QUOTE
March 19th, 2009
In This Issue
> It’s Not About The Grade
> Four Hints For Goal Achievement
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
Fights are not won by grade. There is no rule that says a lesser grade can not beat a higher grade than them. So what does our grade mean? Apart from the etiquette and respect that is expected in our dojos, a grade will mean different things to different students.
Let’s look at it from a kumite point of view.
When you are about to spar, do you look at the belt your partner is wearing? I’ve had many students, both past and present express concerns or just flat out be scared because of the colour of a belt they see. This is crazy. You fight the person, not the grade. Yet it makes people wary before they begin.
In life people don’t walk around with their ‘credentials” displayed for everyone to see. When faced with a situation, you make a quick assessment of the person, and then decide fight or flight. In the dojo, there is no flight. We train in the dojo for real life so why do we allow ourselves to be so easily distracted by a piece of cloth. I’m sure all of us at one point or another have made a judgement on a ‘grade’, only to be surprised during kumite. This leads to poor preparation for a real life confrontation.
So if we shouldn’t judge grade…. What should we judge?
Take a look at your partner, are they big? Small? That’s a start. At least you know the distance to start from, perhaps the appropriate technique or tactic to employ.
Grade doesn’t tell you anything about ones style of fighting. It doesn’t answer any questions on skill sets or tactics. Grade also can be greatly distorted depending on the perspective of the person. An 7th Kyu may look at a 4th Kyu and think….. “This person knows so much more than me”, or “I could never be a 4th Kyu”, where a 5th Kyu’s perspective would be some what different and yet, it is the same person.
Judging a grade will lead to mistakes being made long before the first punch is thrown. Ultimately it will lead to you not employing all your skills during kumite, and therefore not learning or developing your skill sets.
Each kumite bout should be used by you to enhance something in your repertoire regardless of the grade in front of you. There is no point being ‘too scared’ to try something with a person because of their grade. How do you know if it will or will not work on a person of that size or shape etc?
Kumite is about backing your knowledge, applying your skill regardless of your partner. Kumite isn’t about what you are allowed to do; it’s what you allow yourself to do. It’s how you apply all your knowledge that you have gained to that point, under fire with a partner.
So next time you are in the dojo, don’t let the grade in front of you pre determine the kumite. Let your grade demonstrate your knowledge.
When it comes to kumite, I’ve become colour blind.
LET YOUR SENSEI KNOW YOUR GOALS
While karate is an individual activity, when it comes to achieving your goals, you don’t have to go it alone. Let your sensei know your goals so you can work as a team to achieving them.
Don’t assume your Sensei knows what you want out of your karate training. We all have our special and individual reasons for training, so involve your Sensei in where your direction is for the road ahead.
They in turn then can give you the proper advice that is relevant to you. Your Sensei then can also give you some time deadlines to follow to help you along the path to your next grade. A goal is only a TRUE GOAL with a deadline for completion – otherwise it is in essence only a wish.
SPEAK TO HIGHER GRADES IN THE DOJO
It’s not just your instructor who can help you achieve your goals. Ask others in the class who are where you want to be. If your goal is a grading goal, speak to others who have already graded to your desired grade. They can give you plenty of inspiration, encouragement and pointers to get there.
They will often share with you their experience and will calm any fears or concerns you might have and they can get you excited and keep you motivated to stay on track.
If you goal is to develop flexibility, speak to the more flexible people in the class. If your goal is to develop better sparring, speak to the best sparrers in the class.
ATTEND OTHER CLASSES IN YOUR REGION
If you want to fast-track your progress towards your goals, up your training.
Explore all the GKR dojos in your local area. The format and class structure that is taught is the absolute same, but the difference is the new faces. This could be a nice and fresh change for you that you need – just the thing to keep your enthusiasm there. You will also notice familiar faces there as well, we often have students do 2-3 classes a week, so you will always feel comfortable at a new GKR dojo.
