Tempus Fugit (Time Flies)

Greetings! I  just passed the 22,000 mark in hits on this blog. For some reason, it feels like a big deal to me. Probably because I never imagined I would have that many people interested in this blog. What amazes me still is the views are from all over the world, yet are split almost evenly between the martial arts posts and the tree care.
I will eventually get to the point of this short article. First and foremost, I am  slowly getting closer to completing the second book I have been working on. This book is purely my take on Ryukyu Kempo Karate, as learned from my teacher Taika Seiyu Oyata.


My first book was printed privately, by a friend. I had a limited number of copies printed for family and friends at my expense. I never intended to try and make money off of my teacher or his name/martial arts. It was mostly done for fun, a labor of love meant to help me remember my teacher Mr. Oyata and a way for others to see not only his genius and wisdom, but also his irreverence and sense of humor. I wrote it for me as much as I wrote it for him.

This second book is more of a way for me to share information about this system of karate from my point of view.There are many people training in RyuKyu Kempo that never got to know my teacher, Taika Seiyu Oyata. I would like to share some information about him,  his karate and a short guide to basic and intermediate ideas.

 I haven't decided yet if I am even going to publish it-I may just print a few dozen copies for people I have trained with-people I like,  people I actually respect -you know, martial artists that actually train in martial arts and family/close personal friends.
Money doesn't mean anything to me when it comes to my book- I don't believe everyone is entitled to it just because they plunk their money down. I also feel the same way about my teacher's martial arts.


I have been labeled an elitist and a malcontent for my views in the past. I find this amusing beyond belief-Not the malcontent part,that is certainly true. I wear it proudly.The elitist label is a source of never ending hilarity to me. It's..just..too...funny. For what it's worth, I quit worrying about offending people or what other people think about me roughly 50 years ago!

Here is a simple truth-Not everybody truly deserves my teachers martial arts. Let me share a few of my thoughts on this with you and why I don't teach commercially anymore:
Should I teach martial arts to the lazy/uncommitted? People who feel entitled to learn everything just because they are paying me for it? Not through any actual effort on their part."Oh-you paid me, but only showed up for 3 classes in a month, I will reward all of your hard work and dedication and teach you secret neck strike #7"😀

Should I teach martial arts exclusively to the self entitled? Rich assholes with poor character-indulge them simply for their cash? "I despise you as a human being, you are a self indulgent wiener, but your check cleared-this is secret tuite #12"😀
 

How about the thugs/ bullies?-people who would use martial arts to intimidate or hurt others, should I create a small army of thugs with martial arts skills because they gave me money? No-I believe there are people who most definitely are not entitled to learn my teachers martial arts.


I believe I have every right to decide who I will train and who I will share my knowledge with. The malcontent label I have most definitely earned, but I also have my reasons. Most of my problem with organized martial arts has been politics-factions, groups, organizations......etc. This group is this, this group is that, this guy hates that guy, this group hates that group.(Yawn.....) Like a never ending bad soap opera-As the Stomach Turns. It all seems very juvenile to me, like high school or junior high cliques.It was tiresome years ago, it is intolerable now. I am done with it all. Done with groups, factions, martial artists slandering each other.I cannot imagine a worse waste of time or brain cells.

Here's a Thought- Maybe that's what Hell is for martial artists-spending eternity listening to other martial artists squabble, all bitching about each other😀😀.


Does anybody just train because they love to? Train for their love of the art? Just focus on martial arts alone? I know I do.Screw the belts, rank, titles, groups.It doesn't have to be that way. I simply like training outdoors, in a park or the woods-with not a solitary human being around. Just me and my martial arts. I am able to focus intensely on whatever I am working on with no distractions.Some would call it Paradise. Our time on this Earth is precious and fleeting-choose wisely.

My teachers gift to the world-his martial arts and wisdom, are treasures beyond monetary value. These are the things I will focus the remainder of my life on-the things my teacher taught me, trying to be the best martial artist I can be. I am passing my martial arts on to my son and a few other worthy
individuals who have been training with me for many years-they have earned it.

Peace!

A Tale of Two Oaks

 

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

― William Blake

 

The picture above was taken in a park by my house. There are two Bur Oaks in this picture.Bur Oaks are one of my favorite tree species-they can easily live 200 years or more if left alone.Very little affects these trees. The wood is incredibly dense, strong and decay resistant. The perfect Oak for the Midwest.

I truly believe every picture does tell a story. I will go a little further and state that every tree tells a story if we slow down, look closely and take the time to study and value them.

The larger tree in the background, to the right in the picture is a fairly mature Bur Oak. Years ago I was a City Forester. I was able to intervene and keep this tree from being cut down on a few different occasions. You might say I have a vested interest in the health and longevity of this particular Oak. When I first learned to climb and prune trees professionally, using rope and saddle-this was the first tree I climbed and pruned. I learned this tree is incredibly old when I was cutting out some large deadwood and began counting rings in the wood. This is not the largest tree in this park, but it is one of the older trees. It grows in an area with quite a bit of limestone in the ground, which has slowed the progression of root growth and root spread. This has had an effect on the size of tree and trunk growth, canopy growth. Growth is slow and measured, you can see it on every branch, every year, a large natural bonsai effect.

