I have committed a major faux pas.
When I have trained this year at the main Chilliwack dojo of the JKA BC, it has been necessary to figure out where to stand in the line.
People are supposed to line up by rank. Sounds simple enough. All I need to is line up with the Black Belts, sort of.
I don't know what ranks of Black Belt people hold. It's easy with the 4th Dans and above. They stand in a separate group to the far right, and a few steps ahead of the rest of the line.
I only have to stand far enough to the left to avoid mixing in with 3rd or 2nd Dans, and to be in with the other 1st Dans.
You might think I should just try and be the guy on the very left of the Black Belt section of the line, and I would. If I try that, people act shocked and insist on trying to move downrank to my left. I am too old, they think. They are trying to show respect, thinking I'm in the wrong spot.
It is necessary for me to stand sort of far left, but far enough to the right that I don't cause a left-shifting movement. I've been standing in the middle of the 1st to 3rd Dan area, thinking most Black Belts are 1st Dans. Should be fine there, right?
Just saw a list of Black Belts from the Chilliwack dojo. They have no 3rd Dans at all, but do have nine 2nd Dans. Nine! Add in the higher belts from the other clubs, and I've clearly been too far to the right, mixed in with ranks higher than mine.
Looking at their pictures, I see several that I've definitely stood to the right of. Error.
This has to be addressed. Next time I'm there, I'll be way down near the Brown Belts.
This will cause confusion in another way. There is no distinction in address for belt rank. The only title is one given to denote extreme respect. The highest belts, and the school leaders, and a very few others are addressed as Sensei. When I was re-introduced to the association, the head guy called me "Sensei Gordon." As a result, just about everybody has been calling me Sensei.
Very nice, but should a 2nd or 3rd Dan be calling a lower dude, Sensei? Not a chance.
So a guy addressed as Sensei is down there lining up almost with the Brown Belts.
To be correct, I have no choice. Left I shall stand.
I am a 68 year old retired teacher living on the west coast of Canada. I spent over 30 years as a student of Karate until my knees stopped liking it. My current passionate activity is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which I've been at for about 13 years.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Rate em
So I missed the big Yaguchi Sensei seminar in Vancouver on Saturday. Blame my ankle.
Not really bummed about it. I've attended a couple of classes with him before. He is certainly a fine instructor, but he hasn't clicked with me. Our club's instructor seems to have clicked. She speaks of him as if he were one of the finest teachers ever.
It's funny how some students match certain teachers.
I have trained with the following instructors who hold rank of 7th Dan or higher. Yaguchi, Yamaguchi, Sakurai, Enoeda, Nishiyama, Nakayama, Kim, and Swain. Several have already passed away.
One led his class, but taught nothing and mostly just seemed angry. One asked for questions, and proceeded to yell at the person who asked one. One got hung up on how many hand forms there are, and wasted 15 minutes of valuable seminar class time trying to come up with the correct number.
That's right. Out of 8 world-class masters, three taught crappy classes. If you ask, I'll tell you which ones.
Of the rest, three more taught good classes. Good, but not astounding or fabulous. I'd happily train with any of them again. To me, Yaguchi Sensei is in this category.
That leaves two who were fabulous. Nakayama Sensei failed me on my first Black Belt exam, but if he'd taught a class the very next day I'd have been there in a shot. He was a wonderful and inspiring teacher. Sakurai Sensei is the only on my list of 8 who is both alive and also a wonderful teacher.
So who am I to rate the greats' teaching ability? I am a full-time professional educator. I know good teaching when I see it, and I know lousy when I see it, too. In every case I was the customer, or student, in the line paying the bills. Of course I have a right to evaluate.
When I teach, I expect my students to decide if they like my style. I always hope I click for them. Evaluation is part of learning.
Not really bummed about it. I've attended a couple of classes with him before. He is certainly a fine instructor, but he hasn't clicked with me. Our club's instructor seems to have clicked. She speaks of him as if he were one of the finest teachers ever.
It's funny how some students match certain teachers.
I have trained with the following instructors who hold rank of 7th Dan or higher. Yaguchi, Yamaguchi, Sakurai, Enoeda, Nishiyama, Nakayama, Kim, and Swain. Several have already passed away.