DO THE EXTRA
Some extra things you can do that will naturally keep you on track and sometimes get you to the next grade quicker are:
Doing the special seminars and training sessions with your Senior Regional Sensei of your local area. This person is the instructor of your class sensei’s and also the person who will be grading you on your grading day, so getting their advice on your technique is a must, especially a month or two before you will be attending your grading.
Basic and Kata DVD. Doing some home training with the use of GKR’s DVD range is terrific. The Senseis on these DVD’s are our International Senior Instructors, Senior Sensei Gavin Samin and Shihan Stacey Karetsian. They have awesome karate ability as you will see and not only will you learn something, but you can also be entertained by their clean and strong technique. Watching these DVD’s can get you highly motivated about your karate. If you’re serious about your karate and reaching your karate goals then they are a MUST!
Action creates energy, motivation and enthusiasm. Enjoy your training.
Make a decision today that you WILL achieve your karate goals.
Karate training can be a picky endeavour. We’ve all been given the correction, ‘turn the foot in just a tad more’, ‘pull your front knee out a tiny bit’, ‘lower your front hand a smidgen’ etc.
Sometimes with all the tiny little details, two things can emerge.
1. We can start to doubt ourselves
2. We start to get too caught up in the details
With all the tiny details, and often people having differences in opinion as to what is right or wrong, we can get lost. So how can we gain confidence and faith in ourselves?
Follow this general rule: What is right, should also feel stronger.
All too often we push and prod our bodies (especially with stances) so it looks a picture - but a picture that is easily collapsed.
Stances, blocks, kicks, punches etc, when something is on the mark it should feel stronger.
If you make an adjustment in your stance and you can easily identify how it is stronger, then it is likely a correct adjustment.
Keeping in mind that sometimes something feels weak because we lack flexibility or because we are not used to it, but the advantages still should be able to be seen, if not demonstrated.
Ultimately karate is about effectiveness. So don’t get lost in the minor details. Get caught up in effectiveness as more often than not, it’s also correct.
In This Issue
> It’s Not About The Grade
> Four Hints For Goal Achievement
> myGKR Training Tip Sample
Fights are not won by grade. There is no rule that says a lesser grade can not beat a higher grade than them. So what does our grade mean? Apart from the etiquette and respect that is expected in our dojos, a grade will mean different things to different students.
Let’s look at it from a kumite point of view.
When you are about to spar, do you look at the belt your partner is wearing? I’ve had many students, both past and present express concerns or just flat out be scared because of the colour of a belt they see. This is crazy. You fight the person, not the grade. Yet it makes people wary before they begin.
In life people don’t walk around with their ‘credentials” displayed for everyone to see. When faced with a situation, you make a quick assessment of the person, and then decide fight or flight. In the dojo, there is no flight. We train in the dojo for real life so why do we allow ourselves to be so easily distracted by a piece of cloth. I’m sure all of us at one point or another have made a judgement on a ‘grade’, only to be surprised during kumite. This leads to poor preparation for a real life confrontation.
So if we shouldn’t judge grade…. What should we judge?
Take a look at your partner, are they big? Small? That’s a start. At least you know the distance to start from, perhaps the appropriate technique or tactic to employ.
Grade doesn’t tell you anything about ones style of fighting. It doesn’t answer any questions on skill sets or tactics. Grade also can be greatly distorted depending on the perspective of the person. An 7th Kyu may look at a 4th Kyu and think….. “This person knows so much more than me”, or “I could never be a 4th Kyu”, where a 5th Kyu’s perspective would be some what different and yet, it is the same person.
Judging a grade will lead to mistakes being made long before the first punch is thrown. Ultimately it will lead to you not employing all your skills during kumite, and therefore not learning or developing your skill sets.
Each kumite bout should be used by you to enhance something in your repertoire regardless of the grade in front of you. There is no point being ‘too scared’ to try something with a person because of their grade. How do you know if it will or will not work on a person of that size or shape etc?
