Perfect technique

Perfect technique

When you start in Karate you notice that at our club we focus a lot on building techniques. We are what you would call Kihon-centric in our approach. Lots of basics, reps and drills to try and “program” in the correct form for each movement and we harp on it and work it till you conform to the basic movements. Perfect techniques are required to transfer force in techniques, not get hurt and actually learn a variety of responses to violent stimuli that can come up in altercations and also sport Karate.

As a white belt student, most students will be sloppy, choppy and unsure of what they are doing. Kicks will lack recoil; they will throw limbs about with abandon and basically will look like they are totally without focus or control! This is not a bad thing because we were all there at one point. We don’t understand how things work or even how these weird new techniques are to be applied.

White belts are hard to work with because as interested and keen as they often are….we don’t know what they are going to do and they don’t know what they are going to do…this is why a black belt should always work with white belts….spontaneous reactions are what you should be looking for in a training partner to hone your response.

A reverse punch is weak; hips not being used for the punch, back heel floating around, arm over extended past the unused hip and basically the arm is thrown out with no body power behind it. The Front kick is sloppy and often the knee is not used in the kick, the back hip floats and the kick has no recoil. All the techniques look like this and they are not pretty at all!

Intermediate beginners like Green and Orange belts are a bit more stiff as they try to perform perfect form but don’t know about relaxation. They have decent enough form and try to adhere to the expectations of seniors and instructors, but their lack of relaxation may actually work against them and hurt them…and not just as a practitioner but literally. Pulled muscles are common and sore, and achy joints will be common as they jerk kicks out and try to focus and snap back not realizing that they are to tight and robotic.

Again, this is a natural progression to good techniques because the “cookie cutter” approach ensures that we all have the same form and go through the same training to polish and perfect form. At this level its important to try and work on poor form, herky jerky movements and any dangerous form mistakes, like hyperextension of joints and other poor mechanics. But its also important to realize that the students are working the techniques as “Gross ‘grand’ motor skills” or BIG MOVES with little to do with finesse!

Intermediate level students now know what Gyaku zuki means and Mae Geri is a front kick. They have key components that they know to do…but they are choppy and the back heel still floats around on occasion, but they know its wrong. The form is forced and choppy and they need to relax. The other key issue is that they cannot stay down in stance. When they kick they lift up as they are not using forward momentum to move but stop like robots and have to fight gravity by standing up.

Advanced beginner levels like the Brown belts are now working with okay form, huge power and have the ability to hurt someone…as much as they do themselves. Brown belts are normally a pain to train with because they want to show their power. They spar like they want to express explosive power in every move and they now have good form to use for that purpose.

For Brown belts the most important thing is to keep the form while they inevitably use that power they want to generate. Instructors pull their hair out as the student’s transition into a position where they are no longer nervous about using Karate skills and are wanting to “fly free” and throw caution to the wind as they spar and blow each other apart with powerful counters and dynamic attacks…and form and technique starts to slip away. Thankfully that normally ends around 1^st Kyu as the constant badgering by instructors sinks in and Brown belts begin to figure out that its Form over Functional ability that leads to moving techniques and ability to the next level.

This levels basic techniques like Gyaku zuki and Mae Geri are still a bit robotic, but they also lack control because they throw everything with power and no control. Their Gyaku zuki has issues with hip rotation because they are thinking with the shoulders and arm more often than not, but the heel stays put and the power is shown. The Front kick normally is limited to Chudan because the flexibility they have produced is countered with the need for power in everything. They are easy to counter because they cannot relax enough to react after a technique has been launched.

By the time a student reaches Black belt they should have fallen back to the “cookie cutter” version of the perfect form of a technique. The power is more natural, form is near perfect and the relaxation in form and technique is starting to improve together. The problem is…everyone still looks the same.

The form is present but some of that fantastic power that Brown belts have has left when they realized they are not doing the movements with fluid and natural relaxation then split second Kime. Black belts, when they first get to that level, suffer from an identity crisis. They are now a senior but striving to show perfect form as a beginner would. They cannot mentally relax and have mental fits over form and function, are they inadequate or do they lack something. They question themselves and they need to learn relaxation even more now.

Things like the Reverse punch and front kick again seem to be a bit slower, but perhaps smoother. The form is back and little mistakes are cleaved off as practice time mounts again. The need to be powerful and reckless seems to be replaced with a attention to detail and a want to express perfect form. Heels are down again, more dynamic use of the hips and power translation is starting to fall back into natural form and functional standards. Basically the Black belt looks smoother and with better form, but not as loose and free and explosive as Brown belts tend to.

Something happens as a Black belt progresses and become more relaxed. They begin to explore their ability and they begin to fall away from the “cookie cutter” use of techniques. They explore options and they realize that some changes to form are not bad things at a higher level because they understand movement and their own body more. A more dynamic ability comes into play, they can now move more freely and still stick to the laws of movement that govern the style of Shotokan. They begin to come into their own and create a sub style of movement.

At this time they normally abandon the use of Sport Karate or Shiai Karate in favor of a more fluid and natural moving style that may not earn points but will win battles in real life. The heal may come back up or the leg may not chamber all the way, some recoil may be lost to help generate momentum in a different direction and techniques looked at individually lose some “perfection” but overall the whole movement skills become more natural and a thing of beauty. The individual people don’t look the same anymore and you get a diverse number of skills and use their body more effectively but not looking “perfect” doing so.

This level of proficiency starts to wright its only rules of movement and the student now has a more natural flow to their movements and they create reactions on the spot that are dynamic and varied. They don’t react the same way twice as they see the options for reactions and technical adjustments happen naturally and in the moment. They are no longer programed to react a specific way and they start to be more creative, relaxed and self-assured that they are doing their own Karate but still make it look as and feel like Shotokan, but a personal version of the basic foundation style.

The levels I outline are not really based on belts. I have trained with black belts that were stiff and ridged as a purple belt but have gone as far up the chain as they can and I have worked out with 3^rd Kyus that never went to the “power and explosive action over form” phase and probably never will, and I have on occasion trained with juniors that moved like seniors and tended to create as they moved, instincts dictating movement and not the hard wired responses. The latter being VERY rare however.

I have also trained with those that THOUGHT they were at the level of seniors and were just sloppy and left form behind way to soon. Not everyone goes through all the phases and the grand use of these terms were simply for illustration and a example of a road map that one can follow to the next level. However, having said that…one cannot take short cuts to the top, they must go through these phases generally to get to the point of complete reflexive creation of movement within the principles of Shotokan Karate movement.

One also has to remember that perfection of techniques and movement is a goal, not a destination. One continues to grow even through the senior level of technical proficiency and into new avenues of movement. If you want proof you simply need to look at senior Karate people like Tanaka, Ueki, Yahara, Kanazawa, Osaka and others to watch their progress. With old movies on You tube and other file share programs its easy to watch as the senior Karate men go through changes to get to the place they are at now. And will continue to be interesting as we see them develop even further.

