Sensei Greg's Lectures
In the 1970’s Master Moore, the founder of our style, would turn down the lights and do some philosophical discussion with the students approximately once every other month. This discussion would take the entire class period. I have talked to Master Hardwick and it was decided, between Master Moore and Master Hardwick, that short discussions are probably best. Here are the historical and philosophical discussions that I have done in class.
BOWING
Some religions only bow to a god or deity, however our martial art is oriental, Judo and Karate from Japan and Kung Fu from China, where a bow is a sign of respect. The bow to one another signals the beginning or the ending of a lesson or a shared moment or experience, it honors the assistance received and assistance extended.
The bow to the Dojo when entering and leaving is expressing our thanks and respect to the learning cultivated there.
The bow is also a physical sign of our love for martial arts and our ongoing desire to pursue martial arts. The bow is not a sign of worship; rather you are showing your respect for the Coszacks style and the teachings that are being passed to you through the Master and Senseis. The bow is a sign of respect for supervising the martial art training you are receiving and not a show of admiration or love for a human being
You as students should always bow lower than a sensei and especially a Master, as the sensei's bow is lower than a Master this is not enforced, but I notice.
Why am I bringing this up? Because I have watched lots of students walk off during break or at the end of sparring and not bow to the person they are sparring with. Sometimes the Senseis or Master has to leave because someone is hurt or something needs addressed (or taken care of) immediately. However students not bowing before or after sparring can expect around 20 push-ups. If the Sensei or Master doesn’t bow, respectfully remind them. If there was a problem they will tell you, if not, we will do 20 pushups.
QUESTIONS:
When I am waiting for something to happen or before class I sometimes ask if there are any questions. Usually there are not. This is your chance to ask things like "why do we do katas?" or "why do we bow?" If you have a martial art question this is the time to ask. We may not know all the answers but we can find them, or sometimes the answer is simply it is traditional or this is what we do in our style. At the end of class only questions that have to be answered before the next class should be asked, for instance "Are we having class on Memorial Day", would be appropriate.
KATA
We practice kata for understanding of the movement and their applications and do not emphasize the prettiness of the movements, preferring function over form.
Acquiring effective Karate skills for fighting is the ultimate objective of why we practice kata, nothing else. We do not practice kata for the sake of doing it, without understanding the reason or purpose for it, we will be nothing more than nicely choreograph dancers if we practice kata without knowing its meanings
Kata is a practice of Karate moves against multiple attackers. Most students learn new moves, or combinations of moves, from the kata, usually the first time a student sees a shuto is in kata itch, set itch set A.
SOME STUDENTS HAVE HAD SEVERAL PROMOTIONS AT ONE TIME, WHY IS THIS?
Several students have leaned the information necessary for the multiple promotions, however this is not all that is required. Some have had experience in other clubs, while others were overdue for promotions and for whatever reason couldn’t get their promotions scheduled. Once a student reaches brown belt level however, the multiple promotions will stop. Any student who is promoted in our style has earned their rank thru knowledge and participation that is required for the new rank.
WHERE DID THE MARTIAL ARTS START?
They were developed in Asia (primarily India, China and Japan) over the course of several thousands of years. Historians disagree where they were first developed.
Modern karate developed out of martial arts forms. For hundreds of years, martial arts experts honed a variety of combat styles, in part due to the political situation in the area. From time to time, the ruling authorities would ban peasants from possessing any weapons, leaving them with only their own bodies and household items to protect themselves.
The following can be found at:
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
Why the different spellings, "Gung Fu" and "Kung fu?"
This is yet another result of western linguists confusing both eastern and western speakers. In the once near-universal Wade-Giles spelling, a Chinese "G" sound was written in English as "K", while what the Chinese pronounced as "K" was transcribed as "K' ". Thus if Kung fu were supposed to be pronounced with a "k" sound, it would have been written as "k'ung fu." When Bruce Lee introduced American audiences to his martial arts, he both spoke and wrote the American "G", hence "gung fu." Confused? Don't worry about it, so is everyone else....
Black Belt Promotion
I believe this is the goal of every student that starts martial arts. Our style has been in existence since 1972 (32 years as I write this) there have been 29 people promoted to Black Belt, 5 being women. Our style requires time in your current rank before promotion, if someone knows all the material for black belt they cannot test to be a black belt until they have had enough teaching time and experience. Other styles they have a “Junior” belt rank, where kids have a different path to reach “Junior” black belt status then go on for an “Adult or Real” black belt. We believe that all promotions should be the same regardless of the person’s age. Does that make the other styles wrong, no just different.
Possible Topics For the Future
Hard Style verses Soft Style Kung Fu
Combat verses Sport Judo
Competing in tournaments (why it is a good idea, but not required)
Why don't we have Jujitsu in our style
Why can't the instructors always count in Kata
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Sensei Greg's Lectures
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