Dojo Newsletter
August 2018
About Us
Email: planodojo@planodojo.com
Website: www.planodojo.com
Location: 1301 Custer Rd, Plano, TX, USA
Phone: 972-424-8870
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planodojo/
Twitter: @planodojo
Share the News!
Thank you for reading our monthly newsletter. We are proud to share important announcements, and give recognition to students and instructors for achievements inside and outside the dojo. We hope you enjoy this month's edition!
Did you get accepted into an honor society at your school? Win a local track meet? Or just had a recently awesome karate adventure? Please contact ACKD so we can share the news with the rest of the dojo community in our monthly newsletter! Reach out and let us know by e-mail, FaceBook, or in person. We look forward to hearing from you! Let everyone know how much you love the dojo by checking in online with social media. You can use #planodojo, #mckinneydojo, and #ACKD whenever you talk about your training and karate adventures!
Did you know that...?
- It's the one year anniversary of our opening of the McKinney Dojo! Congratulations!
- It's the ten year anniversary of the Plano Dojo location moving from the old location on Avenue G in east Plano to our current home on Custer and 15th. WOW! Time flies.
- The combined years of training time from our instructor group amount to over two centuries!
- The dojo joined the Wado International Karatedo Federation (WIKF) almost 20 years ago.
- We now have students who were born after the passing of WIKF founder Tatsuo Suzuki Sensei. He died in the summer of 2011.
Announcements!
Host your Birthday at the Dojo!
Our birthday parties are led by instructors who will teach fun skills and games to everyone at the party. Pizza and Drinks are provided! Your birthday child will even get to cut the cake with a real Samurai Sword! (With our help of course!) Ask an instructor today for details on scheduling and pricing.
Off Season Competition Training
We have competition team training available this fall for current WIKF Texas members and those interested in competing next year. The monthly practice schedule is:
- Saturday, September 15
- Saturday, October 27
- Saturday, November 17
Cost is $75 for attendance to these three sessions. Talk to Sensei Brody Burns if you have questions.
Belt Test Schedule
Upcoming belt tests include:
- Thursday, September 27 (Adult Brown Belt)
- Saturday, September 22 (Kids)
* Note different date **
Good luck to all test candidates!
Plano Dojo videos available!
Don't forget about our YouTube page!
Sign up online!
Mark your calendars for our annual WIKF USA Fall Training with renowned Wado Instructor, Sensei Jon Wicks! Seminars take place in October. You can now sign up for the seminars online or at the dojo! Please click here to pick your sessions.
- Who: Sensei Jon Wicks, 8th degree Black Belt and World Chief Instructor from London, England.
- What: Special training with the most respected Wado instructor in WIKF.
- When: Friday, October 5 - Sunday, October 7, 2018
- Time: Friday 6pm-8pm (All);
Saturday 11am-1pm (All); 2:30pm-4:30pm (4th kyu and up);
Sunday 11am-1pm (1st kyu and up) - Cost: $40 a session; $100 for 3 sessions; $165 for 1st kyu and up.
- Seminar schedule may be modified based on number of participants. Sign up early!
- This will be GREAT training for everyone in the dojo from beginner to black belt. There is always something new and exciting to learn from Sensei Wicks. The whole dojo trains together!
The grant will offset costs associated with international travel and registration for the upcoming Karate1 Premier League events. These tournaments mark the onset of the Olympic qualification process for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan, where Karate will make its inaugural debut. Several of our instructors and students from the dojo are attempting this feat. We wish them the best of luck.
The Pen is Mightier Than the Fist
Writings from the Karate Student
One unique aspect of ACKD is the requirement for students to write papers, in addition to completing the physical demands of a rank exam. Candidates are asked to compose ideas on karate ideology and pedagogy, such as self-control or integrity, to the history of Wado, to differentiating between kumite principles. Students of all ages and ranks are expected to express their thoughts on these big ideas. This is an excerpt written by a brown belt candidate from several years ago. The prosody and length of this piece demonstrate the maturity and dedication of this particular student, one who started in our Tiny Tigers program and now is embraced as an instructor at the dojo.
Brown Belt Paper on Wado History and Moving Toward Stillness by Dave Lowry
"Hironori Otsuka was born on June 1, 1892 in Shimodate, Japan. He studied under Tatsusaburo Nakayama, Kenwa Mabuni, Motobu Choki, and Gichin Funakoshi. Otsuka earned his black belt in 1924. In 1938, Otsuka founded the Wado style of karate. One of his students, Tatsuo Suzuki, went on to found WIKF, another branch of Wado. Suzuki was born April 27, 1928 in Yokohama, Japan and died on July 12, 2011.
