the Dojo. Driving all of this was my desire to help the students learn to “fit in” i.e. I wanted the new students not to feel uncomfortable in moving around the Dojo. I became concerned as the lesson drew to an end that I had not addressed all of the really important issues like commitment, character, and integrity that I have discussed in other sections of the writings. Then I realized that we had smiled and laughed and had fun together and that this was the beginning of building trust with these two teenage boys. All of the other stuff that I worried about would come later as these students continued to train. One thing that being a Sensei has taught me is that you must be patient with the students, you have to give them time to develop into what you think they will become.

One of the things that was notably lacking in these two boys was blatant emotionalism. It struck me as notable how little complaining that these two new students were doing, despite that hard workout that I put them thru. They did what all good students do, they endured. Of course I was careful to make sure that they didn’t injure each other during Kumite and I made sure that I gave them my sternest lecture on being a good partner and I made it clear that I didn’t want to see any blood or bones during the kumite section of class.

So the question that still persisted was what do I teach these two young men. They were going to return to their home in Rome Italy after Christmas and they promised me that they would be back but I was still acutely aware that they would both be on a Karate floor before they saw me again.

Again I was struck by what I had not had time to teach these students, what about all of the problems which have no place in the dojo like the failure of interpersonal relationship, the dislike of others in the dojo, the lack of commitment to the learning of Martial Arts and all the other problems which tend to crop up in the dojo.

I guess in the final analysis I decided that I had to be more patients with myself and these students. It takes time and training to put into the students all of the character and training that you would like to see them possess. I finally realized that the problems with these students did not originate with these students it originated with me. All of the problems that students would face in their Martial Arts careers could be discussed and an appropriate response developed but it takes time and commitment on behalf of the students and myself to develop this level of dialogue.

I opted for providing them with some tools to take with them back to Rome. I guess I decided that the emotional discipline, the trust, the loyalty, the respect, the integrity, and all of the other stuff I knew they would need in their Martial Arts careers would have to wait until I saw these students again. The immediate concern I had was that they not get roughed up in their dojo in Rome. This was the reality of the immediate problem that these young men had.

Sept 22, 2008

Things Change

I had the privilege of testing a young student for the rank of Shodan this month and I acutely aware of the changes that had occurred in this young student and I thought talking about them would be educational.

First, I was struck by the changes in behavior of this young child. I remember an awkward and  cute young child who came into the Dojo 7 years ago and what I saw as I hacked at her with a sword was a poised young woman who would grow into a great Black Belt. This whole experienced reinforced in me the idea that the practice of not promoting a child to the rank of Shodan until the reached the age of 16 was in error. This practice may have been useful  in Okinawa 100 years ago but in modern American society today things change. I have no doubt that this young child who came into this Dojo 7 years ago and reached the age of 14 while under my Martial Arts tutelage would have abandoned the study of the Martial Arts and gone on to study Soccer, or Tennis, or some other athletic endeavour had I made her wait until she reached the age of 16 to test her for the rank of Shodan. All of the commitment and the hard work that this young student exhibited would have been abandoned because I had failed to manage her commitment to the Martial Arts appropriately.

Could this child be defeated in combat? Of course, I could have struck her, or cut her, or damaged her in any way I felt was appropriate during her test. However, that has nothing to do with her age. I could have done the same to her if she was 21years old, or 31, or 41. My responsibility as her Sensei was not to destroy her but to guide her to grow and progress into the ranks of Black Belts without seeing her come to harm.

What about the other attribute of a Black Belt the we like to see in our Shodan’s?

Self-Defense is a reasonable substitute for humility. I teach the children that if somebody want to pick a fight with you the best thing you can do is run. This is not a perfect solution but it works until the child has a chance to grow some humility.

Wisdom in a child is difficult. I think it comes in time and there is no doubt that this child will grow into a good Black Belt.

Honor in a child can be taught  by teaching the child to behave honorably. Respect others and their views, Don’t lie, don’t cheat, and don’t steal are good places to start.

Character in a child comes from training him or her how to make hard decisions. This is why character education should be a part of every children’s Martial Arts program.

Humility, Wisdom, Honor, and Character all seem like good attributes of any student, particularly  a student who  is very young

We are in the business of training families when we teach the very young, we are not in the business of training soldiers. What the child needs is a clear vision of the way ahead, skill as a combatant will come with time.

We must struggle to make the parents understand their commitment is their child’s commitment and to the extent that they are committed their child will succeed in the Martial Arts. .

We must ensure that the candidate has a clear vision of the way ahead, this includes how to act when confronted with conflict, the nature of an honorable course of action, and we must equip them with a spectrum of capabilities concerning how to deal with the very mild, to very severe threats to their well being.

This is the job we have when we teach children.

August 25,2008

Compulsive Behavior

Words don’t seem adequate to discuss the subject I would like to talk about but like all good Martial Artist I will try. As Martial Artist  do we exhibit compulsive behavior? My answer to this would have to be yes. Most of us will train all of our lives and sacrifice all or our worldly possessions to continue to train(Ask anyone who holds the rank of Shodan and you will get a long story on how they sacrificed to achieved that rank). In fact, our friends, our parents, and  the people in our lives who love us will encourage us to do this. What is it about the Martial Arts that engenders this kind of behavior? Can this behavior be misused or misguided? The answer to both of these questions unfortunately if yes. If we are doing our job as good  Sensei’s we will make sure that doesn’t happen.

Is compulsive behavior a good thing? That depends on the behavior. If a students in College studies 12 hours per day at their desk most of us would say that’s a good thing,  however if that same students went out and spent 12 hours per day in a bar most of us would say that is a bad thing. What’s the difference? If your answer is that the students time in the bar injures the student I would point out that in the Martial Arts we injure students(Usually not intentionally) and most people would agree that the study of the Martial Arts is a good thing.

So, as Sensei’s we are in the business of training people’s behavior, not just their behavior in the dojo but their behavior in life, because their behavior in life affects their life in the dojo. Most students will disagree with this and in fact tell you as a Sensei that how they conduct their lives is none of your business. This view  is a students way of not committing to studying the Martial Arts.  This view of Sensei’s as just another kind of teacher is held by many students and is shortsighted and unfortunately true for many Sensei’s. However if you as a Sensei accept this view and consider yourself as just another teacher you miss an opportunity to make the lives of your students much more meaningful. As a Sensei your whole life is an open book to your students and whether they say it or not you will teach your students much more by how you live your life than you will in the dojo. 

So we have a bit of a quandary here, what we get in the dojo are happy children/families with almost no training in the Martial Arts. In fact when a new student or their parents tell you they want you to train their child or themselves  in the Martial Arts usually  they have almost no idea of what that means. If we were to make a list of the attributes we would see in new and would like to see in experienced students it would look something like this:

New Student                                       Experienced Student

Friendly                                               Honorable

Nervous                                               Committed

Knows no Martial Arts                       Understands and is able to demonstrate many techniques

Undisciplined                                      Disciplined

Reasonable Physical Fitness               Excellent Physical Fitness

Ego                                                      Humble

Our job as Sensei’s  is to change the new student into the experienced student? The questions for us as Sensei’s then is How do we do this?

Honor comes into a student because they have been educated. I don’t want to imply that  a bunch of fact constitutes and education, I mean an education that  provides the ability and willingness to put facts together to serve others and to forge a better life for those around you.

Commitment comes with character and education. We should not forget that children are not the masters of their own destiny in the dojo, they need their parents support. In fact, success in the Martial Arts for children is directly related to how much support their parents are willing to provide for them.

Understanding techniques, discipline, and physical fitness come with training.

Humbleness is the opposite of ego  This is a difficult attribute for many adults to obtain because it requires that the student acknowledge that there are others who know more about the process of training a student in the Martial Arts than they do. The students knowledge finally hardens into a position and the student becomes inflexible. The inflexible student makes a poor student and teacher. As Sensei’s how do we teach the value of humility. This is a difficult question to answer. I think education and maturity helps the student achieve appropriate level of humility. What then should we teach the student about humility? Respect for other views is a good start, couple this with a couple of years of dedicated training and you have the beginnings of humility in a student. This is the best case I can make for keeping a student in the dojo for many years. This position is not popular with students. But  awarding a student the rank of Shodan to early in their career run the risk of producing a Shodan who does not exhibit the attribute of humility. The question of training children raises its head here. In many dojo’s the rank of Shodan is not awarded until the student has reached the age of 16. In our dojo I don’t follow this practice because I think if interrupts a child’s willingness to train in the Martial Arts. Although I do make each Shodan candidate submit a two pages paper before their Shodan test which describes where the student has been in the Martial Arts and where they hope to go in the future. The purpose of this paper is to help the student expand their view of the role of Martial Arts training in their lives.

As Sensei’s we are given the charge of guiding a student (both child and adults) through the minefield of growing up. There is no more vauluable and life altering skill than this. Most of our students will remember when they are old how we changed their life as their Sensei.

This is the awe inspiring  job we have as Sensei’s.

May 26, 2008

Behavior and Expectations in the Martial Arts

But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you

If anyone hits you on the cheek offer the other cheek also, and if anyone takes away your coat don’t hold back your shirt either

Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them

                                    Luke 6:27-31

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought

If a man speaks or acts with and evil thought

Then pain follows him

If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought

Then happiness follows him

Like a shadow that never leaves him”

                                    Buddha

Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you

                                    The Prophet Muhammad

Above all else I love Honor

                                    Steven Segal

Do unto others before they do unto you

                                    A US Marine Drill instructor at Parris Island

As you can see from the above, the subject of Human Behavior had been the focus of a lot of discussion. Underlying the Martial Arts is human behavior, so some discussion of this issue would seem educational.

Can we distinguish between bad behavior and good behavior in the Martial  Arts and if so what is the difference and what causes this difference?

Bad behavior is any behavior which inflicts pain on others.

Good behavior in any behavior which helps others find enlightenment( This is a Buddhist term which I like because it conveys the correct concept)

Is bad behavior intentional? Mostly I think not, it is driven by an inability to master ourselves and a lack of education. For instance if during Kumite a bigger student strikes a smaller students, the bigger student probably didn’t harbor any thoughts of injuring the smaller students, the larger student was poorly educated, he or she was simply overcome by the emotions of the moment and was not educated to understand that the smaller student needs to learn also and that learning is difficult when you are getting beat up.

On the other hand good behavior not only helps a student it provides them with a memorable experience which they will use to modulate there behavior for the rest of their  lives.

I don’t believe  I am against the use of titles in the Martial Arts. It help provides structure to the students learning process. However, we must be cautious with the use of title because they are  interpreted to mean different things by different people, The terms “Sensei” “Master” and “Grandmaster” not only have different requirements in different Martial Arts but very often mean different things to different people within a specific Martial Art. This is all very confusing to practitioners of a specific Martial Art but to outsiders who view the art as a novice.

Even, more confusing is the migration of titles from on field to another field. I hold the title of Ph.D. in the Martial Arts. But a Ph.D. is normally associated with an academic environment so what should a Ph.D. in the Martial Arts know? I have struggled with an answer to that question. Perhaps we need new titles in the Martial Arts, I have heard some Martial Artist refer to themselves as Reverend. Since Martial Arts deals with how we conduct our lives this title seems to convey a more precise concept of the capabilities of it holder, however Reverend also has a spiritual connotation which doesn’t seem entirely appropriate for a Martial Artist. I like the  African Arts titles such as Mufundi (instructor), Askari (enforcer), or Mwanzo (Founder) but I could be in error here, since these titles are not as well known, and over time these titles may develop their own baggage.  One thing I am very sure off is that all of these titles are very confusing.

Another thing that I am sure of, is that those who are leaders in the Martial Arts, such as  Gary Wasniewski, and Kathy Long  have reached this state of enlightenment and work very hard to help others attain this state. I cannot imagine a more worthwhile goal for all of us who train in the Martial Arts to pursue.

March 24, 2008

Teaching Young Children Martial Arts

Many parents have questions regarding the Martial Arts and their children, like “How old should my child be before I start training them?” or “What is the best Martial Art to teach my child?” I though writing about this subject would be instructive.

Lets start by answering the above questions. Most 4 year olds simply don’t have the discipline to study the Martial Arts. This is more of a comments about the development stage of the child than the child himself or herself. I say “most” because I have had some very successful 4 year olds come thru my school. Training them just takes time and patience. Can a little child of 4 profit from Martial Arts training. Of course they can, I have had several children this age come to the dojo and learn to take and follow directions, learn to deal with adults, learn how to work with other children, and overcome their fears. So training 4 year olds is not a bad thing, it just  take a lot more time and more patience In general 5 year olds have more of the discipline necessary to train in the Martial Arts.

Now, I don’t think it matters what Martial Art you teach a child, what matters is the relationship between your child and the Martial Arts instructor. Is he or she kind to your child, does your child like the instructor, does the instructor spend time with your child making sure they are learning correctly. In general is studying with this instructor a happy experience for your child. If you don’t see these things in a dojo you should probably shy away from this dojo. 

There are some other considerations when selecting a Dojo for you child, these are Safety, Instructor Quality, Dojo Quality, Training Techniques, and Class Size

Let us address each of these area’s:

Safety:

Are all classes taught by a Black Belt level instructor? Martial Artist are required to make many subjective judgments during a class. Black Belts holders are generally trained and qualified via their experience to make the kinds of judgments.

Instructor Quality

Does the person who will instruct your child a good character? Your child will come to view his/her Martial Arts instructor as a role model. You want to make sure that the role model your child sees is appropriate for your child.

Dojo Quality

Is the Dojo part of a larger organization. This is not a show stopper, some Dojo’s which are not a part of a larger organization can be very good. However, being part of a larger organization help define what is taught in to your child, it helps ensure that all of the instructor are current in their Martial Arts training, and it helps each instructor gain access to new material to teach your child.

Training Techniques

Is the instructor cruel to you child. The problem the  instructor has is how to make a child size student “tough”. In the name of “toughness” I have seen children as young as 12 years old knocked unconscious, kicked so hard they have had the wind knocked out of them, and stuck with a weapon. None of these thing happen if a parent stays with the child..

Class Size

Does the instructor have time during class to spend with your child. It doesn’t matte what the class size is but does the instructor have time during the class to come around and talk to your child. This is the process that generates learning in your child.

The Martial Arts is a wonderful discipline for children to study. It teaches the very young how to follow directions, how to work in groups, and builds strong and healthy bodies. All of these are necessary to a child to succeed in school.

Meeting the Grim Reaper

Feb 18, 2008

I had a stroke. I though writing  about the experience would be informative so below

Are my thoughts on the subject and its relationship to what we learn in the Martial  Arts.

The actual stroke was a terrifying experience. The  things that you depend on to work well for just don’t seem to work any more.

I am a 65 year olds male who is very strong physically. The strength that I have depended on all my life to accomplish things no long worked, I was physically weak and unable to even speak.

The stroke itself is a humbling experience. Simple things like eating, drinking, and speaking, are beyond your ability to perform. It is a very frustrating experience. I kept thinking that I should not have eaten the last piece of Veal Pot-roast for dinner Luckily for me the people involved in caring for stroke victims are a kind and gentle group who treated me with kindness and respect during the whole experience.

What helped me from the Martial Arts? While it not exactly Martial Arts, I was glad I had all of my Family Planning done. All of a sudden thing like did my wife know where our money was and how to get to it, were all of my Wills in place, and did I have a living Will in place be came very important. Next, I think physical fitness came thru, I don’t mean the ability to do pushups, I mean have a strong frame on which to hang my body. My heart worked well, my Brain got busy repairing itself, and the Dr.’s did the rest. Attitude helped, when you cannot hold a spoon you appreciate people who can hold you’re  hand and form your hand as needed to hold a spoon. Finally I  think Honor was important, I had lived a good life and those who knew me would think well of me and that thought was comforting. I had a long discussion in the Hospital with one of my friends who teaches Astronomy, he told me that when we don’t have a radio or TV in out lives we tend to be closer to nature. This statement helped me realized how much of my life was shaped by access to radio and TV.

I learned several things during this experience. Those who deal with strokes and their victims are very interested in the Martial Arts  Not because we can pound somebody into pie but we know how to fall. We train ourselves to hit hard and fall to the matt without being injured. . Stoke victims are not interested in pounding people into pie but they have a keen interest in learning how to fall without being injured.

Faith helped a lot, when you are eyeball to eyeball with the Grim Reaper and you know you can’t win this battle you tend to close your eyes and say “Lord, please take care of me”.

            The actually stroke occurred very quickly. I went to dinner on Saturday night with my family and I was fine. That night I went to the movies with my Son and his family and I was beginning to slur my speech. By Sunday morning when I woke up I was unable to speak so I had my wife drive me to the Hospital. This is probably not the best scenario for a stoke victim but I had to have something important fail before I realized how much trouble I was in.

            What did I appreciate. Visitors were especially nice Even, if they didn’t bring anything, just the fact  that someone would take time out of there busy schedule to come and see me meant a lot to me.

             I wanted to enjoy the simple things of life again I wanted to hold hands with my wife, I wanted to talk with my son and tell him how proud of him I was, I wanted  to drive a hot car and feel the power at my command, I wanted to go to the movies with my son again, and I wanted to eat a steak dinner.

There was little fear involved, only the realization that my body wasn’t working well.

What made all of this bearable was a lot of friends who visited my hospital room as soon as it became well known that I was ill. I will cherish the many cards and gifts I received especially from my many friends in England

Thank goodness, I survived this stroke. At the present time I am OK.  I am now on the long road to recovery and I am getting stronger each day. I have learned to appreciate the kindness and consideration of others during this experience. I hope somehow to be able to pass on to others what this experience has taught me. 

A Walk Thru Life

December 17, 2007

Most of us come into this life as small squirmy and noisy little packages whom are cared for by some people called their parents until you are able to care for yourself and then we set out on a walk thru life, probably better thought of as a Journey. Then we reach old age and something malfunctions in our body and we leave this Earth. This is an event which happens to all of us.

What we do in the course of this Journey is pretty much up to us. Most of us get involved in making a living, supporting our families, and of course practicing the Martial Arts. What we do when we undertake this journey thru life has significant effects those around us.

Do we fear the end of our existence here on Earth? This is generally not a very productive emotion to let drive your thoughts. Some people on this Earth have learned to deal with this fear by  acceptance. The idea is that if we accept the fact that the end of our time on this Earth is coming we are freed from fearing it.

The remainder of our journey thru life becomes a management problem. What do we want to accomplish with our time here on Earth? In our case what do we want to accomplish in the Martial Arts when we are here on Earth. Be careful what you wish for those people I know who are leaders in the Martial Arts world very hard at the business of training in the Martial Arts. Whatever our goals for our lives  there seems to be some clear life management guidelines, which I call HRC, that would assist us all. Lets talk about these guidelines.

Honor

What does it mean to be honorable? Many people have struggled with this question so here is my answer. Always speak the truth, and be honest in your dealings with others.

Respect

Respect the people and things around you in your life. Start by respecting yourself, eat right, exercise, and train in your Martial Art. Respect the customs of others, even if you disagree with them. The customs are clearly something that somebody sees some value in, or they never would have been shown to you. Respect the Earth, we are all privileged  to live in a pristine world and we should shepard the Earth for those we share it with.

Courtesy

Be kind in dealing with others even if they are not kind with you. If someone treats you badly, and you respond by treating them badly, you have not improved the world around you. . Show an interest in their goals in life, you make more friends with an apple than a lemon. Your affect on the Earth when you leave it will be  in the minds of those you leave behind. Most of us don’t want to be remembered as mean, or vindictive. Remember, that all of those people you meet in your life will carry the memory of you when you no longer walk this Earth.

These guidelines will make your life easier. Notice that I did not say they would be easy to implement. To  implement these guidelines you must gain control of your emotions and assume responsibility for your own actions. Two things which require a lot of growth in most individuals. I was involved with a wonderful example of what could be accomplished by following these guidelines. I recently had several of my students throw my wife and I a surprise Xmas party. This was a group of approximately 20 adults and children who came to the party to honor someone. What struck me was how happy everyone was. We even had people including children call the dojo and wish my  wife and I a Merrry Christmas.

The lesson I learned from this event was that we are all happiest when we help others. It is the act or providing assistance or honoring others that seems to provide us the most satisfaction. 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

November 12, 2007

A Gathering of Eagles

I had the pleasure of attending the Eastern USA International Martial Arts Association (EUSAIMAA) conference in Pittsburgh Pa. this weekend. It was a wonderful event packed with meeting old friends and training with new and different friends.

Several things happened at the Conference which I thought would be instructive to talk about.

First, was the advent of all of the little children whom I have watched grow into teenagers and are now all my good friends. I am amazed at how quickly the shy little children I remember coming into the dojo have become powerful Martial Artist. I am also concerned about the future of these little children. What do you teach these children to ensure that they grow and prosper in the future? I suppose I am not asking any questions that most parents haven’t asked themselves, and in fact I remember asking the same questions about my son when he was a young man. Most of us are not in a position to manipulate our child’s future however we as Sensei’s can arm these young people with some weapons that they may or may not have. If you as a parent a teachers, and associate, or just a friend, think about what has caused you they most problems in your life you will  generally find that these problems have occurred when and individual has lost their way on the path that we teach in the Martial Arts. The things that guide us best in our lives are honor, integrity, and character. These are not easy things to teach, but if we teach our students these things they will be well armed to face future challenges.  

I was privileged to attend this conference with my good friend Sifu Kathy Long. Something happened at this conference regarding Sifu Kathy which I thought was very instructive. Sifu Kathy received and award at this conference, when she rose to go to the podium to receive her award she was one three people in the room who received a standing ovation from the audience of approximately five hundred well known Martial Artist. My understanding of this event was that it indicated how much respect there was for Sifu Kathy in this audience of her peers. Everyone in the audience understood what a hard fighter she is, how hard she works, how kind and humble she truly is, and that a leader Sifu Kathy is in the Martial Arts.  

The other thing that happened at this conference which was very interesting was my good friend Keith Turner taught a Jiu-jitsu Seminar. Sensei Keith is a smaller gentleman, he is probably five feet six inches tall but he is a superb technician in his art. I watched people try to grab Sensei Keith and end up flying all over the flood. It was truly one of the most impressive seminars I have ever seen. I had an opportunity to discuss the seminar later with Sensei Keith  and I asked him how could you make all of those different people with different sizes, shapes, and strengths, fly around the mat so easily. Sensei Keith answered me with one word, “Technique”. Sensei Keith was clearly one of those Masters who had so much skill in his art that he could make hard things looks easy. I came away from this seminar hoping that I could master my arts as well as Sensei Keith has mastered his.  

One of the other things that happened at this conference involved the little children. We had several little children this conference from my dojo. I was a little reluctant  to nominate young children at this conference until I had a discussion with one of the young students . This young lady came up to me and told me what a good time she was having. I learned latter that upon arriving an the conference this young lady was very reluctant to work out with other students because of her insecurity about her age (9Years old ) and rank (Go Kyu). However during the conference she learned to overcome her shyness and by the end of the conference the young lady was telling me about what a great time she had and how much she had learned.

My observation is the this conference was very educational to all who attended it, and was well worth the time and financial commitments involved. I would encourage everyone to attend at least one of these conferences.

October 8, 2007

The Size of our Lives

            It seems to me that many of us, both students and teachers in the Martial Arts have a very short sighted view of our lives and our accomplishments, lengthening this view would make us better teachers and students.

Many of us attend and compete in Martial Arts tournaments. We work hard to prepare, we learn all we can about the tournament, we learn all we can about competing and competition, and then we spend days preparing our self and presenting our forms.

This is a tremendous amount of work which involves many months if it is done properly and in such a way as to make yourself competitive.

The truth of the matter is that whether or not you bring home a trophy from a tournament has very little to do with the benefit you receive when competing in a tournament. If you win a trophy you are exuberant, if you don’t win a trophy you come home and sit down and ask yourself “Why didn’t I win?” You agonize for days over what you did or didn’t do during the competition. You even feel bad because you sometimes believe that the fact that you didn’t “win” a trophy makes you feel incompetent as a Martial Artist. But the truth is that you are not incompetent as a Martial Artist, you are just inexperienced. As you gain experience, you learn how put power, strength, speed,  and all of the other attributes that judges like to see into your forms. Now, if you are fortunate enough to have a good Sensei, he or she will help you improve your forms before you have to go thru all of this extra work.  The fact that a tournament makes you do this is the real value that you receive from competing in a tournament. I tell my students that whether or not they win a trophy is immaterial, they have won if the learn something at the tournament.

