The Simple Joys Of Being A White Belt Again

After 10 years doing Shorin-Ryu Karate it was time for a change.

Mainly due to some dojo politics and some highly inflated egos that were making going to the dojo less than enjoyable, I became rather tired of it and it was definitely time to do something else. While struggling while trying to learn a technique is one thing, struggling and being frustrated due to personalities and others' oversized egos is quite another. Since the personalities in question outrank me and were not going to change, and switching to another dojo in the same system would not have removed the personality issue for numerous reasons, especially that one of the personalities sits on the organization's testing board, so it was time to move along. No need to go into the details but when things get to the point that you're actively disliking the idea of going to the dojo due to other people's actions, it is time to move on.

Shorin Ryu is mainly a striking art, along with some rather effective throws and joint locks at higher levels of instruction, and it can be very effective in defending from an attack quickly. But, Shorin Ryu's ground game is mainly an instruction to get up as soon as possible, typically by controlling via a lock or disentangling from an opponent and rolling away and to your feet as quickly as possible. This however can be rather difficult if someone knows what they're doing on the ground.

Gracie Jiu Jitsu is rather enlightening in that regard. They know how to handle themselves on the ground, prefer to have the fight go to the ground and then dominate the fight from the ground, and it is rather eye-opening when you're first exposed to it.

The intro lesson began as a one-on-one session with the head instructor as the class did practice from prior lessons. So it started with a brief discussion about Jiu Jitsu and my past experience and then with me on my back and the instructor showing a mount position. I could not shake him off or get out of it, period, as in not a bit, as in all sorts of stuck. This was rather eye opening. He then taught me a rather simple technique and it worked quite nicely to remove him from the mount position. The lesson got even better from there and at the end of the intro lesson I signed up. The wife and kids are also doing the Women Empowered course taught there and are also enjoying it and getting quite good at it, and its been a very positive experience for them as well, and the instructors really know what they're doing.

As an upside, the Gracie Jiu Jitsu center I'm training at is closer to home than the Karate dojos which makes getting there easier.

Even better, everyone there, from the instructors to the practitioners are very nice, as most of the more serious martial arts do tend to select for nice people.

On an even greater upside, the center really is very low ego, the method of instruction is very consistent and follows the curriculum very well, the instructors enjoy teaching not to show how great they are but to help you improve and learn the technique - it is a refreshing difference. The instruction methodology is also relentlessly positive in focus, not negative. Its not "You're doing it wrong." it's "Don't worry about it no one masters this the first time, here's how you can do it better."

Forty hours worth of classes in and I'm still enjoying myself and its nice to be a white belt again. No need to chase after a belt, no egos getting in the way, just enjoying really learning the fundamental techniques and trying to get them down, the belts are not the point, they merely mark your progress as you continue down the path. It's a heckuva good workout as well, and it certainly closes a gap in my martial arts training. I am going to stick with it and see where the journey goes.

If you're doing something and its not working out for you, especially when it is not due to you but due to drag from others, a change to a new environment can do you some good.

Karate Test Day

Today was a Shinsa day for the North American Beikoku Shido-Kan Shorin-Ryu Association.

To translate that, it was a black belt test. All black belt tests for karate practitioners of the association are held in Lansing three times a year. There are pre-tests you need to pass before you can proceed to the test, and test-takers from all over North America attend - we had people from Canada, New Jersey, New York, St. Louis, and Michigan there today.

I had passed the pre-tests and was permitted to test today.

The test began at 9 am. I drove through blowing snow to get to Lansing and arrived at 8:15. I checked in, changed, and started stretching out. The judges assembled, all seventh degree, or higher black belts and the test began.

Each person was called in order of rank (ie everyone testing for 1st degree went first, then those testing for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th) and then alphabetically to do their kata alone in front of the judges and the spectators.

The katas were announced as Passai Sho, Kusanku Dai and Chinto. You will always do Chinto, but you do not know which two of the four katas: Passai Sho, Passai Dai, Kusanku Sho, and Kusanku Dai you will do until they blind draw them on the day of the test.

You do all three in a row, starting with the Sho, then the Dai, then Chinto.

Kusanku Dai is also unofficially known by the names "You Count And I'll Die" and "No Kata For Old Men".

Here's why:

Interestingly enough, the sensei in this video was present today for his 5th degree test. He looked even better today.

Kusanku Dai lived up to its reputation today as "You Count and I'll Die", almost killing a few test-takers' hopes.

After each of the 16 testers individually came forward and did their kata, four testers had to redo Kusanku Dai due to mistakes. You're allowed to blow one kata and redo it after everyone else has finished, and if you blow it again you're done. Luckily they all settled in and redeemed themselves with really good retakes.

Happily for me, I had no mistakes in any of the kata and felt pretty good doing them. Feedback I received later was they were some of my best demonstrated efforts yet.

Then we all went to the basement of the dojo to continue the test.

