I gave my brown belt to my first brown belt and I gave my black belt to my first Black Belt. Traditions are as important as teachings. Teachings are traditions that I was taught. Teachings are gifts. I was given so many gifts from my venerable Sensei's that I must give those gifts to my students and those I Love. Each gift you are given is given credability by giving it to some one else. If it is worth having it is worth sharing. Share the lessons you have learned freely no matter what price you think you may have paid for them. Expect nothing in return and it becomes a gift.
Sensei Vosmeier
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Selflessness and giving
I found this during a search for Jigoro Kano and I found it to be an intriguing read.
This was taken from a blog titled http://www.martialviews.com/ and i write this, because i want the credit to go to the original writer. I find the end quote to say it all!
Ed McGrath had only wanted one thing. It was his goal when he first started training in Isshinryu karate: to make it to brown belt. Brown belts, apparently, stood out as the most determined and spirited fighters in the dojo he trained at. Eventually he did achieve the rank of ikkyu (brown belt). He had been training at that level for some time when one day after finishing a round of basics, the chief instructor, Don Nagle, had everyone sit down. McGrath and another student were told to get up and were motioned to the center of the deck.
Hajime!
One by one he was made to fight every student in the school. The year was 1959, and during karate's formitive years in the States, kumite was rough-and-tumble. Punches and kicks were rarely pulled, and knockouts were common. It should come as no surprise then that karate's ultimate rite of passage - the black belt test - was a brutal affair. After over twenty grueling matches, Ed McGrath was promomted to shodan (1st degree black belt). Master Nagle presented him with his own obi (belt) - the same one given to him a few years earlier by his sensei - Isshinryu's founder, Tatsuo Shimabuku.
Ed McGrath eventually opened his own school, and in time gave away his black belt to one of his own senior students. Through the years, Don Nagle's original obi was passed down through one generation after another of dedicated students, each one realizing its significance. When Master Nagle passed away in 1999, the last student to receive this belt returned it to the Nagle family.
In any act of giving or self-sacrifice we somehow gain something. I've never expected anything in return for all the belts I've given away. But I still have my original black belt and white belt. During his final days, Jigoro Kano - judo's illustrious founder and progenitor of the colored belt ranking system, asked to be buried with his white belt. "You can have my black belt; wear it proudly", he told one of his students. "Where I'm going, we're all white belts anyway."
...we have only what we (can) give. - Carl Jung
This was taken from a blog titled http://www.martialviews.com/ and i write this, because i want the credit to go to the original writer. I find the end quote to say it all!
Ed McGrath had only wanted one thing. It was his goal when he first started training in Isshinryu karate: to make it to brown belt. Brown belts, apparently, stood out as the most determined and spirited fighters in the dojo he trained at. Eventually he did achieve the rank of ikkyu (brown belt). He had been training at that level for some time when one day after finishing a round of basics, the chief instructor, Don Nagle, had everyone sit down. McGrath and another student were told to get up and were motioned to the center of the deck.
Hajime!
One by one he was made to fight every student in the school. The year was 1959, and during karate's formitive years in the States, kumite was rough-and-tumble. Punches and kicks were rarely pulled, and knockouts were common. It should come as no surprise then that karate's ultimate rite of passage - the black belt test - was a brutal affair. After over twenty grueling matches, Ed McGrath was promomted to shodan (1st degree black belt). Master Nagle presented him with his own obi (belt) - the same one given to him a few years earlier by his sensei - Isshinryu's founder, Tatsuo Shimabuku.
Ed McGrath eventually opened his own school, and in time gave away his black belt to one of his own senior students. Through the years, Don Nagle's original obi was passed down through one generation after another of dedicated students, each one realizing its significance. When Master Nagle passed away in 1999, the last student to receive this belt returned it to the Nagle family.
In any act of giving or self-sacrifice we somehow gain something. I've never expected anything in return for all the belts I've given away. But I still have my original black belt and white belt. During his final days, Jigoro Kano - judo's illustrious founder and progenitor of the colored belt ranking system, asked to be buried with his white belt. "You can have my black belt; wear it proudly", he told one of his students. "Where I'm going, we're all white belts anyway."
...we have only what we (can) give. - Carl Jung
Monday, April 14, 2008
O Soto Gari
We have been working a lot on this throw over the past few weeks. Here are some very benefecial videos featuring Sensei Yamashita showing the technique of this throw. You will notice many of the points that Sensei Vosmeier pointed out tonight.
In the first video, Sensei Yamashita emphasizes stepping with your foot parallel to your uke's foot, pointing your toe and planting on the ball of your foot.
In the second video, Sensei Yamashita emphasizes the importance of kuzushi WITH BOTH HANDS. Remember what Sensei Vosmeier stated, that your rythym should be ONE, two three. Not one, two, THREE.
Video 3, shows the timing of the throw on the move.
In the first video, Sensei Yamashita emphasizes stepping with your foot parallel to your uke's foot, pointing your toe and planting on the ball of your foot.
In the second video, Sensei Yamashita emphasizes the importance of kuzushi WITH BOTH HANDS. Remember what Sensei Vosmeier stated, that your rythym should be ONE, two three. Not one, two, THREE.
Video 3, shows the timing of the throw on the move.
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