Lets talk about some other things that happen in the Martial Arts. Sometimes you run across students whose personality is so obnoxious that they are difficult to deal with, we commonly call these people jerks. If you knock them unconscious you haven’t fixed them, you have just made them into unconscious jerks. If you help them improve their personality and teach them to learn, to be better Martial Artist, to be less abrasive, and not to take advantage of others then you will have changed their life forever. By the way, if you do this to a student or another Sensei they will remember you forever. You will not only have made a lasting friend but you will build a monument to your skill as a Sensei.

Most of us remember our first Sensei because he or she helped introduce us to the Martial Arts.

Many of us learn Kumite (Fighting) by practicing a lot and getting hit hard. It is absolutely necessary to fight hard at some point in your Martial Arts career if you are going to learn to be a hard fighter. However it seems like some students and instructors lose sight of the goal of building a good fighter and begin to measure their success as a fighter by how many other students they can defeat. The truth is that to be a better fighter you need to practice against people who are better fighters than you. Roughing up less capable fighters does nothing to improve your fighting skills. Some of the best fighters in the United States today such as  Soke Gary Wasniewski and Sifu Kathy Long are outstanding examples of what fighters should be. They are both kind and gentle people who are very respectful of their students and are both very scary on the Karate floor.

It seems like those people at the top of the Martial Arts such as Soke Gary and Sifu Kathy have learned to treat their students with great respect but that some of us in the Martial Arts have forgotten that lesson. What needs to be done is to emphasize in all of our classes that we need to be good partners and that our objective in class is to help each other learn and grow.

Why do students and instructors behave in such detrimental ways? I am not sure that I know the answer to that question. I do know that the path to excellence in the Martial Arts includes learning to show respect for your opponent and to help your opponents grow their skills in the Martial Arts. Most students and instructors in the Martial Arts are wonderfully talented people who have been made very tough both emotionally and physically by years of training and they want to do well by their students. Let me pose five questions that still abound in the Martial Arts for which  each of us would profit from learning  an answer:

1. What should we try to teach a student with an abrasive personality in  our classes?

2. What do we tell the student who says “I don’t like to hit anybody” (Usually a new student)?

3. How do we make a student “tough” without destroying their willingness to train?

4. How do we teach a student character?

5. How do we positively handle children who come into the dojo and behave like children i.e. run, laugh, talk, etc.?

It seems to me that it would help us all to learn to measure our skill as a Martial Artist by taking a larger view of the events in our lives  

Sept 3, 2007

The Destiny of the Samauri

Is helping a student manage their life part of the job of a Sensei?

What is the secret to managing your life so that you are successful, well off financially, and don’t have other problems that you are unable to deal with? As I have said before, if I knew the answer to this I would bottle it and sell it and become a wealthy man. However I have accumulated some knowledge about these things in my life and I would like to pass some of it on to those of you who read this column.

First of all, why do we as Martial Artist care about how our students manage their lives? The answer is that it affects their Martial Arts training. Students don’t leave the Martial Arts because they can’t do a sidekick, or a front kick, or a spinning backfist. Students leave the Martial Arts because their life is in disarray and this disarray has pushed studying the Martial Arts so far down in the priority list of activities in their life that it has fallen right off of the list. It seems to me that all of the reasons that you hear from students about why they left the Martial Arts ( Health, Money, Time, Work, etc.)  are designed to conceal the fact that the student won’t admit to themselves that they are no longer committed to the Martial Arts. A student may hold this view of their life because of a faulty character education. If this is in fact the case then it seems like spending some time teaching the students the benefits of adopting the character of the Martial Artist is time well spent on behalf of educating the student. . 

All of us would like to live our lives and be happy, secure, and healthy. Happiness isn’t achieved because we behave badly. There are no circumstances ever under which telling untruths is justified. Always tell the truth, no matter how difficult that may seem. 

 Most of us would not think of ourselves as not being truthful however we get led down this road because we make easy decisions. To remedy this we need strong character. This is why character education is so important to a student. Remember, you become what you defend, teaching students not to respect a defeated opponent is not a good thing, it sends the wrong message to the students and pushes them down a path towards becoming something that most of us do not want to see as Martial Artist.. It is simply unrealistic to believe that all of the holds and strikes in the Martial Arts i.e. the technology of the Martial Arts was developed without developing the character of the practitioner. If we treat people with courtesy and respect always then when you must make a hard decision regarding these people, even if they don’t like the decision they will respect you for making it and this will help you respect yourself.

What should we do about all of this?  It seems to me that some guidelines for teaching character in the dojo are useful, so here is my best attempt:

Character Guidelines

1. Advertise

            I have a poster on the wall of my dojo with a picture of my good friend Kathy Long on it. The poster shows Kathy in a Gi executing one of her beautiful side kicks. Beside the picture of Kathy is one very large words “VIRTUE”. The message to the students is clear, virtue is something admired by the Master of this dojo and is to be admired in this dojo.

2. Sacrifice

            The students need to see an example of what a good character is. How you interact with your students sends and important message to your students. The students need to see a Master who cares about their progress, about their learning, and about their well being. If the demands of your schedule, your personal life, your work, or other endeavors keeps you from spending time with your students, you are sending a poor message to your students.

3. Example

            As teachers, we should always act well in and outside of the dojo. A mean, vindictive, or cruel Master sends a very poor message to the students. Is your tutelage cruel or kind. Because you are the Master of the Dojo and powerful within the dojo does not mean you should use your position to abuse your students.

4. Tolerance

            Be kind, respectful, and courteous to your students, even if they do not behave this way towards you. Remember, poor behavior in the dojo is an educational issue and in fact may sometimes be a physical issue, I have a student who is an adult male and has difficulty staying still in the dojo. Even when we line up to begin class. This behavior has alienated many students in the dojo but has not offended me because what I see is an experienced and kind adult male who has ADHD. The students simply need to be given a chance to grow in the Martial Arts and to learn the advantages of good behavior in the dojo.

5. Courtesy

            Courtesy is a tool which a student can use to demonstrate that they have control of their own emotions. Courtesy should be expected of all students in the Dojo. A failure of a student to demonstrate courtesy in the dojo shows a lack of education and discipline in the student. A failure of the student to demonstrate courtesy in the dojo will make the dojo almost unmanageable by the dojo Master.

If we are to achieve the goal of being a good  Warrior and Master we must adopt and follow the guidelines above.  You can train a student to deal with a difficult environment without being mean or cruel to them. The students needs to understand what their goal should be in a difficult environment. The legacy of the Master who was mean or cruel in their tutelage is to soon be forgotten, students remember the Master whom they admired as an individual. Remember, we all write our own destinies and the destiny of the true Samauri is not how we die but how we live our life.  

August 6, 2007

Prepare Yourself

Have you ever wondered what is it about a person that makes them a successful Martial Arts student?

It seems to me that character has more to do with being successful than anything else. If I start trying to talk about what makes a successful Martial Artist I find myself using words that describe traits of a persons character like dedication, hard work, discipline, etc. Our task then as Sensei’s is to figure out how to shape the character of our students to make them successful Martial Artist.

This is not an easy task. If you watch the students in a dojo you will find out that like most dojo’s you will see a cross section of humanity. You will observe students who lie, cheat, and steal, and you will see students who sacrifice their time, money, and sometimes even their blood to come to the dojo and train. You can observe this in many of your students. I have a brother and sister in my dojo who both come to the dojo and train. The brother is gifted with athletic ability, he is very athletic and learns new kata quickly while the sister is pretty much exactly the opposite. She is not very athletic, takes a lot of time to learn things, and has difficulty mastering new techniques. However it is the sister who impresses me most as a student. I saw her during a Kumite class get hit in the nose so hard it bloodied her nose. I turned around to look at her during class and was surprised to see that there was blood all over her face. My first reaction was holy cow, I hope she is alright. I was comforted by the fact that she was still standing upright and her knees were not wobbling  I instructed the young lady to go into our restroom and to wash her face. When she came out of the restroom something interesting happened. I fully expected the young lady to go into the lobby of our dojo and sit down and not participate in the rest of Kumite class. What happened instead was that she put on her gloves, informed me that her nose bled easily and not to worry about her, and stepped back out onto our dojo floor to engage in kumite again with the same young man who had bloodied her nose. I remember thinking, wow, this young lady wants to learn Karate. My esteem for the character of this young lady went up several notches during this class. She continues to be a dedicated student who is now a Blue Belt and is working her way to becoming a good third degree Brown Belt.

Now what can we do for our students to help them gain this type of commitment on the dojo floor? Is character a genetic quality of a student or can it be trained into a student? I believe that just like motor skills character can be trained into a student. Note that this is not always a painless process. Sometimes you must give student the chance to temper their own character in the fire of their own will. There certainly seems to me to be some character related areas that paying attention to helps the student learn more and to improve their own character. These areas are:

1. A Positive Attitude in the Dojo

Students should learn that making mistakes in the dojo is ok, they can make mistakes without being criticized. This will help the student to learn to try new things in the dojo. Many students, especially children, have motor skills problems. To expect that they can accomplish initially the complex tasks required in Karate is simply not realistic. Our job as Sensei’s is to guide, help,  and encourage them along this path until they are successful. A positive attitude in the dojo is also maintained in other ways  Neither  profanity or brutality should be allowed into the dojo. If I hear profanity used in our dojo I will talk to the student and inform them that kind of language is unwelcome in our dojo and ask them to sit out the rest of the class. I have been in dojo’s  in which the environment can only be described as brutal. Shedding blood, and inflicting pain were encouraged in these dojos with the consent of the Sensei. I remember thinking what were these students learning? They were all ferocious fighters but not very good Martial Artists.   

2. Recognition

As Sensei’s how many of us take time in our dojo to recognize our students. It can be a little thing like congratulating a student at the end of class for a good performance during class, or giving a student a best testing award during a rank promotion test. I remember how much these types of thing encouraged me  The Kumite instructor in my dojo does something I like a lot. At the end of each class she tells each student how well they did during the class in front of the other students. You can see the students virtually beaming at the end of the Kumite classes.

The Martial Arts community is replete with Halls of Fame Banquets where students are recognized for their Martial Arts accomplishments. It is not the awards that the student receives at these banquets that is important it is the effect that receiving that award has on the student. Students come back from these banquets better motivated, better disciplined, and more committed to achieving in the Martial Arts. How many of us as Sensei’s have taken the time in our lives to take our students to one of these banquets? One of the best Halls of Fame Banquets I can recommend is the Eastern USA International Martial Arts Association Black Belt Hall of Fame Banquet held in November of each year in Pittsburgh Pa. and hosted by Soke John Kanzler at (800) 456-3872.

3. Example

Children and Adults come into the dojo with different views of what a Sensei is. Many children view Sensei’s as some type of teacher who has achieved almost magical prowness in the Martial Arts. Adults see a warrior who is honest, strong and unafraid of hardship. I see nothing wrong with either of these views. They both have elements of truth in them and both serve as a good starting point for the development of a students character. What this means to us as Sensei’s is that we must ensure that we always behave well in the dojo. In the presence of conflict and personality clashes we must always maintain the position of an honest broker in developing resolutions to any conflicts. We must always take the long term view and assist the students in accomplishing what is best for their Martial Arts career.

      4    Respect

In our dojo, part of every Rank Promotion Test involves answering History of Martial Arts questions, my students bow when the enter the dojo, they bow when the step onto the dojo floor, and bow when the step off of the dojo floor. They commit to memory all of their Sensei’s (Their Karate Lineage) and the learn how to count and execute all of their techniques when the commands are given in Japanese. We also have a real Japanese Geisha who teaches Japanese dance at our dojo. I am convinced that you cannot understand a Martial Art unless you understand the culture from which it arose. These activities help the students understand and respect the culture which gave birth to the Karate which they are studying.

What you see here are some tools for teaching character in a dojo. A Sensei can ignore these things at the risk of producing characterless Martial Artist (Something no good Sensei wants to do). A Sensei should remember to never give up on a students. No matter how bad the character of the student you as a Sensei must always struggle to repair the damage done to a students character

If you are contemplating studying the Martial Arts, prepare yourself to meet a man or a woman called Sensei who will change your life forever.

July 30, 2007

The Nutritional Martial Artist

I recently had my good friend Kathy Long help me with some nutrition issues i.e. she helped me plan a diet. The experience was instructive and I thought it would be educational to talk about what I learned.

I had become concerned because I have high blood pressure and I had decided after some discussion with my physician that I would try to loose some weight. In fact I was beginning to look the same coming, going, or revolving. So with this as a background I decided to try to improve my meal planning.

One of the first things I learned was that loosing weight is not just a matter of not eating, it is an issue of eating healthier. Most of us have gained weight because we have eaten poorly for a long period of time. I, like most good martial artist am pretty well disciplined and I can stop eating anytime. The problem I had was what to do when I started eating again. Kathy helped me understand what was good for me and what wasn’t. She helped me understand the difference between what my body needed and what my body wanted and she showed me some healthy substitutes for some of my favorite foods, like cheese.

This turned out to be a lot trickier process than I had envisioned. Did you know that egg whites have protein in them? I always thought protein came in the form of steaks and hamburgers.

I also had another problem of what to do in a restaurant. Because I live and work in the Washington DC area, like most adults much of my business is conducted at lunch. I found my self going to lunch a lot. From Kathy I discovered that Chicken is ok. So now I eat a lot of Grilled Chicken Salads this helps me avoid a bunch of funny looks from my friends who look at what I eat and think I am some kind of health nut.

I learned to eat more often. Now I eat five times a day, I just don’t eat as much each time I sit down to eat. I have learned to eat when I feel hungry.

I had seen friends diet before and I remember thinking how could I possibly survive as a Martial Artist on the small amounts of food these people are getting. Today, I have an English Muffin for breakfast, a grilled chicken salad for lunch, and a bowl of cottage cheese for dinner. If I get hungry during the day I eat another bowl of cottage cheese. Even now this looks to me like amazingly little food, but I will certify that on this diet I do not get hungry and I have plenty of energy when I go teach a Martial Arts class. Part of this diet involves training yourself to eat properly. I have to confess that over the years I have let my diet disciple disintegrate and I am now having success at reinstating that discipline.

Because of this whole process I have become more aware of how careful world class Martial Artist like Kathy Long and Gary Wasniewski are with their diet. I have also become aware of the complexity of structuring a good diet and how tough a problem that can really become. 

Eating healthy, especially eating the types and amount that a Martial Artist should it is a very complicated endeavor. I would recommend that any Martial Artist who wants to eat healthier should seek the help of a professional. My journey into the area of nutrition has taught me that eating healthy i.e. becoming a nutritional Martial Artist is within the reach of everyone. 

June 18, 2007

Crossing the Space

There is a space between practicing  the Martial Arts and being a Martial Artist which is difficult for many Martial Artist to cross. Any high performance athlete knows this space. As Sensei’s, we see students who come into out dojo’s and never successfully  cross this space. What we don’t to realize that the students inability to cross this space has multiple causes, one of which  is ineffective teaching i.e. if you are going to make a student into a high performance athlete you must give them a goal. In fact, you must induce your students to want to become high performance athletes. 

There are practitioner’s of the Martial Arts and there are teachers of the Martial Arts unfortunately these two types of people are not always found in the same individual. Practitioner’s are often highly skilled individuals who execute wonderful jump spinning hook kicks, side kicks, backfists, etc. The practitioner’s focus is always on themselves. Everything they do is designed to improve their skills as a Martial Artist. Now there is nothing wrong with trying to improve your Martial Arts skills, that is called “training” but if that is all you do you are still a practitioner of the Martial Arts and not a Martial Artist. Dedicated Martial Artist commits to the Martial Arts. I am talking about more than just time. We all commit our time to the Martial Arts, that is called training. I am talking about something much more substantial, like money, personal prestige, assuming risks, spending your time searching for the path and leading others to that path, and putting the interest of your students ahead of your own interest. None of this is easy, that’s what makes the job of being a Sensei so difficult.

Now let’s talk for a minute about the poor student. The student comes into the dojo knowing nothing of about this space. If you examine most new students motivation for undertaking the study of the Martial Arts you find that the student wants to be a “Black Belt”. This is mixed with a little bit a desire for Self-Defense, a little bit of desire for physical fitness, and a lot of desire to please Mom and Dad who bring many students to the dojo. Very few White belts understand what it means to be a “Black Belt”, they depend of the Sensei to educate them in the realities of obtaining a Black Belt. This is often not a very easy task. This task is complicated by many things. The Martial Arts is a disciple where students strike each other. You must teach a student to do this and to do this in such a way that they do not damage each other.  Students and the parents of students do not like it when they are damaged or their children are damaged. In order to avoid this as Sensei you institute and enforce rules for Kumite (fighting) in the dojo. But at some point the responsibility for not injuring your Kumite partner transfers from the Sensei to the student. Some children do not want to learn the Martial Arts. After all, a child’s life is usually pretty good. You have Mom and Dad who take care of you, feed you, and are your friend when you need one. The Martial Arts is about sweating, hard work, getting hit, and a lot of other things that many students would prefer not to happen in their lives. Changing this perception of the student involves education, the student must be shown that change in their life is inevitable and  that he or she can deal with this change and that achieving  in a difficult environment can be both fun and rewarding. Finally some students are just not very athletic. They dream of themselves becoming the next Bruce Lee when in fact they move like they move like Larry, Mo, or Curley. That is ok. Athletic ability can be trained into a student, it just takes longer for those who are not gifted with athletic ability. To do this requires patience on the part of the student and the Sensei. What has happened with these types of students is that their childhood development of gross and fine motor skills has not caught up with their age.  As we pointed out above, patience and a well developed training plan for the student will cure this problem.   

Training high performance Martial Artist  involves training the mind as well as the body. I have a young student who is preparing to take her Shodan examination soon. This young lady is truly a very talented child. She is hard working, diligent, dedicated, and in general everything a Sensei could want in a student. Yet a year ago you would hear very negative statements from her like “I can’t do that” or “Every time I fight him I get beat up”. So the question of interest is “What has happened in the last year to change things?”. In the dojo we concentrated on teaching this young lady how to strike something, we concentrated on teaching this young lady fighting strategy, and we made sure to reinforce the confidence of this young lady in her ability to defend herself. We also gave this young lady time to adjust to a new performance level. This approach has worked admirably. This young lady is now a high performance athlete and realizes that the challenges that come at any level of performance are just something that one learns to deal with.

So, we return to the question of what makes a high performance athlete. I am not sure I can answer that question accurately, all I can tell you is that at some point the student realizes the value of assuming control of their own destiny and at that point they begin their journey across the space between doing the Martial Arts and becoming a Martial Artist. .

May 28, 2007

Something Else in the Martial Arts 

When I put together the dojo we currently train in, I assumed a hefty financial risk that I would be able to fill the dojo with paying students. The more I meet other dojo owners and movers and shakers in the Martial Arts community I realize that these people have all done the same thing in one way or another i.e. those who affect the Martial Arts community invest time and money and effort in that endeavor.

Now let’s talk about the students.  What makes a student successful in the Martial Arts? I’m not talking about achieving the rank of Shodan, I am talking about a student that wants to be skilled in the Martial Arts. Is it the quest to acquire the rank of Shodan?, is it to acquire status as a Black Belt?, Is it some macho driven desire to pound all of your opponents into apple pie and thus prove you are the best of the best, or is it as I think, something else. It is illustrative to pursue this line of discussion a little bit further.

What makes a student successful in the Martial Arts is a difficult question to answer. If I knew for certain what the answer to this question was I would bottle it and sell it and become a wealthy man. The reality of the Martial Arts is that it is not a large money producing profession. Frankly I would advise anyone who is interested in making money not to go into the Martial Arts as a profession. I have a good friend who I hope will forgive me for using her name, but Samantha lives in England and practices Martial  Arts in the London area. Samantha is a wonderful example of a successful Martial Artist. Samantha brings her newborn child to the dojo so she can continue her training and the other members of the dojo take turns watching the child so Samantha can train. Whatever Samantha has inside of her, it has made her a successful Martial Artist and will continue to do so by anyone’s measure.

Is acquiring the rank of Shodan a worthy goal? Of course it is, but it is the journey and not the rank that is important. In fact, I would say that achieving the rank of Yondan(4^th Degree Black Belt) or Godan (5^th Degree Black Belt) is much more important because that is where a student begins to look and behave like a Master. I have two students, a young man named Alex and a young girl named Alyssa who are both shinning example of this principle. Each child came into the dojo about five years ago to begin their training and they are now first degree brown belts (Ih Kyu) getting ready to test for the rank of Shodan (First Degree Black Belt). I expect both Alex and Alyssa will continue their quest to learn more about the Martial Arts after they achieve the rank of Shodan. Alex and Alyssa were both shy little children when they came into the dojo and now they are confident as they throw jump spinning hook kicks, practice combinations on the bag, and run thru their kata. What has happened to both of these children is that they have found the path. Something in the years of sweating and pounding on the bags, and practicing kata has moved the souls of these little children to make them want to achieve.

Is it macho to want to defeat an opponent in Kumite? I don’t think so. We have to be careful here because Karate is after all a Martial Art which involves students striking other students. It is natural for anyone involved to want to test their skills in this environment. What we do in the dojo is to keep the students safe. We establish rules so that students are not injured but educated during Kumite. In a good dojo, the minds, the emotions, and the egos of the students are all educated.

We have to say a few words here about children. Children come into the dojo not knowing anything about the Martial Arts. Children do not understand what focus, intensity, concentration, and even hard work are. The good Sensei works with the tools available to him or her to help teach the child to understand what these ideas represent.

So success  for a child may be different than  success for an adult. If children step out of the dojo understanding what focus, concentration, intensity, and hard work are I would call them successful students.

Will having a Black Belt give you status? I had a student one time tell me that he wanted to teach Karate. I asked him why? They students will not worship you, they will not bow down to you except once in a while, and you will have to deal with some of the strangest personalities you will ever see. Some of the children that come into the dojo have such serious personality problems that they are almost handicapped. Had I known how difficult it was to teach small children Karate I probably would have charged more. I think after hearing my advice the student opened his own dojo only to close it about three years later.  I have had students kick me, bite me, accuse me of buying trophies, and other nefarious deeds which are two numerous to mention here. Not much status or respect here. Frankly I was able to ignore all of this behavior because I realized that it was driven by lack of knowledge and shortsightedness about the Martial Arts.

How do we as Sensei’s fashion successful Martial Artists? As I said before, this is a difficult question to answer but I will try my best.

Students and Sensei’ need some guidelines so here is my best shot:

·         Always behave with Honor and Respect in the dojo. A good dojo is a place where standards of conduct are upheld. Failure to show Honor and Respect in the dojo tells more about the student or Sensei  than anything else.

·         Safety is of prime importance in a dojo. Make sure that adequate safety measures are in place to protect the students.

·         Do not worry about advancement in Rank. Make yourself the best Martial
Artist you can be an advancement will follow

·         Brutality is not strength and Compassion is not weakness. A good dojo will accommodate all levels of skills and interest

Finally

·         Be patient with Children. With kindness and patience you will change the child’s life forever.

It is my sincere hope that these guidelines will help us all find that something else in the Martial Arts that makes it so special to all of us.

April 16, 2007

The Art of Coping

I had a student make a statement to me that the Martial Arts isn’t about learning to fight, it’s about learning to cope. After some thought I think I agree with this statement, although I do believe that there are other things that the Martial Arts teaches you besides how to cope.

If you begin studying the Martial Arts you soon find out that it is hard work. If your response to this is to say I am to old, or I am to crippled, or I am to feeble, or I am to young, etc. what you are really doing is making a decision to avoid hard work of studying the Martial Arts by avoiding committing to this study. This has huge implications for how you deal with difficult things in your life. Some people have this kind of commitment but it is not easy to find. One of the most committed men I ever knew was a gentleman named Charlie Gaskin.  Charlie is dead now, he died of lung disease several years ago but right up until the week before he died he was in the dojo working out. Something that I learned by watching Charlie was that he enjoyed working out. Charlie was never fearful of his impending doom, although I am sure he realized what was in his future. Charlie never mentioned his illness in the dojo and always had a smile and a kind word for all who were in the dojo. Charlie was a true warrior who had learned to cope admirably with a serious illness. I know that part of this was Charlie’s character but I like to believe that part of Charlie’s wonderful warrior spirit was something he learned from studying the Martial Arts

All of us who teach the Martial Arts have had on occasion the experience of having some unknowing student or bystander make silly comments like “ I think I could take you” or “ To be a good Martial Artist you have to draw blood”. Listen, drawing blood has no relevance to a persons skill as a Martial Artist. The end result of a well delivered Martial Arts blow is unconsciousness or death, neither of which we like to see in the dojo, although I have to agree that these types of things do occur during tournament competition in the United States.

