One flaw in an otherwise fine idea. Money. Let's be honest. Money. How many new organisations have appeared with a business model that allows someone or someone's to make money from karate. Oh and ego. Another driver in human endeavour. Splits in organisations occur because of ego. We all know this. We've all seen this. Fractures happen. New organisations emerge. Look at what happened in the UK once Sensei Enoeda died! Once his association, the KUGB ruled supreme. Now its KUGB, JKA, JKS & HDKI. Its more akin to which fast food burger chain do you prefer.
Money is, without a doubt, the elephant in the room. I did steer clear of that because politics can get murky. There is a bigger story to be told about all that.
I did observe from a distance what happened to the KUGB, the same kind of thing seems to be happening with the Goju Ryu people at the moment. I wonder if there is a pattern going on? A bit like how historians have tried to map out the rise and fall of empires - and there does indeed seem to be a pattern.
Thanks for your input, always good to hear the perspectives of martial artists from other styles and systems.
Thanks. Tbh it's like a family. Children grow and go off on their own way. Humans are very clever monkeys, we are intelligent and emotional beings. Martial arts offer so much, but they exist within that world of clever emotional monkeys. For most of us the best we can do is find something we enjoy, find some other people to do it with, hopefully a couple of decent teachers and carry on. Gradings are such a highly personalised thing. I know. I'm training foe one in July. Humans have a deep psychological need to work for attainment, not for attaining. How many times in life have we passed an exam or qualified at work or finished a project at home, felt quite good and then thought, now what? That's why karate works. Always another challenge,learn a new kata, train with a " guest " sensei, grade, or recover from an injury.
One flaw in an otherwise fine idea. Money. Let's be honest. Money. How many new organisations have appeared with a business model that allows someone or someone's to make money from karate. Oh and ego. Another driver in human endeavour. Splits in organisations occur because of ego. We all know this. We've all seen this. Fractures happen. New organisations emerge. Look at what happened in the UK once Sensei Enoeda died! Once his association, the KUGB ruled supreme. Now its KUGB, JKA, JKS & HDKI. Its more akin to which fast food burger chain do you prefer.
Money is, without a doubt, the elephant in the room. I did steer clear of that because politics can get murky. There is a bigger story to be told about all that.
I did observe from a distance what happened to the KUGB, the same kind of thing seems to be happening with the Goju Ryu people at the moment. I wonder if there is a pattern going on? A bit like how historians have tried to map out the rise and fall of empires - and there does indeed seem to be a pattern.
Thanks for your input, always good to hear the perspectives of martial artists from other styles and systems.
Thanks. Tbh it's like a family. Children grow and go off on their own way. Humans are very clever monkeys, we are intelligent and emotional beings. Martial arts offer so much, but they exist within that world of clever emotional monkeys. For most of us the best we can do is find something we enjoy, find some other people to do it with, hopefully a couple of decent teachers and carry on. Gradings are such a highly personalised thing. I know. I'm training foe one in July. Humans have a deep psychological need to work for attainment, not for attaining. How many times in life have we passed an exam or qualified at work or finished a project at home, felt quite good and then thought, now what? That's why karate works. Always another challenge,learn a new kata, train with a " guest " sensei, grade, or recover from an injury.
I agree with you. It is in our nature to be constantly moving on. From the moment we rise in the morning we are always on our way to... somewhere.
I wrote on a previous blog post about 'finding your tribe' (Wordpress) and the Ken Robinson book that introduced me to the idea (worth looking into).
Btw, good luck with the grading preparation.
Thank you. I'll look up those two you refernce.