Instructor Mentoring

Instructor Mentoring

Why a mentoring program

I am a HUGE advocate of a instructor mentoring program in each training organization and under each instructor. Why, well we already see a glut of instructors in the martial arts who are undereducated in specific areas, have little talent for teaching and develop sub-par students. Not everyone is meant to teach and the mentoring programs would help assist us in finding new instructors who are talented, groomed to teach and are able to properly pass on traditional Karate to the students of the organization.

I have read and overheard young ( and not so young brown belts) Chomping at the bit to teach Karate. Its not as easy as getting a Black belt and suddenly you are geared up to teach Karate. First off the Shodan level means you have a good grasp of the basics of Karate….its a great time to START looking at teaching. I don’t mean teaching kids to kick and punch in the corner when class starts, I mean taking on teaching under a experienced instructor.

The other thing to consider why to put in a mentoring program and get your potential instructors on board before they jump to teaching in a regular class is that Karate training (the kicky and punchy stuff) is only about 30% of what you need to be a good instructor. To “channel” Yogi Berra, Teaching is 30% Karate and 90% ability to pass on information…add another 20% of basic understanding of physiology and mechanics and another 50% of a variety of life skills, teaching skills, and other knowledge that all rolls up into one big mess of ability, skills and knowledge that you only get from being mentored, personal experience and hard work! A mentoring program seems like the only logical way to wrap that all up into one!

Who should teach

That’s the million dollar question isn’t it! Let me first off start by saying I started teaching at my high school when I was a Purple belt. Granted I got special permission and promised only to teach up to Orange belt students and had a black belt monitor my classes for the first two months. The main thing was I learned a long time ago…teaching is not as easy as it looks….and it takes a lot of hard work to get to the point that you can simply walk into a dojo and start teaching!

Because of my experience as a Purple belt starting teaching, I now think that only Brown belts at 2^nd to 1^st Kyu should be teaching beginners if at all possible and only Shodans and up should be STARTING to teach classes. Now having said that, there are always exceptions in both directions. I have met and trained under some Shodans that were exceptional instructors and went on to be great teachers…and I have worked out and trained under some Godans that need to go back and relearn the “soft skills” that come with teaching.

I have seen people who were great Karate competitors, had skills in DOING Karate, but were frustrated as instructors because they were HORRIBLE teachers. I have seen people who did Karate for more than 40 years, who could not lead a class and teach their way out of a wet paper bag. They had super high expectations, but limited skills as instructors. It’s the same thing in schools’ you have teachers who are naturally smart people, super smart and have a tone of initials after their name to prove it…but put them in front of a class to teach…Not a hope in hell they will actually pass on anything of value and not get frustrated and frustrate students to no end. Rank does not always equate teaching skills.

I have also run into people who were natural teachers. Some were not at the appropriate level to be teaching, but a smart Mentor will realize that they are naturally gifted and have the right teaching mindset and natural soft skills that will allow them to be great leaders and teachers at one time. Those people should be put into a mentoring program at some time and the skills should be fostered!

Not all black belts will be teachers

Not all people who are at the “right level” to take on teaching will be good teachers. Egotists, people who cannot see the bigger picture and those that don’t have the soft skills will not make great teachers. It’s not just about jumping in and getting experience. Some people lack the natural teaching skills and mindset and even if they “Get it” they cant make others “get it”. It is something that good instructors struggle with, but succeed at that makes them worthy of teaching.

I have met some that just don’t “get it” on their own, how are they supposed to make others understand and “get it”. Some people will train to and reach brown belt and even black belt and not be instructors, And that is fine! It’s even expected, it’s expected that some people, no matter what they expect and want won’t make it as teachers in Karate and other martial arts. The mentoring program will not only help people become better , it will help them realize what it takes to be a good instructor…a lot of internal searching and exploring of Karate and the person themselves. Its about giving up ego and realizing that when you become an instructor, its about the students not you!

Some black belts will not be instructors, in fact If I had to guess….probably 95% of black belts should not be instructors and have no want or need to be instructors. Of the last 5% only a small amount will evolve into true Karate Sensei’s…the rest will just be knock offs and regurg-teachers. The key is to find a true instructor (sensei) and mentor with them. Those that want to teach or even help teach need to keep in mind…its not about them, its about the art!

Natural talent vs nurtured skills

I know of a few “Naturally talented” people that are not in our mentoring program and I hate that! I also know of several people who want to teach who are not in our program and don’t have what it takes to be an instructor! First off being a Karate teacher or “Sensei” is about A LOT more than just calling yourself that and teaching kicky punchy things! Its about stay power, interest in others learning, love of the art, commitment to the art, trying to pass on information to others to help them and wanting to continue learning long after you start teaching!
Natural talent is a hard thing to gauge on most people, you cannot throw all your brown belts in front of a class and say “Teach”, you have to observe them teaching smaller groups and this is why its good to have them teach a few new people here and there to get a good idea of their natural teaching ability and inclination. The ability to get info across smoothly, being relaxed and basically teaching a beginner is like training wheels on a bike.

Natural talent or aptitude for teaching is almost impossible to teach someone. If they don’t have it, generally it is not going to show up. However nurtured skills can help out a bit. Nurtured skills are the skills you foster in people by teaching them how to teach. Someone can be taught how to write out or plan a class, they can be taught the dynamics of a specific technique and give a teaching plan on how to communicate that to a student. However if they do not have natural ability in teaching and the care that they would need, its often not enough to make an effective teacher, and any success they have will be marginal as instructors.

By far a natural ability and character is needed over any learned skills to become a success as a Karate instructor.

What you should know

Obviously you need to know basics, Kata and Kumite to be a good teacher in Karate. You also need to understand the basic grading curriculum that comes with teaching students…no point teaching double kicks, inside round house kick, Hook kicks and sweeps to a white belt! They have a natural progression that this is way to “down the road” for. Also, no point in teaching 27 points of a front stance to the same student…it will make them crazy and confused and they wont enjoy Karate enough to get that deep of understanding….keep it simple!

A instructor needs to understand individual learning; what and how someone learns the best. Not everyone can hear an answer and “get it” , some need to see it and others need to do it to understand. A instructor should also understand how to communicate in a respectful manor! I have seen instructors bark out orders through a whole class and not get through to people at all!

As a student I can say that what impresses me the most about instructors is often not just a deep understanding of Karate. It’s the add ons, the little extras and life experiences that they bring to the table. An instructor should look into exercise physiology, sports Psychology, learning more about soft skills in teaching, and a variety of others topics. I don’t think a Ph.D in sports psychology is needed by all instructors, but the effort to read up on it, take it in school and bring it to the Dojo is appreciable in the teaching they can now do.