I practice martial arts in the shade of this tree-when it's raining, I train under the dry, protective canopy.The acorns this tree produces are massive, the large, mossycup variety associated with Bur Oak trees.This tree is easy to climb and I find myself up in this tree a few times every year, admiring the dark green leaves, muscular branches, the thick grooved bark. This Oak is, quite possibly, one of my favorite trees in the world.

 The smaller Bur Oak in the foreground has great sentimental value to me. I planted this tree when my grandfather died, in his memory. He loved and valued trees all of his life. I learned to fell and cut up trees for firewood from him, how to split firewood. Learned how to prune fruit trees in the small orchard on his farm. He was a wonderful human being, a bright light- filled with knowledge and kindness.I remain forever grateful for the things he taught me, the time I had with him. 

I check on his tree every time I am in this park.This Oak hardly needs checking, it seems unimpressed by insects, disease, wind, rain. Like my grandfather, this tree is tough, stoic- seemingly unaffected by the storms raging around it, defying the wind- there is a lesson here for all of us- taught by a humble tree.

Veritas est libertas-Truth is Freedom

This blog has always dealt with the truth. I started this blog as a way to share information and the truth
about tree care. It  has slowly evolved/devolved into my personal blog about trees, martial arts and general musings on both.

I say exactly what I think-My truths may not be your truths-take it or leave it-it's just my opinion, like everybody else. If it has value to some-great, if you don't like it-that's ok too. Feel free to go somewhere else.😀

Dealing with the truth has never been popular. Pointing out the hard truth to people will make you even more unpopular. Everyone has their own truths-stand up and own what you believe to be true.

We live in a world where people talk tough behind their computers,make rude comments to complete strangers online, insult or threaten people with no thought of consequences.A simple truth- I can guarantee you people would not talk this way if you were standing directly in front of them, looking them in the eyes.
There is, at times, a great deal of negativity associated with modern martial arts-it's unfortunate.
Martial arts is and should always be viewed as a self empowering, positive energy event.

My teacher, Mr. Oyata ,repeatedly stressed to us  how ridiculous it was to argue with anyone
about martial arts-whether online or in person. "No can change mind, doesn't matter-no stupid talk"
He thought it was beneath us, an exercise in futility-I couldn't agree more, especially about stupid talk.

What I have come to understand over the years is most people don't really want to hear the
truth about anything-they want you to tell them what they want to hear. Life is not a popularity contest,I prefer to deal in the truth as I see it.

As I get older, it gets  much easier for me to see and speak the truth as I see it.
The best part about being me right now you ask?   I don't have an agenda-there is a feeling of
 deep contentment that comes with having clean hands.
I sleep well at night! A clean conscience is a wonderful thing-see, I told you the truth can set you free!
 
Right now I have a few people I am training with and we are perfectly content.Some people want a school, a following-some people are perfectly content with neither of those things. Martial arts/training does not have to be a commercial enterprise. In the old days, some masters felt it wasn't right to
"eat "off of karate-they held it in higher esteem, it wasn't for sale. It had to be earned and it was passed down for family and close personal relations.
I tend to agree with this outlook-you can take offense if you want to-God knows people get upset these days when the weather changes or the wind blows. It's not directed at anybody , it's my honest feeling about my martial arts-not yours. Do whatever you can live with-it's on you.

It's getting much harder these days to find people willing to work hard for real martial arts.
I get the feeling that people want things to be easy-Mr. Oyata used to tell us-"I no easy teach"
He wasn't joking either! There was never anything easy about training with him and I would
not have traded a minute of it.
For me it's always been about passing on my teacher's art to the right people.Decent, honest people with
strong character.Nothing good or worthwhile is ever easy.

I have been fortunate to have some good teachers and to train with some very talented martial artists.
  I always had a deep, abiding respect for the really skilled martial artists that were also  humble.
The truth?-These type of people are also getting much harder to find these days.

A word of caution-Be careful about blindly following people.
The sad truth is not everyone is worthy of your trust and devotion.
I have discovered this painful truth for myself on a few occasions.
An eternal optimist, I still like to believe that most people teaching are sincerely trying to pass on a martial arts system-with good intentions, training people to the best of their abilities.

Just remember-in martial arts as well as life-people and teachers have their own agenda.
At times, you should ask yourself- What is this person's underlying motivations?
Are they adhering to a code, a specific creed? Are they sincere, honest and humble?
Or are they driven by Money/Greed?  Ego? This is nothing new, we should not be surprised, but it
is disappointing to witness firsthand-money should not be the motivating factor in life or martial arts.
Another truth-There will always be people that need followers to massage their ego.

Mr. Oyata used to talk to us/caution us about about getting a big head-letting your ego get in the way of
your learning and training.He was a wise man-his teachings and wisdom were and still are priceless to me, they continue to sustain me.

Always look for the truth in everything -it might just set you free.
Peace

Reading Comprehension- Helping You Understand the Words and Sentences I am Writing

In response to some recent comments about a few of my blog posts, I just want to make sure
people are not only reading the actual words on this page, but that they are capable of comprehending, actually understanding the words and sentences I am writing.

