All Karate Podcast : Ep #1

Thanks for tuning in to our recent podcast!

Let’s cover a couple topics I had fun talking about which also received great feedback.

Karate in the Olympics

2020! Karate’s first showing in the olympics. This is our first and unfortunately, our only shot. Tokyo’s all set up with a load of stadiums for different events. I highly recommend, if you’re going to watch the olympics live, stay in Japan the extra few days or week. Get a JR pass (Japan rail pass) and travel around. Japan is a beautiful country.

Karate, August 6-8, 80 total competitors and two main divisions; Kata and Kumite. I look forward to the Kata divisions personally, but Kumite should be exciting and fast paced. Hopefully, my favourite instagram karate athletes win 😉

Listen to our podcast on anchor.fm to hear about more specific divisions and the political stuff that gave breakdancing karate’s olympic spot!

Karate Organizations

In Canada, the two main Shotokan organizations are the JKA and the SKIF. There are others, like the ISK or JKF to name a few, but those two are the biggest. Organizations are highly beneficial to join under if you’re serious about you’re training. Sensei’s in the committee are qualified and are guaranteed to have a lot of teaching experience. Also, when receiving your black belt (or higher degrees), your certificate is stamped and officially recorded by the organization in Japan. Does it mean, if a karate school is not registered under an organization, they’re bad? Not at all. I’ve trained in many sole owned dojo’s with instructors who are arguably more qualified to maintain the traditional karate standard than many high level Sensei’s in organizations. Not sure which dojo you should train under? Find one with a Sensei you can personally connect with. Be happy training.

Questions from listeners

Why do we start at white belt? What will a first beginner class look like? Should I practice karate on my own time? Can you train in karate if physically disabled and lastly, what are the top 3 things I will realize after 1 year training of karate?

All awesome questions, I answered them to the best of my ability on the podcast and can’t wait to hear all your new inquiries! Send them to LOUIS@BMSKarate.com and I’ll give you a shoutout.

Thanks for listening!

What style of Karate do we do?

A rare question I get is “what style of Karate” we do. Most who have no been exposed to the Karate world may know that Karate is a martial art, but it ends there. There are many different styles of Karate and the most popular one, which is the foundation of our practice at BMS, is Shotokan Karate.

Karate styles;
Ashihara
Budokan
Chidokwon Karate
Chito-Ryu
Enshin Karate
Gensei-Ryu
Goju-Ryu
Go Kan Ryu
Gosoku-Ryu
Isshin-Ryu
KishimotoDi
Kyokushin
Matsubayashi-Ryu
Motobu-Ryu
Ryuei-Ryu
Ryukyukan Karate
Seido Juku
Shidokan Karate
Shindo Jinen-Ryu
Shito-Ryu
Shorei-Ryu
Shorin-Ryu
Shorinji-Ryu Kenkokan
Shotokan
Shudokan
Tenshinkan
Toon-Ryu
Uechi-Ryu
Wado-Ryu
Yoshukai

Shotokan Karate was founded in 1938, in Japan, by Gichin Funakoshi. What makes Shotokan different is the way we move to attack and defend. Our linear movement is unlike most Okinawan Karate styles as we put our body weight behind our techniques with momentum, more-so than torque (twisting).

Kanazawa Sensei of the Shotokan Karate International Federation performing Heian Yondan

Shotokan is the most popular Karate in the world, currently, with it’s biggest governing organization (the JKA) spanning across well over 100 countries.

Gichin Funakoshi’s Sensei, Itosu Ankoh, was popular for founding the Heian kata’s we know and love. He was also the Sensei of many famous Karate branch founders, such as Kenwa Mabuni (Shito-Ryu), Chojun Miyagi (Goju-Ryu) and Chosin Chibana (Shorin-Ryu).

Ever heard of the Korean martial art, Taekwondo? You can blame Karate and Gichin Funakoshi (in great part) to it’s creation.

So, if anyone ask’s you what style of Karate you or your children do, now you know!

What are the three types of Sensei?

Over my many years of teaching, I’ve seen incredible practitioners move their way up the ranks because of their impeccable mechanical skills, but as they step up to become a Sensei, they crumble under the pressure.

Being an instructor is far different than being a student. It’s okay to not enjoy teaching, or to think you may enjoy it and just not be good at it. The best martial arts instructors are not usually the best mechanical practitioners there, but are able to relay the right information, the right way.

It’s a tough crowd. Diversity.