We had to hit the Makiwara (striking post) with three punches from each arm, then we had to kick a bag with 3 front, 3 side and three roundhouse kicks with each leg.

Then we had to try and break a board.

The boards were one-inch thick pine, hanging unsupported by a clip from a string from the ceiling.

You had one punch to try and break the board. If you hit it wrong it wouldn't break and then it would swing and fly off the clip at rather high speed.

Of the 16 testers, only 7 were able to break the board.

I was one of them:

You get to keep the board as a souvenir if you break it.

Then we all headed back upstairs.

We did kumite (2-person drills) involving kicks, punches and throws in set combinations, both right and left sides.

Then we did Bunkai. Bunkai are set interpretations of the various kata and involve a defender in the middle surrounded by three or four attackers. Again the attacks are set and the proper response is set and typically involves a block and counter-attack which can be a strike, kick, throw or combination thereof. There were four bunkai and you were expected to not only be able to properly do all the actions in the middle as the defender but also be a proper attacker from each angle as well, including knowing how to fall properly and be thrown head first in one bunkai.

The test ended at 12:30 and the results were announced.

I'm pleased to report that I passed the test and am now a Nidan (2nd Degree Black Belt).

Back From The Iha Dojo National Training Seminar

From Friday until now I was over in Lansing, Michigan for the Iha Dojo Karate National Training Seminar. I found out I made the promotional card with a photo of the seminar from last year, which is kinda cool.

The seminar is three days of karate instruction, meeting friends both new and old from a number of dojos around the country and the world, and having a good time doing so. There was a strong showing of contingents from the New York, New Jersey and the Canadian Dojos this year.

This year it was held at the Lansing Convention Center so we were right in downtown Lansing with many restaurants and bars in easy walking distance. This would be useful during lunch breaks and after the classes ended.

The convention floor was concrete with a thin layer of carpet over it, which made break-falling particularly exciting, especially the fall in Passai Sho Bunkai where you have to do a forward roll as the person in the center of the bunkai pulls your arm forward and throws you via that leverage after you punch towards them with that arm. It was fine as long as you were careful and everyone was paying attention.

Before each session started everyone would meet and socialize while they were warming up.

Sensei Iha (10th Dan) or Sensei Barker (9th Dan), his Sampai or senior student, would lead the training, and we worked on kata, bunkai and partnership drills. Careful attention was paid to body mechanics, typically keeping ones elbows in among other things, turning on one's axis and proper movement, balance, and weight shifting.

Here's a shot of Sensei Iha (10th Dan) or Sensei Barker (9th Dan) and Sensei Menders (8th Dan - in the red and white striped belt)

Sensei Iha at over 80 years old is not only still sharper than a tack but also in amazing physical shape. Sensei Barker, in his late 70s, can similarly deliver a kick that can send you into a neighboring state, or a punch so focused with all their power and body behind it that your ancestors will feel it. It's a good thing they're both wonderfully nice and peaceful individuals with a great amount of patience and a love of teaching karate, and we're very lucky to have them both.

This morning Sensei Iha for example demonstrated on a 6th Degree black belt the concepts of axis and was able to show that with punch throw at him he can basically control the attacker's movements and put him wherever he wants, typically ending with a thud. We then learned these applications and commenced to locking up an opponent once they punched at various angles (hiugh, low, middle) and then (gently) throwing them and vice-versa.

All this physical work creates a powerful thirst so last night the memebrs of my dojo headed to the Midtown Brewing Co.

They had a decent list of beers:

When asked which of them we wanted to drink, the answer was yes, and yes it was so.

Dinner was served.

Oh, I also had a black and blue burger that was awesome, but back to the beer.

The sample included a Hopwood Double IPA with a 9% alcohol content. Barrel-aged it was excellent going down and then hit like a ton of bricks. The other IPAs were also quite good, as were the amber ales. The best by far however was the All Night Long Coffee Stout. The stout had a rich taste of coffee but was not bitter nor over-sweet and was an excellent beer to finish up the time at the restaurant.

We then met up with yet more karateka wandering Lansing's streets and then headed to the hotel bar for some fine sipping whiskeys before calling it a night.

I was awoken at 2:30 am by some idiots in the next room not from our seminar who had got back from the bars and were yelling and carrying on. Finally they shut up around 3:30 or so and I was able to get some sleep. Since I had to be up at 7 to meet up with the other people from my dojo for breakfast and then get ready for an early morning for today's seminar, my alarm was set. Completely fortuitously, the alarm ended up being located right beside the adjoining wall from whence last night's rudeness came, and it went off loudly and I sadly in the rush of the moment forgot to turn it off for some time. I may have also banged into the wall a few times getting ready, how clumsy of me.

After today's morning session we all changed, checked out of the hotel and went to the celebratory banquet and then headed home.

