How Do Martial Arts Benefit Us?

I am always gratified to hear from adult students how much they benefit from Seichou Karate^® training.

The reasons people come to us vary. Some people come to learn self-defense; others come to learn about Japan, for physical fitness or to relieve stress. Whatever a student’s initial motivation, the benefits are often more expansive than he or she considered before walking through our door.

Here’s why. In Seichou Karate^® class, we practice exercises and karate techniques that build strong, flexible muscles. So, right off the bat, our training will give you the power and endurance to study, work or play hard for long periods of time.

Next, Seichou Karate^® is rigorous. So, during class when your muscles will tire or you’re out of breath, you’ll want to take a rest. At those moments, your brain should override the natural tendency to quit. Your brain becomes stronger each time it overrules your body. This exercise of self-discipline reminds us how powerful we are and motivates us to push harder for the things in our lives that are important: family, friends, career, or whatever.

Finally, the path to developing great physical strength and powerful fighting skills at Seichou Karate requires us to receive mentoring from caring senior students and instructors. During this process, we cannot help but discover that although they are stronger than we are, they are gentle and totally committed to our personal growth. This example inspires us to be good companions, mentors and fiduciaries in all areas of our lives.

This is the most important way in which Seichou Karate^® and other martial arts benefit us. OSU!

How to be a Great Teacher

From 1980 to 1985 I taught at my instructor’s dojo in Manhattan. One morning, my teacher poked his head into class as I was teaching. After watching for a few minutes he told me to see him after I finished class.

I'd been pushing the students hard when he'd walked in, so I was pleased with what he'd observed. After finishing class, I knocked on his door and entered his office. "What was that," he pointedly asked. Surprised, I answered sheepishly that I'd been teaching free-fighting technique. "No, you weren't teaching. You were training. The two are not the same," he barked.

He was right. I'd been leading the students through a regimen that was helpful to me, but it did not address the needs of the students in attendance. That was a good lesson because it taught me the importance of focusing on the needs of each student in class. In fact, today I know that a great instructor seamlessly addresses even divergent needs of students in the same class.

At Seichou Karate® we make certain that every student in class gets what she or he needs to make meaningful progress toward the achievement of personal goals. That’s what sets us apart from our competitors and, so, we’re very proud to make that promise.

OSU!

Finding Ourselves through Karate

The other day the father of a student mentioned to me that he was impressed that students’ “real character” become apparent during Seichou Karate® class. I couldn’t agree with him more.

People come to Seichou Karate® for many different reasons. Some want to lose weight; some want to learn defend themselves; others are new to town and want to get into a group activity. These are all valid reasons and, in fact, Seichou Karate® welcomes any student who enrolls with a wholesome motivation.

However, by far the most interesting aspect and one of the most exciting facets of my life as a Seichou Karate® instructor is observing students refine themselves or discover a side of themselves that they never knew existed.

Free-fighting is one area in which students learn a lot about themselves because we punch and kick our partner and our partner punches and kicks us. Striking and being struck is unnatural and connects us with a primal need for survival. In this dynamic, newcomers confront new feelings and identify strengths that they never knew they possessed. The result is personal growth.

There are other opportunities for personal growth in Seichou Karate®. For example, every so often we get a new student who is an unusually fast learner. However, sooner or later, he bumps into a technique or movement pattern that is particularly challenging and – perhaps – frustrating. At that moment, he must let go of his inclination to race through the syllabus and, instead, take the instructor’s advice to slow down. By slowing the process down, he will master the troublesome technique and learn a valuable new skill that benefits him other areas of life. Again, the result is personal growth.

Here’s what fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto is getting from his karate training. We’d like to know what you’re getting out of your martial arts training. So, blog it out below. OSU!

Higher Side of Human Nature

Any sport in which the height of expression is characterized by the term “ground and pound” cannot be said to appeal to the higher side of human nature. So, why is it that so many people whom I like and respect (including some family members) love to watch ultimate fighting on TV?