A mentoring program will pass on as much information, show future instructors directions they should look at and get them to the point that they understand that teaching Karate is more about never stopping the search for new things to learn, the insatiable appetite for learning Karate and bringing other “outside” elements to your teaching.

Its also about learning that while you are teaching a curriculum and trying to pass on information, you should be forming your own style of teaching and learning to express your own Karate.

A good mentoring program will……

A good mentoring program will be less about getting people “READING” and more about them observing and working into teaching. Its about getting experience instructors, preferably a few, together and having juniors who want to teach being mentored and observed, coached and given feed back for a few years.

A good mentoring program will expand knowledge of Karate and the individual through training, interaction and observations. Paper work is kept to a minimum and used to encourage people to think, and not as a simple academic activity to justify the programs existence.

A good program will help people see if they are meant to teach Karate and help those that are not to realize that they are good students, great practitioners, but perhaps teaching is not their thing…as much as taking those with natural talents and a need for experience and giving them something to work with. It will teach those that should be teachers how to teach Karate and also help them realize that teachers…are supposed to be veracious learners as well!

Wrong people in the mentoring program

A good mentoring program will weed out the egotists, the people with a lack of soft skills and those that are in it for themselves. There is not money in Karate really, not for good instructors that want to run a program that will help students out. There is a honest living and hard work ahead and those looking for a pass to get a teaching certificate are in for a rude awakening. Teaching is often hard work that takes a dedication and passion that some miss out on when they look at the “Cool” teaching gig and think that its easy!

Also, those that want to dominate others and hold rank above the students head need not apply. Its more of a personal interaction time that will support new instructors and teach them through hard training, brutally honest conversations and a push in the right direction often aimed at the trainee’s butt! I can not count the number of times my instructor “knocked me down a peg”. And the lessons were hard love with me looking up from the floor wondering why I wanted to teach in the first place if it meant getting “corrected” this way. But the lessons stuck! The method was sound and I became very close with my instructor, thinking of him as a father figure and source for my Karate interest.

The wrong type of people are those that won’t see the big picture, won’t understand that the hard work is not for themselves but their students. The wrong kind of instructor will only take pride in their students if they are Kata Champions, or fighters that are feared and decorated. They need to take pride in those students, but also in the student that is less physically gifted who sticks it out and enters the tournament simply because they love Karate, or shows up at the dojo day in and day out simply to share the work outs with their instructors and fellow students.

Those that are in it for some kind of “Level” and “prestige” are those that need to NOT be in the programs, they won’t make good instructors no matter how much they know about Karate…they simply will fail as Sensei’s!

Continuing education

The one thing I can say about any good mentoring program is the insistence that anyone on the program work on continuing their education after they are out of the program. Not just going to other Karate camps and pushing to be better at teaching Mae Geri’s and Gyaku zukis…but focusing on learning other skills that they can bring to the table when teaching.

Its important to state that when I first started teaching I felt like a fish out of water, then when I began teaching with a black belt at a club we Co-taught at ( I was a brown belt) I deferred to him, but felt like I knew as much and was as good as the Shodan at teaching, he was as green as I was at instructing. It was through repeated teaching, being mentored by my instructor and looking at teaching from a different angle that I finally began to feel comfortable and bring in things I learned in University and other sources.

The main thing is to get the students comfortable transitioning to being instructors and letting them know that the search for knowledge does not end…ever!

A final thought on the use of Mentoring Programs

Any instructor who teaches has “a mentor”. Someone that has taught him/her about Karate and has brought them to the level they are at…we are not all born black belts after all. However, a good instructor focuses on learning to be an instructor and programs like the JKA of Manitoba have set up will benefit future instructors by giving them guidance and helping the prospective instructors learn how hard it actually is to teach successfully. I mean anyone can “teach” Karate, but only a few will do it well enough to be called a Sensei.

Mentoring programs and learning from those that care about Karate and students more than their own egos are the only ways that a prospective instructor will grow and become a success in Karate teaching. Its important to realize that they are a first step only. Its not like you “Graduate” and are perfect, far from it…a mentoring program should highlight flaws and weak points and let us know what we need to work on, allow us to learn from those that are further along than we are and also to let us realize that they are human and will be working on their own weak points as well.

A mentoring program is not for everyone, but it should be the path that one takes when they want to teach, help teach or even give advice to others in class on how to improve technically or otherwise.

J

How I kick Jackie Chans BUTT...or why I am falling apart

So, I had a few ideas for my Chronicles....but I was surfing the net and saw a article about Jackie Chan’s injuries and figured I would take a closer look. To date Jackie has had: A broke Ankle from Rumble in the Bronx, A "knee injury" from City hunter, Hand injury...while bouncing on a hotel bed?, A back injury from Police story, a dislocated sternum during operation Condor, Dislocated shoulder during City hunter, "Facial injury" During "highbinder"?, Three broken noses, a "brow ridge injury" during Drunken master and a skull injury during armor of the gods.
Not a bad record all and all! But I got to thinking, and I kick his Butt in the category of gory...er, getting your butt handed to you in the injury department!

Lets see, from top to bottom:

Broken toes: During the old days of Karate if you kicked at a guy you could expect them to try and break your toes with their elbows or forearms. I got caught a few times with this and once in Judo I tried to do an inside leg-throw and connected toes to shin and snapped two of my toes straight back. I was teaching once, a two hour long class, broke my toes warming up and had to snap them back into place, tape them and teach…that was NOT fun!

broken ankle(s), have now broken my left ankle twice and my right four times. Most of the time it is while I run or when I landed funny in Gymnastics….which come to think of it really messed up my ankles in the first place! Once I was stepping down an icy step and slipped, the Snap was so gross and piercing my buddy puked right there and then! I broke it running in the winter once, when I stepped in a rut! Slipped out and snapped the ankle bone! I now do all my winter jogging indoors!

Torn Achilies at the muscle: When I was younger I was into gymnastics to help me with my Karate and Judo/Sambo. I was actually not bad, a bit clumsy but not that bad. I was doing the vault and as I hit the beat board to jump my Calf snapped and I ended up rolling onto the gym floor in pain...the pain almost made me pass out, I went in and they had to suture the muscle to the tendon with 88 small sutures. My left leg has never been the same.

Broken shin bone: I once ventured into full contact Karate....back in the day when that was cool! At one point I ended up sparring with a guy about 60 pounds heavy than me and we hit shin to shin and my Fib snapped like a tooth pick, he was just a bit taller and caught my leg funny. It did not stop me from walking or sparring, but the next day I got an x-ray and they showed me the break, it was not that bad, but I was side lined for a month!

