Fat Sensei

One of my pet hates in the martial arts is what I call "Fat Sensei". This meaning does not incorporate all Sensei who are overweight. Not all Fat Sensei are themselves overweight (some are skinny), it is just that the type of people whom I am trying to describe are often Sensei who are, well, fat.

A Fat Sensei is a Sensei (instructor) who no longer has the drive or passion for learning martial arts, has achieved some kind of authority and rank, and continues to partake in martial arts notwithstanding their diminished interest. Typically a Fat Sensei was once passionate and skilled and trained hard but now just instructs (or referees or whatever). Their body weight is usually symptomatic of their lack of training (as opposed to them being naturally large), however if a Fat Sensei had a fast metabolism they might just lack co-ordination, or muscle strength etc as the symptom of their lack of training instead of being fat.

A Fat Sensei might have some of all of the following attributes:

- Repeated reference to past accomplishments, even in reply to unrelated situations. e.g. "I know how to teach street self defence - I was the 1989 regional point sparring champion"

- Reluctance to train or do other physical activity. They may get Senpai (senior students) to teach most the class or do any demonstrations, and/or may wander around and point their finger alot.

- Big ego

- Bad martial ethos. For example they may have a profit motive that overrides the maintaining of standards amongst students.

- Reluctance to have their teachings questioned. (While you shouldn't talk back to your Sensei, if someone teaches something that is useful, that use should be explainable and be able to withstand honest examination)

- Justifying theories in untestable ways. For example they may reference everything they teach to some kind of pseudo-mystic concepts which have not been obtained by anyone but the Sensei.

- Fancy costumes and/or titles. A Fat Sensei will often be "Kancho, 10th Dan, 1989 regional champion, Founder and Master of Fat Sensei Martial Arts Dominion". They will probably insist that people use their full title as much as possible.

- Generally dis-interested in the class. I have had a couple of Fat Sensei say to me that martial arts no longer interests them. One Fat Sensei even hated martial arts! But they still ponced around with all their fancy titles.

Here is an example of someone who appears in this video to exhibit the traits of a Fat Sensei.



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HgzfikdJL0

He is clearly disinterested with what he is doing, comes up with some rubbish about knocking people out with ki energy (try that one on a resisting opponent...) has a fancy uniform, he is even wearing sneakers and a watch - perhaps so when it is time to skedaddle out of the seminar he can make a quick exit. I am sure that if he actually had to use any of his martial skills he would be in big trouble. Worse though, any student of his who tried to use their skills cound find themselves in a very bad situation...

This is the reason that Fat Sensei bother me so much - what they teach would probably be dangerous for any student hapless enough to have to rely on it. Imagine being assaulted and trying to rely on your "Kyusho Jutsu : knock-out just by looking" - the misplaced confidence in the non existent ability could seriously aggravate the danger faced. This also brings martial arts into disrepute, or even specific styles.

Unfortunately Karate has a large amount of Fat Sensei. Many martial artists often think of Fat Sensei that they have encountered when they think of Karate, which is unfortunate (both for them and for Karete). However I think that this large amount of Fat Sensei is probably due more to the popularity of Karate than some style-specific defect - I have seen one Fat Sensei in Kendo, and have read about one in BJJ (and have seen lots in other styles which are more popular here, such as Taekwondo).

I should note, however, that you can still benefit from training with a Fat Sensei, especially if you are new. They will usually have some level of skill in basics that they can pass on, and it is better that you learn this initial material from a Fat Sensei than not learning it at all. They might have Senpai who are quite skilled and you will probably meet other martial artists when you disclose that you train and can get opportunities from there.

Unfortunately some students of Fat Sensei go on to mimic their teacher, and teach the same rubbish that they were taught. Actually, because the Fat Sensei don't train much, they don't advance their skills, and so their ability actually deteriorates. This will mean that the student can never achieve the peak of the Fat Sensei, because when the student is ready to train to that level, the Fat Sensei no longer has the skill to take them there.

Many students of Fat Sensei become disillusioned with the Fat Sensei and quit training. Hopefully, the student will retain an interest in martial arts and seek out another instructor, who will be less flawed, and will stimulate their interest in training. Indeed, some of the best martial artists I know used to train with Fat Sensei!

