Warning to others who want to join a karate dojo these days



Did anyone read my post about how I once left my Shotokan dojo and went on to study other stuff? Well... to sum up anyway before I continue this post I got fed up with the entire school here at the time after a grading in which I got failed while I watched others with much less skill get their black belts.

Now- here's the story of my return to Shotokan and my departure from it for good:

It was early in 2014 when my sensei from back then came back to Nelspruit after a long absence. A long enough absence for me to learn Jeet Kune Do and a whole lot of cool stuff and to develop my own style which I have come to treasure.

Now Sensei Roelf was quick to ask me to take up karate again. And I agreed and soon found myself showing up for the first couple of classes in which I was to reacquaint myself with kihon and kata that I have unlearnt over the years. Not kumite, though. Nobody touches my way of fighting!
If you want to teach me a better way to fight- then face me!

From month 1 I had to hear that I was to grade the next month. Grading fee nowadays is 
R 1 050.00!This- I will tell you is not money that I leave lying around all over my home! 

Missing this grading due to illness (those close enough to me knows what had happened), I had waited out a month to recover again and go back to class. This while continuing to pay the R 250.00 class fee which I later heard I was the only one paying!

Well- one of my class-mates- actually an instructor I respect a lot- became a Sandan- and another fellow 1st kyu got his Shodan grade. Judging by his skill level I deemed this grading a piece of cake...

Well- I was back and had the persistent reminder of a coming grading and a syllabus to know- so there was no time for self defense lessons, skill development and those things...
Noooooooooo... Now it was more importantto make sure my hikite was pulled back far enough, my toes pointed down when I did ushiro geri and many related stuff...
Anyway- my legs got a good workout!

Now- the grading approached. I got my form and with the date of the grading- 25 October 2014- 2 days away I was to get another surprise:

"ACTUALLY YOU MUST BE THERE ON THE 24TH AS WELL!"

Seriously now- on a Fiday?!! I am to travel in work time after getting leave on a 2 day notice?! Just exactly what are you people smoking?!!!

But, hey! It gets even better-

I manage to get accepted for the grading in spite of me not having attended the R 300.00 gashuku that Friday and am as excited and ready for action as I ever was. Met some really cool people and...

Wait- another surprise! I simply MUST write a R 900 exam NOW!!! before I grade...

Well... I breathed deeply- kissed R 900 goodbye and wrote the exam in record time which I actually passed! (I don't mind failing the referee's exam, because I never liked competition much anyway...

Now- exam done and R 900 spent and me smiling outwardly while cursing inside "can we grade now?" I finally get to the grading part...

My grading consisted of kihon (I actually love it), kata (always been fun) and lastly kumite (something I had spent a decade of developing WITHOUT the help of any of Shotokan's instructors).

Well according to a minority on the panel it went like this...


Thank you for at least SOMEBODY acknowledging hours of exercising, months of getting beaten up and a decade of rebuilding my broken confidence to come and take this grading again!

As for those who had this to say (or who just failed me):

(for some reason I just can't get this image rotated into position so please just bear with this outraged individual...)

I want to say: I have come to the conclusion that we have irreconcilable views about karate...

But I am not done yet!
At the end of the grading ceremony I get called aside and told that I was to receive my Shodan certificate with no grading and at no extra cost IF I attend another gasshuku in February (date yet to be announced at the last minute probably) in Durban which, to readers from abroad is about 500 km from my home town.  

Anyhow- I think I am done with this type of karate.

Anyone ith similar stories are welcome to reply.



      


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blindfold training

Image
Now here's something I have not yet written about. :D I have been interested in the Zen side of Japanese martial arts since the age of 16. It was about at this age when I began with Qigong as well. As a young karateka back then I did not have the confidence, strength or aggression of my classmates and looking back- I think it was a good thing. Because of that classes scared me. Now- had it not been to exposure to the mental training techniques provided to me by Zen- I would not have seen this hostile dojo environment as the ideal testing grounds for the things I have read. This is one major factor to which I attribute my development as a martial artist. One very important training tool that has always served me well and that continues to do so to this dat is Zen Meditation. This, in itself, has provided me with a number of benefits about which I can write in detail. One of those- was the development of intuition and sensory acuity. It is actually wonderfu
Read more

Tai Chi Movement #3- Wave Hands like Clouds

Image
I have just started searching for examples of this movement on the internet and realised that among all the people doing Tai Chi out there I might just be the only one who would apply Cloud Hands the way I do. I have found different variations of the movement itself as well. This makes my writing about my version and its application a bit unfair as you will be missing out on some really elaborate applications. Now- how I always did this movement is starting from a posture like the Lute Playing posture like the picture below- or the Spread Wings posture like this: From either one of these ready postures I then rotate my front foot and let my body follow while my leading hand makes contact with an imaginary thrust and I then complete the rotation by passing the attack while I guide its force past me with minimal effort and my free hand follows the blocking hand to wind up for an outward strike. When the rotation and step is complete I shift weight
Read more

Learning a Martial Art- some basic guidelines

Image
I think we have by now come across a couple of people who are studying some martial art or the other on their own. Back when I tried doing it at the age of 10 I used a book and later more books followed. Well- even after I did join an actual dojo more books followed even then... People are quick to say that you can't learn a martial art from a book. That is understandable. I for one know that you can't work as a lawyer if you have only gotten your law degree. In fact- few people feel as incompetent as a bright graduate starting out as a candidate at a law firm. The main reason why martial arts can't be learnt by reading alone is that experience plays a large part in developing the skills that any martial art has to offer. Knowledge is not enough. Nonetheless- self study is possible. We may argue about to which extent, but the history of Chinese and Japanese martial arts feature instances where people studied a scroll or a f
Read more