Excellent topic. I consider Sanchin to be a meditation in motion. My greatest fascination is with the "soft" strikes or pushes -- sometimes only nudges -- that ever so slightly disrupt my balance. Oh sure, I get ego points when I take hard blows to whatever target, but I don't learn anythi...

Attagirl -- uh, attakarateka, Lori!

We're all on the same page here, I guess, but it shore is fun to have a bit of good natured bantering along the way to enlightenment!

Michael

No doubt about it, Jake, a misreading.

So...there you are.
I missed you! Can you imagine a camp without you? Well, let me tell you, it's not the same. I hear something about your OWN dojo. Truth?
I'm about to take off for a conference. If I'm a week or so late in replying, please forgive.
Michael

In our dojo the Quality of the clap is perceived by several of us to reflect the spirit of the practice. Thus it is essentially what Bill described as the Harkness (round) table format, a conscious appreciation of the group "energy", if you will.
Michael

Well said, Bill.
Keep your eyes on a couple of (incidentally female) karatekas in each of Gary's and S. Perry's dojos, spoilin' for a sparrin' with the brutish gender.
Michael

J.D.- "It's better to burn out than to fade away." The Kurgan Lord have mercy, J.D., you are a regular cognitive Khoury-matic. Pangainoon of the mind, and let no one make little of it! David - Yes, Margaret is quite a person. I am completely amazed at her kata. I watch her every move, from...

Hello to you, Lori M-D!
Thanks for reviving this thread. It was well worth reading every post again. Your dojo sounds to me like a good example of what a 21st century martial arts school should incorporate. The dojo where I practice is young, but already has strong female presence also.
Michael

I'll add a couple of kudos. First, the J.D. phenomenon. Given 100 guesses, I still would not have picked him out. Doogie Howser with an attitude. And deceptive! "Then wilt thou speak of banqueting delights, Of masks and revels which sweet youth did make." I love ya, man! To Sensei Bob Beth...

I think JD is on the right track. Last night I watched two dan level women protesting that they just couldn't risk hurting each other. The younger alluded to the fact that the older was a mother. I think women may generally appreciate a bit higher level of intensity from male partners. On the other ...

Hello all, Excellent thread. Thanks especially to David for the quoted remarks of a woman when she was new to sparring. My point of view takes into account my smallish body size, but also the visual memory of what David, of a similar stature, or my sensei, look like in sparring. I note what hurts, e...

May I add,

Scoundrel,

Wag,

another quote from Eliot?
Here goes:

O O O O that Shakespeherian Rag --
It's so elegant
So intelligent.

(from A Game of Chess)

Love,
Michael

I think I'll be a skeptic for a few months. It should be informative. (I already know where to find resources on the web.) Michael (What has happened here, fellow lambs, is that the shepherd has quoted T.S. Eliot's Wasteland, which happens to have a bunch of Greek and Latin shtuff in it. It will tak...

Our four youngsters are taught to seek out ANY cashier if they are separated from us. That way we are reasonably sure where to look for them, and that they are going to be taken care of. We actually practice this on occasion in a big place such as a mall or Wal-Mart -- not leaving them, of course, b...

Bravo, J.D. I thought King Lear also had a line about showing oneself more the knave than the fool. I was going to offer that in response...but in fact Cervantes' Don Quixote or Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great shared that characterization. (Am I creating giants of windbags -- I mean, windmills?) By ...