Strained knee: I was throwing a guy in Judo and the clutz dropped onto my outstretched leg! Strained the MCL and hurt like a bugger for about four weeks.

Torn Hamstring: I was kicking in class one night and did not warm up, I went for a high front snap kick and the class got to hear a mini shotgun blast as my hamstring tore in the middle and made the most god awful clapping noise. The lucky thing for me was it was not complete and while I have a crap load of scar tissue the Hammy did not need to go under the knife. I still have a hard time with my right leg and warming up.

Brused hip bone...Twice: the first time was in Judo, I was playing Uke and was getting tossed about, which can be fun if not hard on the body...the guy I was working with was a rather energetic black belt and I was getting ready to test for that level, when he threw me off the shoulder and I landed just off the mat! My hip drove into the way to thin mat that covered the hard wood and I got a hip bruise that hurt like hell. The second time, my Karate instructor told me to go to the chiropractor.....NEVER AGAIN! He twisted my hip a bit then drove it into the table, the hip popped in and out and hurt like HELL! I could not walk right for a week and missed a tournament because of it...bastard!

Tone groin muscle: With all the fighting I had done you would think that I hurt my Abductors doing some fancy kick or some hard throw or something, Nope! I was ice skating with a girl friend of mine and one leg went west and the other east! Not much fun! I also broke my nose that day on the ice.....all of this would sound better if I did this in a Hockey game or speed skating, but I was on a pond trying to learn how to skate. 18 years old at the time and Canadian....could not skate...I almost had to move! But the government actually did not find out!

Strained lower back: During all the fighting I used to do, in and out of the tournaments, I used to do a lot of conditioning as well. One day I was lifting weights, I used to do a lot of power lifting to get ready for judo. I did exactly what Bruce Lee did, I was doing "good mornings" and went to lift the bar up in a dead lift fashion and the pain in my back hit me right away, I dropped the bar and crumpled to the floor. Thank God it was not a disk but a strain. I can tell you that it hurt like hell and I was young enough to not know what the hell hit me!

Tone Abdominal muscle: I went into a judo tournament one time and ended up in a heavier weight catagory than I was used to...they merged three groups together because they did not have enough people. I went to do a hip throw and as I grabbed the guy and pulled I felt a burning in my gut and then a horrible pain. It hurt to breath, it hurt not to breath, I puked and it just about killed me!

broken rib(s): I have broken ribs sparring and catching a kick, I have broke a few in a car accident, I even broke a few in a bar fight when I was trying to break up a brawl. The broken ribs are as bad as you are told by others. It hurts to do anything. Don’t even get me going on bowel movements with broken ribs…there is a “its crappy joke” if I ever seen one!

Torn Pec: Two words...Pec Dec! I went to a gym with a buddy and was working on the pec dec and he added weight to the pec dec till it was hard to move it, then as I was straining he dropped a few plates on it that you can add on without pulling in a pin or anything, It hurt like a heart attack, not good for a 26 year old guy to have a heart attack, so I thought it was the muscle. I was so upset that I threw a fit and almost kicked his butt.....He thought he was helping me get ready for a tournament or something and he buggered me up in the end

Dislocated shoulder(s): First time was with my brother when I was four. he was playing air plane with me, him on his back with his legs up and me on his legs, he pulled my arms and kind of flipped me accidentally, the twist and pull motion popped it out. Then a bunch of times in Gymnastics and Judo. It never felt bad till they put it back in, it was kind of achy but the real pain is when it pops back in. I guess when you don’t see it coming, its not as bad…when you know its coming…well your colon puckers!

Broken clavicle: I landed on my arm funny during some fooling around with some students. we were practicing take downs and I reached out instinctively and SNAP, it broke in the middle...Now that hurt, thankfully it did not cut through the skin and they just reduced the facture and I had to wear a special brace for two months.

Pulled biceps; I was doing the rings in gymnastics and on a dislocate I did not have my control during the swing and let one arm relax and it pulled the biceps muscle. Hurt like a Charlie horse for a month.

Dislocated elbow: Back when Emma was a baby I often would go to sleep in the basement before work….keeping in mind I average 4 to 5 hours a night now, but for her first four years I would get around 2-3 hours at most. Well, one week end my wife told me to go get some rest in the basement, I did…fell asleep on the sofa. I woke up and got off the sofa way to fast, the balance was not their yet and I kind of fell….My arm and leg had gone to sleep on me so the fall was part balance, part numb leg! I fell with my arm straight out to catch myself…the one that was numb as well! The resulting injury was caused when the arm landed funny palm on mat and I hyper extended my elbow about 2-3 inches the wrong way! The pain was so bad I wished I had broken it. It took about a month to heal up what ever it was that I had just done to that poor right arm of mine.

Broken forearm: I was sparring with a friend in Karate and blocked a front kick a bit to flat and broke my own forearm. It was a "minor" fracture...but damn can those swell up! Hurt like a bugger. The hospital did not cast me they gave me a tenser and sling?? Anyways, I was back training the next night...Against MD's orders.

Broken fingers: If you block a kick or punch, select an open hand or a closed hand....not a relaxed hand. I broke my fingers trying to block a kick and was relaxed. I was sparring with a junior and did not see them as a threat. I blocked, or smacked at the kick and I broke my little finger. That hurts like hell! I broke my pinky finger on my right hand catching a fast ball I had just pitched…well I kind of caught it! And I have also twisted my fingers up in Judo uniforms to get ready for a throw and broken a digit or two…ever wonder why judo guys tape their fingers….

Brused knuckles: We use a device called a Makiwara. For those of you not in the know about Japanese Karate, it is basically a post that is anchored to the floor and then a straw pad or rubber pad is put over the striking surface. It is not very soft! The straw is the worst. We had a Makiwara at the main club I trained at that had old rope cord wrapped around the post, it was the kind that you use on a farm or at home, not soft and rather rough on the hands. You line up and reverse punch this post as many times as you can, as hard as you can. It is supposed to condition the knuckles. One night my instructor got a old straw pad for the post and we tried to see who could break this bad in. I did close to 1000 punches on both hands at full force that night. my knuckles lost the skin and they were bruised up bad. I was also picking straw out of them in the change room. They were okay that night, but as the next day set in they stiffened up and the knuckles swole up. I had bright purple bruises under the scabs and they hurt like hell for four days. I put ICE on them at home, but it did not help. After a few days of sitting around I also noticed they felt like they had elastics in them. Moving them had this creepy rubbery or springy feel to them. I ended up at the walk in clinic, trying to explain what I had done to the doctor. I guess it still sounds rather dumb! Anyways, I had bruised the knuckles so bad that the blood had seeped into the joint, having broken down the joint capsule. The doctor said rest them and no more makiwara! I did exactly what he told me to....for a month, then sensei got another straw pad.............

