Friday Knight News
“All men are the same except for their belief in their own selves, regardless of what others may think of them” Miyamoto MusashiRank is ultimately a method to bolster our belief in our selves. Although sometimes it is used to impress others. I use the rank entrusted to me as a reminder of my obligation to train, even when I don't feel like it. My sensei had always told me if the student does not exceed the teacher then the style will diminish. In order for the art to grow he felt it was important to rate students. This is as important in armed combative as in unarmed arts. In law enforcement circles, you have to be trained for a given period and then qualified to become certified. As previously stated in earlier blogs my sensei was the primary instructor in 3 out of the 5 districts for the state as a armed, unarmed and tactic police training instructor. Sensei felt that officer training levels should at least be raised to the levels required in the dojo as most of the hand to hand and other defensive training was only geared to the minimum.
Traditionally in the martial arts, recognition of a student's abilities was done by granting certificates to recognizing a person's proficiency in a various segment of the curriculum. The dan ranks are laid out in a systematic fashion to make it easier for a student to learn and progress. At least this is how our dan level ranking system is composed. It is intended for the nonprofessional or amateur status student starting from 10th Kyu to 1st Kyu, then from 1st Dan to 10th Dan. While some arts have different certifications it's still all the same thing just different traditions.
Vladimir Vasiliev
At 10th kyu a person joins a school for one of two reasons. The first being because they liked to fight and wanted to learn how to fight better. While the second was that they did not want to fight, and instead of hiding from their fear they came to learn how to better avoid it. Our curriculum consisted on teaching how to use rips and tears; bone locks, and methods for choking are also included. This is also taught in conjunction with pressure point attacks that are generally applied with kick, strikes, punches or grips. Leveraging, throwing and ground defense can be used with each of the above skills. After this, leading the mind comes into play where mental strategy, use of force with weapon retention, and deployment along with overloading the senses come into play. Leading the mind aids in helping control the opponent's reactions. This is achieved by making them miss or freeze, as well as off balancing.
Ultimately it is your ability to perform and not your certification that matters.
At first my sensei used the titles of sensei, shihan, hanshi, renshi, and kyoshi but he started to revise his position on them before he retired. He did like the master level licenses during this time: Shoden, Chuden, Okuden, Menkyo, and Kaiden. These levels are granted over a lifetime of study. One major thing to be considered is that there are two separate systems in play. One is to denote achievement of study and the application of technique to replicate the style. The other is to denote both the understanding and application of the abilities with the skills to transfer this knowledge and move beyond the style or need for technique.
These licenses were not automatically granted as part of the curriculum. My sensei based his ability to detect this influence after a lifetime of study in the criminal justice system, where he taught for the state. His background included the studied of victimology and he had interviewed, recorded, and analyzed how serial criminals (murders and rapist), viewed and judged their victims. He found that most of the criminals had no idea as to why they eschewed certain people. His conclusion was that being the biggest, fastest, or strongest was not a key factor in avoiding conflict. My sensei said he relied on judging a person's inner essence for granting these licenses, he called it Haragei (belly art, the ability to influence others without words or actions). This is how he awarded certificates that were not a part of the curriculum.
"Success depends on goals and on diligence in pursuing them." Mas Oyama
My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with some science fiction, conspiracies, laughter, love and mystic experiences. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream meditation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.
Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to cope with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past.
The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.
Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.
Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, which is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.
Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.
Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.
No comments:
Post a Comment