As far as the “I think I could take you comments” my response is good, go train harder. I had an educational experience happen in our dojo a couple of months ago related to this type of comment. As I was closing the dojo a group of young men were standing outside of the dojo and came into the dojo to talk. They  asked me if they could really fight hard in the dojo. My response was sure, I will fight you as hard as you like, up to and including breaking bones. They then asked when they could do this and I said right now, come on in and we will do it immediately. The young men thought this was a wonderful idea and came into the dojo and began to put on kumite equipment. Since I was ready first, I asked the young men, before we step on the floor, please tell me if any of you like going to the hospital. The universal answer from all of the young men was no, going to the hospital is a bad thing. I then suggested that in view of their answer that before we fight hard we should talk about some rules. You could see the light in these young men’s eyes as they considered this suggestion. These men had been educated in the real purpose of the Martial Arts.

It seems worthwhile to discuss one other event which happened in my dojo. I had a friend of mine bring in another Black Belt. The other Black belt turned to me upon entering the dojo and said “ I want to go hard with you” . My response was ok, I get to kick you in the knee, shuto you in the groin and in the throat, and stick my fingers in your eyes. His immediate answer was no, I don’t want to do any of that. My response was ok, what you want to do is go hard according to your rules. I then informed him that I was not interested in such an event.

Parents and adults do not bring their children or themselves into the dojo to be injured. They come to the dojo to learn. They depend on us as Sensei’s, to construct an environment in  the dojo which keeps them safe and allows them to learn. If we fail to do this we have failed in one of our responsibilities as a Sensei.

Learning the Martial Arts is about learning mastery. It is about learning not how to master others but to master yourself. I am convinced that this is what parents are seeking when they provide their child with Martial Arts training. The Martial Arts is a tool for teaching young and old alike the value of coping. It is about learning the art of coping.

March 26, 2007

The Value of the Path

In the Dojo,  one sees all sorts of relationship malfunctions. Since these malfunctions affect a students ability to train in the Martial Arts they often become the problem of the Sensei. The interesting question is how do you deal with these problems, what causes them, and what can be done to prevent them?

It is easiest to see some of these malfunctions in the little ones, in fact it is an extremely complex task to wend your way thru the emotional minefield of a little child and end up producing a highly skilled Martial Artist. One of the dangers one faces in training a child is to expect adult skills and behavior from the child. Children have no hidden agenda’s. As any parent can tell you, a child acts exactly how they feel. The motors that drive children’s behavior are not the same motors that drive adult behaviors. So some children  tend to do things in class that we don’t want to see in a student, like talking during class, refusing to exercise, not focusing, not working very hard, etc. If you work with the children long enough you soon see that these are not behavioral issues, they are educational issues.

Since children tend to work in groups the child needs around him or her an environment where the other children all do those things i.e. focus, work hard, exercise, etc. i.e. when you train children, paying attention to the group dynamics of the children’s classes and making sure that each child has a positive learning environment is important

It is also important to remember the earlier comment about the motors that drive children’s behavior not being the same motors that drive adult behaviors. I had one small five year old boy come into my classes and refuse to do any of the warm up exercises. After talking with him for a while I discovered that his father was in Iraq as a soldier and the child was worried about his father and felt like he had no direction or guidance. I convinced the child to obey the dojo protocols and to try doing the warm up exercises and the child discovered that exercising made him feel better. Today, this child is a model five year old student. He comes to class regularly, is happy in class, tries as hard as he can, and is learning a lot about the Martial Arts.

Adults relationships tend to go astray in different ways. Many adults simply choose to stop learning in the dojo. The consequences of adult relationship malfunctions can be much more serious than with children. Many adults come into the dojo proud of the fact that they can run their own lives. The idea that they may need help, and their willingness to accept that help simply never has crossed their mind, even though they exhibit what most people would characterize as serious malfunctions, such as alcoholism, depression, loneliness, a sense of isolation, etc. We could discuss in great detail the types of relationship malfunctions that affect adults in the dojo but it is worth remembering our original question which was how do you deal with these problems, what causes them, and what can be done to prevent them?

For answers to these questions we must turn to what our ancestors in the Martial Arts have taught us.

Chosin Chibana (The founder of Kobayashi Shorin Ryu Karate) has stated “ A good Karateka would cross the street to avoid a fight.

In many dojo’s the Dojo Kun will be posted. The traditional translation for the Dojo Kun is: seek perfection of character, be faithful, endeavor, respect others, and refrain from violent behavior.

The Dalai Lama at the turn of the Millennium has said
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson
3. Follow the three Rs:
a. Respect for self
b. Respect for others and
c. Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship
7. When you realize that you have made a mistake take immediate steps to correct it
8. Spend some time alone every day
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past
14. Share your knowledge. Its a way to achieve immortality
15. Be gentle with the earth
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon
Finally, a lesson from a Japanese Master. This Master during the Meiji era (1868-1912) received a visit from a young woman who wanted to study the Martial Arts. He served her a cup of tea. When he served her he poured her cup full and then kept on pouring. The young woman watched this until she could no longer restrain herself. Its overfull she said, no more will go in. The Master looked at the young woman and said Like your cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations, how can I show you the Martial Arts unless you first empty your cup.

Remember, violence is not strength and compassion is not weakness. The above advice is a lot of good advice from some very smart people. What struck me were some of the overriding common thoughts from these people,  avoid a fight, seek perfection of character, be faithful, respect for others. This is the path. This path was articulated by people who are much wiser than most of us, including myself, and is what we must teach in our dojo’s. With some luck and a lot of hope the students will see the value of this path.

Feb 19, 2007

Caretakers of the Tao

If you train a person in the Martial Arts does it affect other aspects of their lives? The answer given by most martial artist is of course it does. Many problems in a persons life are in general, caused by a weakness in the character of that person. If you fix the weakness in the character of a person using Martial Arts training then the problem in the persons life should disappear.

The question of interest then is can you train a person in the Martial Arts without paying attention to how they conduct the rest of their lives? I think the answer to this question is no. If a man or a woman came into our dojo seeking Martial Arts training and we knew they were a criminal, most of us would refuse to train them. In fact in our dojo they would be escorted to the door.

This approach generates a host of questions about the responsibility of a Sensei and how a Sensei should determine a students character. Should you be harsh with the new student in order to make them tough? (i.e. make them sit on a stump in the rain for three days outside of the dojo as they did in the old Kung Fu TV show). Should you interview with a new student in order to learn more about them? What criteria should you use to accept new students i.e. do you accept only new students who are the most talented and the least flawed, or do you accept students with many flaws in the hope you can correct them? How do you determine a students character and once you make this determination what do you do if you don’t like what you see? Who gives us the right as Sensei’s to make these types of decisions about a student?

Lets try to address some of these questions. First of all is the question of harshness with a new student. Harshness is a very negative approach to training a student, you see this best with children. Adults make these same kind of decisions but they are not always as easy to discern as they are in children. Children come into the dojo full of energy and life and knowing absolutely nothing about this strange person called a Sensei whom their parents have introduced into their lives. If this new person called a Sensei is harsh with the children, the children, because they are very adaptable will quickly learn the rules for dealing with this person called a Sensei. However, the children may also make another decision that studying the Martial Arts is not enjoyable and I don’t want to do it. They won’t walk off of the dojo floor because they want to please their parents who brought them to the dojo but they will stop trying to learn new things that the Sensei tries to teach them. So harshness runs the risk of destroying the most valuable asset a Sensei has in a student, their willingness to try to learn new things. In fact if you observe the most successful Martial Arts programs for teaching children you will find that they are very positive. They compliment the student a lot and reward them for achieving in the Martial Arts.

I like the idea of interviewing a new student. I think it is valuable to be able to look a prospective student in the eye and talk with them. This gives me some information about the student and gives my intuition some information to work with. Besides when you interview a student you can develop answers to questions you generally have a hard time asking, like do you have any character, are you a nice person, are you willing to work hard to achieve, etc. Of course a student can mislead you but in the give and take of and interactive conversation these is not always easy to do.

It seems to me that when you interview a student you can find out a lot about them. It is not what they say that is so important but how they act i.e. are they at ease during the interview, are they dedicated to the Martial Arts, and are they truly interested in the discussion you are having with them Is this student going to be the next Bruce Lee or the next Larry, Mo, and Curly? Somewhere during the interview you are going to have to make a decision to accept or not to accept the prospective student. A cruel irony of the Martial Arts is that the more flawed the student the more they can profit from Martial Arts training. I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer on who to accept into a dojo. If a student can find out about the types of students already present in the dojo it  will give a student a hint of the Sensei’s preferences in students. Our dojo tends to have a mix of children and adults. We have a lot of families and a lot of young people. This is a personal preference of mine, I like teaching families and young people mainly because they have so much energy.

I was a bit naïve when I opened my current dojo. I thought I would set up a place to train and people would all come and train and we would all be friends and go home after class. I was totally unprepared for all of the interactions which occur when one runs a dojo. I live near Washington D.C. and work for the Federal Government and believe it or not I was shocked when I found out that some of my students were misleading me. Thankfully, those students are now all gone from my dojo. The lesson I have learned from all of the things that happened in my early years in the dojo is that if a student does not exhibit the character you think they should have they should be told that bluntly. Any less than a straight forward discussion with the student will only confuse the student about what your real concerns are as their Sensei.

The name for a teacher about life is “Sensei”. A Sensei is a bit of a philosopher, only a Sensei’s realm is physical as well as intellectual. A Sensei teaches his or her students how to deal with difficult problems and how to solve them. During this process the Sensei lays down some guidelines for his or her students about how to find solutions to difficult problems. That is what we do as Sensei’s and I believe that these guidelines are one of the things students are seeking when they enter the dojo. The Martial Art we teach will become what we make it and as Sensei’s we do what we do because we have inherited a responsibility as caretakers of the Tao of our Art. 

Jan 29, 2007

A Sense of History

It seems to me like many students in the Martial Arts lack a sense of history. Each  decision they make helps them manufacture their own history. Students manufacture their destiny one decision at a time. If the student is fortunate, he or she will have the fortune to find a good Sensei who teaches them the Martial Arts and in general provides them guidance in their growth in the Martial Arts, in this way the student builds an excellent history in the Martial Arts. Then, for some reason, a student decides to leave the Dojo and the Sensei whom they found and trained with and with whom they have a long history of success and being  helped to find  their way in the Martial Arts. I call this the “Grass is Greener” syndrome. Students are generally unaware of the perils and pitfalls that lay ahead of them in their Martial Arts careers when they do this. In fact, I would say that lack of good guidance for a students growth in the Martial Arts seems to me to be one of the biggest problems students have in building a good Martial Arts history. One cause for this phenomena is lack of commitment on the part of the student.

Most students start building their Martial Arts history when they are a child. If they are fortunate, their Sensei takes them to an awards banquet and at the banquet the student learns at an early age that they will. benefit from hard work and commitment.

The teenagers come to the Martial Arts with all of the grace and enthusiasm of youth. In the dojo, under the guidance of a skilled Sensei, the teenager grows confident and learns that they can accomplish difficult tasks and that honor and character are important ingredients of any adult.

The adult enters the dojo sometimes almost reluctantly. They have been forced to enter the dojo by their children or by other events in their lives.  The adult is nervous about the dojo because the dojo is forcing change in their life. In the dojo the adult relearns the value of movement and exercise that they knew in their youth, that they don’t have to surrender to the effects of stress in their lives, and that they can be active participants in any event well into their old age.

Now, the most interesting question is how do all of these things happen and what tools do we have available to make them happen?

As a student grows in their Martial Arts career they learn that they inherit a responsibility to help others in the Martial Arts community. If they fail to recognize this responsibility they will loose their ability to grow in the Martial Arts. This is a difficult responsibility for many students to accept and many students cease to grow in the Martial Arts because they never accept their responsibility to help others.

Another tool to help students improve their Martial Arts understanding is the Martial Arts Banquet. I have had long discussions with Master Sri Denish from India at several of these banquets and Master Denish has helped educate me in the Martial Arts and his wisdom has provided me great insight. For this I owe a permanent debt of gratitude to Master Denish. Now awards banquets have been criticized by many but I have personally  taken children and adults to these Martial Arts Banquets and awards ceremonies and they come back from them better motivated, more committed to the Martial Arts, and a lot more willing to devote time and energy to achieving in the Martial Arts. This seems to me like a worthwhile result of spending time and money to attend a Martial Arts Banquet.

What is important in the Martial Arts is the way we affect peoples lives. We can teach children that they can achieve, we can teach teenagers that they can deal with the challenges of life, and we can teach adults the rewards and happiness that comes with training and the friendships that they develop in the Martial Arts.

To depict the rewards we can achieve in this arena I would like to quote the halting language that a little 8 year old girl in one of my classes wrote for a school project about Thanksgiving.

It is without a doubt one of the finest letters I have ever received and I am very proud of it:

“When giving thanks on Thanksgiving there is only one person on the top of my list, and that is Sensei Gilbert. I would invite him because he inspires me so much. You are probably wondering who he is. Well, he is my Karate teacher. He makes me feel so comfortable, because he doesn’t look at me as a kid with Cerabal Palsy, he looks at me as a kid who can do anything. Sensei has a way of making a kid who feels different good inside. When he sees me he always seems happy to see me. When I walk in the door to Karate there is a smile on his face. He’s always saying “Hey Michelle how is it going?” Sometimes I can’t even describe how great he makes me feel. There is no other way to spend Thanksgiving with someone who is special to you.”

This little girl gained the will and the courage to fight the effects of cerebral palsy for the rest of her life because she got a chance to study the Martial Arts, and by the way, she also wrote a very articulate description of something that studying the Martial Arts does besides teaching combat skills. 

Jan 8, 2007

The Chronicles of Sensei

My wife and I just returned from a Black Belt Hall of Fame Banquet in Atlantic City New Jersey and I thought some of what I saw there was instructive so I thought I would write a little about it.

The first thing I noticed about this banquet was that I got a chance to meet many old friends. The Martial Arts are a big family and everyone who has ever put on a Gi is part of that family. I couldn’t talk about old friends without mentioning an old friend I met at the banquet, Grandmaster Gary Wasniewski. Grandmaster Gary is an amazing man. He is 52 years old and he looks and moves like he is 20 years old. He is kind and friendly, honorable, and easily approachable and is without a doubt the finest kicker in the world.. He is the kind of man we need more of, in the Martial Arts. I think so much of Grandmaster Gary’s character that I will personally set up a meeting with Grandmaster Gary for anyone who really wants to meet him.

The next thing I noticed at this banquet was that I got to meet a lot of old friends that I hadn’t seen for many years. I got to say Hi and and renew some friendships with some people whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years. We talked about training and some of the events that had affected our training many years ago. It was above all a refreshing experience. This is one of the reasons that I would recommend that everyone who is involved in the Martial Arts one way or another attend one of these banquets i.e. everyone should take some time and money out of their lives and their busy schedule to go enjoy themselves in their Martial Arts community. If you don’t do this you run the risk of becoming obsolete in the Martial Arts.

The next thing I noticed at this banquet was the wide variety of Martial Arts currently available. I saw a demonstration from  a group that was from the New York City area I think and they demonstrated something that looked like a combination of break dancing and Karate. It was truly very interesting and they all looked very physically fit and very lethal. Besides that it also looked like a lot of fun.

I saw a wonderful demonstration of the African Martial Arts at this banquet. I knew about the slaves bringing over the African Martial arts to Brazil but beyond that I had no idea that there was such a rich Martial Arts heritage in Africa. I met the lady who ran the demonstration and I was fortunate enough to convince her to bring herself and her demonstration to my dojo and to assist me in educating some of my students.

I also met several old friends from England who informed me that they would be in the U.S. on travel in the near future and asked if they could stop by my dojo and work out with us. Of course I said yes, here was a chance to educate my students in English fighting techniques. I probably won’t tell my students that the gentleman who is going to work out with us is kind and gentle and is also the full contact fighting champion of the United Kingdom.  

I was also fortunate enough to meet, talk with, and get my picture taken with several well known Martial Arts celebrities. I was struck again by how kind and friendly all of these very well know Martial Artist are, there was no doubt in my mind that any of these celebrities could have kicked me all over the floor and tied me in knots easily. Cynthia Rothrock was kind and friendly, had a beautiful smile, and was kind enough to let me take her picture with my wife and myself. Don (The Dragon) Wilson was a true intellectual. He was kind and friendly and easily approachable and clearly had a very practical outlook about living and working in Hollywood. Dan (The Beast) Severn was a kind and friendly man and I felt lucky that he was gracious enough to allow his picture to be taken with me. Especially with Mr. Severn I was acutely aware of the old saying that runs something like “there is always somebody bigger than you are”. I am 6ft 1 inch tall and weigh nearly 300 lbs and am an expert in Karate techniques but Mr. Severn who was always kind and polite to me made me realize how small I really am.

I could write for many more pages about what a wonderful time we had at this banquet but let me try to summarize some of what I learned here.

No one is alone in the Martial Arts, There is kindness, wisdom, and friendship in the Martial Arts community, all you have to do is to go look for it. 

All of the people at the banquet were working in their profession. They were involved in selling books, pictures, developing new ways to make money, and to improve their images. This didn’t diminish from their stature. They were clearly Human Beings making a living and were easily recognizable as leaders of the Martial Arts community.

I was struck again by how kind and personable all of the leaders of the Martial Arts community are. They all are acutely aware of their leadership role in the Martial Arts community and they all strive to meet that challenge.

We build our lives one event at a time. It is clear that how we act is important. I am sure that each of these individuals had to face frustration, fear, loneliness, the unknown, and all of the other problems that we all deal with each day. One must look to their Martial Arts training to deal with these issues which sometimes must be dealt with without the benefit of the wisdom of others. Each of these leaders of the Martial Arts community were kind and benevolent individuals and it was clear that the some total of their lives work has influenced the lives of millions all over the Earth.

I felt myself privileged to walk among these people and I will certainly try to communicate their teachings to my students.

December 4, 2006

The Time of Sensei

What is the  most important thing to learn in the Martial Arts? Is it how to fight? Or is it something else. When you are 21 years old, learning fighting skills is a lot of fun, when you are 51 years old, other things seem to become important and fighting skills don’t seem quite as important as they use to. I had a student ask me one time what was the most difficult skill to learn in the Martial Arts. I found this a difficult question to answer and I had to stop and think about it for a while. Finally I told the student that “Correct mental and emotional attitude at all times” was the most difficult skill to master.

Many of us who teach the Martial Arts devote our lives, our fortunes, and our “Sacred Honor” to the Martial Arts. This seems like a lot of commitment to an art whose only intent was teaching fighting skills.

I went to a Black Belt Hall of Fame Banquet last weekend. If you watched the children when they received awards you could see that they were excited. Recognizing the accomplishments of these children put them on a path which they know is difficult but they were willing to attempt. In fact the children were on a path that they were not only willing to attempt but they were willing to modify their behavior and to undertake what they knew were difficult tasks in order to achieve progress on their path. This is the real secret of the Martial Arts. We have within the Martial Arts the ability to teach our young to become good men and women and to motivate our young to achieve more than our generation. Isn’t this the goal of all parents, of all adults?

What about adults? I won’t mention any names here because I would prefer not to be turned into an unconscious and broken lump but at this same Hall of Fame Banquet I  met three extraordinary Martial Artist. Two were from England and one was from Ireland. All three of these men were extraordinary, if you didn’t see them in Karate Gi’s they all would look like Grandfathers. These were kind gentle men who were friendly and easy going but were all absolute predators  on a dojo floor. They gentleman from Ireland was also a bit of a historian and could talk knowledgeably about the history of the Martial Arts in Ireland. All of these men were athletic and strong and had sterling character. One of the gentlemen had a shirt which said on the front “I conquered anorexia” and you knew as you watched him fall to the floor and roll past you that if he chose he could tie you in knots and when he stood up again you would look like a pretzel. The second gentleman showed me some knife defenses and you could see the wisdom and character this man possessed in his eyes. He was clearly that kind of man that we would all like to become. The third gentleman from Ireland was truly scary. He was kind, and athletic and strong and very quick and you could see how talented he was on the dojo floor. He was in fact a true warrior and you could see it in his movements and in his eyes. I wouldn’t call these men old but none of them were children either. Yet they were all ageless. If they were all to drop dead tomorrow you could see that we would look at their lives and say “I want to be like that.”. This has made these men immortal, they will live forever in the hearts and minds of their students and those like myself who have been fortunate enough to meet these men. Isn’t this a legacy worth having? I don’t know about you but when I drop dead I want my students to say “I lived in the time of Sensei”.

There was something else I noticed at this Hall of Fame Banquet. Those students who received awards and the Green Belt and Blue belt levels were just as happy as those who received awards at the Black Belt level. Clearly, rewards and awards should start early in a students training. They play an important part in developing the character of the student and that development can never start to soon in a students training. You could see the lack of calmness and serenity in the younger students. It was clear that time is an important factor in their training. It may not make the student happy but you could see that time to master themselves, their emotions,  and the Martial Arts skills they were learning at their current rank was a necessary ingredient in all of the students training. Now, how do you tell when a student has matured enough at a certain rank. I am not sure that I know the correct answer, it is a pretty subjective judgment and that is what makes the job of being a Sensei so interesting. 

I guess we should get  back to the question we started with which is “What is the most important skill to learn in the Martial Arts?” I don’t think it is what we learn that matters, it is what we become. If we practice brutality then we become brutes. If we practice antagonism and critizism then we become arrogant, if we practice sarcasm and vindictiveness we become mean and cruel, and if we practice kindness and humilty we will stand with and take our place in a long line of men and women who have made the human race, human.

November 6, 2006

Rank and Promotions

I would like to ask a question to all, if you have the legitimate authority to award new ranks to students in the Martial Arts, why should you? I suppose you could rephrase this question to a more technical question like “What are the criteria for rank promotion in the Martial Arts?”.

Should a student be promoted because they can fight? Well, knowledge of how to fight is an integral part of the Martial Arts, so it seems like some knowledge of how to fight is an absolute necessity to achieve advanced ranks in the Martial Arts. This knowledge is often hard to learn and takes a long time and lots of hard work to gain. I had a young lady tell me that fighting was a natural instinct and there wasn’t really much to learn. During Kumite that evening with the young lady I feinted low and when the lady dropped her hand I stuck her (Lightly) in the head. I don’t know if she understood what I was trying to teach her or she just thought I was intent on giving her a headache.

There is another problem in the Martial Arts with using fighting as a metric for achieving rank promotions. If a 21 year old man defeats a 50 year old lady, does that mean that the 50 year old lady can’t fight and shouldn’t be promoted.  If that same 21 year old man now defeats an 11 year old boy does that mean that the young boy can’t fight? Most people would agree with the statement that for a fight to be fair among other things the fighters should be close to each other in age and experience, otherwise the younger fighter will use the strength and speed of youth to overcome their opponent. It is true that knowledge about the Martial Arts can provide more senior fighters the ability to overcome the advantages of youth, this is why for a fight to be fair the experience level of the fighters must be similar. 

There are other problems with using fighting as a metric for rank promotions. One of the 9/11 terrorist held the rank of Shodan. Did that make him an accomplished Martial Artist? He held a certificate for the rank of  Shodan but he certainly was not a Martial Artist. We expect much more from a Martial Artist than just the ability to fight. We expect Honor, Character, Compassion, Hard work, and a willingness to help others. When parents bring their children into the dojo these are the things they are searching for, not just the ability to fight.

Yet we have several traditions in the Martial Arts that seem to disagree with these views. You will still find many Martial Artist who will not promote anyone under the age of 16 to the rank of Shodan. This tradition originates from a very old school view which originated in a society where fighting was anticipated as a student grew. Even today some students  under the age of 16 will receive a “Youth” Black Belt i.e. a Black Belt with a white stripe in it. It seems to me that the streets of middle America, of Chicago, or LA, or Wahsington DC, are not 19^th Century Okinawa, or Korea, or China, or Japan. In order to survive today a student needs more skills than just the ability to fight. And for goodness sakes, can’t any Martial Artist look at a Black Belt and see that the person wearing it is under the age of 16? When you award a Black Belt to a youth this does impose a special requirement on the Sensei to ensure that you talk with the youth about what it means to be a Black Belt

I asked a very respected female Martial Artist one time about awarding Children Black Belts. Her answer was if it sets them on the correct path, why not. Isn’t setting a child on the correct path in the Martial Arts a worthy goal? I had a student one time ask me why I didn’t teach about Honor in our classes. That surprised me because I thought we did. This young lady was a good student an as a result of this question I have gone back and reevaluated the curriculum in our dojo. I would ask each of us who had the responsibility for molding Black Belts what do we teach our Black Belt Candidates. Do we teach them Honor, Characters, Integrity, or something else. If the world was run by our Black Belts would it be a kinder and gentler place to live or would it be Sparata?