I have decided to share some valuable information I borrowed from a website.
This is a teaching aid for the First Grade Level on Reading Comprehension
I am asking everyone to please take and actually pass this simple test before they comment on my blog posts.

I believe, with some extra effort,  some people will be able to understand/comprehend the words and sentences I am writing on this blog. Have a nice day!

Trees of Mill Creek Park

VanBooven Tree Care, the company I help manage, has been doing work at two designated Arboretums in Kansas City Missouri.
We recently completed work at Loose Park and Mill Creek Park. I have a few photos of the trees
in Mill Creek Park I would like to share. Mill Creek Park is on the East side of the Country Club Plaza. This is another iconic Kansas City park, with some interesting large, old trees.

This work is part of the fourth contract I have landed for Arboretum/Park pruning in KCMO.



Vanbooven Arborist Luke Becker-Pruning the first tree at Mill Creek Park, a huge , old Ash tree.

Pictured below: VanBooven Arborist Chris Brewer pruning a large, old double trunked Black Oak.
We removed some large hazardous deadwood and also reduced significant portions of the canopy.


Pictured below-Another shot, from a distance, of the same double trunked Black Oak.

Pictured below-Arborist Luke Becker pruning one of the many mature Oak trees in Mill Creek Park.
Luke is not only an ISA Certified and Kansas Certified Arborist, he also has a degree in Horticulture
from Kansas State University.

Below-One of the giants of Mill Creek Park-This Red Oak is over 80 feet tall, with a massive trunk.

Below-Pruning a large, mature Elm-this tree needed quite a bit of work, looked great when we finished it!.

Below-Another shot of the first grouping of trees we started in at Mill Creek Park.

Below-I am always on the lookout for cool or unusual looking trees-this Mulberry growing along the walking trail does not disappoint.The large burls-shape and texture, make for an interesting photo.

Below-The same burled Mulberry being pruned!

Last photo below- I really like this one-A shot of the fountain running, with happy, freshly pruned trees.

Most days I have the greatest job in the world-we are always grateful for the opportunity
to work on Arboretum/Park trees. Shout out to Alice Hannon-KCMO Urban Forester for all of her
help and guidance on these projects.  Thanks to Chris Brewer, Luke Becker and D'Angelo Hicks  for putting in the time and expertise to make this project another VanBooven  Tree Care success story.

Public Martial Arts, Private Martial Arts and Martial Arts Infomercials

 One of my favorite pictures of all time-Taika Oyata and I at the Yagi Hotel, Okinawa Japan
in 2002. Jim Logue is in the background.
I have always held my teacher and his martial arts in the highest regard!

 Public Martial Arts, Private Martial Arts and Martial Arts Infomercials-
Taika Oyata used to tell us "most people will never understand my karate".
As time went by, I understood what he meant. Most people would never spend the time it takes
to truly understand his martial arts. It is not uncommon for people to take the path of least resistance, to focus on the easy tasks, the low hanging fruit. I personally trained, at the very least, a couple of hundred people at two martial arts schools over several years. There are only a few of these people still training, the ones that are still training  have become quite skilled.
I will take a little credit, but mainly the credit is theirs-they possessed the drive,  the desire to focus on one martial art-to try and learn/understand Taika Oyata's art-they never gave up!
I  respect  most of the the people from Mr. Oyata's system that are still actively engaged in his martial arts.

It is difficult to teach, especially large groups of people. You have to put a lot of time in, explaining every nuance-it was difficult enough to learn this system, trying to explain it all becomes another thing in itself!

I am currently focusing on our research group and training with/sharing information with a small group of people. We have a dedicated group that has been meeting /training with Hanshi Steve Stark. We have chosen to keep our group private and to not share/ post videos of what we do, what we are working on. I believe at the higher levels, martial arts should be somewhat of a secret-I am not sharing information or techniques with people who have not sweated and bled with me for this art.
I can guarantee you that martial artists from times past did not share their techniques or knowledge with outsiders or people they barely knew. Why would they?
I am inclined, along with our group, to keep my martial arts private. I am a proponent of
private martial arts-small groups of people with shared values working towards a common goal.

To be clear, I refuse to accept money for teaching anyone martial arts-I will either train someone or I won't. I don't expect people to understand or agree-this is my way.
I feel there are some things money should not be able to buy-some things must be earned.
To be quite honest, not every person is worthy of my teacher's martial arts or deserves them.
 Some of the old masters felt you should not "eat" off of karate, I feel the very same way.
I am not judging anyone that makes a living teaching martial arts-it is difficult to do
and I wish you continued success, it's just not my way.

I believe there are many traditional martial artists teaching Mr. Oyata's art in a respectful manner. I wish them success, they have my respect and my blessing.

There are currently any number of people posting video online of Mr. Oyata's kata, drills, techniques.
People are free to do/post whatever they want and I will feel free to comment on these events.

Some of these videos remind me of  a huckster shilling his wares, trying very hard to sell you something or prove to the world how much they know, how great they are-some of it seems a little desperate to me!  Like a bad case of the look-at-me's!!
I guess some people are not content just training and teaching small groups-they need an audience, lots of attention.
My personal feeling is it's hard for anyone to have much respect for people that seem to be trying waaaayyy too hard- selling Mr. Oyata's art.

