Post by kensei on Jan 27, 2011 13:28:07 GMT
Ever sit around and think “if only _____ did not exist….Karate would be perfect”? Well here is my top ten things that hinder Karate from being perfect!
1. Karate Politics: over the last 30+ years I went from student to junior instructor/senior to instructor/senior to chairman of the organization…and if I could do it all over again…I would stop at Junior instructor! Truth is I don’t see a need for politics in Karate, yes administration is super important but politics…not so much!
2. Lack of education in the public eye: How many times have I tried to find a small hidden away spot in a park to run Kata or went to the store with my Karate jacket on for the first time thinking…damn this thing is sharp….only to be gawked at by someone or worse yet get the “My style is better than yours” or the even worse “I used to train in Karate 50 years ago …see UCHICUKI UKE”
3. Kratty Movies: They do more bad than good some times! I have seen so many kids come in wanting to be the next vandammage or Ninjit turtle! Then you try to explain that we don’t do that and if I did a helicopter kick like that ballet guy does in the movie I would be in the hospital after self neutering! And they leave when they realize we wear white Dogi and not a black Ninja assassin outfit and throw steel stars at each other for practice!
4. Egotistical instructors: I have met a hand full of instructors who have been training less time than me and they still want me to call them Sensei! Or instructors that don’t get that they are not gods simply because they have a black belt holding their gut in! The truth is that respect is given first! Not demanded! I hate Morons like this and refuse to give them respect!!!
5. Splits in Organizations: Again, back to politics, money and power…but the reason is irrelevant for the purpose here. I hate that good people are split by organizational rifts and some may never ever meet each other. The fact is that the more open the doors the better…but that will never happen.
6. False Ranks: Be it inflated due to political pressures or just made up…false ranks are…well rank. I know of at least a hand full of guys that I used to train with and a few instructors who were told to show up at a camp so they could dance and have their new rank awarded…..why bother…just mail the friggin thing if that is what it means. One local guy was HANDED his seventh dan because he stuck with the masters. He has the skills of a Nidan and is about as smart as a telephone pole but he stuck by the instructors who split from the JKA so they called him up and said “Hey thanks…for that we are GIVING you your Sixth dan and then we will throw in the seventh shortly after” . I was told the story after he got his seventh…which is a joke to anyone that knows Karate a bit. Rank has become a bit of a rank issue. I know Nidans with more sense and better teaching skills than some Seventh dans here in Canada.
7. Work: If only I could make a living training in Karate and had been able to do so as a karate athlete when younger. I would never have worried about money….Olympics need Karate in them so we can pay athletes to train like they do in Skiing!....just a dreamy suggestion!
8. How often do I find myself nose to nose with a boxer, kick boxer, Thai guy or Kung fu guy and have to explain that we are just different…no one is better? I had a conversation with a guy the other day who does Mook Dook Kwan (sp). Apparently the ancient form of TKD…yah right…did not read his history I fear….anyways he was saying how much better it was than Karate…while I sat soaked to the bone in my Gi after a work out……I thought two things…ONE: He had balls for saying that while I wore my gi…what if I this old man had asked him to explain….Physically….and TWO..>What a Git!
9. I love training, I love training hard…I don’t mind getting hurt…But Damn it why cant I heal over night…it would make my life so much better if my broken toes would have mended in hours and I did not get the pain in them still from not letting them heal or any of the other injuries that are mounting……
10. Which brings me to 10. Old age sucks…especially when it comes to Karate!
1. Karate Politics: over the last 30+ years I went from student to junior instructor/senior to instructor/senior to chairman of the organization…and if I could do it all over again…I would stop at Junior instructor! Truth is I don’t see a need for politics in Karate, yes administration is super important but politics…not so much!
2. Lack of education in the public eye: How many times have I tried to find a small hidden away spot in a park to run Kata or went to the store with my Karate jacket on for the first time thinking…damn this thing is sharp….only to be gawked at by someone or worse yet get the “My style is better than yours” or the even worse “I used to train in Karate 50 years ago …see UCHICUKI UKE”
3. Kratty Movies: They do more bad than good some times! I have seen so many kids come in wanting to be the next vandammage or Ninjit turtle! Then you try to explain that we don’t do that and if I did a helicopter kick like that ballet guy does in the movie I would be in the hospital after self neutering! And they leave when they realize we wear white Dogi and not a black Ninja assassin outfit and throw steel stars at each other for practice!
4. Egotistical instructors: I have met a hand full of instructors who have been training less time than me and they still want me to call them Sensei! Or instructors that don’t get that they are not gods simply because they have a black belt holding their gut in! The truth is that respect is given first! Not demanded! I hate Morons like this and refuse to give them respect!!!
5. Splits in Organizations: Again, back to politics, money and power…but the reason is irrelevant for the purpose here. I hate that good people are split by organizational rifts and some may never ever meet each other. The fact is that the more open the doors the better…but that will never happen.
6. False Ranks: Be it inflated due to political pressures or just made up…false ranks are…well rank. I know of at least a hand full of guys that I used to train with and a few instructors who were told to show up at a camp so they could dance and have their new rank awarded…..why bother…just mail the friggin thing if that is what it means. One local guy was HANDED his seventh dan because he stuck with the masters. He has the skills of a Nidan and is about as smart as a telephone pole but he stuck by the instructors who split from the JKA so they called him up and said “Hey thanks…for that we are GIVING you your Sixth dan and then we will throw in the seventh shortly after” . I was told the story after he got his seventh…which is a joke to anyone that knows Karate a bit. Rank has become a bit of a rank issue. I know Nidans with more sense and better teaching skills than some Seventh dans here in Canada.
7. Work: If only I could make a living training in Karate and had been able to do so as a karate athlete when younger. I would never have worried about money….Olympics need Karate in them so we can pay athletes to train like they do in Skiing!....just a dreamy suggestion!
8. How often do I find myself nose to nose with a boxer, kick boxer, Thai guy or Kung fu guy and have to explain that we are just different…no one is better? I had a conversation with a guy the other day who does Mook Dook Kwan (sp). Apparently the ancient form of TKD…yah right…did not read his history I fear….anyways he was saying how much better it was than Karate…while I sat soaked to the bone in my Gi after a work out……I thought two things…ONE: He had balls for saying that while I wore my gi…what if I this old man had asked him to explain….Physically….and TWO..>What a Git!
9. I love training, I love training hard…I don’t mind getting hurt…But Damn it why cant I heal over night…it would make my life so much better if my broken toes would have mended in hours and I did not get the pain in them still from not letting them heal or any of the other injuries that are mounting……
10. Which brings me to 10. Old age sucks…especially when it comes to Karate!