October 2, 2006

What are The Students  Searching For?

There are so many thing to write about in the Martial Arts it is difficult to choose what to write sometimes. On my Karate Schools website, which I will admit is not much different than hundreds of other school websites, I have the ability to see what people were searching for when they used a search engine to end up at our website. The following are the results for one week in September 2006:

As one can see, a lot of interest in the technical aspects of Karate, Martial Arts personalities, and surprisingly, some interest in the biology of the Martial Arts.

I reiterate that this data was not collected scientifically, it is simply  a week in the life of our dojo’s website. I show it here because I do believe it to be representative of what the general public is looking for from those of us who teach the Martial Arts.

August 21, 2006

Who are we?

I was told another horror story last week about a student being mistreated by another instructor and I thought I would write a little about it.

The bottom line is that one of my students who is now a very accomplished Third Degree  Black Belt told me that when she was a new student she had been sidekicked so hard by one of her previous instructors that she had trouble breathing for over a month.

Now, one might ask why any instructor would kick a new student so hard that she would have trouble breathing for over a month. Was he practicing his Karate with a new student as the target, was he trying to make his new student “tough”, or was he confusing his training regime with his teaching regime. This type of discussion will quickly lead us back to the discussion of why students take Martial Arts lessons in the first place.

If a new student comes into the dojo, do they come into the dojo to be beaten? I think most new students come into the dojo to learn Self Defense followed by a heavy dose of Physical Fitness.

With children, especially young children the story is a little bit different. Children do not come to the dojo alone, they are brought there by their parents. The parents often turn to the Martial Arts to help modify their child’s behavior. Whether or not this  is a proper use of Martial Arts training can be debated for hours but the fact of the matter is that a parents motive for bring their child to train in the Martial Arts is often not the same or only mildly related to the adults reason for studying the Martial Arts.

When these types of students show up on the doorsteps of our dojos how do we treat them? Do we train them to be world class competitors in the Martial Arts? While this may be the answer for some it doesn’t seem to be what most of the new students I have seen want out of their training. Do we train new students to become skilled destroyers of others i.e. accomplished assassins ready to go out and do the bidding of their Master’s. This is the answer for almost no one I know of in the Martial Arts. Are we training students to become experienced fighters? To do this the students must train long enough and hard enough to reach the middle Black Belt ranks. Most students are simply not that dedicated to the study of the Martial Arts and new Shodan’s are not generally experienced fighters.

To help understand who we are it is instructional to discuss some of the common events that happen in the study of the Martial Arts:

Hitting a lower ranking student hard: If you do this or allow this to be done you have lost control of yourself and of your class. If you feel the need to hit someone hard seek out a higher ranking Black Belt and ask them to participate.

Kumite: Kumite is practice fighting, it is not fighting. Kumite is not combat. If Kumite is allowed to become combat all of the students involved will have a difficult time learning anything. 

Combat: Real combat should never be allowed to occur in a dojo. The intent of real combat is to destroy and opponent. This arena can be explored but safety must always be a concern when exploring the combat arena. I had a very interesting thing happen in the dojo regarding combat skills. Late one evening after practice, a group of teenage boys walked into the dojo and asked me if they could really fight hard in the dojo. My answer was “Sure, if you want to fight hard I will be happy to accommodate you.” Then I asked them if they like staying in the Hospital. Of course they all said no. When they said no I then suggested that before we fought we should talk about some rules. The light was turned on in these students and all at once they all saw the reason for Kumite rules.  

Being “Tough”: Does beating someone make them “Tough”.  If you beat a student unconscious (which I have seen done) it doesn’t seem to me like they learn much. There is a common saying “Train like you are going to fight”, which is commonly interpreted to mean hit hard, but if a student is getting hit hard, he or she isn’t learning much, they are more interested in trying to survive. The discipline, speed, and power a student needs to execute a technique or the ability to add power to a technique can be taught quite effectively using a hanging bag or hand held kicking and punching pads. A student does need to learn how to block hard punches and hard kicks. But here again technique is also very important, judging direction and speed of the power, distancing, fading, redirecting, and setting up follow-on techniques are all critically important in being able to block well. Pounding on a student seems to me to ignore the real needs of the student

Shedding Blood: This is a terrible idea. Students do not walk into a Martial Arts school to have their blood shed. If they want to see blood shed they can go to the movies. Yet this does happen in Martial Arts schools. In my dojo we had a class studying the combat environment. For safety reasons the attendees were all fairly senior students. I walked into my office for less than two minutes because the instructor was doing a very good job with the students and when I came out everyone had blood all over them. Everyone was happy as a clam and proud of the fact that the seminar had reached the point of bloodshed.

I was alarmed that someone was injured so I stopped the class and inquired about each students health and well being. I found out that one student had been hit in the nose and had a bloody nose and that all of the blood I saw came from the same student who was not seriously injured. I then explained to the students that shedding their own blood is generally a bad idea and that if you shed someone else’s blood you should remember that the person whose blood you shed is a father, mother, brother, sister, etc.

All of the above types of events are very emotion provoking and some of them are not very useful in educating a student in the Martial Arts. In the dojo we also have the expectations of students, the expectations of parents, the expectations of all of the instructors in the dojo, and the requirements of the Martial Arts. It seems to me like Dojo Masters must continually work to ensure that all of these powerful forces are in harmony

To keep these forces in harmony, clarity and communications are powerful tools. As dojo masters we must continually strive to let our students, our parents, and our instructors know who and what we are.

July 31, 2006

Martial Arts Miscellany

A bout with severe Arthritis in my hip succeeded in doing what no opponent has done in many years. It put me flat on my back for a couple of weeks.

In the dojo, there exist a lot of misconceptions about some issues in life in general and in the dojo in particular. Let me try to address some of the issues:

Martial Arts Training

Why do people undertake Martial Arts Training? Martial Arts training is not meant to be easy. Martial Arts is after all a fighting disciple. This however, doesn’t mean that the new student should be beaten unconscious when they enter the dojo. I am aghast at some of the horror stories I have heard from students who entered our dojo from other dojo’s, beginning students who have been hit so hard they have broken ribs, teenage boys and girls who have been hit on the shins with a nunchuku ( a hard wooden weapon) because they make a mistake in performing their kata, and students who have had teeth knocked out and bloodied because of the violence of the Kumite at their former dojo’s. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t teach students how to fight and survive in a violent situation, but that we as Sensei’s should craft a path thru this training that will help the student successfully complete this training. Kumite is after all just that, it is not combat. Students engaged in kumite are training partners, not enemy combatants. This doesn’t mean that we can’t explore the combatants environment with our more senior students. However safety must always be a concern when developing this type of training. We have a little bit of a dichotomy here in the Martial Arts. When we talk about the Martial Arts we emphasize character development, self confidence, initiative, and honor. However many training programs completely lack any effort in these areas and are structured on the premise of hit hard, move fast, draw blood, destroy your opponent, etc.

What is needed is a clear definition of the path to gaining combat abilities and some respect and recognition that there are students at all levels on the path to gain these abilities and a recognition that discipline and control are a prerequisite to gaining these abilities. While we would not teach a five year old how to hit hard enough to break bones, we might teach a twelve or thirteen year old who is an advanced rank and has demonstrated discipline and control  this skill. So in our dojo’s we have students at all skill levels. This doesn’t mean that they are bad students, just that they are at different skill levels. 

Problems

Students get into problems in the dojo and in their lives because they choose a bad path i.e. they take actions which are not honorable. Following an honorable path and making an honorable decision is not always easy, especially when you are alone, but it is a path that is guaranteed to make your life and your training a rewarding endeavor and thus bring you happiness. As Sensei’s we tend to see lots of students who have made poor choices in their lives and in the dojo. Remember, our job is not to chastise but to help our students. Some students are misled onto a bad path for themselves. I will never forget riding to Philadelphia to visit Asian World of Martial Arts with two of my students who were hearing impaired. Because they were hearing impaired they liked to read so we talked a lot about finding adult and not children’s books to read. When we got to Philadelphia I rescued them from walking into a store with a big sign in the window which read “Adult Books”. This store was clearly not one that any student should be in.

Be patient with students, if they have made bad decisions it doesn’t mean they have a bad character, in fact most of the times it means something is missing in their education. Teach you students always to walk an honorable path and you will never be disappointed in the behavior.

Money

Most students are under a misconception about wealth. Wealth doesn’t fall out of the sky and hit you on the head one day, wealth is built one day at a time. If I gave you $100,000 (a lot of money) you would immediately start thinking about how to preserve it. You would eventually reach the realization that it is not the money that is valuable it is what the money can help you acquire in our economy. This would lead you to thinking about how to invest this money in our economy. Students and Sensei’s should both be investing a portion of their money for the long term. Most people who control any kind of wealth have reached this conclusion.

Now this means that if you want money from someone or some organization it is often not readily available. You don’t just wheel up you little red wagon and say “fill-er up”

Wealth must be built over time, this is why organizations such as banks, clubs, credit unions, friends, etc. which control wealth take so long to deal with.

Being successful

I am continually amazed at how often I hear questions like “ Sensei, how can I get a big house, have a good job, drive a nice car, etc”. Most of the time the people asking the questions are really asking “How can I be successful”. You become successful by building friends, not enemies. Success is built one friend at a time. For anyone to be successful the people in a position to make them successful must respect them. If you owned a company, you would not promote someone to a high ranking position in your company whom you didn’t respect. This means that we should all live our lives honorably. Those qualities like trust, honor, integrity, all become important factors in influencing success in your life. It is not training, education, and experience that count, it is that thing called trust, honor, and integrity which drives you to acquire training, education, and experience that counts i.e. your underlying character must be honorable if you are to be successful.

Behavior

Learn to look at other students behavior thru their eyes. I have a student who is rather loud in the dojo. However if you go to a tournament where this student competes everyone is loud and this student if not out of place, he simply has adopted the behavior patterns of those around him. The real challenge is to educate this student to adopt other behavior standards. The dojo Master has the absolute right and responsibility to establish the behavior standards for the dojo, however if you don’t agree with these standards try to understand why these standards are set like they are. Perhaps the dojo Master sees something that you as individual students do not see. A dojo is a reflection of its Sensei. In any case, always show respect for a Sensei, being a Sensei is a very difficult job, and your Sensei has done and sacrificed a lot to help you get when you are on your path through the Martial Arts.

Don’t complain about how hard these things are to teach. It is part of our job as a Sensei to help our students understand what they can become. That is what makes the job of Sensei so difficult and so rewarding.

June 12, 2006

The How and the Why of the Martial Arts

If you have the fortune to know some of the leaders of the Martial Arts community you will find that they are eminently nice people. Almost surprisingly so given how hard these people have trained and how tough they have had to become to rise to the top of this community. In fact when you meet one of these leaders you will find that their primary concern is with your character. Why is this? In fact most of the leaders of the Martial Arts community are astonishingly pleasant people to meet. .

In the Martial Arts we teach people to kick and punch and grapple. But we also teach something else. On the road to becoming a good kicker, or puncher, or grappler, you learn to work hard, discipline yourself, to respect your Sensei and your fellow students and to never give up. You learn Honor, Integrity, and Trust in yourself and in your fellow students. If you don’t learn these things you have missed something in your Martial Arts education.

When parents bring their children into the dojo they almost never say “My child is strong, well motivated, intelligent, well disciplined, and I want him/her to learn a Martial Art” What you tend to hear is “My child is -------- and I want my child to learn the -----  and the -------- of the Martial Arts.  The first blank is some problem with the child and the second two blanks are some attributes that the parent wants inserted into their child’s behavior. When you work with the child for some time you tend to find that the parents don’t know their child. Most of the children are just that, they are little children, they just need attention and direction and they will grow into fine young people.

Adults as a rule are a much harder group to teach these underlying principles of the Martial Arts than are children. By the time an adult arrives at your dojo their character, discipline, and principals have all been solidified and the adults have been working with these principals for some time. Adults sometimes have great difficulty changing these underlying principals that guide their lives. You can see why, these principals have guided the adult for most of their lives and have worked ok so why should they change. They answer is that the Martial Arts are a new part of their lives and in the Martial Arts because we exist in such a physically challenging environment, we have a requirement for high principals. Another part of the answer is that what is ahead of an adult is not what they just passed thru so if they are to prosper in their future they must learn new skills and the ability to adapt to change. Most people I think would agree that their life from 0-30 was much different than their life from 30-60. When we loose our parents, and we go thru a divorce, and  we become seriously ill, we need a much different character than most of us had early in life. Shouldn’t we attempt in our dojos to teach our adult students the character and principals they will need in their future?

So, lets get back to the question of why the leaders of the Martial Arts community tend to be such eminently pleasant people. I think it is because they understand the how and the why of the Martial Arts. Let me try to explain it like this. If you lead the Martial Arts community and you send the message that what a student should become is a strong fighter and nothing else then I think you run the risk of producing a generation of barroom brawlers. Barroom brawlers are strong fighters but they are just that, barroom brawlers. Don’t we want the next generation of Martial Artist to have more status and respect than a barroom brawler. I think most Martial Artist would agree with this statement.

In our dojo’s, we have mom’s, we have children, teenagers, young people, handicapped, elderly, and sometimes we have the just plain curious. Don’t we want to provide these people with more options than just becoming a barroom brawler?  From the business point of view the mom doesn’t come into the dojo and she doesn’t bring her children into the dojo to teach them to be barroom brawlers, teenagers and young people are looking for some fun and friendship and need some knowledge about what might lie ahead in their lives and how they can deal with it. The elderly, the handicapped, and the just plain curious need our professional guidance to help them learn what they can do for themselves physically.  In the business of the Martial Arts, most of those who teach have been around long enough to be able to shed some light on these types of questions. And we are acutely aware that most of the business we get is our dojo’s is from people seeking answers to these types of questions.

The characteristic of people who can help others to find answers to these types of questions is called “Class”. Don’t we want out students to all have Class? The Martial Arts certainly seems to have a lot more to offer than teaching  someone to become a barroom brawler. The public perception of the Martial Artist is that all Martial Artist have class. Unfortunately this is not always true. As Martial Artist we must remember that we become what we protect. If we protect the right to brawl, we become brawlers, if we protect arrogance, then we become arrogant, if we protect the right to hurt others, then we become cruel, and if we protect the right to help others learn and grow and improve their lives we will have class. The leaders of the Martial Arts community understand that the “how” of the Martial Arts is something that most of us can teach, they also understand that the “Why” of the Martial Arts is just as important as the “How”. This  is what the leaders of the Martial Arts community know and what makes them so pleasant to be around.

May 2, 2006

Commitment

I had the pleasure this week of training with my good friend from England, Soke Gary Wasniewski. I also had the privilege of spending some time with Soke Gary on the train as we traveled to New York City and back this week. Soke Gary is world renowned for his skill as a Martial Artist, in fact to watch him work his combat skills in the dojo is truly scary, I never believed that one human being could move like Soke Gary. He is truly the future of the Martial Arts.

When you meet Soke Gary if all you see is a highly skilled Martial Artist you need to look farther. I learned this week that a  man could be more than just a man, he could be an embodiment of an ideal. He could be a leader. Soke Gary is a man of Honor, he has a sterling character and is committed to doing good for others in the Martial Arts. As all of us travel on our journey through the Martial Arts we all search for the one who can guide us and help us learn. I am pleased to say I have met the one and his name is Soke Gary Wasniewski. 

As we traveled on the train I asked myself “What makes Soke Gary such a pleasure to be around and such a nice man?” The answer which struck me like a bolt from the blue was his character and his commitment to good. How many of us have met a man who was committed to doing good? Unfortunately I don’t think there are many of us who have had that privilege. Partially I think because there are not many men around like Soke Gary Wasniewski. For those of you who want to know more about Soke Gary this is his website http://www.ty-ga.co.uk/

Soke Gary helped me realize something else this week. When I started thinking about when in my life I have been the happiest I concluded that it was when I had committed to something bigger than myself. Commitment in not easy, especially in the Martial Arts. I remember when I was training for my Shodan rank, I was beat up a lot, but I was determined that I would be successful on this path and obtain the rank of Shodan i.e. I was committed.

Commitment isn’t just a word, it’s a feeling, a way of acting, and a way of behaving that changes your life. You can commit to a Dojo, to a Style, to a Sensei, or to any other worthy goal in the Martial Arts. You have to be careful when you commit to something, to many commitments in your life can make your life very complicated. Commitment is never easy, there will always be forces which seek to destroy your commitment. The real battle in life is against these forces. However the reward for commitment is happiness and a fulfilling life, this certainly seems to me to make this battle worth fighting.

The good news in all of this is that there are leaders in the world like Soke Gary who will help us define and establish what we should be committed to and if we have trouble maintaining our commitment, a few minutes  with Soke Gary will help reinforce our willingness to keep our commitments and make us stronger Martial Artist.

April 3, 2006

The Mysterious Definition of Honor

I went for a ride with my son yesterday. During the ride another car passed us and my son said “I must pass him, he challenged my honor”. I thought, what a strange definition of honor my son has. After giving some thought to this subject, I came to the conclusion that some discussion of the concept of honor might help us all understand the concept a little better.

The dictionary provides the following definitions of the word honor:

High respect, as that shown for special merit; esteem: the honor shown to a Nobel laureate.

Good name; reputation.

A source or cause of credit: was an honor to the profession.

Glory or recognition; distinction.

A mark, token, or gesture of respect or distinction: the place of honor at the table.

A military decoration.

A title conferred for achievement.

High rank.

The dignity accorded to position: awed by the honor of his office.

Great privilege: I have the honor to present the governor.

Honor Used with His, Her, or Your as a title and form of address for certain officials, such as judges and mayors: Her Honor the Mayor.

Principled uprightness of character; personal integrity.

A code of integrity, dignity, and pride, chiefly among men, that was maintained in some societies, as in feudal Europe, by force of arms.

A woman's chastity or reputation for chastity.

honors Social courtesies offered to guests: did the honors at tea.

honors

Special recognition for unusual academic achievement: graduated with honors.

A program of individual advanced study for exceptional students: planned to take honors in history.

Sports. The right of being first at the tee in golf.

Games.

Any of the four or five highest cards, especially the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the trump suit, in card games such as bridge or whist.

The points allotted to these cards. Often used in the plural.
tr.v. hon·ored, hon·or·ing, hon·ors

To hold in respect; esteem.

To show respect for.

To bow to (another dancer) in square dancing: Honor your partner.

To confer distinction on: He has honored us with his presence.

To accept or pay as valid: honor a check; a store that honors all credit cards.

As you can see, this isn’t a very helpful approach. Lets look at what some philosophers have said about honor:

Plato

There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.

Aristotle

“Nicomachean Ethics” is an account of Aristotle’s views on happiness and virtue. Aristotle gives his readers a detailed description of happiness, describing how and who can attain it. He says that certain virtues must be accomplished in order to achieve happiness. He therefore makes a connection between happiness and virtue, where the individual’s virtues compliment his state of happiness.

All actions occur with the means of reaching an end. One may complete an action to receive a reward, or the action may be valuable in itself. In the latter case, the action is done purely for the sake of the action. An example of this type of action is singing. One may sing as a career to receive money and fame, but also simply because he/she enjoys singing. Whether the action is done for extrinsic or intrinsic value, the action seeks some good. This end product, the good end, is better than the actions that have taken place in order to receive the end. This is a perplexing concept, because there are many different actions that lead to many ends, all of which are good. As a result, there must be some good and end that is better than all the others. Aristotle determines this end to be none other than happiness.

Some common words found in the essay "Honor versus Magnanimity in “Nicomachean Ethics”" are:
happiness, virtue, aristotle, virtues, intermediate, actions, therefore, action, magnanimity, respect, individual, complete, people, receive, feelings, believe, example, addition, activity, reason, pleasure

Socrates

Serenity, regularity, absence of vanity,Sincerity, simplicity, veracity, equanimity, Fixity, non-irritability, adaptability, Humility, tenacity, integrity, nobility, magnanimity, charity, generosity, purity. Practise daily these eighteen "ities" You will soon attain immortality.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

In honorable dealing you should consider what you intended, not what you said or thought.

This seems to be a little better but still doesn’t seem to offer much concrete guidance on how to become honorable. Lets examine some more current views:

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

And it is most honorable to your countrymen, that nowhere, did I receive the slightest indignity, but was treated everywhere with the most marked respect---even in the steamboats, where, as you know, there is not much ceremony or respect for persons.

George Bernard Shaw

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

H. L. Mencken

Honor is simply the morality of superior men.

Walter Lippmann

A man has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.

This last group of more current views about honor seems to be easier for me to understand but it is clear that “Honor” is a very difficult thing to define, especially honor as it relates to the Martial Arts.

Lets talk about some of the characteristics of “Honor”.

• It seems to be a set of actions which have an existence of their own and are associated with an individual.

• Honor seems to be an internal attribute i.e. we can make ourselves honorable or what we believe to be honorable, integrity seems to be an external attribute i.e. others have to confer on us the gift of integrity.

• Honor  seems to be associated with morality

• Honor  is associated with our actions towards ourselves and towards others

• Honor  is associated with respect

• Honor like beauty seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

While we might not agree with all of the above definitions and we will always be able to find counterexamples, they seem to provide a framework for a picture of Honor. At the risk of offending everyone let me try to define Honor in the Martial Arts:

Honor in the Martial Arts is related to how your actions  affect yourself and how your actions  affect others. Perhaps the best definition is one I saw on a poster which I have in my dojo. It says “Virtue is a habit of the mind”. We can rephrase that to say “Honor is a habit of the mind” and have something which I think is a good definition of Honor.

March 20, 2006

Evolution in the Martial Arts

At the risk of getting hundreds of angry emails I am going to weigh in with an opinion on a controversial subject which is currently being discussed in the Martial Arts community. I will start by asking a question, do people join gun clubs to learn how to shoot people? If you say of course not, I would agree with you. People join gun clubs because they are a safe environment where people can learn about fire arms. Now, let me ask you another question, do people join a dojo because they want to learn how to fight? If you state that the purpose of the Martial Arts is to teach combat skills your answer to this question is clearly “Yes”. The answer to this question can be surprisingly controversial. The source of this controversy rages around the answer to the question “What is the purpose of studying the Martial Arts?”. On its surface, this seems like a ridiculous question, the purpose of studying the Martial Arts is to learn how to fight right!  Actually, it seems to me that people walk into a dojo to learn how to avoid fighting. For those of you that hold the first view I would like to point out a few things. I will quote some statistics, and I will admit up front that these statistics have not been collected in any scientific manner, they are just empirical data collected as a result of having run a Martial Arts school for a long time.

99% of the people who walk thru the door of a Martial Arts dojo have no desire to learn how to fight, in fact many people stay away from Martial Arts training because they think it involves just learning how to fight. What do you plan to teach these people? What do you teach the Mom who walks thru your dojo door with her two little children, little Johnny and little Sally who probably have serious motor skills deficiencies  and a very short attention span in addition to having no image of themselves as achievers. Aren’t these worthwhile problems to fix using little Sally and Johnny’s Martial Arts training? Do you plan a training program for little Johnny or little Sally that will make them able to fight on the street or do you plan a training program which will help little Johnny and Sally’s current problems? Shouldn’t your curriculum  reflect the wants and needs of 99% of your dojo’s students. In fact what happens if you don’t reflect the wants of your student body is that the composition of your student body changes and you will find yourself with a student body that wants exactly what you teach.

If a student walked into a dojo and said “I like to beat people up” he or she would probably have a hard time finding training it that dojo because most of us who study the Martial Arts believe that there are some other characteristics that a Martial Artist should possess that are valuable in addition to the ability to fight.

Most students in a dojo don’t want to be injured and they don’t want their children injured. This is why safety is so important in every dojo. If your training program in the dojo is so difficult that students get injured what they will learn from that is not to come back to your dojo.

Most really good fighters that I know do not perfect their fighting skill in the street, they perfect their fight skills in the dojo. The question in the dojo is who are you fighting? Luckily, this question can be answered by most experienced Sensei’s in the dojo.