Don't listen to me, I am just stating how I feel-Do whatever your conscience allows.
I take comfort in the fact that I am not selling Oyata martial arts infomercials-performing techniques on somebody slow punching at me or just holding their arm out for me to perform a technique on.
I wonder if in days past traveling martial artists shilled their martial arts to passerby-
"Step right up ladies and gentleman and I will show you the secrets of tuite, my opponent is going to slow push, slow punch or just hold his arm out, look how I twist him up and take him to the ground, I am truly great! sign up right here!!😆

It is no great secret that many of Taika Oyata's students do not like each other -this group hates that group , this guy hates that guy-it all became very tiresome years ago. Who cares?

I am however,  a little concerned about what type of people Mr. Oyata's students have become and how they represent themselves.
I believe there are a few individuals misrepresenting themselves as close, personal students of Mr. Oyata.
If you were a close, personal student of Mr. Oyata, you should have been ,at the very  minimum, a Godan level martial artist in his organization.
All of the close, personal students of Taika Oyata, those students he felt were of good character and qualified to pass on his martial arts, received a scroll in his family art, Oyata Shin Shu Ho Ryu.
Not everybody made the cut-there were some individuals he did not allow to receive a scroll in his family art. I truly believe this omission speaks volumes about their character and
abilities.

I encourage everyone  in Ryukyu Kempo and Ryu Te to teach for the right reasons-to hold Taika Oyata and his martial arts in the highest esteem and  to remember the words of our teacher, his teachings, the Dojo Kun, the Guiding Principles. These things matter greatly.
 Taika Oyata had an ideal, it was Oyata Shin Shu Ho Ryu "To strive to attain true moral goodness and express it through one's every action" . 
Taika Oyata gave scrolls to those he thought would pass on his martial arts, that were of good character and worthy to teach his martial arts.

I am content to continue my training with our research group and finding a few worthy people to train privately. I will leave the  martial arts infomercials to everybody else.

Perseverance -A Pillar of Martial Arts and Life

Martial arts is a marathon, not a sprint-it should be a lifelong endeavor of physical, mental and moral improvement.

Martial arts has always been a journey of self discovery, self-reliance.
We all need good teachers and the support of senior students, fellow students, but
we ultimately must be able to stand on our own two feet and fight for ourselves.
I have always loved the personal empowerment of karate-watching people discover they are strong-they can do this, they can be good at this- powerful, self reliant., fearless-that this power is inside them, of their own making-they own it.
As a teacher, this was and is always a beautiful, powerful  moment to witness-when you see students realize  they are strong-they can do this, that they are good at it, that they continue to improve and they will never give up!
I tell people martial arts is a game of inches, not yards. It can be hard to track your own
improvement, it tends to be incremental. For some people , instant gratification is necessary. The repetition-endless kata, drills and exercises are too boring, too tedious . Many people give up, stop training when it becomes difficult or they become bored or complacent. As a teacher, I can tell you all about the frustration and sadness you feel when promising students drop out , give up or just never come back to a class.

I cannot give someone ambition, strength or endurance/perseverance. It has to come from  you.
A good part of life is just showing up with a respectful, positive attitude- in martial arts you should also be listening
carefully to your teachers,not just listening, but reading between the lines.
Sometimes your teachers are waiting for you to ask the right questions-if they just give you the answer, if they show you everything, you have not worked for it, have not earned it-it's like cheating on a test.

Nothing good or worthwhile is ever easy.

The good teachers are hard on us-they demand more, they push harder, not satisfied until they see you are giving everything you have-they are waiting for the moments when you rise up-when you meet the potential they see in you.
We owe it to ourselves, our teachers and all the great martial artists whose footprints we follow in kata to never give up, never stop trying-not being complacent or convinced we have mastered something.
The world is full of people who give up when things become difficult.
I am convinced a person's true character is revealed when things are difficult, when life or circumstances have you down. Will you rise? Or will you just stay down, defeated.
How badly do you want real martial arts training?
What are you willing to endure?

In my younger days I used to worry about who was better than who. I felt like I was competing against everybody at all times. I used to train like a madman before tournaments- then a funny thing happened. I was furiously  training at headquarters and Mr. Oyata was watching me-He asked me what the hell I was doing, what was wrong with me.
I told him I was training for the tournament and he told me to stop and come over to him. He looked me in the eye

and told me you can only train-you can't train for the tournament-you are either ready-right now, or you aren't.
Ladies and gentleman-ponder those words for a minute-that is true wisdom from a master of martial arts.

 I have never forgotten his lessons and I will never forget the martial arts he taught me.

I am no longer competing with anyone but myself. It is a constant struggle to fix bad habits, correct kata motion, make changes in technique that work for me, my body, my timing. I believe I am halfway to my true potential in martial arts.
It is entirely possible I will be a martial arts master at 106 years old!

We all aspire to greatness in our martial arts. Only through  many years of constant practice,
dogged determination-a fierce will to succeed can we hope to rise to any level of greatness.