Broken Jaw: I have broken my jaw twice. The first time I was sparring in Karate, we didn’t use gloves or any safety equipment. I was distracted when a instructor called us to line up and the guy I was training with clocked me with a round house kick to the chin, Shin to Chin!...Chin lost. The pain was something else. my teeth clacked together and I did not know what hurt more. Your muscles in your face Clap shut into a cramp that is hard to describe. The second time was at a bar. I was working the back bar as security when I was called to the parking lot to help with a fight. Three bouncers were already there. I ran out a side door and one of the "kids" that was fighting the bouncers had a bat. I did not even see it coming. He blasted me right in the chin with the bat. I was lucky that I had my chin to chest at the time or the bat would have rolled off into my neck, it bounced off my chest however. I know it does not sound like it but I was really lucky it did not land flush or my teeth and my jaw would have been broken. The second one also lead to me getting my wisdom teeth pulled and they found a tumor in my jaw that I had not known about….so Yah, broken jaw lead to lucky turn of events!

Broken cheak bone And eye popped out of head!: I was at a tournament in a small Manitoba town one year and was competing in the finals. The guy I was facing was good, but he never kicked higher than your waist. He was a great puncher and I had worked out in my head how to keep him away with kicks and win the match on points from a good distance. Back then even point matches were "semi-contact" with lots of injuries and a tone of KO's. I had the guy 1/2 point behind and I was on my way to winning. The contest is basically two points, but they score each point as a half point, unless it is such a good point that they call it a full point (two points). So, we were started and I backed him up with a front kick and a spinning back kick right off the hop. I won’t ever forget this.... I thought I had gotten a point with the back kick as it had connected, the judge seated facing me called it, the judge that I could see to my left saw it and called it, but the ring ref was behind me and he waived it off. The guy I was fighting saw the waive off and I did not. I spun to go back to the starting position and the other guy caught me with a beautiful round house kick to the face. I was half facing back with my back to him on an angle. I did not see the kick...except in the video after. Right away, I felt a bone chilling pain in my neck and my face felt like I had been hit with a brick. My eyesight on my left side went black and I ended up totally out of it on my feet. I could see in the video that I was out but staggering around and you could see me from behind. The judge sat me on the floor and called for a medic right away, the whole time I had my back to the camera. They called an ambulance and as I was laid down on the floor, you could see something was wrong with my face. My cheek bone was broken and my eye was kind of dangling from the eye socket (use your imagination, but it was not that gross, it kind of looked like it was bulging…but its much more fun to think of it like a foot out of my eye socket or something…go for it). I was so out of it, and I was lucky. it hurt like hell. At the hospital I came to the next morning, the memory of what had happened was kind of fuzzy, but my face still hurt like hell and i had a bandage wrapped around me like a turban and it came over the left side of my face. I had to go into surgery that day and get the cheek bone put back in place and a hard plastic disky thing was put into to strengthen the bone. My eye was fine, but I have a crush injury of the lens that makes me have to wear glasses to correct the vision issue when I read…oh, and I am night blind now thanks to that….my wife hates it when I drive at night with out my glasses on….but those really bright things…those are car head lights…don’t aim at them…see everything is fine.

Cracked skull: When I was in Grade school I was the smallest kid, Hell I am still a smaller guy in stature. As a short kid, I was picked on and it did two things to me, I got mean an I got stupid...er brave. If you challenged me to do something stupid..er, scary, I was all over it. One of my buddies asked me to go down the local garbage hill on my bike. In Winnipeg in the old days they would pile garbage up high then put dirt over it and make a hill out of the local garbage dump and then put a park around it...You will notice they don’t do that anymore. So, I was dared to go up the hill and down it on my bike....an old banana seat bike. I was fine for the first ten seconds or so, and then I hit a huge rock as my speed got up and popped up in the air, over the handle bars and landed head first on the rock, I was KO'd right away! Out for ten minutes and the horror that was my face did not come to me until I had been up for about ten minutes. I had a huge goose egg on my head, my nose was broken....which I will get to later and my face was all scratched up. A x-ray of my skull showed a small crack, an MRI showed that while many would think I did not have a brain, I did...and it was fine. I had a minor concussion...again get to it later...and a hell of a head ache!

Stabbed three times: I was stabbed twice while working at a school and once walking home from Karate, all three times were not in areas I would call life threatening, but they still hurt!

Lit on fire!: I have told you all about my experiment with breaking boards while lighting them on fire....not good. On another occasion I was helping a buddy at his cabin get rid of a dead tree in the middle of a heat wave. We had not seen any rain a few weeks and this tree had dried out. I was in the cabin while he cut the tree up with a chain saw. I came out to see a six foot high pile of cut up tree that was about four or five feet wide and seven feet long, not a great circle maker I guess. He had a stick with an old sock on it that he was lighting on fire to make a big ass bon fire! I said, "no, let me" and I grabbed the stick from him. Now Keep in mind I was wearing a track suit and baseball cap. It was one of the rare times I was actually wearing my glasses as well. He tried to warn me but all I could hear was "No....." and the bon fire in front of me was suddenly all around me, the pressure was great and the flames sucked the oxygen out of my lungs. I started running backwards as fast as I could and did not stop till the cool air hit me and I ran over my buddy! He had dumped about four gallons of gas on the fire and a bunch of it had been on the grass behind me. He had been thinking he would toss the stick into the fire from afar, When I stupidly grabbed it and walked into a fire bomb. the injures I got from this were burns on my hands and I lost parts of my goatee for a while. But the Hat saved my hair, the track suit luckily did not go up and the rest of me was covered. My buddy said for a second he could not see me at all...then he saw me running backwards full tilt! We both remember the sound of the fire going up, it was horrible. Like a whoosh with a growl added in! trust me...this was not as much fun as it sounds.

14 broken noses: Your read that right...14 and two surgeries to boot. Not much fun. I can tell you how I got them...but I think it is just more fun to imagine!

Four Concussions and 2 minor concussions: one going down a hill, one in a car wreck for the minor ones. The four concussions came in training, a gymnastics tournament, eating a bat in a bar fight and the last one was when a board slid off the house we built out of town and nailed me in the hard hat! Be wary of falling timber!

multiple deep bruises and tones of abrasions and lacerations. Not going into detail here, Let me just say that the worst one was when I put my face threw a wind shield in a car accident!

Now the only thing Jackie has on me is that he is a movie star! Oh, and the fools still sell me life and health insurance and he can’t get any!!

Tamishiwari.....Gone wrong!

Welcome to the What not to do on Tamishiwari, which is a really cool term for breaking stuff in Japanese!