The number one reason people walk into a dojo is not to learn how to fight “in the street”. 99% of the people in a dojo will never have to fight “in the street”. This doesn’t mean that  they won’t  be involved in conflict, but that they will choose other methods than physical combat to resolve their conflict. Isn’t this good self defense? Frankly, if I was attacked in the street I would defend myself and then go find a policeman. I don’t want to be sued and I don’t want to put parts of my body up for damaging if I don’t have to. I have fought in a street scenario and it wasn’t fun. Today, I would fight only if I had no other alternatives. This means that 99% of the student body in a dojo will be looking for other alternatives to physical combat in a street encounter. This fact alone should be enough to make us think about what we are teaching our students in the dojo. Something that we teach Self Defense students but we don’t teach enough of in our Martial Arts classes is that self defense begins long before the first blow is thrown. Shouldn’t our curriculum be designed to incorporate these basic Self Defense steps? Shouldn’t the Martial Arts be taught as a life preservation art? I must question how viable is any Martial Art that puts a student when challenged in the position of having no alternatives except  to go out and engage in combat with a thug in the streets.

In ancient Okinawa, Korea, China, etc. there was plenty of historical reason to learn to fight. There were Samurai, Bandits, competing fishermen, and other people seeking to test their fighting skills. In modern American society the Samurai have disappeared, if we run across a bandit we call the police, fisherman are few and far between, and we have Martial Arts tournaments to test our fighting skills. Shouldn’t the Martial Arts adapt to this reality?

Now, to answer the question I asked above, the Martial Arts should teach combat skills, but it should teach other things also, a Black Belt in the Martial Arts should signify a combat capable individual. The Martial Arts are a character development tool and a process which happens to teach its students physical combat skills. Martial Arts training should include a spectrum of skills all of which can be used to preserve life and limb. The Martial Arts are a life preservation art and they should be taught as such.  Little Johnny who is five years old and can’t do one pushup deserves as much a place in the Martial Arts as Tony the soldier who likes to come into the dojo and rumble for a workout. I guess what I am arguing for is a broader view of the Martial Arts. I don’t think this view makes us any less capable fighters, it just makes us more capable teachers.  

March 13, 2006

Family Martial Arts

We are fortunate in our dojo to have many families which train in the Martial Arts together. As an instructor it is quite rewarding to see a Mom, a Dad, and all of the kids lined up in class when we bow the class in. In fact, I guess our dojo is getting a reputation as a place where families can come and train together. I am pleased with this reputation and I will continue to work to make sure we have a family friendly dojo. I thought some discussion of the problem of training families might be educational for all.

Dad

Dad is probably a young to middle aged man. If the truth be known, Dad doesn’t want to engage in a fight to the death or to serious injury. Most people that I know who have been in that environment don’t want to go back. Dad feels his first responsibility is to his family and then to himself. This doesn’t mean that Dad doesn’t want to be a good Martial Artist. Dad is sensitive to expertise and wants to feel that he has obtained the best Martial Arts training available for himself and his family.

What does this say about training Dad? Dad is probably a little out of shape, since he sits at a desk most of the day and has not had a chance to do any strenuous physical exercise is some time due to the demands on his time. This means physical fitness for Dad is important. As Dad grows older he will want to stay strong and healthy. To do this he needs to become strong and physically fit in his middle age and learn to appreciate exercise again. Dad was probably like this when he was young but the demands of work and raising a family have combined to rob him of these abilities. Dad is not a coward, but he doesn’t want to shed his blood or be injured. Dad is the bread winner for the family and he is aware that he can’t perform this task from a hospital bed. Dad remembers when he was young and powerful and he sees Martial Arts as a tool for maintaining that power as he grows older. So, to train Dad we have to make him physically fit, we have to teach him good solid Martial Arts techniques, and we need to teach him how to maintain his strength as he grows older. Occasionally we have to test Dad’s abilities and let him spend a few rounds with a tough fighter so he can grow in the Martial Arts and be proud of what he has become. We can never let Dad get hurt in the dojo, his role as a bread winner is of primary importance to him and to his family.

Mom

Mom, like dad is most likely a young to middle aged woman whose first allegiance is to her husband and her children. Mom doesn’t have the muscle mass that her husband has but like her husband she would like to be physically fit. Mom is sensitive to how she looks because she remembers when she was young and much lighter so Mom not only views the Martial Arts as a vehicle for improving her physical fitness but as a tool for helping her control her weight. Mom is very committed to her children so she sees the Martial Arts as a tool for assisting her in inserting into her children all of those things we talk about in the Martial Arts, disciple, respect, control, honor, etc. This also makes Mom very interested in working out with her children in the same class. Mom would like to be better able to defend herself so she feels more freedom in her life, but she doesn’t know how to improve her self defense skills. Mom is not a coward either, but she also has no desire to be injured because she realizes that she can’t be a very good wife or mother from a hospital bed, and because she was raised as a girl she hasn’t had to chance to test her physical skills like her husband. So Mom is uncertain of her ability to exercise, to strike others, to be struck by others, or to deal with the intensity of combat situations. What does this say about training Mom? First, Mom needs to grow to the same Martial Arts skill level that Dad will grow to. The truth is that she will get there via a different path. Women bring to the Martial Arts a natural skill and speed and crispness that most men don’t have. However, Mom doesn’t have the strength that her husband does. Mom needs to be given plenty of opportunity to train with her children in the dojo and to assist her husband and children with their training i.e. to bond with her family. Mom needs to be given plenty of opportunity to investigate her own abilities to exercise, to strike, and to block. Finally, we need to be sure that we don’t shortchange Mom, we need to architect a training program for Mom that ensures that she arrives at the rank of Shodan (First degree Black Belt) with the same Martial Arts skills that her husband will have. When we are training Mom, we must always remember that Mom may find herself engaged in combat some day and we must make sure that her training provides her with the tools to work in that environment. 

The Kids

Lets try to clarify what a kid is. For the purposes of this discussion, the kids are assumed to be under the age of ten. Somewhere around the age of ten children start becoming those scary things called teenagers, this is a subject for another discussion.

Children arrive at the dojo with all of the problems that children normally have. They have miniscule  fine and gross motor skills, they are not very physically fit, and they have an incredibly short attention span. Some other problems children have which are not quite so obvious is that they have no image of themselves as achievers, and they are not sure at all of their own abilities to accomplish physical tasks. Ask a young  child  “What color is a white Gi?” and their first answer we most likely be “I don’t know”. This is not because the child is inattentive or unintelligent, it is because the child does not think of himself/herself  as being an achiever. One of the great things that the study of the Martial Arts can do for a child is to cause them to think of themselves as achievers. Training children in this age group requires lots of find and gross motor skills drills, in our dojo we have children practice bounding balls while they are running back and forth in the dojo. We have the children practice a lot of basic blocks and punches and we are very patient with the children when they have motor skills problems. Fortunately, with training, these motor skills drills will make the child’s motor skills problems go away. No matter how much the parents may want to, you cannot force feed children Martial Arts.  They most important asset you have when you teach children is their willingness to try. If you force feed Martial Arts to them they will make the decision that this is to hard and they will quite trying to learn. They won’t walk out of the dojo because Mom and Dad are still there but they will not learn any new skills no matter how patient you are with them because they have internally made the decision that they don’t  want to learn the Martial Arts. So when you work physical fitness drills for the children they have to be fun. They children have to have a good time and during the process they have to work hard.

They children have to be given difficult tasks to accomplish and then guided thru the steps necessary to ensure that they are successful at these tasks. In this way the children will learn how to accomplish very hard tasks. When they accomplish these tasks they will look back and remember how hard these tasks looked when they first entered the dojo and they will gain a sense of themselves as achievers.

Now, I realize that I have discussed the things above in pretty general terms. There will always be combat Moms, combat Dads, and combat children who love the excitement of combat. This is why we must always evaluate who we are training. A good training program will push everyone to their limits and then help them grow without breaking them. We have ignored the subject of training teenagers,the elderly, the handicapped, and the young non-father or mother all of which are vital parts of any dojo.

When we train families we must train each of the family members as individuals because they each have individual needs. Finally we must always remember to teach courtesy and respect in our dojo’s because these are vital parts of any family’s life and their training needs.

March 6, 2006

Some Observations on the Behavior of Martial Arts Students

In our dojo we have had students who have run the gamete of behavior during their training. I thought some discussion of this behavior might be of interest to all:

• Beware of closing your mind. The decision that you do not like someone and therefore will not learn from them is one of the easiest to make and most destructive of your ability to learn new things.

• Managing Black Belts is probably the most difficult task in any dojo. Black Belts are trained for conflict, strong willed, and by in large not afraid of a fight. This makes them a very difficult group to manage.

• Humility is a virtue. It seems to be very hard for students who have trained a lot to remember this fact. Humility can be a wonderful Self Defense tool. Most opponents don’t feel like fighting when you call them “Sir”.

• Arrogance is Greed cloaked in Morality

• Children can be wonderful Martial Artist, you must always struggle to understand them. When you look at a child you must remember that they don’t know how to work hard, to be disciplined, and to be kind to others. They are in your class because someone wants you to teach them how to do these things.

•  Most students will never engage in a fight to the death, thank goodness. In fact most students will probably never engage in a fight to unconsciousness or where serious injury will occur. It seems like the number 1 reason students show up in a Martial Arts class is Self Defense followed closely by Physical Fitness.

• The desire to achieve drives many Martial Arts students. It seems like students are sometimes driven to achieve the rank of Shodan i.e. first degree Black Belt. But then the question is why should they continue to train. In order to answer this question as instructors we need to stay focused on Mastery, not achieving the rank of Black Belt, but achieving the rank of fifth, or sixth, or seventh degree Black Belt.

• Children are the hardest students to teach but they offer the most reward when they learn. Studying the Martial Arts can change a child’s life forever

• Techniques are the least important thing we teach in the Martial Arts. We are molders of character, we teach the students how to temper their bodies and spirits using the force of their will.

• Combat is a tough environment. Those intangible things that we try to teach in the Martial Arts like character, integrity, honesty, kindness, discipline, all help a student function in the combat environment.

• Good students leave the dojo. This is a sad but true fact of life in the dojo. We always talk a lot about how to get new students into the dojo, but I don’t think we pay enough attention to keeping those students that we have made good. The only reward we get when good students leave the dojo is knowing that we have provided them with something that will change their lives and will be with them forever. There seems to be a multitude of reasons why students leave the dojo but none that I know off stand out as being primary. Students must remember that leaving a dojo has a two long term consequences, you will always carry a part of you that was made in the dojo you are leaving, and you will have to do something new and learn new ways in the dojo you are going to. Whether this is good or bad depends on the students objective in their training. However as Sensei’s we must always allow the student to proceed to something that they want to try. Our job must always be to provide them support if they need it as students.

• Teenagers like competition. They like winning shiny medals, and being able to stand in the winners circle. This sometimes makes teaching all of those other things we would like to see in our students, like discipline, hard work, humility, etc. difficult.

• All of the bad things in life, drug addiction, alcoholism, mental illness, all find their way into the dojo through various students and their behavior. While we cannot tolerate this behavior in our students we must remember that the students are often studying the Martial Arts in hopes of learning how to control this behavior. Isn’t this a form of Self Defense?

• Fear is uncertainty. Some students don’t like being hit, some students don’t like hitting other students, and some students don’t like to perform in front of other students. This is not because the students are cowards, it is because they are uncertain of their own abilities. Can they control the power in a punch, can they take a punch, can they perform under pressure are all questions that the students are trying to learn the answers to.

• Some students treat their Sensei badly and other students badly because they have no understanding of what the dojo has done for them. Knowledge of this fact makes most Sensei’s more lenient in dealing with these types of students. Sadly sometimes it is necessary to ask a student to leave the dojo because some lessons cannot be taught, they have to be lived.

• All of those things we like to see in our students, like Honor, Kindness, Compassion, are the underlying engines which drive our Martial Arts behavior, this is why it is so important to teach these concepts in the dojo.

• Martial Arts often presents the student and Sensei with difficult choices. For instance, if a student does a terrible form, do you tell them it was terrible, or do you tell them there is room for improvement. The latter approach seems to be more positive and achieves better results.

• Combat intensity is a difficult thing to teach. There are drills and exercises that can be performed but they must be approached with the proper training for the student to succeed.

• We must always be patient with Children. After all, we tell the children not to hit each other, and then when they enter the dojo we tell them hit each other with control. No wonder they get confused.

It is certainly not an easy job being a good Sensei. We must remember that many of our students come into our dojo’s  with all of the about problems and they are seeking our help in identifying a path for them to gain control of their lives. Teaching each student the skills they need to do this is the real challenge for a Sensei

January 30, 2006

Popeye  Philosophy in the Dojo

We often see people in the dojo who don’t have a very good self image. One of the reasons this type of person shows up in a dojo is they are seeking a way to improve themselves i.e. to improve their self image. We see this in the negative statements we hear from them or their parents. “I am not coordinated”, “I am to old to learn”, “My child has no discipline”, or my personal favorite “I can’t concentrate”. These people show up in the dojo because they are tired of thinking of themselves in such a negative way and are searching for a more positive way to think about themselves. What these people are lacking is the ability to affirm their own self-worth. The truth of the matter is that everyone has limitations, even Sensei’s. When dealing with limitations people have a tendency to use moral words like “I’m good” or “I’m bad”  The reality is that the ability to perform the skills required in a dojo has nothing to do with “good” or “bad”. What is “good” or “bad” is how you use these skills i.e. how you use your martial skills to shape your destiny. If we teach our students how to deal with their limitations they will grow and become stronger.

For one reason or another the students who have these types of problems often don’t tell the truth or don’t recognize this fact about themselves. If you watch and listen to the student you can observe the following types of behavior:

Negative beliefs which they have about themselves and of which they remind themselves daily.

Negative statements about themselves which sprinkle their every­day conversation.

Self-deprecating remarks that influence their behavior or beliefs.

Negative self-images which they have about their body, looks, face, weight, coloring, hair, feet, or other parts of your body, which influences their presentation of self to others.

Negative assessment you or others have made of their competency, skills, ability, knowledge, intelligence, creativity, or common sense. They have agreed with this internally and, thus, believe it true. In order to avoid this it is important that we exercise courtesy and a positive attitude in the dojo. 

Negative feelings about their past behavior, failures, or performances that they systematically run over in their mind and which influences their current behavior  Feelings of anger, resentment, hostility or rage they feel toward others for real or imagined mistreatment. This so immobilizes them  that their emotional growth gets stunted and they feel negatively about both themselves and life in general.

Negative statements that you or others have made about them, their future, their success, their relationships, their family, or their health; the student adopts these statements internally as they face a daily struggle to "win'' in life.

The student denies themselves  rewards for their goodness, hard work and caring by: (1) not taking time to enjoy the fruits of their labor, (2) living in a style of self denial and austerity and (3) being afraid to let down their guard and relax, lest they fail to achieve their ``Big Pay Off.''

The student has feelings of over-responsibility with which they burden themselves. This includes the feeling that others in their life will never be able to fully take care of themselves and that they are "responsible'' for them no matter what. (I see a lot of this in our dojo)

Feelings of inferiority that the student harbors about themselves and the belief that no matter what they do in life, it will never be ``good enough.''

Feelings that the student has that there is someone in their life (e.g., spouse, parents, a family member, a former teacher, a peer, co-worker, a boss) from whom they are still waiting to receive recognition of their worth, their goodness, their competency, their  beauty, and their overall qualities.

 Enough of all of this negative stuff. The real question is what do we do about all of this. The answer is that we must change the students opinion of themselves. We must teach the student:

To have a positive opinion of themselves to counter their negative self-opinion

We must give the student a vehicle by which they can free them self from their over-dependence on other's opinions, attitudes, and feelings about them so that they can feel good about themselves.

We must teach the student to visualize a new order and sense in their life, which they can work toward achieving.

We must teach the student to take personal responsibility for their health and emotional stability.

We must teach the student to let go of negative emotional baggage they have been carrying. Only then will they be able to deal with their life in a realistic and positive manner.

The student must learn to resolve feelings from the past so that they can face the present with a less obstructed view.

We must teach the student to give yourself permission to grow, to change, to take risks, to rise up, and to create a better life for them self, or as the old sailors use to say “Not to be afraid of the wind in their sails”

Finally, we must teach the student that successful prophecies , when visualized, imagined, or believed in, do come true.

Now, you ask the obvious question “How in the world do I do all of this”? The difficulty of teaching all of these concepts is what makes a Sensei’s job so challenging..

Here are some suggestions on how to teach these concepts:

You can ask the  students to create in their minds positive I am, I can, and I will, statements and to silently recite them every day. We see some of this approach in the reciting of the dojo creed each class.  Here are some examples you can give the students:

I am competent, I am energetic, I am strong, I am enthusiastic, I am intelligent, I am relaxed  I am beautiful, I am joyful, I am a good person, I am trusting,  I am caring, I am generous,  I am courageous, I am smart, I am forgiving, I am creative

I can lose weight, I can grow, I can stop smoking, I can handle my children, I can let go of guilt, I can gain self-confidence, I can let go of fear, I can take risks, I can change  I can be a winner, I can be positive, I can be strong, I can be a problem solver, I can laugh and have fun, I can be assertive, I can control my temper, I can succeed

I will like myself better each day, I will lose weight each day, I will smoke less each day, I will control my temper today, I will give others responsibility for their lives today, I will grow emotionally stronger each day, I will praise my children today, I will feel good things about me today, I will sleep easily tonight, I will take care of me today, I will challenge myself to change today, I will take a risk to grow today.

By now you are all saying that this sounds silly, but remember what we are trying to do is to change the students opinion of themselves for the better. Please also remember, that Sensei’s are not trained psychologist, if you have a student with a serious problem you should council them to seek medical attention.

To help our students, we should after all, teach them to accept the old Popeye philosophy, “I am what I am”.

January 16, 2006

To Godan and Beyond

I had a terribly interesting thing happen in my dojo last week. A Mom came into the dojo with her young daughter and asked me “Why should I bring my daughter here?” The young girl was ten years old and had achieved the rank of Shodan in another style of the same Martial Art that we teach in my dojo. Now whether or not this young child should be a Shodan, or should she have achieved the rank of Shodan, can be debated, however these questions are irrelevant to the situation I faced. The facts of the matter were that the young girl had achieved the rank of Shodan and her mother was asking me where I would take her from there.

I asked the daughter to step out onto the dojo floor and do some forms for me. It was clear that the little girl was very talented, very dedicated to the Martial arts, very disciplined, and very kind. She was in fact the kind of child that every parent would love to have. I did not give her Shodan rank to her so I did not feel that I had the right to take it away from her in my dojo, even though we studied a different style of Martial Art than the one she had trained in. It was also clear that the little girl was very proud of being a Black Belt and I was sensitive to the damage I could do to her self image if I forced her to wear a White belt. I am aware of the fact that there is a school of thought that says that she is a White Belt in the style we teach and I should have forced her to swallow her pride and wear a White Belt in the dojo. My thoughts raced, this was a ten year old girl I was dealing with, she does not have the kind of discipline necessary to walk that path. However this was a ten year old girl and isn’t the purpose of Children’s Martial Arts training and what we do in the dojo to improve a childs self image and not to damage it. I was also aware of the problems that can be created by allowing someone to wear a Black Belt in a style that they have not trained in.

As I considered this problem I became more convinced that what the child needed to do was to step onto the road to Mastery. What both the Mom and the Child were searching for was the beginning of that road, this young child had several obstacles to overcome, but I felt that they could all be overcome while on that road. I realized that if I accepted this young girl as a student what I had to do for her was to plan a path for her to become a Master. This was truly a scary thought. I do not call myself a Master but I am a pretty good Martial Artist and I thought I could help this young girl i.e. I could help her get to Godan and beyond.

That night, I went home and wrote down what I considered to be the attributes of a Master, the list looked something like this:

·         Has an Honorable Character

·         Performs all kata in the system flawlessly

·         Has a broad and working knowledge of Martial Arts  weapons

·         Knows how to teach the Martial Arts

·         Is flawless in the execution of individual Martial Arts techniques

·         Is Humble and Kind

·         Is knowledgeable of another Martial Art than the one he/she trains in

·         Is Fearless in Combat

·         Has an excellent knowledge of Martial Arts history, and the cultural background from which his//her Martial Art  arose.

These attribute will serve to help me develop a training plan for this little girl.

The reader will be happy to know that I accepted the young girl as a student and I allowed her to wear her Black Belt in my dojo. The young girl smiled from ear to ear when I told her this news. I did sit down with both the Mother and the daughter and explained to them some of the problems we had to watch out for and some of the misunderstandings that could arise because the daughter was wearing a Black Belt earned in her previous style.

I now have the awesome task of turning a dedicated, hard working pre-teenager into a Master of the Martial Arts.

For those of you who are interested, email me in 10 years and I will let you know how I did.

January 9, 2006

Dedication

I found this letter to a Karate Sensei on the web and it was so good I thought I would share it with you. 

Dear Sensei, I wish this letter will find you in good health and your work at the dojo is still as much fun as it was when I trained with you. On this cloudy morning, I am sitting here and trying to review my Karate in the last several years and somehow i feel kind of depressed and not so hopeful when I look far in the future.

You taught us to cultivate Karate and its cultural values for guidance in our study of Karate. But so often, I feel like your and my work is treated badly by the students these days. I often see students come and go as they please, dash in the Dojo and dash out just like a McDonald. It is so different between now and the old days when even rain or shine, dawn or dark I put my gi and came to the dojo where I met lots of friends practicing. I remember training in my old Gi, which usually got torn up during practice.

 It is so different today, students are treated much better today with all of the courtesy from teachers, it doesn’t seem to me that the students appreciate what you have done for them. I certainly do since I have left the dojo and seen other schools and karate students.  It seems to me that there is something  that most of the students today them don’t have: Spirits ? Aspirations ? Something that they could make their practice alive in every thoughts and breaths. Something that could make them come to practice days or nights, rain or shine.

I have some students that have good potential, well behavior, and they absorb Karate pretty good, after all our efforts to teach and correct their techniques and etiquette. I also have some problem students. Their  parents puld them home with reasons such as : My son is so busy at school now, my son has to play piano twice a week ..etc. or they simply  left Dojo no matter how hard we try to explain or try to work out a schedule for them, or reduce their tuition. They just left, sometimes those things make me hate teaching so much, sometimes i just want to retire. When I studied with you I learned what I value and  what I appreciate. I thought the way of Karate should be calmness in our minds and bring peace to our souls but sometimes walking on this Path our minds are full of strugglings. .  I guess my point is that I should train with much more dedication. I have been training mentally for a long time. Every day I use martial arts in everything I do from opening doors to dodging people in the hallways to constructing simulations in my brain when I am bored. Morally, I follow the code of Bushido, and I meditate on a few breaths before going to bed. However, with all of my homework, web site work, and clubs, I haven’t been physically training as hard. I know this, and I can feel that my energy is disturbed. After reading that letter, I realized how lucky I was to be able to train. Any place can be a dojo. I make a personal promise to practice at least one kata every day.

What an interesting letter. It seems like some problems are universal among Karate Sensei’s. Let me end this work with a quote from Gichen Funakoshi, the founder of Karate: “You may train for a long, long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning to dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do”

January 02, 2006

Trust

I have seen many acts of courage, bravery, honesty, and  sacrifice in the dojo. I thought we would spend some time talking about a key ingredient of an honorable relationship, trust. Trust is difficult to define. It is a way of behaving, an ability to behave in such a manner that others will trust you and you will trust others. This is a crucial skill in the development of any Martial Artist. Trust is letting others know your feelings, emotions and reactions, and having the confidence in them to respect you and to not take advantage of you. Trust is sharing your inner feelings and thoughts with others with the belief that they will not spread them indiscriminately  and placing confidence in others so that they will be supportive and reinforcing of you, even if you let down your "strong'' mask and show your weaknesses. Trust is assuming that others will not intentionally hurt or abuse you if you should make an error or a mistake. Trust is the inner sense of acceptance you have of others with whom you are able to share secrets, knowing they are safe. Trust is the ability to let others into your life so that you and they can create a relationship built on an understanding of mutual respect, caring, and concern to assist one another in growing and maturing independently. Trust is opening yourself up to let others in on your background, problems, concerns, and mistakes with the assurance that they will not ostracize you because of these things. Finally, trust is the act of placing yourself in the vulnerable position of relying on others to treat you in a fair, open, and honest way.

Why do people in the dojo have trouble trusting each other? In the dojo people tend to reenact their family lives and relationships. People have trouble trusting if they have:

• Experienced a great deal of emotional and/or physical abuse and/or neglect.

• Been chronically put down for the way they feel or for what they believe.

• Been emotionally hurt in the past and are not willing to risk getting hurt in the future.

• Had problem relationships in the past where they were belittled, misunderstood, or ignored.

• Experienced the loss of a loved one through death. They can get so caught up in unresolved grief that they are unable to open themselves up to others, fearing they will be left alone again due to death, or, abandonment.

• Experienced a hostile or bitter divorce, separation, or end of a relationship. They may be unable to believe anyone who opens up to them in a new, committed relationship.