Kumite is about backing your knowledge, applying your skill regardless of your partner. Kumite isn’t about what you are allowed to do; it’s what you allow yourself to do. It’s how you apply all your knowledge that you have gained to that point, under fire with a partner.
So next time you are in the dojo, don’t let the grade in front of you pre determine the kumite. Let your grade demonstrate your knowledge.
When it comes to kumite, I’ve become colour blind.
LET YOUR SENSEI KNOW YOUR GOALS
While karate is an individual activity, when it comes to achieving your goals, you don’t have to go it alone. Let your sensei know your goals so you can work as a team to achieving them.
Don’t assume your Sensei knows what you want out of your karate training. We all have our special and individual reasons for training, so involve your Sensei in where your direction is for the road ahead.
They in turn then can give you the proper advice that is relevant to you. Your Sensei then can also give you some time deadlines to follow to help you along the path to your next grade. A goal is only a TRUE GOAL with a deadline for completion – otherwise it is in essence only a wish.
SPEAK TO HIGHER GRADES IN THE DOJO
It’s not just your instructor who can help you achieve your goals. Ask others in the class who are where you want to be. If your goal is a grading goal, speak to others who have already graded to your desired grade. They can give you plenty of inspiration, encouragement and pointers to get there.
They will often share with you their experience and will calm any fears or concerns you might have and they can get you excited and keep you motivated to stay on track.
If you goal is to develop flexibility, speak to the more flexible people in the class. If your goal is to develop better sparring, speak to the best sparrers in the class.
ATTEND OTHER CLASSES IN YOUR REGION
If you want to fast-track your progress towards your goals, up your training.
Explore all the GKR dojos in your local area. The format and class structure that is taught is the absolute same, but the difference is the new faces. This could be a nice and fresh change for you that you need – just the thing to keep your enthusiasm there. You will also notice familiar faces there as well, we often have students do 2-3 classes a week, so you will always feel comfortable at a new GKR dojo.
DO THE EXTRA
Some extra things you can do that will naturally keep you on track and sometimes get you to the next grade quicker are:
Doing the special seminars and training sessions with your Senior Regional Sensei of your local area. This person is the instructor of your class sensei’s and also the person who will be grading you on your grading day, so getting their advice on your technique is a must, especially a month or two before you will be attending your grading.
Basic and Kata DVD. Doing some home training with the use of GKR’s DVD range is terrific. The Senseis on these DVD’s are our International Senior Instructors, Senior Sensei Gavin Samin and Shihan Stacey Karetsian. They have awesome karate ability as you will see and not only will you learn something, but you can also be entertained by their clean and strong technique. Watching these DVD’s can get you highly motivated about your karate. If you’re serious about your karate and reaching your karate goals then they are a MUST!
Action creates energy, motivation and enthusiasm. Enjoy your training.
Make a decision today that you WILL achieve your karate goals.
Karate training can be a picky endeavour. We’ve all been given the correction, ‘turn the foot in just a tad more’, ‘pull your front knee out a tiny bit’, ‘lower your front hand a smidgen’ etc.
Sometimes with all the tiny little details, two things can emerge.
1. We can start to doubt ourselves
2. We start to get too caught up in the details
With all the tiny details, and often people having differences in opinion as to what is right or wrong, we can get lost. So how can we gain confidence and faith in ourselves?
Follow this general rule: What is right, should also feel stronger.
All too often we push and prod our bodies (especially with stances) so it looks a picture - but a picture that is easily collapsed.
Stances, blocks, kicks, punches etc, when something is on the mark it should feel stronger.
If you make an adjustment in your stance and you can easily identify how it is stronger, then it is likely a correct adjustment.
Keeping in mind that sometimes something feels weak because we lack flexibility or because we are not used to it, but the advantages still should be able to be seen, if not demonstrated.
Ultimately karate is about effectiveness. So don’t get lost in the minor details. Get caught up in effectiveness as more often than not, it’s also correct.
Thought?
( apart from the blatant DVD plug Ker-ching!
)