In my youth we had a TV show, that’s incredible, that aired Saturday nights and every kid would sit back and marvel at the amazing acts and skills of martial artists and other stunt people. Some of the ones that always caught my eye were the breaking acts. Ice, wood, glass…you name it! So, this was the basis for my starting the silly act of breaking stuff….and hurting myself…now this is my guide of how not to break things…or how not to look like an arse!

Two by four equals stupid kid tricks:
When I was younger I used to break smaller boards all the time, scrap wood my dad would leave around after carpentry work, scraps of wood at school or on the street if I could find one. It was all good, but then one day a buddy of mind found a three foot section of two by four and I wanted to give it a whirl. Now anyone that knows anything about breaking knows that it is a trick! The boards are baked and they use slim wood most of the time….I, however, did not know this.

So, my buddy got a bunch of kids together and I was supposed to break this thing at lunch.
Back ground…my dad was a teacher at the school I went to and I was in grade six, way to young to be breaking anything let alone a two by four. I tried my best to build up the courage to break this thing while cursing my buddy under my breath, I wound up and slammed my young forearm into the two by four….breaking the wrist and causing what I can only describe as the worst kind of pain to shutter threw my body! I puked so hard because of the pain, then had to explain to my father why I had just tried to snap a board that was perhaps four times wider than my arm and a hell of a lot harder!

That was my first mistake!

Coke bottle Not just for drinking out of anymore!
Junior high is a funny time for most guys, more so for me because I had just gotten out of a school my father was a teacher at and was next door at the junior high school and finally away from a parent. Back in the day My nick name was the Karate kid! Which was funny because I got that nick name before Ralph Machio came out with his first movie!
We also had glass coke bottle, yah, we are to blame for the horrible shape the environment being so screwed up and for those geeky memorabilia collectors! So, one night on the “that’s incredible” show a guy snaps the necks off of a bear bottle as he is warming up for his show! I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen! I had to try it, so, New buddy and I go out and grab some pop at the local store and drink them all down so I had several targets. My buddy and I sat down on a school bench and I tried to figure out the trick! I thought it had to do with the angle of the “Kratty chop” and lined up the bottle with the side of my hand. I was really hoping for a big pop and the top to flip off into the air…..that did not happen! I brought my arm back and then proceeded to swing it as hard and fast as I could and finally it made contact with the first bottle!

Now one thing that has to be said is that I was not thinking past the first bottle….and had not move the others out of the line of fire, they were all basically sitting in a row about a foot away from the first bottle! The first bottle did not break when I hit it….but it sure did when it hit the other bottles. Now that would be funny except for two things! One, I sliced threw my wrist and forearm as the bottles smashed apart and basically blew up, and two…but buddy got a face full of glass shards as he was standing in the way of the cloud of glass that was produced by the rapid succession of debris hitting and exploding bottles of empty coke! Not a good break I would guess…and do you ever wonder why all the bottles normally broken in these demos are wine bottles, beer bottles or the like?

Flaming board
I think I have mentioned this one to you guys before so I will not do much of a lead up. I was going to break a board in my back yard when I was in high school and after a few disasters at this in the past you would think I would have been smart about it…but I wasn’t. Instead of being happy with just breaking a board I had to get a buddy to pour lighter fluid on the damn thing to the point of creating a lake of flammable liquid on the wood! And then…I tried to break it and lit my whole arm on fire! Not bright...well not smart, that fire was very bright…but thankfully I lived on a man-made lake and had just enough time to dive into the lake arm first! I don’t break things on fire anymore!

Baseball bat
I once saw a guy smash through a baseball bat with his shin, you also see baseball players do the same to bats over their thigh……I tried it….I am now officially leaving that act to the crazy people and the baseball players. I tried it at home once and basically my shin blew up like a grape fruit had been placed under the skin and the bat was fine….and don’t hit it in the thicker part if you want a nice break! Of the bat that is!!

Door
When I worked in the security area of a retirement home I was called one time to kick in a door when a resident was suspected of having died! It was not a nice feeling as the person may be hurt or in distress and the only other keys than the ones the owner had were in Phoenix with is son, we were told to boot the door in and fix it later!
I tried to shove it in, and that did not work, I ran into it with my shoulder and that did not work!......and it hurt like hell! (don’t believe what you see on tv…it is not easier with your shoulder).

So, I stood back and ran at the door with a Jumping side kick! I shattered the door at the point were my leg was and ended up with my leg half way through the door, problem was that the poor old guy had died two weeks before that and was baking in his own juices for two weeks, in a heat wave! The smell hit me and the caretaker at the same time and their I was Gaging and fighting the impulse to throw up……. hanging half in and half out of this crypt of an apartment. The old timer had some mental issues and had made a air tight seal around the doors and windows with paper he had wadded up! We had no idea of what we were getting into till it was WAY to late. The whole hall had to be taped off with plastic to keep the stench from traveling and my suite had to be burned it stunk so bad. I will never forget the time I successfully pulled a Chuck Norris on a door!

The Grand break
Every once and a while you want to impress a friend, girl or the crowd and you figure you will do something a bit different. One year I was doing a demo and along with forms, fighting sets and some fun self-defense demos I was asked to do a break! I normally don’t do them in public for the humiliation factor and the “crap that was not supposed to happen” factor! But the guy that asked was a senior and it was his club I was doing a demo for at a local fair. He brought the wood and asked if I would break some wood! Fine I thought and looked over the wood…it was oak…and my heart dropped. Hard ass wood and probably better suited for a cabinet or something! I love oak but not for breaking!
So I had about two minutes to prep for this demo as others were getting ready to start their part. I did the self-defense demo and then was on the side for a minute to show a junior how to hold the wood. I grabbed three actually and they all had different ways to hold the wood. I did not have time to look at the wood and that probably would have helped. Not knowing how strong the wood is or how it will break was a big problem. So I felt I would just nail the first one and go from their!
The first board was hard, I had the junior hold the wood out at the end of his arms reach and punched straight threw it, it snapped but it had some kick to it. The next break was a kick and it went over fairly well, the board had give but was a tough piece to break. The last one was going to be a Knife hand break and the kid holding the board was one of my students and I trusted him to hold the board really tight.
I jumped over after the kick and lined up mentally the strike, brought my arm to the wood and as I made contact I was going full force to get through the wood…..but this piece gave way so easy it was not funny, a fault in the wood (that was only visible from the other side) made this break really easy. The wood probably would have broken if the student had simply dropped the piece! My hand launched through the wood with such ease that the force was hard to pull back on, I ended up going right through the wood and into the face and chest of my student. The eruption of blood and the gush of wind coming out of his nose as I hit his chest blew blood all over me and the other students in the area, but thankfully it was right at the end of the demo and he had fallen off the stage into a group of other students. We just left the stage like that was supposed to happen, and most of the crowed did not even notice us leave with him in tow. I had broken his nose and felt really bad. All his father said was “for a little guy you really hit hard”!
Three weeks later he was back in class working out, I have not done a breaking demo in public since and he probably won’t be to quick to volunteer to do demos anymore. Moral of the story is twofold here gang, don’t break wood you have not looked at, and don’t volunteer to hold a chunk of wood for a crazy Canuck!!