• Been reared in or have lived in an environment emotionally and/or physically unpredictable and volatile.

• Experienced a great deal of pain at the hands of another. Even if the other finally recognizes and accepts the responsibility to change such behavior, the person fears that if they let their guard down, the pain and hurt will begin again.

What are some beliefs of people who have problems trusting?

• I have been hurt too much in the past, and I refuse to be hurt again now or in the future!

• People are out to get all they can from you, so avoid them to survive!

• As soon as you let your guard down, you will be stepped on again!

• No one is to be trusted!

• You always get hurt by the ones you love!

• I get no respect from anyone!

• All men (or women) are dishonest and are never to be trusted!

• Everyone is out to get me!

• As soon as you care and open up to someone, they will always leave you!

• There is no such thing as a healthy relationship!

• You can never let your guard down because all %%##$$  will break loose!

• All reformations are short-lived!

• If I give in and believe you have truly changed, relaxing my defenses, I am most certainly going to be hurt again once you backslide!

• There is no such thing as change in behavior. It is only manipulation by others to get their way with you!

• Everyone is out to get as much as they can out of you!

• There is no such thing as a fair employer, generous company, or supportive work place!

• It is better to live alone for the rest of my life than to risk being hurt as I was!

• I will never let you know my true feelings again since, if I do open up, I'm afraid you will use them against me to hurt me!

We certainly want our students to trust each other in the dojo.

People need to develop the following behavior traits, attitudes, and beliefs in order to develop trust:

Hope in the goodness of mankind: Without such hope people can become emotionally stuck, reclusive, and isolated. Hope in goodness is a change based on the willingness to take a risk that all people are not evil, bad, or ill-willed.

Faith in the fairness of life:  This faith in fairness is similar to the ``boomerang belief,'' that what you throw out to others will come back to you eventually in life. So if people are fair, honest, or nurturing they will eventually receive similar behavior aimed back at them. Having faith in fairness is an attitude that helps people be open to others and risk being vulnerable. They believe that the person who treats them negatively will eventually ``get it in the end!'' and be punished in someway later in this life or in the next. 

Belief in a power greater than yourself: This is the acceptance of a spiritual power with greater strength, wisdom, and knowledge than you; one with a divine plan to include your experience, whatever you will encounter in life. Rather than believing that you are 100% in control of your destiny, belief in this spiritual power enables you to let go of over responsibility, guilt, and anger.

Reduction of a sense of competition: This reducing of competition, jealousy, and defensiveness with other students is a way to reduce the barriers between you and them. The lowering of these psychological barriers is essential to the movement toward development of mutual trust.

Self-disclosure of negative self-scripts: Your disclosing of your inability to feel good about yourself and your perceived lack of healthy self-esteem are essential in reducing miscommunication or misunderstanding between you and the significant others in your life. This self-disclosure reveals to the others your perspective on obstacles you believe you bring to relationships. This sheds the mask of self-defensiveness and allows the other to know you as you know yourself. It is easier to trust that which is real than that which is unreal or hidden.

Taking a risk to be open to others:  This enables you to become a real person to others. It is an essential behavior in trust-building between people because it is the establishing of the parameters of strengths and weaknesses on which you have to draw as the relationship develops.

Becoming vulnerable: This enables you to be hurt by others who know your weaknesses and strengths. This is an essential step in trust-building between people. It lays the cards on the table in a gamble that in such total self-revelation the others will accept you for who you really are rather than for who they want you to be. In order to get to full self-disclosure you must take the risk to be vulnerable to others. This is an important building block in trust development.

Letting go of fear:  Fear restricts your actions with others. Letting go frees you of behavioral constraints that can immobilize your emotional development. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of caring, fear of success, fear of being hurt, fear of the unknown, are blocks to the development of trust relationships and can impede relationship growth if not given appropriate attention and remedial action.

Self-acceptance:  Accepting who you are and what your potential is an important step in letting down your guard enough to develop a trusting relationship with others. If you are so insecure in your identity that you are unable to accept yourself first, how can you achieve the self-revelation necessary to develop trust? Self-acceptance through an active program of self-affirmation and self-love is a key to the development of trust.

Lets end all of this babbling. Trust is an essential part of every students character. We need trust in our students and we need their trust in us to guide them on their journey thru the Martial Arts. If we want our students to know how to trust we must explain to them some of the above.

December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas

On this early Christmas morning, before my whole family awakes I would like to wish all of the Karateka who have come to the dojo (Both past and present) a Merry Christmas. I would like to thank Soke Gary Wasniewski and Sifu Kathy Long and her friend Maria for coming to visit us this year and wish both of you a Merry Christmas wherever you are in the world. The students at GAMA have all discovered the secret of what commitment can bring, and I want to thank all of you for your continued kindness and support. You have my continuing promise to help educate you in the tao of Shorin Ryu.

Of everything that has been written this year, the following are my favorites and some continuing advice for 2006:

As a Sensei I have the opportunity to work with and advise a lot of young people. What I have discovered is that many young people are wrestling with the same problems and that many of them have absolutely no help or guidance in how to deal with these problems. What follows are my observations on some of the problems I have seen these fragile things we call young people struggling with and some suggested courses of action for dealing with these problems:

Depression: If you are depressed remember that within you is a spark of good struggling to get out, and all you have to do is provide it a path to the outside world. I have yet to meet a young man or woman, no matter how depressed they are, that does not have great potential for adding value to and doing great good in the world. If you are depressed, remember that a human being is defined by their actions and not by their history, go out and do something good for someone so that you may learn how truly good you can be. 

Loneliness:  There are many people just like you in your life just looking for a friend. Go out and find them. Trust someone whom you have no reason to trust and they will be astounded by the gift you have given them.

Uncertainty:  When faced with uncertainty, it always helps to keep a long term view of your goals. Where do you want to be 10-20 years from now. Write down the pro’s and con’s of all of the paths you are considering and pick the one which has the best chance of helping you achieve your goals.

Failure: Don’t be afraid to fail (Except in your schoolwork). Some of the best people I know have failed and tasks they have undertaken. In the Pentagon we had a saying, “Sometimes the Dragon Wins”. If you fail at something it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person, it just means that you weren’t ready to undertake that task. Seek advice from your elders because they have a broader experience base than you do. This means talk to your parents. Go back and understand why you failed, correct the problem, and then try again.

Money: The old saying that “Money doesn’t buy Happiness” is worth remembering. Some of the happiest people I have known have also been the poorest people I have known. If you need money work and save for it. Develop a marketable skill and go out and market that skill. Happiness doesn’t come from having a lot of money, happiness comes from having balance in your life. This means that you have enough money to pay your rent but you may not have enough money to buy a new car every year.  

Success: I am amazed at the number of times I hear questions like “How do I get a lot of money?” or “How do I get a good job?” or “How do I get to be powerful?”  The answer to these questions is all of the things that we teach in the martial arts. Be strong, work hard, prepare, do you homework, and train. People are successful because those in a position to make you successful trust you. Building success is like building a good kata, it must be done move by move a little bit at a time and under the guidance of an expert instructor. This means that the trust of those around you is a crucial ingredient in anyone’s drive to be successful. This is also the reason that trust is such an important ingredient of anyone’s life. .

Doing Good: It is never easy to do good, in fact, in our society,  we have a kind of derogatory term for someone who does good, we call them a “do gooder”. There is tremendous pressure brought against young people to obey these societal norms. Since many young people see themselves as a reflection of what society thinks of them these kinds of pressures can be very effective in discouraging young people from doing something they think is right. Remember, as a martial artist you are a entity in your own right. You can do good and stand for good no matter what anyone else says. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to other people, but if you believe something needs doing then you should go ahead and do it.

Well, that’s the best I can provide. You might call it life in a nutshell. Why do we as Martial Artist care about these things, because if we are true warriors like the old Samauri we believe in the old Samauri code which means that we must struggle to make something with our lives and to uphold a standard which others can strive to live up to. Remember, every minute of our lives we must strive to live up to the warrior’s code. This is the truly difficult task that all true warriors must undertake. 

December 12, 2005

Our Way

I guess the end of the year is a time to reflect on what we have accomplished in the dojo this year and what we have to look forward to next year. Here are my thoughts on these subjects.

We have had a wonderful year. We had a fun filled field trip to the Chinese New Years Celebrations held in Washington DC this year, we performed at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC and we had several GAMA students riding on floats in the Cherry  Blossom parade held in Washington DC this year.  Several GAMA students also performed at the Kennedy Center during the year. All of this was supported by my good friend Sensei Shizumi Manale, an amazingly talented woman who helps us train in Martial Dance. We made contact with the movie industry this year and we continue to receive opportunities for GAMA students to audition for rolls in various upcoming Martial Arts movies. I would be remiss if I did not mention that Sensei Manale had the opportunity to audtion for the lead roll in the upcoming movie Memoirs of a Geisha. We have had seminars from world class Martial Artists like Soke Gary Washniewski and Sifu Kathy Long. Both Soke Gary and Sifu Kathy  have contributed greatly to the growth and professionalism of the students in our dojo and I want to thank them both for their willingness to share their time and expertise with us. We have promoted students to Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, and Yondan ranks in Rank Promotion Tests this past year along with countless numbers of underbelt promotions, all of these students have learned and grown in their association with the GAMA dojo. We had a wonderful time at The Eastern USA Interntional Martial Arts Association (EUSAIMAA) Black Belt Hall of Fame Banquet held in Pittsburgh this year and several GAMA students received awards for their achievements in the Martial Arts during this banquet. Finally, we had a wonderful Christmas Party with a Harpist who provided us with beautiful music, a magician who kept all of the children entertained for nearly the whole party, and many parents who provided a wonderful array of delicious food and proved again what good cooks we have associated with the GAMA dojo.

Predictions for 2006? I expect that we will again have a field trip to the Chinese New Years celebrations in Washington DC in addition to several other field trips that we have planned to dojo’s in the Washington DC area this year. We are starting a new Judo class at the GAMA dojo this year which I expect will bring in several new students to the dojo and provide an opportunity for our existing students to broaden their Martial Arts training. I expect that we will actively participate with Sensei Shizumi Manale in performing at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC and at other sites in the Washington DC area.. We expect Soke Gary and Sifu Kathy to come and visit us again and we are planning to do some Martial Arts training with the United States Marine Corps at the Quantico Marine Base located near Washington DC. I expect that there will be no shortage of Black Belt tests in 2006 and that we will again test students for the ranks of Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, and Yondan. The GAMA dojo has already been invited to attend the EUSAIMAA banquet in Pittsburgh again in 2006 and it looks like I will have the very difficult task of nominating people to attend this banquet in 2006. In addition to all of this, the dojo has several friends who have informed me that they would like to come to the dojo and teach some seminars in 2006 such as Tony Temario to teach Advanced Hand to Hand Combat techniques, and Sensei Charles to teach Shorin Ryu applications and Bunkai. I also think we need to do some more for the little ones, maybe a new overnight sleepover at the dojo in 2006. This would provide the little ones a new activity in 2006.As you can see, 2006 promises to be an exciting year for training at the GAMA dojo.

I am always sensitive to what happens in our dojo. We teach people how to strike things and somewhere along the way they pick up an understanding of the idea of why to strike things. This is called the way or the Tao (pronounced dow) in Chinese. The Tao soon becomes more important to the students progress than the individual Karate techniques. This question of what is the Tao we teach at GAMA is one I concern myself with a lot:      

Our Way is:

Honor

Integrity

Character

Truthfulness

Kindness

Friendship

Assistance

Commitment

Achievement

Trying to make sure that GAMA students have all of these attributes continues to be both a challenging and rewarding endeavor.

November 28, 2005

Life Changing Events

I attended my son’s wedding last night. It was a beautiful event and went well and everyone was happy but I couldn’t help but think while I was sitting in the audience , what a life changing event this will be for my son. Do we have life changing events occurring in our dojo’s? Of course we do. We have Martial Arts “Weddings” occurring every day in our dojo’s, just as unfortunately we have Martial Arts “Divorces” occurring all to frequently in our dojo’s also. As Sensei’s, our job is to create as many Martial Arts Weddings as possible and to try to hold down the number of Martial Arts Divorces that take place in our dojo’s. Lets talk about this a little more.

What happens in our dojo’s to create a Martial Arts divorce? With young people it seems to be more related to the fact that Children are not masters of their own destiny. It is the parents who stop bringing the children to the dojo to train because they are more interested in seeing their child achieve in Soccer, Baseball, Football, etc. What I think needs to be done to combat this is to continually make parents aware of what the Martial Arts can do for their child. Parents will stop at nothing to acquire protection for their child from medical problems, yet they sometimes seem to forget that the Martial Arts can protect and fortify their child during their school years when they tend to receive a lot of not very good pressures.

Young Adults tend to become wrapped up in their own lives at the expense of their Martial Arts training. They do silly thing like leaving the dojo, stop training, develop personality conflicts with others in the dojo, fall in love, etc. I know, how can I possibly say “don’t fall in love”. Love is a wonderful thing, but it can be very detrimental to your Martial Arts training. What we need to do as Sensei’s to combat all of this is to continually remind our students that they can’t make others happy if they can’t be happy. This means that each student must leave their personal lives and the door of the dojo and not let them affect their training. It also means that each student must make time in their lives for their Martial Arts training for themselves in their path in life. We as Sensei’s don’t think much about students leaving the dojo, but it happens, I have had several students whom I though highly of, leave the dojo and I would tell them all show the courage to walk thru the door of our dojo and say “ I want to train” and you will be welcome.

As for the 40 an over crowd, I hear a lot of lack of confidence when I talk to these people. We must continually remind them that old age is a time to try new things if we want to stay young and that Martial Arts training can keep you strong late in your life when you will want to be strong. The idea that you have to become crippled and infirmed as you get older is an American idea, it is certainly not widely held in many countries of the world. .

What happens in our dojo’s to create a Martial Arts wedding? Think back to what made you decide to pursue a career in the Martial Arts. Was it friendship? Was it power , a sort of feeling like  I’m king of the world and nobody can defeat me, was it the realization that you had discovered how to use and care for your body efficiently, or was it something else. There are many events in a dojo which can initiate a change in our lives, I will suggest that a few of them are Rank Promotion Tests, Black Belt Examinations, Awards Recognition, and Breaking Seminars.

One of the events in the dojo that catalyzes this desire to change the path our life is on is the Rank Promotion Test. There are multiple views of the purpose of a Rank Promotion Test. One view of the Rank Promotion test is that it is just that, a certification of skills already acquired by the student. I think this is a very narrow view of how to use a Rank Promotion test. I tend to view the Rank Promotion test as a tool to improve the student. This doesn’t mean that I advocate giving away Martial Arts ranks, but new rank can motivate a student to improve their skills i.e if you make someone a Green Belt who is still performing at the Yellow Belt level will they now start working at the Green Belt level? I have seen that happen many times, especially with young people. When you promote someone they tend to realize that more is expected of them at their new rank so they work harder and perform better. Am I advocating giving away rank promotions, of course not, but the purpose of a Martial Arts Rank Promotion must be for the student if Martial Arts Rank has any meaning at all. That means that individual Rank Promotions must be considered by the Master of the dojo on a case by case basis if they are to become valuable to a student. If the student is a 6 year old Yellow Belt who is working hard and wants to be a Green Belt yet lack some of the physical skills of a Green Belt, it may be worthwhile to promote the child to Green Belt in order to be able to hold them to a higher standard of performance. If the student is a Shodan struggling to become a Nidan or a Sandan struggling for their next Rank Promotion, it may worthwhile to promote them to hold them to a higher standard. Certainly these promotions can become life changing events for the students. 

Now lets talk about Black Belt Examinations. Black Belt examinations are the one place where it is absolutely necessary that the student is ready to be promoted to a Black Belt i.e. they have both the physical, emotional, and mental skills necessary to be a good Black Belt.. Black Belt examinations certainly have the potential to become both a Martial Arts “wedding” and a Martial Arts “divorce”. What do we expect of a person who passes a Black Belt examination. To be able to take a beating and get knocked unconscious? Most of us, including myself can do that, however that doesn’t take much skill. Nothing we teach our students will make them invulnerable, however I would like to know that a student can defend themselves pretty well. I would like to see some skill in the execution of Karate techniques and some commitment to continued Martial Arts training by the student. I would also like to see some character in the student. This is once of the reasons we make the Black Belt test such a physically demanding test. Now when a student goes thru this process, they suddenly realize what they have become and what they can do. This helps make the Martial Arts Wedding occur.  

There is a commonly held view that awards or recognition in the Martial Arts is gained by defeating other opponents. But should not a student who make great progress in the Martial Arts, or a student who shows real dedication to the Martial Arts, or a student who masters and extremely difficult Martial skill be recognized and rewarded. If we want to change the course of their lives the answer to this question is yes. I had a young woman who was 14 years old sit next to me at the EUSAIMAA Hall of Fame Banquet in Pittsburgh this year. She had never received a Martial Arts award and when she received her award I could see that she continued to run her finger around the edges of the award and to stare at it. It was clear that this award had changed the course of this little girls life.

If you watch a student’s face who successfully breaks their first board you will see that they suddenly realize the power they possess. This realization can be a life changing event. I have had students tell me that they became serious Martial Artist’s when they realized what they had accomplished at their first breaking seminar.

Weddings and Divorces, we often don’t associate them with the Martial Arts but they happen all the time in our dojo’s. What we as Sensei’s must strive for is to put in that little extra effort that will make more weddings happen.

October 31, 2005

Humility

If an opponent executed a very hard lung punch at you while you were engaged in Kumite most of you would have no problem at all giving ground and stepping to the side and redirecting the punch past you. Yet if you are engaged in a disagreement with someone whom is important to you it seems like giving ground is a much harder thing to do. In fact, in our culture, giving ground in a disagreement would most of the times be considered a sign of weakness. This is certainly not true in the Martial Arts as anyone who is an experienced fighter knows.

The consequences of not learning to give ground in a disagreement can be disastrous. They can range from loss of friendships, loss of money, loss of opportunity, loss of a job, and loss of life. Most Martial Artist I know would not like any of these things to happen in their lives but sadly to say most of these same Martial Artist would not ever give ground in a disagreement.

The types of disagreement that seem to cause the most problems are ones that are based on long held perceptions. We have all seen this type of a situation, one person is clearly thinking “ So and so is a no good for nothing wombat and I am never going to talk to him/her again. “ .The truth of the matter is that so and so is probably an ok person, they just believe differently than you do. If you are engaged in conflict, you must try to search for the real causes of the conflict and alleviate them if you want to manage the conflict. Sometimes these cause are not at all obvious i.e. someone want to change the path of their life. Is it easy to change our path in life? The answer is no, and not just no a resounding no! This need to change the path of a persons life may be the underlying cause of many conflicts in a persons life. This happens to Martial Artist a lot because studying the Martial Arts tends to make us smarter about the path our life is on and this sometimes leads to wanting to change that path. Remember that the real cause of conflict in our life may not at all be obvious to us.

Why then is it so hard to give ground in a conflict? I think one of the answers is lack of confidence. We don’t give ground because people will perceive us as weak. The truth of the matter is that humility is never weak. It takes a very strong person to be humble. If we cannot be humble we are not true Martial Artist. We give ground to accomplish an objective i.e. redirecting a punch. Those who perceive us as weak simply do not recognize the strategy involved. Remember that when Alexander the Great conquered a land the first thing he did was to have his soldiers marry the inhabitants and form families in the land. This was his way of giving ground.

Lets talk a little more about humility. Humility is an approach to life that says "I don't have all the answers and I want your contribution." For some Sensei’s, that is no problem, for other Sensei’s being humble seems to be a difficult task.
Humility is not taught in management courses or many leadership courses, for that matter. And you can understand why. Organizations want their leaders to be visionary, authoritative, capable and motivational. Nowhere does it say anything about being "humble."  Still, most successful Sensei’s  understand that a sense of humility is essential to winning hearts and minds of students. Humility is a visible demonstration of concern and compassion, as well as authenticity. Sensei’s who are to be followed must be leaders who understand the human condition, especially their own. Those of us in authority who are blind to our inner selves are likely to do stupid things, like invade Russia (Napoleon), invade France and Russia (Hitler) and invade Kuwait (Saddam).

We have biblical admonitions which recognize the importance of being humble,

• "…And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

•  "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.." James 4:10

If no less important people than the authors of the Christian Bible say we should be humble I am inclined to listen to their advice.

Humility is an essential ingredient of the character of any good Martial Artist. All good Martial Artist work to improve flaws in their character. That doesn’t mean that practicing humility is easy. But most of us who have trained in the Martial Arts are use to doing hard things. Here are some guidelines which may help you improve your view of humility and help you learn to be humble.

• Take wrong patiently.

• Actively submit to authority…the good and the bad!

• Receive correction and feedback from others graciously

• Under all conditions, be positive.

• Help and Serve others.

• Be quick to forgive.

• Speak well of others.

October 17, 2005

Doing Good

Why should we do good in our lives? We have a biblical admonition to “do onto others as you would have them do onto you” or as some of my former associates use to say “do onto others before they do onto you”. While all of these admonitions and their variations may be humorous they often don’t give very articulate guidance as to why one should do good. The short answer to this question is that you are what you do. Most of us think of ourselves as “Good” yet if you don’t do good you will have difficulty being good. This kind of guidance needs to be talked about especially since doing good can be so hard to accomplish in our world today.

To articulate an answer to this question I think we first need to understand who we are. Are we a young person whose parents have treated badly and you have become angry about the unjustness of your life. I have met young people whom this description fits pretty well. The ones I know in our dojo who meet this description have sterling characters, hearts of gold, and are amazingly intelligent. Yes, they have suffered unjustly, but they have emerged from this suffering with a renewed appreciation for what is valuable in life and how they can make others lives more valuable, so it seems to me that these  problems have made these students stronger and better individuals. Why do good people suffer unjustly? I don’t know if I am smart enough to answer that question, I just know that sometimes it happens and the people who emerge from the process are  stronger and better. Some of us it seems have to follow the way of the warrior early in life. It is never easy, but it can be done. 

Are you a young man or woman trying to find your path in life? You will most  assuredly find a path for yourself. The biggest obstacle  to finding your path in life is fear. Like the old sailors use to say “Don’t be afraid of the wind in your sails”. If a path seems right for you then it probably is right for you. If you run across obstacles on the path you choose you have friends in your life who will help you overcome those obstacles. This is one reason why friends are so important in our lives, they can help us deal with those unexpected events which pop up in everyone’s life. The secret here is commitment, if you think a path is right for you then commit to it and it will become right for you. Don’t be afraid of loss or failure, like Yoda said, “Fear of Loss is a path to the Dark Side”.

If you are an adult (that means someone over 40) don’t give up on achievement. Because you are becoming older does not mean that you can’t achieve. Yes, your body is wearing out but achievement has very little to do with the state of your body, it has more to do with the state of your mind. Concepts like discipline, hard work, innovation, should not be abandoned with age, they should be embraced with a renewed commitment. The search for a path at this age is a good news/bad news story. The good news is that you are never to old to do something new. The bad news is that you can get so old that you stop trying. Life is about having energy to try something new at any time in our life.

So we are back to the question of “Why do good?”  Let me try to answer that with another question, why does an artist paint a beautiful picture? To be famous?, I don’t think so, most artist I know don’t become famous until after their death. To make lots of money?, how many artist do you know that are rich? I think the artist paints a beautiful picture because they realize that a person is defined by their actions not their words and they are trying hard to bring beauty into the world.

Each of us, no matter what our status in life has the ability to bring beauty into the world. We become what we do. We make a choice to help others, or not to help others, to bring beauty into the world or to bring unhappiness into the world, to create or to destroy.

We do good because it is our chance to make ourselves immortal, we do good because that is what we are, or what we want to become. We all only have one chance to walk this earth. When we leave it our destiny will be what we have done with our lives. When people ask about you, they won’t ask about how you died, they will ask about  how you lived.  

September 26, 2005

Some Advice to a Young Person

Sitting in the George W. Bush airport in Houston Texas trying to catch an airplane back to Washington DC to dodge the onrushing hurricane Rita was a scary activity. I was applying a good martial arts strategy, I couldn’t stop this hurricane so I was getting ready to duck although I have to admit that I had visions of missing my plane and me being blown about by a hurricane as I tried to return to my hotel room.

About 3-4 years ago I made a startling discovery. I looked in the mirror in my house and the man looking back at me was not a young struggling graduate student, nor was he the young tough Marine I had been and he was not the successful scientist or engineer that I had become, but what looked back at me was a slightly overweight old man. Now I am not complaining, I have a wonderful wife and son both of whom have provided me with rich rewards in my life and my life has been very good to me. However, before I start looking like Moses in the movie “The Ten Commandments” I thought I would try to put on paper some of the things I have learned that have proven valuable over the years so that others may use this information..