Mixed bags.

Variance.

After all, there is an important lesson to learn from the feedback you get from your students, both verbal and non-verbal. The type of “feedback” you get relies heavily on which type of instructor you are.

1. Loved

Come in for class, tell jokes in the changeroom. Prepare for class, grapple and fool around with your students. Speak in comfort, walk with ease. The Sensei’s that treat their students like they’re friends, will surely not gain their respects. Instead, Sensei’s who are loved have trouble getting their students to listen. A friendship state has been established and there’s no getting out of it now. Nothing you say will be taken seriously and your students won’t try knowing they won’t be disciplined or corrected with a strong intent.

2. Feared

Come in for class, look straight ahead. Your students aren’t your students, they’re your subjects. Students shouldn’t talk to the Sensei, they should bow and say hello, then go into class and practice. If a student is an inch off the starting line, they’re yelled at for being lackadaisical and complacent. If your form needs corrected, you’re disciplined. Run when the Sensei calls, don’t walk. Students should be able to look up to a Sensei. Students should enjoy martial arts. Students shouldn’t be afraid to show up for class.
Sensei’s who are feared demand respect from their students, but never get it. A lack of self-confidence and empathy bleed through this Sensei’s teachings and lessons are rarely influential at all.

3. Respected

Respect is gained by exercising your ability to respect others.

Now you’ve gotten it. Sweat when you teach, smile, explain with positive articulation and demonstrate with passion. No better students are born than those who had a Sensei that could gain their students respect.

Unfortunately in the Karate world, there is no worldly, governing body. You don’t have to be a black belt to open a dojo, nor do you need a teaching degree or psychological evaluation. Anyone can open a dojo and spread their “knowledge” about what they believe is Martial Arts. Many arts have lost their reputation due to this and the Trads (traditional practitioners) only wish new clients would shop around until they found a dojo with true morals and values.

That’s okay, though, without them we’d be without (Grand) Master Ken.

Bless him.

BMS Gala for SickKids

The Directors and head instructors at BMS Karate sat down for lunch at SickKids hospital in downtown, Toronto, for what was to be, the quietest and most enlightening lunch they’ve had in a while. My sushi rolls were being dressed with soy and wasabi, a must for Americanized sushi connoisseurs, when a little girl (7 or 8 years old) wheeled by her smiling mother made their way to the far table in the corner of the cafeteria for a quick drink.

“What are those beads?”, I asked my business partner, who’s done events for SickKids many times in the past. The beads hung around her I.V., her wheelchair handles, her backpack, like necklaces from an event they might’ve attended that morning. “There must be thousands of them, they look they just celebrated Mardi Gras!” I jokingly said, but the beads looked like something else, each uniquely different than the rest.

“Bravery beads. Each procedure they endure is rewarded with a bead.”

I began eating my sushi and reflected on the things I’ve decided, at the time, were worthy to complain about in the past 24 hours.

in 2017 SickKids launched $1.3 billion fundraising campaign to build a new hospital . In March, 2018, The Government of Ontario invests $2.4 billion to build the SickKids of the future
SickKids.ca

Our SickKids hospital walkthrough began soon after. Our initiative with SickKids, is towards both the Haematology/Oncology and Cardiology wards. We were first brought around to see what they were providing for basic needs. Trays, bedding, drawers… some necessities most don’t think about when at a hospital, but expenses when purchasing or replacing can add up. Then, the fancy software, machinery, 3D printing stuff. They have these fancy polymer baby hearts that they give to surgeons to practice on before a procedure! Concluding our visit, we were blessed with the opportunity to walk into a patients hospital room. First, my peripherals pick up that there are 6 “beds” in this room, none of which I would fit in, even uncomfortably. I take my eyes and focus them on the first bed to my left and see a newborn baby, no more than 2 weeks old, with more tubes in and out than I can count. A mother sits by her side with eyes glazed over, not crying, but obviously tired, drained and hopeful. Welcome to the cardiology ward.

SickKids gives these 3-D printed polymer hearts to their surgeons so they can practice before fixing more than 600 tiny real hearts each year.

BMS Karate held a Summit/Gala for SickKids in 2017, for a small venue of 200 persons (max). We sold out in the first two weeks as tickets went on sale. We couldn’t be happier to give back to the community in some way, but are overjoyed to see how passionate our clients and friends are about supporting the cause. I thank you all who came to our event just over a year ago and hope we can make this next BMS Gala for SickKids, this June 2nd 2019, an awesome and successful one.