One led his class, but taught nothing and mostly just seemed angry. One asked for questions, and proceeded to yell at the person who asked one. One got hung up on how many hand forms there are, and wasted 15 minutes of valuable seminar class time trying to come up with the correct number.
That's right. Out of 8 world-class masters, three taught crappy classes. If you ask, I'll tell you which ones.
Of the rest, three more taught good classes. Good, but not astounding or fabulous. I'd happily train with any of them again. To me, Yaguchi Sensei is in this category.
That leaves two who were fabulous. Nakayama Sensei failed me on my first Black Belt exam, but if he'd taught a class the very next day I'd have been there in a shot. He was a wonderful and inspiring teacher. Sakurai Sensei is the only on my list of 8 who is both alive and also a wonderful teacher.
So who am I to rate the greats' teaching ability? I am a full-time professional educator. I know good teaching when I see it, and I know lousy when I see it, too. In every case I was the customer, or student, in the line paying the bills. Of course I have a right to evaluate.
When I teach, I expect my students to decide if they like my style. I always hope I click for them. Evaluation is part of learning.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Ankle
Thursday I got a couple of nuttin' injuries. The first was purely cosmetic. It was a horizontal line across my face that faded in a couple of days. Maybe my head folded funny.
The other was the slightest twisting of my ankle. Barely noticed it.
Friday I joined one of the PE classes in the gym for over an hour of line dancing. That evening I trained at Karate. Right after class, put on my fancy clothes and we went out dancing.
Saturday morning, my ankle greeted me with a jaunty, "Good morning, and I'm a little cranky."
It felt twisted for real, or sprained, or something. I could walk with barely a limp, but anything more vigorous could cause real damage. The scheduled trip into the city didn't happen.
I was supposed to go train with Yaguchi Sensei, a ninth Dan and true master of Karate. Likely I could have made it through, but the damage would likely be an issue for a fair chunk of healing time.
There are still two training weeks before my two weeks off at Christmas.
A bit of a rest then will be my present to me.
The other was the slightest twisting of my ankle. Barely noticed it.
Friday I joined one of the PE classes in the gym for over an hour of line dancing. That evening I trained at Karate. Right after class, put on my fancy clothes and we went out dancing.
Saturday morning, my ankle greeted me with a jaunty, "Good morning, and I'm a little cranky."
It felt twisted for real, or sprained, or something. I could walk with barely a limp, but anything more vigorous could cause real damage. The scheduled trip into the city didn't happen.
I was supposed to go train with Yaguchi Sensei, a ninth Dan and true master of Karate. Likely I could have made it through, but the damage would likely be an issue for a fair chunk of healing time.
There are still two training weeks before my two weeks off at Christmas.
A bit of a rest then will be my present to me.
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Everything is dangerous
I like to analyze things with numbers. Recently I've run into a few such facts about Mixed Martial Arts.
MMA is often reviled as bloodthirsty and dangerous. Can't really argue with the bloodthirsty part, but dangerous?
Surely yes, but how dangerous?
Since the rules were formalized and matches became sanctioned in 2001, there have been two deaths in sanctioned matches. One was in 2010 and the other in 2007.
Let's compare this with boxing. Actually, that's harder than you'd think. The boxing statistics are not as conveniently recorded. According to the Manuel Valazquez Boxing Fatality Collection there were 56 deaths between 2001 and 2007 (the last year I could get data for).
Of course, MMA fights only happen in a small part of the world, while boxing is worldwide. However, we can infer somewhat from the 56 deaths listed. Overall, slightly over half of all boxing deaths occurred within the USA. If we apply that ratio to the 56 deaths, we can estimate that about 28 deaths happened in the USA over 7 years. That is about 4 deaths per year within the USA.
Matching this rate to the 11 year period related to the 2 MMA deaths a surprising fact emerges.
In the USA alone, boxing killed about 44 fighters. In the entire world, MMA killed 2 fighters.
So should we ban both boxing and MMA?
In the last 150 years, 850 people died either watching baseball, or participating. That is an average of almost 6 per year, the majority of those dying being under 14 years of age.
Football since 1991 has averaged 4.3 direct deaths per year, and about four times that many due to related causes like respiratory failure, or heat stroke that occurred while participating. It also has a very high number of catastrophic injuries, like spinal paralysis, at 16 per year. Interestingly, Football is the only sport reporting that separates direct and indirect deaths. All the others figure that if you die from any cause during an activity it counts. I agree.