As a Sensei I have the opportunity to work with and advise a lot of young people. What I have discovered is that many young people are wrestling with the same problems and that many of them have absolutely no help or guidance in how to deal with these problems. What follows are my observations on some of the problems I have seen these fragile things we call young people struggling with and some suggested courses of action for dealing with these problems:

Depression: If you are depressed remember that within you is a spark of good struggling to get out, and all you have to do is provide it a path to the outside world. I have yet to meet a young man or woman, no matter how depressed they are, that does not have great potential for adding value to and doing great good in the world. If you are depressed, remember that a human being is defined by their actions and not by their history, go out and do something good for someone so that you may learn how truly good you can be. 

Loneliness:  There are many people just like you in your life just looking for a friend. Go out and find them. Trust someone whom you have no reason to trust and  they will be astounded by the gift you have given them.

Uncertainty:  When faced with uncertainty, it always helps to keep a long term view of your goals. Where do you want to be 10-20 years from now. Write down the pro’s and con’s of all of the paths you are considering and pick the one which has the best chance of helping you achieve your goals.

Failure: Don’t be afraid to fail(Except in your schoolwork). Some of the best people I know have failed and tasks they have undertaken. In the Pentagon we had a saying, “Sometimes the Dragon Wins”. If you fail at something it doesn’t mean that you are a bad person, it just means that you weren’t ready to undertake that task. Seek advice from your elders because they have a broader experience base than you do. This means talk to your parents. Go back and understand why you failed, correct the problem, and then try again.

Money: The old saying that “Money doesn’t buy Happiness” is worth remembering. Some of the happiest people I have known have also been the poorest people I have known. If you need money work and save for it. Develop a marketable skill and go out and market that skill. Happiness doesn’t come from having a lot of money, happiness comes from having balance in your life. This means that you have enough money to pay your rent but you may not have enough money to buy a new car every year.  

Success: I am amazed at the number of times I hear questions like “How do I get a lot of money?” or “How do I get a good job?” or “How do I get to be powerful?”  The answer to these questions is all of the things that we teach in the martial arts. Be strong, work hard, prepare, do you homework, and train. People are successful because those in a position to make you successful trust you. Building success is like building a good kata, it must be done move by move a little bit at a time and under the guidance of an expert instructor. This means that the trust of those around you is a crucial ingredient in anyone’s drive to be successful. This is also the reason that trust is such an important ingredient of anyone’s life. .

Doing Good: It is never easy to do good, in fact, in our society,  we have a kind of derogatory term for someone who does good, we call them a “do gooder”. There is tremendous pressure brought against young people to obey these societal norms. Since many young people see themselves as a reflection of what society thinks of them these kinds of pressures can be very effective in discouraging young people from doing something they think is right. Remember, as a martial artist you are a entity in your own right. You can do good and stand for good no matter what anyone else says. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen to other people, but if you believe something needs doing then you should go ahead and do it.

Well, that’s the best I can provide. You might call it life in a nutshell. Why do we as Martial Artist care about these things, because if we are true warriors like the old Samauri we believe in the old Samauri code which means that we must struggle to make something with our lives and to uphold a standard which others can strive to live up to. Remember, every minute of our lives we must strive to live up to the warrior’s code. This is the truly difficult task that all true warriors must undertake. 

August 29, 2005

The Paths We Choose

I had the pleasure of attending a seminar this week given by my good friend Kathy Long. Kathy is an outstanding example of what a Martial Artist can become, I hope someday to be able to reach the standard she has set in the Martial Arts.

Do the personal lives of students affect their Karate training? Of course they do, if your personal life is a mess then your Karate training life will be a mess. This is why Sensei’s have such a big impact on the lives of their students. The students know that their personal life is intertwined with their karate training and if their karate training is going well there is a natural temptation to apply to the students personal life those same rules that worked in the students Karate life.

This is a dangerous area for Sensei’s to tread but an easy area to get pulled into. All of us as Sensei’s care about our students. If we didn’t care about our students we wouldn’t be an effective Sensei. What to do when students come to class inebriated, or high on drugs, or simply take actions which you know will land them in divorce court, are questions that we will all face eventually as Sensei’s. Most of us are not trained as marriage counselors, or behavioral psychologist, or child psychologist, or what ever else it takes to solve the personal problems of our students and in our dealings with our students we should remember this.

Does this mean we as Sensei’s can’t or shouldn’t care about our students. I don’t think so, we just have to remember to caveat any advice we give a student that they might use in their personal lives. I have had cold and impersonal Sensei’s and frankly I didn’t like training with them. I believe that there is a path which starts with kindness and nurturing and ends with the development of combat skills and a Black Belt test. Once the students completes their Black Belt test they step onto a new path.  Do we as Sensei’s have a right to ask for good behavior in other parts of a students life. Of course we do, I would say that we not only have the right to ask for good behavior but we should demand it. I do not want a student in my dojo who lies, cheats, or steals. This type of moral behavior is infectious, it is a disease that will sweep thru your dojo and ruin years of hard work spent building the character of other students. This type of student is unable to respect themselves, the knowledge you provide them, the other students, and worst of all they will be seen by others as an example of the type of person one becomes if they train for their Black Belt in the Martial Arts. When a student starts lying to you as a Sensei or starts showing you disrespect it is time to show them the door to your dojo and tell them to close it on the way out.

How some students can manage their lives so poorly and do well in the Martial Arts has always amazed me. I think this happens because of a problem in lack of communication and understanding, in the student with them self i.e. a student does not know them self. The results of this lack of knowledge are sometimes sad to see however we as Sensei’s must always remember that a student has the right to blow up their personal life on their own and that we can only help if we are invited in. How do we teach a student to see the correct path for them? I think we must make a clear and strong signal that we as Sensei’s expect them to train hard, to help others, to donate their time to the dojo, to stand for something among their friends, and to never compromise their honor.

Martial Arts training has a reputation as being a pathway to something valuable and when students are engaged in doing something silly we need to struggle to make sure that this pathway is still visible to them. When people get into problems or have trouble in their lives they will look to their Martial arts training to provide them a path way out of the trouble they find themselves in. This means that we must ensure that the actions we advocate for our students are the correct ones for their lives. This also means that we must ensure that the students understands no matter how badly they have fallen that they are always welcome in the dojo.

As Sensei’s we all want students who make the right choices. We want students who help others, who teach children, who train hard, and whose character is above reproach. In order to get this type of student we must work with our students, we must be patient and forgiving, and yet be demanding. If this sounds like a hard job, remember, a person who can do all of these things is called a Sensei.

August 8, 2005

The Mind-Body Connection

This is a subject that I have wanted to talk about for a long time. Because I recently had a discussion with my good friend Caity about this subject and I also saw a great example of the mind-body connection at work I have been spurred to write about it.. I have always wondered about the effect hypnotism would have on Karate performance i.e suppose I hypnotized you and told you that you could kick like Bruce Lee when you woke up. Would you in fact kick like Bruce Lee when you woke up or would you just break some parts trying to push you body to do something that it was not designed to do? I guess the truth is I do not know the answer to this question.

This may seem like a trivial question but I think we as Martial Artist care a lot about what the mind can do to the body. Let me explain. I recently conducted a Rank Promotion test in my dojo. I had three teenage girls testing for the ranks of first and second degree Brown Belt. As part of this test I required that these girls all engage in 5-8 rounds of Kumite (fighting). The girls were all worried about their ability to withstand the rigors of 8 rounds of Kumite. I guess to be more articulate I should say that the girls were all worried about the state of their physical conditioning and their ability to withstand the battering that Kumite sometimes brings.

Because I knew the girls were worried about their Kumite I gathered them together before that test and told  them as a group “This test is not about fighting, its not about pain, or getting hit, it is about mastering yourself. You have to give your will away, no one can take that from you. This test is about showing how well you have mastered your ability to work in an extremely difficult environment”. Guess what, the girls all fought their 5-8 rounds ferociously and they all looked like excellent fighters during the process. One of the comments I heard later about the test was that you could see that each of the girls hit a difficult spot during the Kumite and then they overcame it. I attribute their ability to overcome their difficult spots in Kumite to their determination to demonstrate their Mastery of themselves.

Do we as Martial Artist believe that the mind plays any part in our ability to fight? I know I do. If this is the case then we must ask ourselves what do we do to train the mind?  As we all know, the Martial Arts integrates the mind and body like nothing else in existence. I think the answer to this question lies in what type of mind we want to see in the student.

Let me demonstrate by giving the example below:

The Good Mind                                 The Bad Mind

Disciplined                                          Undisciplined

Determined                                         Confused

Character                                             Characterless

Honor                                                  Honorless

Compassionate                                                Cruel

Kind                                                    Mean

Good Attitude                                                Bad Attitude

Humility                                              Arrogance

It is noticeable that several attributes of the bad mind are definable as lack of attributes of the good mind. It seems to me that if we think disciplined, determined, character, honor, compassionate, kind, a good attitude, and humility are attributes of a good mine we must train the mind to have these attribute. That means that we must have exercises or drills that we can run the students thru to train these attribute. It is not necessary that these drills be painless, but it probably is necessary that these drills don’t damage the students to badly. Damaged students have a hard time paying their tuition. Is it necessary to damage a student to teach them a good attitude? Or to teach them discipline? Or Character? How many of us practice drills in our dojo’s with the intent of improving the students skills in these area’s.

I believe that all of these attributes can be taught in ways that the student enjoys. For instance, to teach a good attitude we have the students stand in front of the mirrors and growl at themselves an make mean faces at themselves. The students all get a good laugh out of this at first but they all understand the seriousness of being able to look intimidating during a fight, To teach kindness and humility we ask each student to spend some time teaching the very young children in the dojo so they learn how skilled they are and how the world looks to someone who is not as skilled as they are.

All of the mental and emotional attributes that our students will need to be great Martial Artist and great people and all of the attributes we want in our students minds can be put there by one word, EDUCATION. That is after all, the business that we as Sensei’s are in. All that we must do is make sure that we don’t ignore this part of our students education.

July 25, 2005

A Karate Field Trip

The night was black. It was a dark and stormy night and three weary travelers sought shelter from the storm. The weather was truly frightening. There were sheets of rain so hard that you couldn’t see the road. The young lady driving gripped the steering wheel so hard I thought she was going to leave her fingerprints in the steering wheel. The young man in the back seat who was normally a very talkative young man was quiet. As the third passenger in the car I don’t mind telling you that I was just a little bit nervous myself. Although I was comforted by the excellent job of driving that my student was doing. The tension in the air in the car was almost palatable.

The night had started innocently enough. We had gathered at the dojo to attend an athletic event. We were all excited about seeing the athletes compete. We reached the open air stadium and found our seats without any problem. Our first hint that the night would be different was when the sky blackened over us and the rain started to fall. All three of us sat in our seats in the middle of the driving rain like little frogs on water lilies.

Suddenly the announcer came on and announced that the athletic competition was being put on hold because of the rain. I thought this was a pretty good idea, we were surrounded by high metal poles with banks of lights on them and I could imagine lighting striking one of the poles and frying us all like hamburgers.

As we moved thru the stadium after the announcement I became concerned for the safety of my young charges. They were well able to care for themselves but still there were ten thousand other people moving in the direction we were going and they all wanted to get there in a hurry because of the rain. I gathered my young students together and we slipped and slid up the stairs of the stadium until we found shelter from the rain.

As we waited for the rain the cease, one of my students informed me that she needed to use the restroom. This is generally not a hard request to accommodate but there were about half of the ten thousand people in the stadium between us and the woman’s restroom. I said ok, for safety I will go with you. My young student slipped thru the crowd like a hot knife thru butter. I had trouble keeping up with her. In fact I remember thinking, gee she has been trained pretty well, she used her elbows and ducked and dodged her way right thru the crowd.

As we returned to our shelter from the rain the announcer came back on and told the crowd that the remainder of the athletic event was being postponed because of the rain. As a consolation prize some of the athletes came out to talk with members of the audience. My young students of course wanted their pictures taken with these athletes. My students surged with the rest of the crowd to where the athletes were giving interviews. I was concerned again for the safety of my students in this mob so I surged with them to where the athletes were giving the interviews.

The crowd at the interview scene was scary. They were packed together so tightly that it was difficult to get thru. One of the athletes, a very muscular gentleman asked my student if she wanted her picture taken. You could see my student light up at this request. We managed to get a picture of her with this athlete and I am sure that we will have to make her an 8x11 copy of this photograph and post it in the dojo.

As we made our way out of the stadium towards the parking lot the crowd was clearly unhappy and I was very sensitive to the danger that an angry mob could generate. It was one of the few times I have felt truly helpless to protect someone in my care if something went wrong.

Fortunately, we reached the parking lot and our car safely after a trek thru a muddy field. We were all cold and soaked and we were happy to see something familiar again. It was also fortunate that we reached the car because it started raining again just as we arrived at the car.

The parking lot was jammed with people and cars trying to leave the athletic event but the young lady driving deftly maneuvered her car thru the crowd. Because of the crowd and my poor directions, we ended up taking a turn onto a road that was incorrect to get us back to the dojo. I wasn’t to worried because I knew the area very well and I figured we will just find a round about way back to the dojo.

The rain increased in strength an ferocity as we drove towards the dojo. The driving became truly difficult and treacherous. The young lady driving did an excellent job in these very difficult circumstances.

As we headed toward the dojo, I thought what an exciting trip it was. It was dangerous, difficult, interesting, and we had it all under control. I could feel the tension in the car and I pointed out what an adventure this was to the students in an attempt to lighten the mood. I could sense the nervousness of the students when all I heard from the back seat was “Be quiet, Sensei”.

We finally reached the dojo safely late that evening and everyone distributed themselves to their own cars. After making sure everyone could get home safely I left the dojo and drove home myself.

When I reached home I changed out of my wet clothes and reflected about the evenings events over a glass of orange juice. What a wonderful time we had. It was exciting even a little dangerous at times, we got to see the real world in action, we met some star athletes, and my students had a good time and made some friends. This was and experience that these students would remember all of their lives. The students learned that they could work and function in an environment in which they couldn’t control everything that was happening. All in all, I think the students experienced a lot of things that were important in building their Martial Arts confidence. 

July 18, 2005

The Rank Promotion Test

Why do people step into a Dojo and take up the study of the Martial Arts? I am not looking for a politically correct answer or a good answer to this question but what is the real answer i.e. what motivates people to take up the study of the Martial Arts. When you ask this question to the students one of the answer’s you get, is to achieve the rank of Black Belt.

If this is in fact a true answer, then one of the goals that most people who enter a Martial Arts school have is to pass a series of Rank Promotion Tests. This fact gives all of us who teach the Martial Arts a tool to influence the growth of all of our students.

No one would deny I think, that the Master of a school has the authority to promote whomever he or she chooses. In fact one of the rules of thumb that I have heard is that anyone can promote a student to one rank less than their rank. Now I have never seen a Green Belt promote a Yellow Belt, or a Brown Belt promote a Blue Belt. It seems like the cultural wisdom in most Martial Arts schools is that it takes a Black Belt to promote anyone. So, according to this wisdom, a Shodan(1^st degree Black Belt) could not promote a student to the rank of Shodan, but he or she could promote a student to the rank of Ei-Kyu(1st degree Brown Belt). Now of course, this cultural rule would allow a Nidan (2^nd degree Black Belt) to promote student to the rank of Shodaan, and a Sandan (3^rd degree Black Belt) to promote someone to the rank of Nidan, etc.

There also doesn’t seem to be much consistency in who has the authority to promote someone to the rank of Shodan. If a student puts on a Black Belt and declares himself or herself to be a Shodan, most Martial Artist I know would not approve of that action. However something that has happened throughout the history of the Martial Arts and is commonly accepted, is that a student or a budding Sensei declares themselve to be a Judan (10^th degree Black Belt) in his or her own style and presents students with high Dan rankings. This type of behavior seems to be commonly accepted in the Martial Arts culture as it exist currently. The term for a person who founds Martial Arts style is “Soke”. There does not appear to be any consensus on the requirements for being a Soke. One can found a style with two students or two thousand students and most Martial Artist would still call this person a Soke. It would seem at this point that current Martial Arts culture would leave the choice of a Soke with two students or a Soke with two thousand students up to the discretion of the individual student.

 Another factor adding to the confusion of the poor Martial Arts student is a lack of any guidance on how to evaluate a Sensei.. The idea that “My Sensei can beat up your Sensei” would be called childish by most individuals, yet that is exactly the criterion that many Martial Artist promote in the current Martial Arts Culture. Most students don’t pay a Sensei to beat up another Sensei, they pay a Sensei to transfer his or her knowledge to them.

The poor student enters a Dojo with the ambition of achieving the rank of Shodan (1^st degree Black Belt). However the student has no idea of how to accomplish this task or what will be required of him or her. The Sensei may test students for rank once a month (As in my dojo), or the Sensei may test the students for rank once a year (This occurs in many dojos) . The actually rank promotion test may be very harsh ( I have seen students beaten unconscious at rank promotion test) or the rank promotion test may consist of the Sensei simply asking the student to perform a series of tasks and awarding the student a rank promotion after the student completes those tasks. Both of these approaches are commonly accepted in the Martial Arts culture of today. If you are a student and happen to select a dojo where the rank promotion tests are very harsh you will be asked to endure them in order to be awarded your Black Belt. .

Do any of these factors make a difference in the quality of the Martial Artist that is turned out by the school? I think I would have to say no to that question, what seems to make a difference in quality is the amount of time the Sensei spends with the individual students i.e. a Martial Arts education is not unlike any other education, to become educated your teacher must interact with you. Unfortunately, most beginning students have no way of asking a question like “ How much will you interact with me”  when they enter a dojo.  This interaction does not seem to need to be evenly spread out as one progresses thru their Martial Arts career. If you are a White belt, most good students can teach you White belt forms and exercises. However, if you are a Brown Belt preparing to test for the rank of Black Belt, you probably need the individual attention of your Sensei.

If, as Sensei’s, we pay attention to these factors, our dojo’s will tend to produce good Black Belt’s.  I had one young man train with me from the age of six and he is now 21. He left the dojo to join a rock band but he still practices his kata while he is on tour and he still stops by the dojo when he is in town. . I had a young woman train with me for five years. She left the dojo within a year of achieving her Shodan rank to train with another Sensei.  She was an excellent Martial Artist and my last information regarding her was that she was still actively training in the Martial arts. I have many mothers in the dojo who have suffered cuts and broken bones yet still come to the dojo to train. Their dedication is a tribute to the Martial Arts.  

I think we miss a golden opportunity to help train the student if we make the rank promotion test to easy. Nobody I know would deny that a Sensei has the authority to stand up a student and promote him or her on the spot. However when you do that the student does not get a chance to experience the intensity that comes in combat. Teaching a student to function in the intensity of combat is a very difficult task. In order to aid in this task I hold a formal test each month at the same time. It is a big deal. We make the students aware of it a long time in advance and we caution them to prepare for the test. During the test I purposefully do not help the students nor do I interact with them any more than is necessary. Naturally the students get tense in this environment. But a real fight is a tense environment. A real fight has high intensity, high physical demands, and makes individuals nervous. If our tests have these characteristics they can be used as training devices to ensure that the student knows that they can function and perform in the real fight environment. Of course, what you see in this kind of testing environment is that a few of the students make errors. This doesn’t mean that they are bad students, or that they should fail their test, it just means they have areas they can work on to improve their combat skills. When the students finish a test like this they usually say two things, 1. I am glad its over  & 2. I learned a lot.   As Sensei’s what more could we ask from our testing process.

July 11, 2005

Life in a Dojo

We are fortunate to have in our Dojo a truly amazing woman named Michele. Michele does something that I can’t pronounce for a living but it involves working with the personalities of individuals. It is truly scary to see how well Michele understands the personalities of the different students who show up in a Karate school. Michele told me one of the saddest things I have ever heard. As Sensei’s we all try to create an environment within our dojo where students can learn, improve, grow, and in general prosper and be happy. Michele told me that the personalities of some people are so damaged that they will never be able to take advantage of all that a dojo has to offer. I don’t know why but I found this very sad. I guess underlying my actions is a belief that if you provide a good environment, students will grow and prosper in the dojo.

Because of Michele’s amazing knowledge of personalities I asked her to write a little about life in the dojo. What follows are her words pretty much unedited. I thought it would help all of us understand that interpersonal interactions that occur in a dojo. I especially liked Michele’s ending.

Almost everyone becomes inspired for one reason or another to start training in the martial arts. So they come to a dojo to undertake this training. For some females they may have been inspired by a recent movie. Students’ first priority is learning the techniques. They work very hard at learning the techniques. They believe the techniques are all that are necessary for them to become an expert martial artist. A karate school often begins to take on the feeling of a family.

As the student becomes more entrenched in learning they become more entrenched in the karate school and system. At this point, they begin to play out their roles from their family of origin. Often the student and the instructor are unaware of what is going on. Each student brings with them their own family dynamics.  It is very interesting to see the roles that get played out once all the students come together. Some students attempt to vie for the instructor’s attention.  In order to attain the instructor’s attention they will try to out shine other students’.  They work very hard on their techniques and strive to be the best kicker, best kata person, best weapons person. What ever category there is they strive to be the best. Other’s know they can not be the best. So they will downplay other students in order to feel more superior and bigger in the eyes of the instructor.  The loner will often continue to be a loner within the karate school.  As much as an individual wants others to be there for support they are unsure how to attain support. Their actions clearly (to others) run contrary to developing a deeper relationship/friendship.   Usually this is an individual who has been deeply hurt in the past or never quite figured out social cues to help build a relationship/friendship. At last the student may feel they have succeeded and have found the confidante, and the support they want , and are having all their needs met. But like any relationship the instructor or other students can not live up to these expectations.  NO ONE PERSON CAN BE EVERYTHING TO ANYONE.   That is why having a network of friends and social supports (e.g., church) is so important. The student slowly starts to feel some emptiness creeping back within their selves.  Often, they begin to find fault with this person who was supposed to fulfill all their needs.  Their hero becomes more and more ordinary and just like everyone else who failed to fulfill all their needs.  They go in search of another person to fill the emptiness or unmet need (s).  They find this other person but can not quite fit that person in with the first person.  So a type of tug of war occurs.  Within this triangle there is too much contention.  Too much vying for attention and pitting the first person against the other. Eventually, the triangle must break apart and only two of the individuals are left. Usually the one left out of the triangle is unclear what happened.  But feels some relief as stability returns to their life again.  They begin to realize the other person wanted more than they could give.  The more they gave the more the other person wanted.  Unfortunately, as these tensions get worked between the individuals they affect the whole karate dojo.  The rest of the karate school gets a glimpse of understanding of what has occurred.  As things stabilize , repair occurs within the system.  The rest of the students begin to understand what it really means to be a karate student.  It is to find themselves not others.  Others are only a guide for them on the journey.  As Nietzche writes in his book, Thus Spake Zarathusra, Zarathusra informs his students that “one repays a teacher badly if he remains nothing but a pupil…I bid you to lose me and find yourselves: and only when you have denied me will I return to you.”   Nine years after receiving my black belt, I was training with a new black belt.  He asked how I made the karate techniques seem so effortless.  I told him, “ I don’t do karate.  Karate is a part of me.  As long as you are trying to do karate it will always be something you only do.  Once it becomes a part of you, it flows throughout you and you become fluid and one with the martial art.”  Remember why we started martial arts training.  Not to play out roles in a family system. We started martial arts training to learn how to transcend where we are right now.  It is to learn to make karate a part of us.  Then we can show others.  A family is enriched by each member aspiring to their greatest heights.

June 20, 2005

Mr. Pain

Shizumi Manale is one of the real treasures of the United States. Shizumi is a performing artist who has danced at the Kennedy Center, the Whites House, and just about  every other stage of importance that one could imagine. Shizumi is a dance instructor and a trained Geisha who works with the students in our dojo to teach them the discipline of dance. Her work has made my students better focused, better balanced, and better disciplined and given all of the young ladies who have participated a chance to participate in events that they will remember all of their lives.

In 1998 Shizumi was struggling with a seriously injured back and was in danger of never dancing again.

You will all be happy to know that because of her courage Shizumi has overcome her back problem and now performs all over the world including many of the events at our dojo.

Many of us in the Martial Arts struggle with pain, Shizumi wrote the following about her feelings during this struggle and I thought it would show many of us that we are not alone in our struggle with pain in the Martial Arts.

I went out dancing in the moonlight when my two legs became one in pain.

