» Good Basics -- Like a Propeller
02/03/12 01:23 from KARATE THOUGHTS
This is a simple principle, but an important one: If your basics are good, as you gain more power and speed, the movements will be stable. If you basics are bad, as you gain more power and speed, the movements will fall apart. That is why it pays to take your time and learn your basics well. For instructors, this is why it pays to take your time and teach th..
» Just One Week Until Our Lecture!
02/03/12 01:06 from KARATE THOUGHTS
The lecture by Sensei Pat Nakata and me, Karate in the Ryukyu Kingdom, Okinawa Prefecture, and Hawaii. How is Okinawan Culture Spread through Karate? will be in just one week! I hope that you can attend or will be able to watch it when it is available on Youtube. Karate is not just from Okinawa, it is from the Ryukyu Kingdom (and China too). In order to unde..
» One Minute Bunkai -- Angel Lemus
01/30/12 22:17 from KARATE THOUGHTS
Aloha, My good friend, Sensei Angel Lemus, has created a very interesting and useful website called One Minute Bunkai . The URL is oneminutebunkai.com . I hope that you will visit it and watch the bunkai videos -- no music, no verbal explanations... just the techniques shown in a very clear and easy to follow format. I really enjoyed them. I am very lucky. T..
» Lecture: Karate in the Ryukyu Kingdom (2/9/12)
01/20/12 06:30 from KARATE THOUGHTS
Aloha, On Thursday, February 9th at 3:00 p.m., Sensei Pat Nakata and I will give a lecture at the University of Hawaii. A poster is above (click the poster for a larger pdf file) and the information is included below. Please feel free to distribute this information to anyone who might be interested. I am very honored to give this lecture with my good friend..
» Finding Yourself
01/10/12 22:31 from KARATE THOUGHTS
I often hear young people say that they have to find themselves. My reply is that \"your self is not something you find, it is something you make.\" Finding yourself is not a miraculous thing. It is not a matter of where you live, but rather how you live. If you can\'t find yourself here , you won\'t find it over there . It takes work. It is the result of your i..
» Repost About Work and Work Ethics
01/10/12 22:24 from KARATE THOUGHTS
This is a combined repost of two posts I had written in March of 2011 about work and work ethics. ----------- Here are some things I tell my own children about work, and some things I have heard over the years. Anything worthwhile takes work. When they complain that a task is difficult, I say, \"That\'s why they call it work.\" If it was easy, they could easily..
» What Makes a Dojo?
01/06/12 08:35 from KARATE THOUGHTS
One of my sons is getting married soon and is in the market for a house. I recently told him, \"What makes a house a home is not the square footage, the furniture, or the location. What makes a house a home is the people inside it.\" The same can be said about a dojo. People make the dojo. Everything else is just \"things.\" The dojo is the place where people ge..
» The Objective of Karate
01/04/12 01:34 from KARATE THOUGHTS
What is the physical objective of Karate? What is the reason we practice potentially destructive Karate techniques? To me, the goal is not to win or defeat an opponent. I am not training for this reason. If someone attacks me, he is not an opponent -- he is a criminal. I have not agreed to fight, to a game. I am an innocent victim. I am a victim of this crim..
» Better Than or Worse Than
01/04/12 01:14 from KARATE THOUGHTS
This is a story. Bill and Dave were talking in the dojo as they watched Sam perform a kata. \"I hate Sam,\" said Bill. \"Why?\" asked Dave. \"Because he thinks he is better than me.\" \"He is better than you,\" said Dave. \"I know that,\" conceded Bill. \"I hate him because he know s it.\" In Karate training, there will be many students who are better than you, and many..
» Perfect Effort
01/04/12 00:58 from KARATE THOUGHTS
Instead of trying to perform a kata perfectly, try to make a perfect effort. Let\'s say that you enter a tournament and perform a kata the very best that you can. Who is going to evaluate it? The judges? How do they know how well you did? Do they even know your style and kata? And even if they do, how do they know what you were thinking, how focused you were,..
» Celebrity Sensei
01/04/12 00:29 from KARATE THOUGHTS
One of the worst things a student can do is to turn his Sensei into a celebrity. You take a quiet, humble, down to earth, extremely skilled teacher and turn him into a media star. There is a saying that observation changes the result of the experiment. To what extent do the perceptions of the students and the public change the Sensei? Even if some degree of ..
» Lessons From Fishing
01/02/12 05:39 from KARATE THOUGHTS
Yesterday, the last day of 2011, I went fishing... and essentially got skunked. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed it, but no big fish for New Year\'s lunch. From time to time, people stop by at my fishing spot. Usually, they wonder what I have caught. \"Catch anything?\" they ask. \"Only little,\" I often reply holding my hands a few inches apart. And then com..
» Resolutions for Karate Students for 2012
01/02/12 04:28 from KARATE THOUGHTS
Here are some Resolutions for Karate Students for 2012: Practice Karate because you enjoy it. If you do so, your happiness will be attainment of the goal you seek. Focus on skill and conditioning, rather than rank and titles. Try to get a little better every day. Ask your Sensei if there is anything you can do to help him (or her). Arrive at class early to h..
» Where My Stories Come From
12/26/11 10:46 from KARATE THOUGHTS
From time to time, I am asked where my stories come from. The stories I write, and often the blog posts themselves, appear almost like daydreams and I write them down. I usually do not plan them. I will be doing something and the story or post will start to play in my mind (all the parts at the same time, sometimes in words, but usually not). If I find them ..
» My Christmas Wish
12/26/11 10:29 from KARATE THOUGHTS
I told my kids that my Christmas wish was for world peace. One of them said that such as wish was a cliche. It sounds like something a contestant would say at a beauty pageant. But this is really my wish -- world peace. Since I cannot control the world, I should seek peace in my own daily life, in my family, in my dojo, with my friends, and with my business ..
» My Best Student
12/26/11 10:20 from KARATE THOUGHTS
I have written about this before, but it deserves repeating. My best student is the student I am teaching. The only caveat to this is that the student must be trying. I have very little time for a student who does not try, but almost unlimited time and effort for a student who sincerely tries. I try to teach a beginner how to punch, block and kick with the s..
» Another Martial Art
12/26/11 09:55 from KARATE THOUGHTS
If could study another martial art, which one would it be? Ju Jitsu Sojutsu (spear art) Naginata jutsu Escrima Kenjutsu Scroll down for the answer. The answer is D, Escrima. I think that Escrima would compliment my Karate training very well. I am a fan of the Filipino martial arts. I would like to study the other martial arts as well, but Escrima is on the t..
» Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
12/25/11 07:01 from KARATE THOUGHTS
From our family to yours, best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! You can click the image to enlarge it. Respectfully, Charles C. Goodin
» At What Cost?
12/24/11 08:18 from KARATE THOUGHTS
So let\'s say that you are a Shodan. It will take some work to earn your Nidan. It is not just a question of staying in Karate. It will take effort. Rising from Nidan to Sandan will be even more difficult. In fact, the higher the rank, the steeper the mountain becomes! The climb becomes more and more difficult. Well, actually, I think that most of us enjoy tr..
» 90th Percentile
12/24/11 07:25 from KARATE THOUGHTS
My two year old granddaughter is at the 90th percentile in height for her age. She is a tall girl. I started to think. What would the 90th percentile be for Karate? Please go along with the question. I realize that numbers and Karate don\'t quite mix. Let\'s set up the question a little. We will only count adults, not children. And we will only include Karate ..