As human beings, we are equally capable of wondrous, great deeds in our lives. We can inspire others through our example and actions. I believe the expectation of my teacher was that we all become better martial artists and better human beings over time-you can't get there overnight.

I firmly believe that inside of every human being is a tiny spark of the original fire, a small piece of the divine-what  will you do with that inner fire, with that spark-what will you feed it with? 

My teacher, Taika Seiyu Oyata left the world an incredible gift-His wisdom and his martial arts.
What will we do with it?

Back to Basics

Back to Basics-
"Move from easy to difficult and from simple to complicated. More time is required to train longer and harder as you progress. Do not hurry or engage in senseless or reckless practice. Develop gradually"


Does anyone still read and follow the Guiding Principles? I know a few groups out there still do.
Years ago,  I tested for my Green belt and  had 3 Brown belt tests in front of Mr. Oyata.
(We had 3 degrees of Brown Belt)
I considered it a great honor to do so. I took it as a challenge, a means to rise.
You had to step up your game to a new level.
He would ask us to recite the Dojo Kun and would ask us
not only to recite the Guiding Principles, but would then make us explain individually,in great detail, what they meant to you . He was more concerned about your intelligence, ethics(or lack of) and understanding of his code than he was about your kata.
Of course he expected your kata to be worthy, it had to be-but in those moments it always seemed to me he was more concerned about what type of person you were, who was he training, he seemed greatly interested in each one of us as individuals and why we wanted to train in his system.

Our martial arts research group, Goshin Jitsu, has moved indoors with the approach of Winter.
With the change in seasons comes a  slight change in our  training regimen. We will be working more on basic and intermediate kata and concepts this Winter. Because we are a research group, we often work on advanced kata, weapons and technique. While we are working on advanced  concepts, we also keep this ideal-The core/root teachings of Ryukyu Kempo lie in basic/intermediate kata and exercises. I will argue this point with anyone until the end of time.
You must have strong basic and intermediate kata  first, before you can  have smooth, powerful advanced kata, technique and understanding of both.

Some karate  practitioners  want to learn and work on advanced kata all the time.
This can be problematic-If your basic and intermediate kata had no power, timing or precision,your advanced kata will reflect this and for practical purposes will be next to useless.
I have personally witnessed some supposedly high level martial artists with very poor  kata- they look like they are just going through the motions-no particular power, no spirit.
According to my teacher, Taika Seiyu Oyata, your technique and mastery of karate will always be a direct reflection of your  kata. If your kata is poor, weak or looks like you are just going through the motions, what does this say about your technique and mastery of karate? Remember, this is coming directly from my teacher, not just me.

Taika Oyata stated to us several times he could look at your kata and know if you could fight, had any technique. After 33 years of training, I am coming to understand what he meant.
One of the best (few) compliments I ever got from Mr. Oyata was after he watched me do a particular kata,he walked by and said-" kata ok,  like you  fighting, this pretty good ".
I strutted around for a few days until he told us in the next class we were all lazy-he gave us too much candy(was too easy on us, taught us too much), we couldn't do kata correctly, didn't listen, our kata was weak ...............some days you are the hammer, other days the nail.

At one point during Headquarters training, Mr. Oyata told our class that eventually we would not need to practice basic kata anymore. He should have explained in greater detail so everyone really understood what he meant. He did not mean at that moment, or 2 weeks later, he was speaking of years into the future! There were people that misinterpreted this and decided he had told them they were so good they never had to practice basic kata again. That is not what he said!
Mr. Oyata would tell us at times we were trying too hard to mimic him, trying to be him.
He felt we were trying to operate at a level that was beyond our physical grasp. He was giving us a lot of ideas, timing and techniques, but we had just learned them-we had not practiced them enough and really didn't completely understand what he had shown us. He wanted us to understand and accept we had to develop gradually- you don't just see something one time and instinctively/intuitively understand it!

As Mr. Oyata's personal students, we were expected to know basic, intermediate and advanced kata
and be able to do them as close to perfection as possible,  at a moment's notice. To be quite honest, there were only a handful of people I felt had exceptional kata and technique. This is not meant to take anything away from anybody, but you could always tell who trained all the time and pushed themselves, who took this seriously and who thought it was a social club/fraternity. I ask the people I am training with if they want to be good, or do they want to be great? You can be good with 75% effort, to be great requires a lifetime of study at 100% effort.

We now  have a world full of internet tough guys, instant experts, would be masters and seemingly very few of us actual students left.There are also a lot of people who went to 3 seminars with Oyata or trained for a few years that have managed to retain their extraordinary abilities even though they haven't actually trained hard for years-That's amazing! I wish I could remain forever awesome but not have to train anymore - What a concept -I'm just great because I used to train!!! I have no use  for people that sit around doing nothing, just talking about martial arts or even worse- talking smack about other martial artists but don't take the time to actually work on martial arts. You were a martial artist, it's impossible for me to take anyone seriously claiming to be a martial artist that does not practice!


I have trained alongside great martial artists and trained for many years with a real master.
I have only met and known one true master in my lifetime-have not seen another human being like him anywhere and don't believe I ever will. There is nobody  I have met that can fill his shoes, nobody with his skill and depth of knowledge. I consider myself to be truly fortunate, I am trying to pass on what I learned to a small, dedicated group of personal students/peers. At this time I am fairly satisfied with my efforts, but there is always much more work to be done.