The guide to being a better Sensei

Sensei’s wear many hats. Mentors, class planners, coaches, motivators, janitors, first aid administrators, confidants… that’s a lot of weight to bear.

As a Sensei if many years, I’ve seen the overall “good” that martial arts can do for this world. Students grow up to become someone respected, with their gained confidence and attitude and overall positive perspective on life.

Realize that all students are different and have their own needs. Billy and Jimmy learn differently, one needing more attention than the other, or a larger patience pool. One may be visual, others auditory, others kinaesthetic. Showing a student may not work, where a solid verbal explanation will come across better.

One thing I’ve learned is equal across the board, is students get discouraged if you throw too much at them at once. Take things step by step. “Step learning” is a term used to explain the breakdown of instructional elements to allow subjects to take things one at a time. Once progress is made, confidence is built and enthusiasm to learn more is present.

Too much has the opposite effect. That’s when you get quitters.

Making things easier to learn can five students a sense of pride and entitlement, especially for tradings and progression rewards. It’s a careful, delicate balance.

Every student is different. Reward the individual needs. If a student is entitled to a reward and could have done better … hold them back. Even if it means a “meeting request” by the student or their parents for not understanding why they weren’t previously rewarded for their efforts.

It’s a tough job, doing the right thing.

It may even cost you money.

But selling out doesn’t change the world.

Why colored Karate uniforms?

Why the different uniform colors? Comment below what you think before reading!
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Great question! It all depends on the lineage of your style. Let’s get real first, all #Karate traditionally wore white uniforms. “The white uniform represented the values of #purity, avoidance of ego, and #simplicity. Down the road, some instructors preferred different color uniforms to distinguish their branch from others.
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Here are some examples;
🔸Many #kobudo weapons practitioners wear black tops and white bottoms.
🔸Others wear #Hakima with white tops (like in many sword styles)
🔸Kenpo schools were one of the first to adapt black uniforms
🔸Funny myth; Black hides the blood better lol!
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Personally, I’ve experienced seeing an old #master wear black, to counter the traditional white that his late master wore, out of rebellion for their old masters poor martial arts #ethics! Business over practice was frowned upon! This was an extreme case, but a fine example of the many reasons branches would defect from the traditional white.
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Different color uniforms today are meant to teach #goalsetting and to #encourage our students to push for what’s next. #Martialarts belt systems provide us as #sensei a great tool to encourage growth to our students, but different color uniforms and class levels are an #excitingway to show students how we can raise the bar on their training!
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#children #kids #training #strength #goals #woodbridge #toronto #karate #fitness #skills #fitnessfam #fitnessmotivation #getfit #sweat #transformation #tradition #wkf #olympic

Top 5 benefits to Karate Training

Whether you’re thinking of beginning your martial arts journey, or have your black belt in one of the many martial arts out there, you’ll know of the benefits to martial arts practice for our Body, Mind and Spirit.

1.Body Strengthening; From your first class, you’ll be introduced to the many flexibility and strengthening exercises suited to your specific martial art. For example; with Karate training, inner leg stretching and core strengthening is essential for kicking.

2.Flexibility; To build your skills you must stretch. To warm-up your muscles and to cool-down, you must stretch. Flexibility training is a MUST for all martial arts practitioners for healthy muscles and proper technique. Strength in technique relies heavily on range of motion.

3.Discipline; When you hear the term ‘discipline’, don’t just think about benefits for children. Adults need encouragement and direction as well and benefit greatly from a little push from an instructor. There’s a lot on our plate, it’s nice to be under the microscope once in a while to keep us on our toes!

Martial arts training for kids has many benefits for their Mind, Body and Spirit.

4.Respect; There are three different types of instructors: those who are loved, those who are feared and those who are respected. Respect is gained by exercising your ability to respect others. Instructors and students in martial arts pay respects to each other, usually by bowing in most Asian martial arts and that respect is honored inside and outside the training area. This is one of the most valuable benefits to martial arts training, for kids.

5.Clear Mind; Neuroplasticity is the word of the post. Kids have lots of it, adults start to lose it. It’s what we need to stay focused and learning. Without learning, you’re on a stagnant train ride to anxiety, depression and other brain-deteriorating diseases like Alzheimer and Dementia and learning new things counters this degeneration. Stress relief is easy at the dojo, between working out, learning and talking to your peers, it’s a great way to empty your mind for a new day ahead.