In that evening with no moon I saw a brown dog limping behind the shadow of his old master. 

I listened to the dog`s uneven breath and footsteps.

Perhaps, it was not the dog who was limping -- but me!

Many nights I laid down frustrated and restless ---

Eventually, I knew this pain would move to my toes, but it had not yet.

Who knew when?

My giant disk raised his head gently, popping out and flapping his wings.

I was changing ---

The thick needle twisted in my mind like the sharpest dagger spiraling through my left hip and squeezed behind my eyes.

My limber body shifted to the right, curved and crooked, like a frozen snake. Somehow, Mr. Pain had stolen into my body! 

Comfortable, aimlessly, he settled in.

What an awful, rude man! He threatened my soul, the edge of my mind!

I knew this was only the beginning of my journey on this wavering road.

Adjusting for comfort, right and left, I finally got to sleep.

I wondered where he would turn up next, walking on tiptoes, stroking his mustache,            

cheeks red and eyes piercing.

Oh, don't feel sorry for me! He will be gone very soon as I will argue and embarrass him -- day and night.

When I was young, I had heard about Mr. Pain.

So I was prepared for his coming.

Be careful -- he likes an arrogant person, like me, who doesn't take his first knock on the door seriously.

How ignorant I was!

I did not open the door to him but he sneaked in through my breath.

I had built myself into a dancer.

I walked like a white crane, with innocent passion and love for dance.

I stood delighted in the field of light on the stage that shone on my dream.

I am a dancer.

But how far could I go, dancing with Mr. Pain?

"As far as I want to!" I said.

In pain, I wore magic red shoes -- till I was sure I'd fall down on the stage with numbness and breathless feet and tears running down on my ears.

Why was I dancing?

Why was I listening for the scream of Mr. Pain?

I tasted hundreds of drugs to make him go away.

In spite of this, I still received the nasty, sullen looks of him distressing my soul and body.

What did I hear?

In my garden, the bright blue moon spoke the truth.

"How blind you are!"

Remake your soul!

Remake your body!

You know what to do!

Don't be afraid!

I swallowed up my terror.

But, he became stronger than me -----

Suddenly, fresh, blood-red soldiers have arrived.

I need to call for help and to tell the soldiers where to attack!

The Commander with courage sharpened his sword -- ready to fight Mr. Pain.

I watched as Pain fainted in the bloody stream.

I awoke hearing my own distant voice "Where am I? Am I awake? Is the battle over?"

Bright sunlight: the Commander smiled.

I heard the sweet cheering of my newly weightless hip and leg -- I had feared                          

much worse

Oh, what good timing!

He is gone!

I will forget about him for now but I won`t underestimate him.

Mr. Pain may return.

Shizumi Manale

September 19, 1998

June 13, 2005

A Lesson in how to be Great

I recently presided over a Rank Promotion Test where one of my students provided a shinning example of what it means to excel. This young lady did great, she worked hard, prepared, faced all of her fears and stepped out on the dojo floor and accomplished a very difficult task. I thought it would be instructive for everyone to write about what this young lady went thru.

This young lady was a Green Belt testing for the rank of Blue Belt. This young lady was very nervous about her test. She came to me a few days before the test to discuss the fact that she was having difficulty sleeping because of her nervousness. I was careful to reassure her that she had the ability to do what was going to be asked of her and that she would be able to complete her test successfully. None of this was a lie, this young lady came to class often and trained hard. She was quite capable and all of the Black Belts in the dojo had agreed that she was ready to test.

During the test you could see that this young lady was struggling with her nervousness. She started performing her forms very strong and powerful and then towards the ends of the form she lost a little of the power we all knew that she had and that she had exhibited at the beginning of the test. None of this detracted from the performance of her forms, at the Black Belt meeting at the end of the test everyone agreed that she had done an excellent job in the performance of her forms.

During the Kumite portion of this young ladies test you could see the young ladies training take over. She fought out of a boxers crouch and remained very serious and focused during the entire test. At one point she took a sidekick to the ribs which was so hard that I thought it had broken her rib. When I asked her about this she looked me in the eye and said “I’m ok Sensei, I can do whatever I need to to get thru this”. My respect for this lady jumped up by leaps and bounds. I could see the pain and nervousness in her eyes but I could also see the determination to finish her test successfully.

Everyone will be happy to know that this young lady finished her test successfully and was promoted to the rank of Go Kyu, fifth degree Blue Belt. I think the instructive question to discuss is why this young woman did so well on her rank promotion test.

If you asked Priya, I don’t think she would tell you that she is Brave, Courageous, and Strong, but she certainly exhibited these characteristics on her test. Priya has character in abundance. She is devoted to honor, she doesn’t lie, cheat , or steal, and she is very trustworthy, and you can see the strength she draws from her character. Because of all of these qualities she has many friends in the dojo and you could hear them all cheering for her during her test.

Priya is a fine example of what a young woman can accomplish in the Martial Arts. She came to our dojo with absolutely no prior training in the Martial Arts and spent two years in the aerobic kickboxing side of our dojo. After two years she transferred over to the Karate side of our dojo an is now work her way thru the ranks to become what I will predict is going to be an excellent Shodan, first degree Black Belt.

Priya is not a  superwoman. She is tall and slender, she probably weighs 100pounds soaking wet. She came to the dojo nervous about being able to accomplish everything we do and is still very sensitive about her ability to perform in the combat arena that we tend to see in the Martial Arts. Priya is kind, civilized, not terribly aggressive, and is blessed with a natural beauty which she wants to keep as she practices her Karate. What Priya has done if to train hard, progress thru the ranks, and blossom as a  true Martial Artist. She has learned what we all know, that combat skills and the ability to endure hardship and pain come with time and training. And you know what, I think and more importantly, she thinks that she is up to the task of becoming a Black Belt.

Priya is a shinning example to all of those young woman who come into the Martial Arts. Priya congratulations on your being promoted to the rank of Blue Belt at your recent test and for the character, honor, and integrity that you show you are an inspiration to us all and a wonderful role model to those who are following you.. Priya, I salute you.

June 6, 2005

What do we stand for?

Wow! I didn’t realize that what I wrote was read by so many people and was so controversial. I also didn’t realize that writing would be such demanding work. I had at least a half dozen people communicate with me in one form or another to tell me that they didn’t like what I wrote last week. I guess that is good. It means that people are reading this material and it is touching on something that they need to think about. I did have one author call me a hypocrite and ask how many times I had told a lie in the last three years. The answer is zero, I try hard not to lie, and even if I did, that doesn’t make it right. 

I had another author ask me when he should forgive someone. I told him that if I remember my religious training forgiveness must be preceded by repentance. If you have wronged some one, apologize to them and tell them that you are sorry for what happened and that you realize that what you did was wrong. If they have a good character they will accept your apology and move on with your relationship. If they don’t accept your apology gracefully, then they are probably not of a character that you want to associate with anyway. All of this doesn’t give anyone and excuse to be stupid. If someone has come into your dojo and beat up one of your students you probably should not invite that person back again.

All of this halabalu has caused me to stop and consider again what do I stand for in the Martial Arts and in fact to ask the question “What do any of us stand for in the Martial Arts? “

It seems to me that if we don’t take positive action to try to answer this question then we don’t stand for much. If is easy to say I stand for truth justice, and the American way, but everyone should be measured by their behavior. Do we take positive steps in our dojo’s to emphasize these values or do we just ignore these issues? Do we teach by example that it is alright to take by stealth or by force what cannot be obtained otherwise, for goodness sakes, I hope not. Do we teach that force is the first recourse in the resolution of any dispute or do we teach there are other ways to resolve disputes?  Do we glorify violence or do we teach that it is truly a terrible form of human behavior.

These are all very negative types of behavior but there are positive types of behavior that we need to reinforce in our dojo’s. We need to teach students humility, that they should be proud of what they have learned but not boastful. We need to teach students that truthfulness is a good start on the path to an honorable life. We need to teach students that they have an obligation to help others and protect the weak and helpless. Because at some point in our lives we will all become weak and helpless. The Martial Arts are life protection arts, and that means they must be taught in such a way that the student knows how to incorporate them into his or her life. I will say again that it seems to me that we must spend time in front of our students talking about these issues and providing our students some insight into what we believe is the correct way to behave related to these issues. If we don’t do this then we run the risk of producing students that know how to use force but not why. A good Martial Arts education must consist of more than the “how” of Martial Arts, it must also address the “why”.

May 30, 2005

Character Education in the Martial Arts

I probably should stop going to the movies. Every time I go I tend to see the movie in terms of my Martial Arts training. I went to the movie and saw the new Star Wars movie “Revenge of the Sith”. As usual I tended to look at everything in the movie in terms of what it said about the Martial Arts.

Poor Anakin Skywalker who had the misfortune to be turned into Darth Vader  at the end of the movie. In defense of Anakin’s behavior, his Sensei, Obi One Knobe told his wife that he had “been mislead by a lie”. Do any of us who are Sensei’s have students who are mislead by a lie? Can we identify the lie and thus identify the truth? Should we even care if our students are mislead by a lie? Do we have any responsibility as Sensei’s for the Character of the students who we are training in our dojos? I would say that the answer to this question is yes, of course we do. If we neglect character education in our dojo’s then our dojo’s become nothing more than a breeding ground for brutes or worse. Our dojo’s are forges for human beings, without character education we have no control over the type of human being we are building in our dojo.

In our dojo’s do we want students who lie? Of course not, lying is a basic indication of a poor character. Do we want students who show disrespect for us as Sensei’s and for their fellow students. Of course not, we teach respect in our dojo’s because a basic truth is that there are some things in our lives that merit respect. Whether a student agrees with this or not does not alter its truthfulness. Whether a student likes character education or not, does not change the need for character education for people who are trained in the Martial Arts.

Now what do we do as Sensei’s when we see behavior that exhibits poor character? I have had students who lied to me, have treated me with great disrespect,. have called my home and threatened my wife who is the  kindest woman in the world and I have known students who have made a conscious decision to take from others every bit of training they can and never return anything.. I have known Sensei’s who trained students while the students were attending court ordered anger management classes and trained students who were wife beaters. When I saw this behavior at first I was angry, then I was just sad. When one of my students shows such poor character I feel like I have failed to teach them something they need. When you are faced with this kind of behavior remember that there is nothing more powerful than the truth. Our jobs as Sensei’s is to understand the truth and make sure that those who engage in such horrendous behavior are exposed to the truth. Should we be angry when we see such behavior? Probably a little bit, but not at the perpetrator of the behavior, be angry about the behavior. Showing disrespect and lying demonstrates  more about the character of the person behaving in this manner, than anything else. Remember what Obi One Knobe said when refereeing to Anakin Skywalker, he had “been mislead by a lie”. Those who engage in terrible behavior have been “mislead by a lie” and our job as Sensei’s is to help them get on the correct path for their lives again.

I would like to end this essay by identifying some common “Lies” that we see in the dojo and some discussion of the truth as I see it:

Lie: It is ok to tell a lie to conceal your behavior.

Truth: It is never ok to lie, if your behavior needs concealing, you should not be engaged in it.

Lie: Character and Power are mutually exclusive traits

Truth: Not true, Character only makes you more powerful. I point to my good friend in London,  Grandmaster Gary Wasniewski as an example.

Lie: Toughness can only be learned by engaging in brutal kumite?

Truth: Being brutal only makes you a brute, it does not make you tough, and in general does not even make you a good fighter.

Lie: You have to inflict pain on students to make them tough.

Truth: If you show students that  combat skills require strength, courage, and the ability to endure hardship and pain, they will inflict these things on themselves in their quest to excel

(Finally) Lie: You can achieve happiness in your life without honor

Truth: Happiness will always elude you until you adopt honor as a way of life. You will be beset by problems and passions that you cannot control if you do not have honor in your life. 

As I said, I probably should stop going to the movies. The above is what came to mind when I saw the latest Star Wars movie. May the force be with you!

May 9, 2005

The Kingdom of Heaven

I went to the movies last night and saw the movie with the above title. I was struck by the similarity of code of conduct between the Knights portrayed in the movie and the Samurai of Japan. The Knights were clearly honorable men. Their budo went something like “always tell the truth, even if it costs you your life and protect the weak and the helpless.”

I could not help but speculate on the existence of some unknown bond of warriors which must have existed between the knights of England and the Samurai of Japan. It seems like the knights of old valued the same character that the Samurai did. It seems like honor is an integral part of being a warrior. We have all known dishonorable Sensei, and dishonorable students. People who did not tell the truth and who did not protect the weak and the helpless. I will be rather harsh here and say that people like this should not be allowed to teach or train in the Martial Arts. If you remove from the Martial Arts Honor, Character, Trust, and Integrity then what is left is Machoism and brutality. Neither of which I will tolerate in my dojo.

Does this man we can’t teach our students how to fight? Of course not! I am proud of all of my Black Belts fighters and would match them up against anyone their age and skill level.

One of the things this does mean is that we as Senseis, must struggle with teaching our students combat skills, the intensity of combat, and how to deal with the emotions of combat. And we must do this without damaging our students beyond repair or convincing them that the Martial Arts is far to dangerous for them to undertake. Teaching Combat skills and honor are not mutually exclusive, they are mutually supportive. If the student understands that the only requirement for combat is that it be honorable the student will work harder to master and sharpen their combat skills.

As Sensei’s, this means that we must incorporate some training in these areas in our curriculum; How many of us even have a sign on the wall of our dojo which says be noble, be strong, value integrity, etc. These kind of people exist in the Martial  Arts, my good friend and founder of the Ty-Ga style of Karate, Grandmaster Gary Wasniewski from London England is an excellent example of a man with high stands and who clearly places a high value on honor and integrity. Yet Grandmaster Gary is a fierce warrior as anyone who has been hit by him, me included, can testify.

I recently presided over and Black Belt examination for a woman who was a fine example of what a Black Belt should be.. She was a grandmother and she was clearly frightened by the combat aspects of the Black Belt test. I watched her face this fear and because she was a strong and honorable woman she worked thru it and performed wonderfully at her  Black Belt examination. It fact most of the Black Belt students who were present at the examination commented on what a powerful Kumite performance this woman had given. I am now proud to say that this woman achieved her Shodan first degree Black Belt rank at my school. This woman’s Black Belt test was a testament to what strength a student can draw from attributes like honor and integrity.

Our job then as Sensei’s is clear although not easy.  We must teach Character, Honor, and Integrity to all of the students who walk into our dojo’s. This means the young, the old, the children, the teen agers, those who come into our dojo with plenty of Charter, and those who come into our dojo’s with no Character. The Challenge of this task is what makes our lives as Sensei’s so rewarding. The reward from this task is to see students continue on a life long path of progress and improvement in the Martial Arts even if it is not in our dojo. We will always know that is where these students got their start.

April 25, 2005

The Future of the Martial Arts

I had the privilege this weekend of training with my good friend Grandmaster Gary Wasniewski from London England and with one of his senior students also from London named Samantha Haynes.

I have met many instructors who called themselves Grandmasters but Gary is one of the few whom I have met whom I believe truly deserves this title. As a fighter, Gary is truly phenomenal, his kicks and punches come in like hammers and come in multiple times when we fight. The style of Karate he teaches is called   Ty-Ga and is based on hard work and expertise in the basics of Karate. Grandmaster Gary is a shinning example of what can be accomplished using this philosophy. I have never met anyone with stronger  or faster kicks and punches than Grandmaster Gary exhibits. I said it before and I had it reinforced to me this weekend that Grandmaster Gary kicks like Bill Wallace and punches like Mike Tyson. The most notable thing about Grandmaster Gary is how honorable he is. He is certainly a counterexample to the old saying that “Good guys finish last”. Soke Gary is a good guy and would clearly finish first at anything he attempted.

While Grandmaster Gary is truly a tough fighter and a fierce competitor there is also much more to him. He is an honorable man and a fine teacher. You can see in his behavior that he has high standards of conduct for himself and his students and he embodies these standards and he clearly expects his students to live up to his high standards. As Martial Arts instructors we all struggle with how we can teach out students to behave honorably and act with integrity. Somehow Grandmaster Gary makes this job look easy. I think it is that aurora  of kindness and invincibility that seems to surround him wherever he goes.

I had the pleasure of watching Grandmaster Gary perform kata for us in the dojo. His movements remind me a lot of that film icon Bruce Lee. They are simple and incredibly powerful. Grandmaster Gary’s movements are super fast and instinctive and you can see that they come from thousands of hours of hard training in the Martial Arts.

I would be remiss in this writing if I didn’t comment on Grandmaster Gary’s Senior student Samantha Haynes. Samantha ( or Sam for short) came into our dojo completely unknown to the students and the first time she snapped out a round kick most of the students jaws dropped when they saw the speed and power she could generate with her kicks. I asked her to help teach one of the teenage girls in our dojo how to fight and she did a wonderful job of explaining the techniques of kumite without intimidating my young teenage student. What I saw when I watched her was all of the Ty-Ga training that she had received and how much it had made her an effective martial artist. I realized that Samantha’s skill was a testament to what a fine teacher Grandmaster Gary Wasniewski truly is.

I felt incredibly fortunate to be able to train with such high quality martial artist as Gransmaster Gary Washniewski and his senior student Smantha this weekend. What Grandmaster Gary teaches both by word and by deed is truly the future of the Martial Arts and I will assure everyone that we couldn’t ask for a better future. 

April 4, 2005

A Portrait of a Champion

There are some truly fine people in the Martial Arts. One that comes to mind is my friend Kathy Long. I hope Kathy will not mind if I talk a little about her. She is dedicated to the Martial Arts, a superbly skilled Martial Artist, and she is strong, powerful, kind, and compassionate. I have had the good fortune to see her training people and I have to say that she trains harder than anyone I have ever met. Now the question of interest to all of us is what made her that way? If we could answer that question, we could all train our students to be world champions.

My first observation is that Kathy is very intelligent and has a wonderful personality. Kathy struggles with all of the same things we all struggle with, she has to get up in the morning and go to work, she has to pay her bills, she has to juggle a busy schedule, and sometimes she has to do these things when she doesn’t feel well. Yet she is friendly, kind, easy to speak to and is always concerned about those around her. She is the kind of person we would all listen to, because we know she is genuinely concerned about our well being. This makes her a wonderful teacher. I have seen her expend great efforts to make sure the students in her class understand the concepts she is trying to teach. Now how do we as instructors train people to have this charisma. I wish I could give you a definitive answer to that question but I can’t. I can tell you that Kathy has struggled hard in her life and it seems like the process has helped her grow. I think this makes the case that our Martial Arts training regime should be difficult. Doing easy things doesn’t help anyone grow( I was going to say “mature”, but if I call Kathy Long mature I am sure she will want to go a couple of rounds with me that next time I see her).

My next observation is that Kathy has a strong character. She is disciplined and is clearly guided by a set of standards that she adheres to and is not willing to compromise. I remember watching a training film that Kathy had made where she was demonstrating some boxing techniques. The boxer she was working with was half again her size and was a big strong gentleman. So he power up a punch when Kathy asked him to punch at her. In response Kathy powered up a punch back and you could hear the air go out of the boxer. After this episode on the tape all of the subsequent techniques the boxer threw were very well controlled. Kathy had clearly taught this young boxer a lesson in control. Kathy travels extensively and deals with a huge number of individuals. It seems like this has forced Kathy to develop a “Bushido” of her own to help guide her dealings with others. I think this makes a case for trying to educate and broaden the horizons of the students in our dojo’s. We may not think that the education of a student is within the area of concern of a Sensei, or that the travels of a student is valid concern of the dojo, but the truth is that these things help forge and temper the character of the student and make the student a far better Martial Artist.

My final observation is about Kathy’s behavior. Kathy works hard , she is superbly disciplined and uses this disciple to drive herself to achieve. She hits harder and moves faster than any fighter I have ever seen. I remember the first time I saw her on our dojo floor and the word that came into my mind was “Predator”. Kathy moves and strikes like no one I have ever seen. Now those of us who teach, know that this type of skill does not occur over night. It comes with thousands of hours of training and driving yourself to achieve. The question I asked myself when I first saw Kathy was how do I teach my students to be like that. I think Kathy is the strongest example I know of for discipline and hard work in the dojo. Kathy is a wonderful role model for everyone in the Martial Arts and particularly for what women can accomplish in the Martial Arts. It is my hope that the training we undergo in our dojo can do justice to what Kathy has taught us. Kathy I salute you!

I would like to close with a small story of how Kathy has influenced some of our students. I had paired up two young ladies in our dojo during a Kumite class. They were both the same age but one of the young ladies was much bigger and stronger than the other. The smaller girl had trained with Kathy when she visited out dojo and had spoken about her after Kathy had left. In fact, she was so influenced by Kathy that she wrote essays about her for her schoolwork assignments. When I realized that she was getting pummeled and was about to cry I rushed over to see if she was ok. She looked at me through tears in her eyes and said “Sensei, I am ok, I just don’t like to loose, I am going to get better, faster, and stronger”. She continued the match and held her own quite well for the rest of the match. As I turned away I couldn’t help but think “Katie, Kathy would be proud of you.”  

Feb 28, 2005

Teaching the Beginning Student

Everyone who is involved with the Martial Arts at one point in their career has an opportunity to teach new students. I thought some discussion of this process might be worthwhile to everyone.

It is a little scary teaching a new student. But remember that student saw something in you that they wanted to learn or they would not have shown up at your dojo. You have it within you to be a great Sensei, just start by being a good Sensei. When a dealing with a new student it is important to gain their trust. When a new student steps out on the floor they are uninformed about the Martial Arts and they may carry with them a lot of misconceptions about what is going to happen to them while they train in the Martial Arts. You gain their trust by educating them and by making sure that they understand that you are going to do your best to ensure that they are not going to be  injured during their time as your student. This trust from your student is the most valuable asset you as a Sensei will possess during the training of your student.

Once you have gained the trust of your new student you can begin the process of turning them into Martial Artist. First, assess what you are dealing with. Is your new student the next Bruce Lee or the next Larry, Mo, and Curly. Is your new student naturally coordinated or will a lot of work on the development of motor skills be necessary? Usually, the younger the student the more you will need to work on motor skills drills. How physically fit is your student? Most students come into the Martial Arts not being very fit and some work on physical fitness will be necessary.

It is also important to make sure that your students feel like they are learning something useful. In our dojo we teach some basic judo/jujitsu techniques early so that the student can gain some confidence that they know how to defend themselves. If you have a self-defense student i.e. a student whose primary interest is in learning to defend themselves and not to study the Martial Arts you will need to be careful about what you teach them. Typically, the self defense student will remain a student for some short time and then go away. If that student is faced with a potentially violent situation later, they will depend upon what you teach them to help them survive the encounter. One the other hand, if you have a student who is interested in studying the Martial Arts you can take a more systematic approach to their training. Lets talk in a little more detail about what to teach each of these types of students:

The Self Defense Student:

The Self Defense student needs to taught that self defense starts long before the first blow is struck. They need to be taught thing like not looking like a victim, and to be alert to their environment. They need to be taught about the prelude to violence and some techniques like establishing a physical and verbal boundary for diminishing the level of potential violence in an encounter. They need to be taught some blocks and some simple strikes. They need to know that adrenal stress will affect their physical skills in such a way that they will only be able to perform simple strikes effectively and that to perform more complex strikes will require much more training. Arnis techniques are always good to teach because they are fairly simple and most students can acquire and carry a set of sticks without to much trouble i.e. the seniors we teach can defend themselves pretty well with their canes. Some discussion of how to deal with knives and guns is useful if time permits and finally the self defense student should be taught that self defense is situational and that they must assess each situation they find themselves in and take whatever actions they think are appropriate at the time to ensure their own survival and well being.

The Martial Arts Student

The beginning Martial Arts student is in some ways much easier to teach than the self defense student. The beginning Martial Arts student will most likely be with you for a much longer period of time than the self defense student. As a part of the trust building process that you go thru with your student you should teach them the terminology of the Martial Arts and your dojo protocols. This will make them feel more comfortable in your dojo. For safety’s sake tell your new students not to injure their opponents, if you don’t tell them this they may not understand what is expected of them during their training. It is important that the new Martial Arts student understands that their opponent is their training partner and not their enemy. You still must perform and assessment of your new student and then tailor a training program that is suitable for them. During the process of training the Martial Arts student you should not overlook history. If you want your students to be well rounded Martial Artist they must know where the art they are studying come from. Be sure to introduce the beginning student to physical contact gradually. Most new students are not physically or emotionally prepared to engage in Kumite practice for quite some time. On Okinawa Grandmaster Katsuya Miahira (The current head of the Kobayashi Shorin Ryu system) does not allow any Kumite at all unless the student has reached the rank of Sandan (Thi