For the record, I still work on basic, intermediate and advanced kata, ready to do them at a moment's notice, just as my teacher expected. I am content to continue developing gradually, always a student.

 I am devoting my spare time and energy to creating a video and informational archive for our martial arts research group.I will be posting videos of Ryukyu Kempo Karate and Kobudo exclusively on the Goshin Jitsu Research Group Facebook page. I will also be posting some of my personal notes regarding tuite, kyusho, kata breakdown, foot work, diagrams, exercises, body mechanics- notes and drawings I made during my 17 years of training with Taika Oyata. This will not be available to the public, they can only be viewed on the Goshin Jitsu page. Only people currently training with the Goshin Jitsu Research Group or past members in good standing are permitted access to our Facebook site.

The Importance of Understanding Kata

*This blog post is dedicated to Mikasan-  a martial artist of integrity, a man  I have never met, yet consider a  good friend!

**"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think"-Socrates

The importance of understanding kata-Naihanchi:

The ancients left a blueprint, a roadmap for us to follow if we are wise and willing to put the time in to truly understand what we are practicing.This is a lifelong process of  anguish, tediousness, frustration, discovery and finally understanding.

One of the most important things we all learned from our teacher Mr. Oyata was how to interpret/read
kata.I would have figured out very little if any of this on my own. He felt it was vitally important to do the basic kata until it was ingrained, part of you.
This was your foundation-once this was achieved you could build upon it, move on to the next. evolution/timing. He taught basic kata for many years-in fact, there were many individuals that were only exposed to basic kata, fundamentals and very basic techniques. Many left before he changed timings and began to teach intermediate and advanced kata and techniques. In their own minds, these individuals became convinced they had learned his"Art", everything he had to teach-in reality they had just scratched the  very surface of our teachers martial arts knowledge.

When I started training with Mr. Oyata and the Kansas City black belts in 1990, we were
doing basic Naihanchi Shodan and intermediate Naihanchi Shodan. I had been doing basic since 1986
and he had just introduced intermediate timing to everybody the year before.I had to do basic and intermediate timing as part of my black belt test in 1990.
People were struggling to put moves together to his exacting standards.
We worked exclusively on this kata and timing every night, for weeks/months on end.We were also doing this timing as a group for demonstrations at tournaments. Our teacher felt if you could not do the kata well with this timing, you could not duplicate his techniques/applications-i.e. you were wasting your/his time.

My teacher's kata, weapons and fighting system are highly sophisticated-it was never easy to learn!
Even something that would seem as basic as footwork is highly advanced in comparison to other styles. Footwork is the cornerstone of my teacher' martial art, the hand technique is useless without it.
Neglect it and you have nothing of  real value.

It was around this time I heard my teacher say some interesting things about  Naihanchi Shodan kata motion:

"foot cross in naihanchi have different meaning-sometime I sweep, sometime I hook foot or leg, sometime I move back or forward-but sometime crossing foot just mean foot is moving-that's all-I step, maybe step forward, or step back or out to side.

"hand motion start, hand follow hand, foot follow hand. No can start foot first-this no make sense for defense".

"Aim from middle of body-arms go out from middle, come back to middle, "

The first time I ever saw Mr. Oyata do technique for a grab from behind, it was when we were working on Naihanchi Nidan, basic and intermediate timing. He began to show some different techniques and explained that although the kata were practiced on a straight line, I could still be doing the techniques after twisting/turning and starting a new line facing my opponent who had grabbed me from behind. A giant lightbulb went off in my head upon hearing this-It had never occurred to me that the line could change-I could be fighting any direction, doing these techniques when turning-creating a new line every time I turned,as defending myself dictated.
His previous statement about the crossing foot in Naihanchi made perfect sense-I could be stepping back behind my other foot to turn quickly to counter my opponent grabbing from behind.

Wrap your head around the idea that the kata /technique are abstract-I have to think outside of the box-more of a "what could it be"? than "this is what it looks like" Consider the possibilities when practicing individual kata. What are the unique moves? what are the repetitive moves? Why would I move this direction while doing this?

The lines we practice on, the directions seem to be  a suggestion, a book of good advice.
Remember, those lines  we are fighting on are always changing as the attack or response dictates.
Basic can be a straight line,  advanced may be multi-directional/ eight directions.

The ancients cleverly hid their ideas in the kata, like a riddle. It takes many years of constant practice to truly understand this body motion., the meaning of these movements.
 Naihanchi Nidan is rather complicated-it is a kata of  strange, short movements, precarious balance and backwards technique/fighting. I have seen some horrible versions over the years-my previous kata included. I have worked on this one for years-it's coming along nicely!
Very few people can do this kata well, with power, precision and timing and an understanding of what it means-those that can tend to have exceptional technique.

The most important thing I could share with everybody is the importance Mr. Oyata placed on breaking down kata and working on small pieces/segments. It was maddening-frustrating to only work on 2-3 or 3-4 moves over and over again, but is is exactly how and why our kata got better over time. I still do it when a  particular segment feels weak or funny to me.