In Dave Lowry’s book, Moving Toward Stillness, he writes about martial arts on a variety of different levels. He relates them to everyday life and explains what it takes to partake in them. Also, he compares aspects of eastern and western culture to explain aspects of martial arts that we often don’t think about. . . .
. . . Lowry talked about the student. He spoke of how many attempt to take on the challenge of martial arts without a willingness to sacrifice. They view martial arts as only a hobby that they need only practice while in the dojo. Contrary to this view, Lowry stated that to become a serious student of martial arts requires a change in lifestyle. He wrote of how important the mindset is in the learning and practicing of martial arts. Of how we must always be thinking not yet, I have not yet mastered this technique, but someday I will.
Lowry then explained how mastery of a technique, even a basic one, is nearly impossible, and how it can take many years of practice to begin to truly understand the technique. He spoke of how the highest form of mastery is simply the ability to return to the beginner’s mind and spirit. He also said that mastery of martial arts, unlike many think, entails much more than just being able to fight. . . .
Lowry again returns to the topic of a master and what constitutes a good one. One of the most important qualities of a good master is knowing when to give advice. This does not mean only at night, or only every other month, but rather when the student will listen. Directly after a student learns a technique, they have a vague understanding of how to do it. If a master tries to correct small details then, it will confuse the student. The master must wait until the student has been doing it a while and understands what they are doing until they give advice. Then the student will understand the contrast between them and the correct move. It is this timing that is so important for the master to recognize.
Another point that Lowry talked about is one I hear in the dojo from time to time, and that is that when you look at an opponent, you must see all of him or her. Lowry, however, took this a step further and said that you must look beyond the immediate to what lies beyond. He then translated that into both martial arts and life. He spoke of criticism and adversity as being things that stick out to us and block us from seeing what lies beyond. He explained that it is these things that we must be able to put in the back and bring what they block to the front. However, when looking at what lies beyond, we must not fail to look at the little things. They are the simple ones that are not expected to do much, but if overlooked, can cause the whole thing to crumble on top of you. . . .
Lowry moved next to talk of mistakes. He said that we must be precise and unwavering in what we choose to do and that even then, we all depend on luck. That when luck fails and a mistake is made, it lasts forever. He said that we must take life one movement, one choice at a time. Put simply, we have one chance to do each thing right, and that same chance to do it wrong. Lowry spoke of how we might prepare ourselves for a decision. . . .
Lowry wrote about how, rather than being martial artists, we must be martial artisans. The difference being that artists are focused on themselves, and view themselves as the top of the pyramid, while artisans see themselves as part of the whole. The problem with artists is that being on the top obscures their view of what is beneath them, supporting them. Artisans, however, can see all of the others around them and accept that they are another piece in the puzzle, helping complete it, but still needing the others for it to be whole.
Also, Lowry pointed out that we must do martial arts for us, not our image and social status. We see all of these big shot movie stars that make people want to do martial arts, but really they give people a false idea of the identities of martial arts. They taint martial arts’ image in exchange for a layer of polish on their own. We should do martial arts because we enjoy them, and if our image gets helped along the way, that is a bonus, but it is not a reason to do martial arts. . . .
Throughout the book, Lowry speaks of sensei and masters, and many of us would ask the question of why did he not just use one term, are they not the same. The answer is yes and no. Some sensei are masters, while others are simply teachers. The sensei that are masters teach the physical and spiritual sides of martial arts because they understand both well enough to help others understand them. The sensei that are only teachers teach the physical side and either teach the spiritual side incorrectly or do not teach it at all. The reason for this is that either the sensei does not fully understand the spiritual aspect of martial arts himself or does not recognize that it exists. Both mean that the sensei is not truly a master of martial arts.
The last thing that Lowry talks about is that as we work toward mastering a technique, we begin with lots of motion and slowly move towards stillness. We begin with the broadest motion which only vaguely relates to the one the sensei is so flawlessly demonstrating. As we receive pointers and tips, we begin to consider the finer movements that go into the making of the technique. We begin to distinguish between good technique and brute force, and build toward realizing that, of the two, technique is the superior element. This process continues as we perfect smaller and smaller details in the movement and in the mindset until finally we reach a perfect balance somewhere along the way. It is in this balance that we find stillness. And it is this stillness that we as students of a martial art, whichever it may be, are constantly moving toward and striving for. Whether or not we realize it, we are moving toward stillness."