In 2006 (the only year I have a number for) 42 people died skateboarding.
Please note, for all these sports the numbers are generated by only one country.
So, in the 11 year period that saw two MMA deaths in the entire world, we can also see the following estimations of death within the USA.
Boxing 44
Baseball 66
Football 220
Skateboarding 462
Why the moves to ban MMA events? I suggest we ban Football and Skateboards instead.
And don’t even get me started on cars.
MMA is often reviled as bloodthirsty and dangerous. Can't really argue with the bloodthirsty part, but dangerous?
Surely yes, but how dangerous?
Since the rules were formalized and matches became sanctioned in 2001, there have been two deaths in sanctioned matches. One was in 2010 and the other in 2007.
Let's compare this with boxing. Actually, that's harder than you'd think. The boxing statistics are not as conveniently recorded. According to the Manuel Valazquez Boxing Fatality Collection there were 56 deaths between 2001 and 2007 (the last year I could get data for).
Of course, MMA fights only happen in a small part of the world, while boxing is worldwide. However, we can infer somewhat from the 56 deaths listed. Overall, slightly over half of all boxing deaths occurred within the USA. If we apply that ratio to the 56 deaths, we can estimate that about 28 deaths happened in the USA over 7 years. That is about 4 deaths per year within the USA.
Matching this rate to the 11 year period related to the 2 MMA deaths a surprising fact emerges.
In the USA alone, boxing killed about 44 fighters. In the entire world, MMA killed 2 fighters.
So should we ban both boxing and MMA?
In the last 150 years, 850 people died either watching baseball, or participating. That is an average of almost 6 per year, the majority of those dying being under 14 years of age.
Football since 1991 has averaged 4.3 direct deaths per year, and about four times that many due to related causes like respiratory failure, or heat stroke that occurred while participating. It also has a very high number of catastrophic injuries, like spinal paralysis, at 16 per year. Interestingly, Football is the only sport reporting that separates direct and indirect deaths. All the others figure that if you die from any cause during an activity it counts. I agree.
In 2006 (the only year I have a number for) 42 people died skateboarding.
Please note, for all these sports the numbers are generated by only one country.
So, in the 11 year period that saw two MMA deaths in the entire world, we can also see the following estimations of death within the USA.
Boxing 44
Baseball 66
Football 220
Skateboarding 462
Why the moves to ban MMA events? I suggest we ban Football and Skateboards instead.
And don’t even get me started on cars.
Good Old Days
One of the things I liked about Karate in the old days was the slightly foreign formality.
For example, when fighting in a tournament you extended courtesy to your opponent with a bow before and after the match. The bow was exchanged when the competitors were at their start locations, 3 meters apart.
Things have changed a lot. Now, after the bow, competitors often step forward to shake hands, or to do the shake-hands-shoulder-hug. In the old days, any move forward before the referee's command to commence was considered a potential premature attack and would garner a warning, or even a loss of points for a foul. It could also be cause for disqualification. No more, although the rules haven't changed.
Sometimes, after the match starts the fighters do the one-handed touch gloves common in MMA. In a way they are ignoring the referee's command to start fighting.
Before, during and after competition it used to be considered bad form to leave one's poker face.
There is now a lot of hooting, self-cheering, and even taunting. It used to be that such behaviour would annoy the referee, and he would tell competitor to stop. Failure to obey would earn the miscreant disqualification.
This doesn't even begin to take into account the amount of away-from-the-ring hugging that happens. Students hug instructors, and competitors hug each other. This did happen in the old days, but it was extremely rare, and therefore extremely special when it happened. In several decades of Karate, I was never hugged at a tournament. I saw my own instructor hugged exactly one time. That hug was a big deal, and the result of his student winning a Silver Medal at the Provincial level.
Competition in Karate did not have the feel of other sports. It was special. It was formal. It was always on the edge of violence, but controlled.
It was Karate.
For example, when fighting in a tournament you extended courtesy to your opponent with a bow before and after the match. The bow was exchanged when the competitors were at their start locations, 3 meters apart.