I was extremely fortunate to have the experiences I had and the training that I received from a true Master. I am going to continue these posts based on the responses I have received. There is quite a bit of this I am covering in the book I am working on. The book is progressing slowly, the way it needs to. I intend for it to be very good, we shall see.

Trees of Loose Park 2018 by Brad Hatfield

VanBooven Tree Care, the company I help manage, has received it's third contract for
pruning at the Loose Park Arboretum. We all feel fortunate to have the opportunity to
take care of these trees, it's quite an honor for our company to be chosen again.
 This is a team effort, from writing the proposals to having
the people and equipment to get the job done well. VanBooven foreman Chris Brewer and
his lead Arborist Luke Becker have been out there every day, providing the pruning expertise we need.
These two are the reason I have every confidence when out bidding tree work or writing proposals to care for rare and valuable trees, knowing they have the combination of intelligence, skill and experience in everything they do. We also needed machines and muscle to manage the tons of deadwood taken out of these trees- D'Angelo Hicks was the man with the machine and the muscle to get it done.
 I have been on this job nearly every day as a project manager, but more importantly to me, I have also been able to prune quite a few trees while there.

I wanted to share some of the pictures I have taken while out working on this project:


Pictured below is a huge, roughly 150 year old Walnut, located on the west side of the park.

Pictured below is a shot taken inside one of the Pine and Spruce groves.

Pictured below: Vanbooven Arborist Luke Becker pruning a giant Cucumber Magnolia. This is the largest, oldest Cucumber Magnolia tree I have ever seen.
Also want to mention that Luke Becker has done a fantastic job pruning these trees. Luke is not only a Kansas Certified and ISA Certified Arborist, he also has a degree in Horticulture from Kansas State University. It has been a genuine pleasure working with him and watching him mature into the consummate professional and expert pruner he has become.

Pictured below is a gnarly old Elm, covered in burls.  I love the shape and texture of the burls-  fantastic. This is a really cool looking old tree, picture taken prior to pruning.

Pictured below: The largest Pine and Spruce grove  located on the West side of Loose Park

Pictured below is another huge, very old Walnut tree being pruned. This tree is so massive it makes our bucket truck look like a  car! I could not fit the entire canopy in the picture.

Pictured below: Inside one of the Eastern Redcedar groves. Redcedar are a fantastic evergreen for Northeast Kansas, these are tough trees-resistant to disease, drought- I call them Kansas Redwoods.

Pictured below:Just in case there are Redcedar fans out there, I am adding an additional photo of
some large old trees.

Pictured below: VanBooven Arborist John Cox pruning large, old Norway Spruce tree

Pictured below: Massive old Siberian Elm. We spent the best part of a day pruning this tree.
there was huge deadwood, large broken, hanging limbs. This is the finished product.

Pictured below: I saved one of the best for last, a specimen Paperbark Maple tree. This is a large, old
tree for a Paperbark Maple, they grow very slow. Love the muscular branches, shiny, exfoliating bark.
This is another one of my favorites. There are actually two of equal size right next to each other. I practically ran over to where they are to make sure I was the one pruning them.Honestly, I would have pruned these incredibly cool trees for free.

Here is a shot of the same tree at a little more distance.

I took quite a few pictures, these are some of the best ones that I wanted to share.
We only have a few days of work left in the pruning contract.
One of the stipulations of our contract is that the trees be left in as natural a condition as possible-Brilliant!! I could not agree more. We have tried to do that with every single tree we pruned.
Loose Park is a fantastic place to work, I will have to visit when I have more time on my hands to take in the sights.If you get a chance, stop in and  take a walk through the park and enjoy the sights yourself, especially the trees.

Steve Stark and Taika Oyata Video-From The Learning Channel Documentary

Short video clip of one of my instructors, Hanshi Steve Stark and our teacher Taika Seiyu Oyata.
Also included are Tasshi Jim Logue and Kyoshi Gerry Senese, two well known and respected senior students of Taika Oyata. This was filmed in Gerry's dojo.
This clip is taken from a documentary about martial arts on The Learning Channel.
This particular video keeps making it's rounds over the Internet and throughout Facebook.

I am reposting it because it shows two of my favorite people- our teacher Mr. Oyata and in my opinion the most talented martial artist to come out of his system, Steve Stark.
Watching this video always brings back a lot of memories of my teacher-some involve pain!
Mr. Oyata was an amazing martial artist and taught a lot of things to
many different people. His martial arts belong to all the people who trained with him for many years, not just any one person or group. Steve Stark is an extremely talented martial artist and is still teaching, still training.Our research group, Goshin Jitsu, has been fortunate to have him teaching us, training with us the last two years.

I named my research group Goshin Jitsu in honor of my teacher Mr. Oyata.
His interpretation of Goshin Jitsu was martial arts technique/understanding performed at the very highest level. This is the ideal, the brass ring we should all be reaching for in our martial arts and applications.
.

Thank You Science! Using Nanotechnology to test for Oak Wilt

Exciting news from the Tree World I inhabit. New technology developed by the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) offers a simple
and affordable diagnostic test  for Oak Wilt utilizing nanotechnology and gold.