Fat Sensei are not completely useless, it's just that the martial arts would be better off without them.

Kendo Injuries

Last night at training I came pretty close to copping a Shinai in the face! The Shinai came up under my Men (helmet) and pushed it off. Lucky my training partner had good control...

The moral of the story: tighten up my Men!

It is imperative that all armour (or other training equipment) is kept in good order and used properly. The purpose of training equipment is to prevent injuries. If it is not used properly then it might not prevent injuries as well as it could. I probably didn't have my Men on tight enough, and that is why the Shinai could come up under it and run along my face. (Scary)

In pre-war Kendo I understand that one of the allowed attacks was to rip the opponents Men off. This would certainly encourage you to have your Men on properly!

Unfortunately, not all injuries are able to be prevented. The worst injury I have seen in training is someone broke their collarbone in BJJ. The funny thing about it was that they did it during the warm up, as they were jogging! They just tripped over, did a forward roll, and then lay there in pain! They could have done the same thing as they were jogging to get some milk from the shops.

Here is a pretty unfortunate Kendo injury - Scrotum Tsuki. (Tsuki means thrust) I actually came close to being hit in 'Scrote' a couple of weeks ago, but just ended up with a bruise on the inside of my thigh - which incidentally matched the bruise on the outside of my leg from a very misplaced Do(body) shot.



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbTHgnXudI

I can feel the poor Kendoka's pain.

Tensho

I am halfway through a couple of posts at the moment - I have just been busy with family and work and havent had time to finish them off.

I was requested to put up a video of how we do Tensho, so my students could see.

Here is a video of Morio Higaonna, who just got promoted to 10th dan the other week! All his kata are so unbelievably good. I understand that even in his 70's he trains all the time!



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ghvx5vN0vA

We don't do the bird thing at the end, but this is an excellent version of the kata.

Here is the Shito-ryu version for comparison:



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGeIuc0wNOg

I have a personal preference for keeping the elbows in and the other subtle differences in the Goju version.

EDIT - fixed the embedding. Also found a couple of other videos that might be of interest

Here is one of Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushin.



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqQ8Bqq9UAs

It is definitely a different emphasis to put on the kata, and I am sure he misses out a technique at 44 secs.

Here is one more version



and the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0D6VYrXTVU

Training in the Heat

Last week I was speaking to Kendo Sensei and we both had the same answer to the following proposition: There is only one thing to do on a hot night - 

Train hard!

Actually, the answer would have been the same no matter what the situation (cold night, raining, feeling tired), but it really illustrates that you should train hard every time you train. Being very busy at work (and at home) I often find it hard to make my trainings during the week. This has really motivated me to train extra hard when I can get to training - I might not get to go next week. I am lucky that the clubs that I train at (and where I teach) the students all train really hard. This makes training with them so enjoyable. Also, everyone accomplishes so much more!

I must admit when I was younger I used to train nowhere near as hard as I do now - I was the student who constantly looked at the clock to see how much of class I still had to go through! I guess for that reason I can understand when students (usually kids) ask how much longer there is of class. I know that one day they are going to 'click' and will train really hard.

We did a really good training today, the first class back for the term. I was considering cancelling it because of the record-breaking heatwave, but my students really wanted to train. Actually it didnt seem as hot today as the class we had last February during that record breaking heatwave. I guess it will take the Sun exploding until we cancel class. 

We were sensible and had a slower class doing Sanchin Dai Ichi, as well as heaps of Bunkai for it. It is amazing that a 12-13 move Kata can have so many applications! Lucky we had training or we would have missed out on all this fun.

Hot Summers Nights

Living in Adelaide, we often get very oppressively hot days, like the heatwave of 5 consecutive 40deg plus days we are currently experiencing. However we are also blessed (?) with really warm nights. You can be very comfortable in thin clothing outside at night. Last New Years some friends and I even slept on the beach wearing just t-shirts and shorts - it was magical!

Anyway, one of the things that I love about the warm nights is returning home from training, covered in sweat, feeling the night air. I used to ride home on a push bike, and now I ride a motorbike, and love getting cooled down by the wind after a hard workout. Beautiful!