No Pae - Creative

I got a little carried away with the video. I also had to come out of the Doe Bouk top with the temps being in the 90's and the humidity as well.

No Pae

Ok, here is my version. No need to point out the flaws. They are painfully obvious.
Note to self: level ground would be better, with no mole tunnels.

Meditation

Since so much of Martial Arts has its roots in Buddhist traditions, does anyone regularly practice (the largely Buddhist inspired) art of meditation? We start each class with a few moments of reflection and deep breathing designed to center ourselves into the present but I am curious if anyone has included the practice of a deeper meditation into their daily\weekly routine.

I have read a few books on this from both a Zen Buddhist perspective as well as a Judeo Christian application and have found this to be something I want to incorporate in my life on a more regular basis. I have attempted to meditate, even if that means sitting at my desk at work and focus on breathing, but I usually get side-tracked by random thoughts. In a nutshell, I can't find a way to quiet my mind enough to be able to concentrate on a single thought. (Yes - insert voices in my head joke here...)

So, anyone practice meditation regularly? Any hints on how to focus without having some theme song or TV commercial diddy pop into your head? Any thoughts on how meditation applies to us living in a "western" society?

Sun!

Quiz 1

Here is a short quiz. Master Pryga is not eligible to answer.
Why do we maintain our feet at a 45 degree angle, for instance, in the cat stance (meo bo jah sae)?
TcB

Feel Free

Hey Guys and Gals,
We want everyone to feel free to post your thoughts and ideas up here, not just myself and Master Crane. Also if you know other students who would like to post here, get me their email and I'll get them set up.

Any Ideas?

I'm pretty sure all of us are constantly looking for ways to improve our health, conditioning and just finding things that make us feel good. (healthy good)

I've always observed that different things work for different people and that it takes alot of trial and experimentation to really "dial in" the right combination of diet, exercise, supplements, rest and things like that.

I invite everyone to share your ideas and what works or has worked for you. Specific exercise routines, supplements, etc.

SUN!

Congratulations Mr. Viper!

I want to extend my best wishes and congratulations to our own Mr. Viper on his wedding this weekend. I wish I could be there to help you celebrate. I hope you have a wonderful time!

I'm here

Master Hawk,
Thank You for involving me in the search. Iwill do what I can for the betterment of all.
SUN!!

Seeing is Believing

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing misinformation in particular about PSR, kicked around on the web. I have even gone so far as posting on some of the forums and blogs to try to enlighten the misguided jugheads who post some of the nonsense I have seen. I just can't imagine where these guys come from. My posts are promptly removed. (they were nothing bad)
The moral of the story here is this, don't put much faith in what you read on the net, or at least take it with a grain of salt.
Believe what you see, and feel, and know from your training and life experiences.

SUN!

Knowledge does NOT equal skill

Knowledge does NOT equal skill.
That is one of the basic tenants of the Mother Tongue Approach to learning from pioneer educator and violin instructor, Dr Shinichi Suzuki. Indeed, most of the major building blocks of the Suzuki Method translate directly to the martial arts and for that matter, most anything you want to learn well. A phrase that I naively thought I had coined in the mid 1980's, "Practice does not make Perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.", I come to find out Dr Suzuki had written down decades earlier. (I did add "if you practice a technique that is incorrect, you will do it perfectly incorrect all the time. He was more succinct. He said, "Practice makes Permanent". And so it does!)

I thought of that quote about knowledge a couple of weeks ago at class. There was a young black belt there (under 15 yrs.), 2nd degree, that was obviously very intelligent. For some reason, people have been conditioned to believe that the faster you move through the ranks, the better, more skillful that makes you. Which is one of the problems with using the point system for advancement. Many students are advanced (moved forward) beyond their skill levels (I've got the points, I'm ready to move up). That is very faulty logic. I have also found that most forms done super fast hide defficient technique. Ok, I have strayed, getting back to the young 2nd degree... being intelligent, he had quickly memorized the sequence of strikes and blocks and moves for each belt but had not spent the time to refine those moves (there's that "r" word again!). What resulted was painful to watch and worrisome because this lad was also an instructor. Even worse, I felt that my instructions to him were going in one ear and out the other. (Barely a "SUN" peeped out of him.)

I'll end with a Suzuki quote which continues on the theme...
"Ability is developed when we STUDY a piece AFTER we can play it with no mistakes."
Mull on that for a while.
TcB