It could be that they enjoy seeing two highly trained athletes pitted against each other in a contest that almost always ends with a convincing victory for one or the other. Or, perhaps, it’s cathartic to watch two human beings beating each senseless. Whatever their motivation, fans flock to MMA events in about 34 states where the professional events are sanctioned.

However, New York, one of the most important sports jurisdictions in the country, is NOT among them. This opposition dates to 1997 during the Pataki administration. At that time, UFC President Dana White applied for a license to promote MMA events in the Empire State, but Governor Pataki successfully blocked the application because he believed that MMA was “barbaric.”

Not one to take “no” for an answer, Dana White is back in New York this month to lobby the legislature to support his MMA application. This time, he’s got a powerful ally in current NY Governor Paterson who is desperate to close the state’s huge budget gap. The question in New York is whether budgetary concerns will outweigh the underlying moral dilemma that MMA presents. Namely, is it right to promote Roman gladiator-style pugilism.

The Marist Organization reports that New Yorkers do not support sanctioning MMA in their state. Read more here.

What do you think? Weigh in here at KarateMind, an official Seichou Karate blog for adults. OSU!

Promotion Tests are Exciting!

A good martial arts school promotes humility, but it should also provide students with opportunities to demonstrate their growing skills and maturity. Promotion tests are perfect for achieving this goal because students are encouraged to strut their stuff boldly!

The weeks before a promotion test are especially exciting because students who have become restless with their current rank stretch themselves to the brink to prepare for promotion.

It’s customary in Asian martial arts to measure progress by belt color designation. In Japan advancement is slow and incremental. However, many schools in North America hold promotion tests each month!

Seichou Karate® takes the Japanese approach because we believe that 30 days is not enough time for real growth to occur. We hold regular promotion tests in fall and spring because, as the seasons dramatically, it is appropriate to also move forward in our Seichou Karate® training.

Join us tomorrow, November 21, for our Fall Performance Promotion Test. We encourage guests to watch friends or family members take the test. Here’s the schedule: 10:00 AM - Warm-up Class for all levels; 11:30 AM - White, Blue & Yellow Belts; 12:15 PM - Green, Purple & Brown Belts

OSU!

Martial Arts Training to Shake Off Gloom & Doom

Swine flu, weak economy, international political instability… No matter where you go, it seems that gloom and doom are the only messages from news media.

Then, in academic life, youngsters compete for openings in kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school, while young adults compete for places in high school and college entering classes.

Finally, when we go into the job market, year-in and year-out we’ve got to carefully navigate every twist and turn in order to protect our livelihood. In fact, even if you do everything right, there are no guarantees and eternal vigilance is the essential, universal mantra for survival.

So, yes, life in contemporary society is a struggle, but it’s also a precious gift to be savored and celebrated. And martial arts training is one key to coping with its obstacles and making the most of its opportunities.

Many students who begin martial arts training are startled by it’s rigor, but if they persevere, they become physically strong. Those who transcend the physical rigor develop mental toughness. Finally, the physical prowess and mental toughness of martial arts training enables students to help others in a spirit of fraternity. So, martial arts training refines the body, mind and character.

That’s why anyone who feels frustrated or powerless by the barrage of gloom and doom messages from news media, or who feels that his or her life is stalled, should study martial arts. By doing so, he or she will become reinvigorated and find a new capacity to motivate and energize others.

Study martial arts to feel good about yourself. Study martial arts to uplift others. These are powerful reasons and tools for shaking off the gloom and doom.

How I found Inner Peace through Shrimp Tempura

I had many memorable experiences when I lived in Japan from 1989 to 1994 but, as I approach the end of Seichou Karate® dojo’s first fiscal year, an occasion comes to mind when I discovered a concept that has provided me with fulfillment and inner peace.

It was a cold December afternoon in 1990 and I was packing up to leave work at the Kamo Educational Office in Minokamo City when a couple of my co-workers suggested that we go to Nagoya for a tempura dinner. Well, Nagoya was 45 minutes away by train and I was bushed after a long day. To make matters worse, back in the U.S., I had grown accustomed to the heavily battered, tiny shrimp that often masquerades as Japanese tempura. So, I didn’t want to join them. But, since I was new to the office, I couldn’t turn down the chance to participate in the boys’ night out!