It was great seeing a lot of friends from prior seminars and training with lots of different people, most of them with much greater experience than I, and learning some very neat new (to me) techniques.

Making It To Black Belt - Passing the Shodan Examination

I hadn't mentioned on this blog that in addition to shooting and scuba diving, I'm learning karate for self-defense, exercise, knowledge, and because you get to associate with a truly great bunch of people.

I began as a white belt four and a half years ago and was introduced to Shido-Kan Shorin-Ryu Karate by a co-worker who was a Sixth Dan (sixth degree black belt) in that style. So I went to the dojo in Birmingham and met Sensei Menders who at the time was a Seventh Dan and is now an Eighth Dan in Shido-Kan. I enjoyed the people, enjoyed the workouts and decided it was the right fit for me. For additional practice I also went to the Clawson dojo, which is part of the same association and has the same curriculum, and again, a bunch of great people. Clawson is run by a husband and wife team, both of whom are Sixth Dan. In short, I always had incredibly great teachers throughout this journey.

Four and half years later, after progressing through the kyu ranks from 12th to 1st, it was time to test for 1st Dan Black Belt.

For a few months I had been regularly traveling to Lansing to visit the hombu dojo as part of the pre-test requirements for Michigan students. The hombu dojo is the headquarters of the North American Beikoku Shido-Kan Association and is headed by Hanshi 10th Dan Sensei Iha. Yes, Lansing is the home of an international karate cultural treasure from Okinawa - Sensei Iha.

At each visit I would work with the dojo members there and perform katas, kumite (partner drills) and bunkai (kata application, typically in groups of five people) in front of Sensei iha and other seniors. They would make suggestions and expect you to incorporate those suggestions for improvement into your technique before your next visit. Then you would either be cleared to test or not.

The Black belt tests are held only three times a year before the board of examiners, and July is the largest of the tests. After lots of practice, I was cleared to test.

The test was on Thursday night, starting at 6 pm and held in a hotel conference room in Lansing - a lightly carpeted floor over concrete which made break-falls really fun. On the upside the floor gave you excellent footing for your stances during kata, kumite and bunkai.

The examining board is composed of Sensei Iha and his senior instructors and heads of various dojos and the members are Seventh Dan and above. In other words, you're doing your test in front of about 400 combined years of karate experience - they've seen it all, they see all that you do, and you sure as heck can't fake it, you've got to make it and do your best.

The candidates for Sho-Dan (1st an) were called forward first, then the candidates for Second, then third, then fourth and there was one candidate for fifth, each to perform three senior katas. There are five senior katas - Passai Sho, Kusanku Sho, Passai Dai, Kusanku Dai and Chinto. Until the night of the test you only know that you will do Chinto, the other two Katas are drawn at random and everyone does the same three. For kata it is you alone in front of the board and a roomful of spectators. Each of us was given a number and I was number five. This was the order in which we were to stand, take our place on the testing line and do the katas.

So I was able to watch the first four candidates go up, and then I rose and was about to walk onto the testing floor, only to have candidate number 6 stand up and head onto the testing floor. This is a problem, considering the testing sheets are in numerical order so they were about to grade her on my sheet! That would be bad. The test was paused, the sheets were sorted out and the test proctor was a tad irate, but then we were instructed to state our names as we came up to avoid further mix-ups.

I then went up, stated my name, announced each kata, and did them to the best of my ability. Having just sprained my right ankle in late June,it still hadn't fully healed and it made the test even more interesting than I preferred. I avoided any kata-strophes and did a pretty good job. I then sat down and got to watch the rest of the candidates. Some were amazing, some not so much, and a couple of candidates had to repeat a kata after messing it up, but they managed to redeem themselves.

The we were paired off in partners for kumite drills, then into groups for bunkai. My kumite was really good, and three of the four bunkais were great. On the last and most difficult bunkai, Passai Sho, I started in the middle and did it nice and smoothly. When on the outside I had a couple hiccups with the technique but managed to get through. One fun part of the outside of this bunkai is the final sequence - you step forward right and throw a high right punch, which the person in the middle intercepts and then pulls down as they advance and sweep your leg - which results in you doing a forward roll. If you do the roll wrong you're going to land on either your face or your back like a sack of you know what. My roll was happily excellent and I ended up on my feet right where I was supposed to be.

The test took three hours and at the end they announced that I and the other testers had passed the examination. I was then called up, thanked Sensei Iha, and then Sensei Menders tied on my new black belt.

The Clawson dojo testing group gathered for a picture marking a successful test:

I also had this picture taken with Sensei Menders and Sensei Iha:

I was wiped from the effort but extremely happy. Passing that test was the best feeling I've had in quite a long time and the culmination of lots of time and effort. My first black belt ever. I got it while I'm still 40, which was a personal goal and it was a very proud moment. Now, as a First Dan I am not a tough-guy or anything like that, it simply means I'm fit to be a student of karate and can now really start learning what it is all about.