Things have changed a lot. Now, after the bow, competitors often step forward to shake hands, or to do the shake-hands-shoulder-hug. In the old days, any move forward before the referee's command to commence was considered a potential premature attack and would garner a warning, or even a loss of points for a foul. It could also be cause for disqualification. No more, although the rules haven't changed.
Sometimes, after the match starts the fighters do the one-handed touch gloves common in MMA. In a way they are ignoring the referee's command to start fighting.
Before, during and after competition it used to be considered bad form to leave one's poker face.
There is now a lot of hooting, self-cheering, and even taunting. It used to be that such behaviour would annoy the referee, and he would tell competitor to stop. Failure to obey would earn the miscreant disqualification.
This doesn't even begin to take into account the amount of away-from-the-ring hugging that happens. Students hug instructors, and competitors hug each other. This did happen in the old days, but it was extremely rare, and therefore extremely special when it happened. In several decades of Karate, I was never hugged at a tournament. I saw my own instructor hugged exactly one time. That hug was a big deal, and the result of his student winning a Silver Medal at the Provincial level.
Competition in Karate did not have the feel of other sports. It was special. It was formal. It was always on the edge of violence, but controlled.
It was Karate.
Friday, 2 December 2011
Student
For the last couple of months I've only been able to attend my Karate club's Friday classes. Out of those 8 Fridays, the school needed their own gym twice.
That left 6 Fridays, I could attend. For the most recent two, the instructor was away, and I was elected. Tonight is Friday again, and I'm the teacher again.
I haven't been just a guy in the line for about a month.
No problem with that. I like teaching when it isn't all the time.
To help boost up my Karate student stature, it is off tomorrow to Vancouver for two-hour seminar with 9th Dan Yaguchi Sensei. Next week it's a seminar in Chilliwack. Have to keep being a learner. I like learning.
Last year I went to a session with Yaguchi Sensei on exactly the same day in December. I was newly back at training, and a tad unsure. It was also my first workout with the ISKF organization. As a result, I made sure I was nowhere near the front of the class. That made it a little hard to see or hear in such a crowded gym.
This time I'm headed for front-and-center.
That left 6 Fridays, I could attend. For the most recent two, the instructor was away, and I was elected. Tonight is Friday again, and I'm the teacher again.
I haven't been just a guy in the line for about a month.
No problem with that. I like teaching when it isn't all the time.
To help boost up my Karate student stature, it is off tomorrow to Vancouver for two-hour seminar with 9th Dan Yaguchi Sensei. Next week it's a seminar in Chilliwack. Have to keep being a learner. I like learning.
Last year I went to a session with Yaguchi Sensei on exactly the same day in December. I was newly back at training, and a tad unsure. It was also my first workout with the ISKF organization. As a result, I made sure I was nowhere near the front of the class. That made it a little hard to see or hear in such a crowded gym.
This time I'm headed for front-and-center.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Today Facebook let me have a message it's been hiding in a weird spot for two weeks. It was from one of my Karate students from back in the 1990s. He was a kid back then.
He wants to establish contact, so I immediately shot him a friend request.
In his message he said the nicest things, including, "You were a huge part of my life growing up and partly the reason I am so successful today." How complimentary is that?
Martial Arts instructors play an unusual roll. More than any other activity, they become role models and mentors to their students. Think of Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi from the original Karate Kid movies. It's a pretty accurate depiction.
I have felt that way towards my own Senseis, and I was an adult. The influence is greater on kids.
This can be good, or bad. I have always tried to be a positive, enthusiastic and encouraging presence at the head of the Dojo.
Today's communication made me feel both humble, and honoured.
Maybe I succeeded, at least sometimes.
He wants to establish contact, so I immediately shot him a friend request.
In his message he said the nicest things, including, "You were a huge part of my life growing up and partly the reason I am so successful today." How complimentary is that?
Martial Arts instructors play an unusual roll. More than any other activity, they become role models and mentors to their students. Think of Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi from the original Karate Kid movies. It's a pretty accurate depiction.
I have felt that way towards my own Senseis, and I was an adult. The influence is greater on kids.
This can be good, or bad. I have always tried to be a positive, enthusiastic and encouraging presence at the head of the Dojo.
Today's communication made me feel both humble, and honoured.
Maybe I succeeded, at least sometimes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)