Long board
One time in Senior high I helping my father with a construction job at our new house and I happened upon a nice chunk of wood to break, I was very much into breaking at this point and always looking for something to shatter! I placed the wood between two horses, about four feet apart and hankered down to break it! I thought it would be dynamic as it was a long board and would make a great big snapping noise when it broke…..it did, but as I smashed the board the two pieces pivoted around my arm and the two opposite arms came flying up and nailed me in the head, one side breaking my safety glasses and the other hitting me hard hat. I was not hurt to bad, but I was shaken up….once the shock of getting hit in the face and head was done….All I could think was “Man that was dumb”…now if only I had realized that before I broke my glasses.

Ice brick
One of the nice things about living in Canada is that we have lots of Ice! One year a guy on “that’s incredible” broke a pile of Ice bricks…..that was cool. So, a few of my friends and I got together and made Ice bricks, not as thick as the guy on TV used, but we made about twelve bricks that were about two feet long and one foot wide. They were not as thick, his were about a half foot thick and ours were a quarter foot thick!
So, I piled four on top of each other and began my deep breathing to get ready for the break…I have no idea what deep breathing has to do with breaking but everyone seems to do it before they break something. To me it only give you time to figure out this is a really dumb idea! It was March and the snow was starting to melt, the ice had a glint of water on it already and I began to mentally count down to the big moment!
One thing that I should have figured out before the break was that I had no spacers between the bricks. A detail a young eye did not catch on the show, and a very important one. See the spacers act as a way of breaking up the mass, without them I did not have four separate bricks of Ice one quarter of a foot wide, I had a one foot thick chunk of Canadian, home grown, Ice that would react as one unit! With spacers I would only have to break the first one and the force would be transferred to the next, IE less work to do!
I had my hand raised and it was starting to drop onto the cold brick bellow, I must have had one of those, wait…”what would mom say”…moments because I decelerated my arm just enough to show I was not going full boar at the Ice! And my arm bounced off the brick with a sickening thud!
One of my friends began explaining to me that I had to concentrate my energy to my arm and really believe I could go through the brick of Ice, He was the biggest in the group and a hell of a fine Hockey hooligan at that! A tough kid with forearms like Popeye and a French Canadian accent that always made me think he was a bit slow! He pushed me aside and began to do the same deep breathing act that I had just started…but with more believability rolled in! He raised his arm up high, his eyes went wide and he kind of looked like a crazy Voyager getting ready to bash a Beaver over the head! His arm crashed down at break neck pace and no breaks were applied as his arm bashed into the ice block! The scream and French swear words that came after is something I will never ever forget!

I learned a lot that day, like most French swears are very religious in nature and to properly curse you have to bring the pope and at least one cardinal into the terms that you use! Oh, and use spacers or you will break your Ulna and Radius when your dumb ass arm hits an unbreakable Ice block.
The next day My father accidentally hit that same block with the snow blower and it broke the darn snow blower…I don’t think a sixteen year olds arm stood a chance!

Paraffin wax
For those of you not familure with Paraffin wax, we use it to give a deep heat treatment to athletes that have injuries; it is also great to soak your hands in after working on the bag, as long as you are not hurt! It takes away aches and pains really well if heat is called for…but it has to be heated up or it is very hard stuff.
One year I was in College taking massage therapy and we had to replace the wax in the bath (basically a two foot tub to soak your arm or leg in) and the brick was way to big for the bath. It would not melt down so it did not work! Well, the instructor of the lab knew I was a black belt in Karate and asked me to break the brick, they normally used a hammer. Not knowing much about the wax I thought it would be easy!
So, I got one of the guys to hold this brick of paraffin, about two feet wide, one foot long and about a ¼ foot thick! I thought it would break apart easy and I would look real good so I had people take pictures of the whole thing.

First time out I punched the brick, I figured it would be easier than using a knife hand and boy was I wrong. First punch was full force and landed with a “thunk”, the guy holding it knew something was wrong, My knuckles went in and as the wax condensed it got solid! I knew something was wrong when my wrist and hand Screamed at me and pain shot up my hand! Now I will never admit defeat….especially when cameras are on me….. so I lined up again and told the guy, Cory to hold it really steady! He was very nervous and I think he knew I could not break this friggin’ thing! Second punch landed and the brick of wax shifted in Cory’s hands, my wrist bent as the wax pivoted and I almost nailed Cory in the face.
I now sat there with two knuckle prints in the wax and nothing more to show of it other than a rapidly swelling hand! Now it was do or die time!

I sat back a second and realized Cory would not be able to hold the wax the way I would need IF I was going to try another punch, and quickly thought…time for the knife hand! I arched my arm back and had Cory hold the chunk of wax on an angle facing slightly up and then my arm shot down and smashed into the thick piece of wax. The pain was incredible, my little finger broke and was crushed at the second knuckle and my arm felt like it bounced off a steel girder….But the Brick broke! Actually it shattered like glass would into shards of flying wax, and sprayed out across the room. That I got on film as well, but more my back as the camera people all stood behind me!
Now, I found out I had torn the tissue between my knuckles in my hand, broke my little finger and had deep bruising in tendons of my wrist as well as bone bruising in my hands! Not worth the break in my opinion! To be honest the little finger apparently is prone to breaking as I had broken it in a different way in Judo and baseball in the past…it hurt just as bad on the wax by the way!

Now, I have a tone of stories about successful breaks and some mildly funny ones about how to break and when it works out, but not the way you thought, but this is a set of breaks gone very much wrong. For those of you looking to get into breaking…don’t, it is stupid and normally only flashy crap that does not really amount to much more than a bit of show off time. Oh, and multiple fractures, stitches and humiliation!

Pet Peeves in Karate

I have been doing Karate for a long time now….longer than most of my students have been able to walk! I have developed several pet peeves in Karate that I think demonstrate the WORST in Karate and the WORST, most annoying things that can happen in Karate…mostly due to people not thinking and being DRONES of silly instructors….read….learn…avoid the pit falls.

10. Excessive Kiai’s:

We have all seen them, the guys in the Gis with supper short pant legs and that CRAZY look in their eyes as they move up to the Kata arena…normally some crazy raised platform like a gladiator show! They bow…Speak way to fast and serious like some kind of military soldier, they address the judges telling them a story before they go out to do their dance…er Kata…and then they back up…and with each move they Kiai like they are in some kind of pain.