90 minutes later I was traipsing through narrow alleys in Nagoya’s “shita machi” (earthy downtown underbelly) with my 3 companions. Finally, we arrived at an unremarkable doorway with a “noren” (a tapestry hanging outside the entrance of a business). I couldn’t read the Chinese character on it, but I’d been in Japan long enough to know that hanging noren meant that the restaurant was open. So, we darted inside to discover a small, sleek interior with lots of chrome and black lacquered surfaces. The place was immaculate and with colorful floral arrangements and cool new age music was playing. My host was an old friend of the chef (also the proprietor) who greeted us warmly and sat us down at the bar. He ordered drinks and appetizers for all of us. Everything was great and, after a few minutes of chatting with my co-workers, I felt much better as the chill left my bones. However, I had no inkling that I was about to have an experience that would dramatically enhance my life.

Before long, the chef placed tiny easels before us. Then, he delicately served each of us two perfect shrimp with tails reaching for the sky. They were absolutely beautiful with coating so light that you could see through it. Each shrimp had a halo consisting of the most delicate batter wisps. In fact, they were so remarkable that I hesitated to eat them. But, when my host noticed my paralysis, he suggested that tempura is much better eaten hot than cold. So, I mixed the grated radish with ponzu (dipping sauce), grasped the shrimp closest to me, plunged it into the sauce, and took my first bite.

For such a light batter, the shrimp were surprisingly crispy, yet they were hot and juicy on the inside. I’d eaten plenty of fried food but had never tasted, or even dreamed of, anything that could be so delicious and, at the same time, be so pretty. It was a delightful surprise and eye-opener. After we finished the shrimp, the chef carefully placed more tempura (mostly vegetables) and rice before us. Each round was prepared with the same care as the shrimp and was delicious. But, it was the remarkable shrimp that caused me to meditate deeply on the level of focus that the chef had invested in preparing the meal. How did he do it? I pondered the question all the way home that night. It was the last thing on my mind before I went to sleep and the first thing I thought of when I woke up the next morning.

Although I was totally blown away by my dining experience, I couldn’t help but think that the chef could have made a lot more money by expanding his kitchen staff and serving a dozen shrimp in a basket to take-out customers. He would have probably needed a wheelbarrow to carry to the bank all the Yen that he would have made.

Then, it occurred to me that while robust profits are a proper and necessary goal of any business, the achievement of professional excellence (in this case offering the world’s best tempura) is also an important goal that need not be at odds with money-making.

The next day, I asked my host about this balancing act and he replied that the chef’s family had been in the tempura business for many years and enjoyed enormous success. The chef was the second son, so he had decided to strike out on his own because the family kitchen simply wasn’t big enough for both sons. The restaurant that we visited was the chef’s new incarnation of his family’s venerable tempura restaurant, but the chef had remained passionately true to the methods and standards that his grandparents had established six decades earlier. In a nutshell, the restaurant only used the highest quality ingredients in painstakingly preparing tempura, and only hired staff members who were completely committed to offering the best service and product. Also, they carefully controlled their overhead so that they could afford to serve only a handful of customers each night. My host told me that his friend’s restaurant wasn’t the biggest tempura senmonten (tempura specialty restaurant) but it was the best because his friend worked harder than any other restauranteur, including his older brother. And then he said something that resonated with me: “In Japan, this is the greatest dignity.”

Since we opened Seichou Karate® dojo last March, I’ve been proud to offer the best curriculum, taught by the finest instructors, in the most functional, beautiful facility. When the going gets tough, I remember the relentless dedication of that tempura chef and I equate the lesson I learned that night to Seichou Karate® in the following way. I am committed to building a mighty institution that empowers students to achieve great goals. I love both the energy that a large group of students generates, as well as the fleeting opportunity to focus on the needs of a few students in a small class. This quest, this path, has brought me tremendous fulfillment and true inner peace. So, if anyone who is reading this article is in need of a rudder, I encourage him or her to take up the quest for excellence.

Osu!

R. Romero
Seichou Karate® Founder & President
Seichoukarate.com