Its annoying and embarrassing. I often feel bad for these people as you just know parts of their training are missing and they are being taught to showboat for points. It’s a far cry from Budo Karate and often the instructors are misleading them horribly.

9. Inflated Ranks and their EGOS!:

I almost put this higher up on my Pet Peeve list because I know of a number of “political” black belts and “Political” sensei’s that were given rank for jumping ship from an organization, or not jumping ship, or because they out lived someone or because….well you get the point.

Now I respect the heck out of anyone that sticks it out in Karate for a life time, and anyone that teaches and loves it is blessed on their own. Ranks are like drugs…they can be used to propel one forwards and make their Karate better, or they can become bad and harmful and abused. In some cases the ego maniacs end up getting 7^th -10^th dans handed to them and it gives them major Ego problems. They are unbearable for the rest of us to be around. Worse yet, the recipient stops training and begins feeling like they are owed something.

Truth be told, Most people that have gone above 6^th Dan that I know from my area were much less than qualified to carry the name Karate than others! Rank should never be given to those with Ego issues and those with Ego issues should never seek rank. Those without Ego issues won’t seek rank..that’s who you need to give rank to so they can show the true way of Karate.

8.Japanglish!

This one is a pet peeve, and a bad habit of mine. First off I suffer from picking up this habbit from several of my seniors and I really do not know when or how it snuck into my teaching! And it annoys the HELL out of me.

Japanglish is the use of English words with a Japanese accent or Japanese words, “Move’o Dis’a way” or “Noto data way”….if you are thinking…wow, what a moron! Or, Geez that guy is racial insensitive and a jerk…yup….I catch myself and think…”Gees, do I sound like a dork…I’m Canadian and while my family is Slavic and Welsh I don’t have an accent like that”!

I say it annoys me when others do it…but its even worse when I catch myself doing it!

7. Dirty Gis/Ripped Gis!

A small rip here or there and a worn Gi gives off character and shows hard work…but when you have a rag covering your butt and you have more stains on it than just hard work….GET A NEW GI!

When your Gi can cause the emergency alert team to go into action, its time to wash it! Wash it well and often! Also, don’t let your kids wear it to Karate. The car will get it dirty, they will play in dirt and by the time they get to the Dojo…its horribly filthy! Blood can be taken out of a Gi, and even the stain can be explained away as hard training….but juice, chocolate bars and other stains are just people being pigs! WASH IT OR WE WILL!

I remember working with a few guys that stunk so bad….well that is for number FOUR!

6. Nay sayers that don’t know any better!

My style is better than yours! Karate sucks! I would kill you in a street fight! MMA is much better than traditional crap! And any other asinine argument you can throw out!

Okay, so I get it…you don’t want to do Karate…so Don’t! I don’t say it’s the best in the world, I also am smart enough to know that its not the style..but the man. Be smart and just enjoy what you are doing and leave me to have fun and enjoy what I am doing. I am so far past defending a style that does not need it that its not funny!

However, when someone says stuff like this…it truly shows me how little they actually know…and how far they have to go!

5. Politicking and not kicking!

It always bugged me that some of the seniors in the club and old organization I was part of as a junior were more worried about who got to play president over who was teaching correct techniques. The end result was a bickering childish mass of morons that I am glad we left!

In place of standing (or sitting) around barking orders and squabbling or trying to squirm your way into a better position in the organization…why not invest that time in learning how to teach, or what techniques you need to work on?

I am the current chair of my organization that I serve, that’s right I SERVE THEM as chairman not rule over anyone! Well as current chair…I try to keep politics to a minimum. Its Karate not a debate club!!!!

4. Dirty people!

I HATE HATE HATE it when I train with people that are dirty! Dirty feet specifically tick me off. If you go to the dojo in flip flops and your feet are dirty…WASH THEM in the bathroom before you train with us. If you stink from work…TAKE A SHOWER before you come to the club to train…or at worse…do a quick wash down in the bathroom and put on a NOT to obnoxious deodorant before you come to the floor.

Toe nails that are TALLONS tick me off because I have been cut up from catching a kick and the nail slices into me, or getting stepped on and the nail ripped my shin up…I kid you not! Trim nails and make sure you smell less of dead car mechanic!

I take a shower before I go to the Dojo…I cut and file my nails down as often as I need to and I don’t wear the latest in noxious au du Dead Hamster cologne to the Dojo! Its only nice to say you did the same. And if you have honey (Dear GOD I hope its Honey) on your hands and arms…WASH THEM!

3. Wrong info given….students think its right.

That Cute story that you pass on to teach a lesson, or the slight change you made in a Kata to work on a weak spot…will become Dogma down the road. Some of the changes and the stories don’t effect training and wont stick around….like saying Kanku Dai means to view the sky, it rhymes and its cute…but that’s not what the name means! But the changes you make in techniques…well that can be bad down the road.

As instructors its our job to pass on information the best we can with out changing it every which way. I don’t disagree on putting your own spin on things, but lets not just open the door for changes that don’t need to be made….and don’t look like a moron saying Empi means flying elbows or some such twaddle.

2. Demanding respect and not giving any!

Respect is not Demanded, it’s something you earn! I loath when instructors and competitors think they are owed something because they got a shiny medal or ribbon of some sort! I have some very bad news for these bad mannered people….Respect is hard to earn and easy to lose! Remember this when you are acting like an idiot.

Also, Don’t assume that you will get more respect from people because you sit at the front of a line, wear a shiny black belt or teach a class…I have met my fair share of prats that are instructors…and I don’t respect a single one of them!

Its important to realize that when you become a instructor you serve the students, not the other way around. You teach them and if you are lucky those around you will respect you…if not…you might be the prats I am talking about…and don’t mistake fear for respect….that’s just a few hints!

1.Not recognizing the efforts of others

As much as I don’t like those that DEMAND respect, I also don’t like it when we see senior instructors not recognizing others. Without us…they would not exist! In the other organization that we were part of was formed and created by my instructor. He was asked to do this and spread Karate west and help others develop the JKA style.

Fast forward 20 years and the same people we left to run the organization when politics started to get in the way of karate wont recognize that the very group they train in, and 90% of the seniors that train there are his students…they wont recognize all he has done for the organization and Karate in Canada…and it bugs me.

Always remember where you came from and who brought you to that spot. And if you are an instructor remember that with becoming an instructor you are no longer supposed to act like an ass, you have responsibilities to your students to demonstrate not just Good Karate, but also the best character you can. Standing around like the world owes you something is stupid and should be a hint to get the heck out of teaching Karate.

Last thought on this one, Just a hint…the world does not owe you anything and if you don’t contribute it wont remember you past that last shovel of dirt!

These are just a few of my pet peeves that I see in Karate. I have more…but that’s for another time.

Till then!