Pictured below is a microfluidic device used to isolate the Oak Wilt fungus from wood chip samples.
Picture credit-University of Minnesota

Oak Wilt is a devastating vascular fungus that quickly kills Oak trees. Arborists in the Kansas
City Metro area deal with Oak Wilt every year. The disease is not particularly widespread in our area,
but it can move quickly through root grafting in wooded areas with multiple Oak trees.
This can be a painful and expensive experience for homeowners with wooded lots.

Past testing for Oak Wilt has been a slow process, sometimes waiting for weeks to receive a positive diagnosis-it is often difficult to get a positive diagnosis from wood samples, creating a slow and frustrating process for everyone involved.

This latest scientific breakthrough enables Oak wilt detection within 30 minutes of sampling at a fraction of the cost (less than $5). This new technology uses gold nanoparticles to generate a chemiluminescent signal in the presence of Oak Wilt-this chemical signal must be read by a specialized hand held reader.

The team working on this project are refining a portable system for use in the field,
eliminating the need to send samples to the lab for confirmation. The field project requires only dipping wood chips from infected trees into a solution to extract DNA, then mixing with a second solution of gold nanoparticles to allow detection using a hand held luminometer.

The innovation by Abbas' research lab enables oak wilt detection within 30 minutes of sampling and at a fraction of the cost: less than five dollars per sample. The technology uses the agglomeration of gold nanoparticles to generate a chemiluminescent signal that can be read by a hand-held reader, in the presence of the oak wilt fungus DNA. The team is now refining a portable system that allows early detection of the disease in the field without sending samples to the laboratory. The new technology requires only dipping wood chips obtained from infected trees into a first solution to extract the DNA, then mixed with a second solution of gold nanoparticles to allow detection using a hand-held luminometer.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-technology-oak-wilt-faster.html#jCp

The innovation by Abbas' research lab enables oak wilt detection within 30 minutes of sampling and at a fraction of the cost: less than five dollars per sample. The technology uses the agglomeration of gold nanoparticles to generate a chemiluminescent signal that can be read by a hand-held reader, in the presence of the oak wilt fungus DNA. The team is now refining a portable system that allows early detection of the disease in the field without sending samples to the laboratory. The new technology requires only dipping wood chips obtained from infected trees into a first solution to extract the DNA, then mixed with a second solution of gold nanoparticles to allow detection using a hand-held luminometer.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-11-technology-oak-wilt-faster.html#jCp

Thank you science! This is going to speed up the process of  testing for Oak Wilt, help Arborists
and homeowners and should ultimately save thousands of Oak trees that would be lost to the rapid spread of Oak Wilt.

I'd Rather Be Training

I have had people asking me about why no martial arts posts for such a long time.
Frankly, I just get tired of posting. In the time it takes to write up a lengthy blog post,
I could have been training. Life is all about choices and priorities.
These days I would rather be doing something physical than talking/writing about it.
Still running, lifting weights and training to my hearts content-living the dream.

I will spend a few minutes on this short post-
The martial arts training over the last several months has been fantastic!
We have a great thing going on with our research group. We keep adding new people, last week there were 10 of us working out as a group. Good Training and sharing ideas in a research group creates
an extremely positive energy that is contagious.
 It's like the good old days, especially when Hanshi Steve Stark is teaching our Tuesday night class. I keep telling the younger members of our group that this is as close as they will ever get to training with Taika Oyata. It's beginning to sink in as they try and imitate what Mr. Stark has been teaching or answer his questions about particular kata motions and what they mean. It makes me laugh, that deer in the headlights look,exactly like I used to have when trying to duplicate what Mr. Oyata was teaching or answer his questions.

Our group has been working on many different things-most importantly we now have a
finished, completely fixed up version of Shi Ho Happo No Te, as taught directly to Mr. Stark by Taika Oyata.This is by far the most detailed, powerful version I have ever seen.
I have been working on this quite a bit, polishing it. It has become my newest martial arts obsession.

We also have been working on different drills, footwork and hand technique, as bridges between other drills and exercises.. Some of these are exercises we have created that tie into previously
 existing exercises, some stand alone and cover very specific concepts. It's all very interesting and fills some gaps between exercises/concepts as a teaching methodology.
For instance, imagine a drill  somewhere between Exercise 2 and the original Spiderweb, that ties it all together-this is just an idea of what it could be.  I am not going to explain any of them  or post pictures or videos.Why would I? You do the work, put the time in and figure it out for yourself.
It's fairly easy to figure these things out, it just takes 32 years of  constant martial arts training to see it all, put it all together.

 The question I ask myself and the people I am training with -"Are your martial arts evolving"?
Are they? They better be-If not, you are either not training enough  or not training with the right people-you  may not  be putting enough thought into what you are doing, what it means, applications.
There are many layers to every kata, drill/exercise and technical application. This Art has many subtleties, nuances that are easily overlooked without a deep understanding of body mechanics, hand and foot motion. It takes constant practice and years of dedicated training to truly understand these things, where they become second nature-you do them without conscious thought, they are part of you.

If you do the same thing over and over, without questioning why or looking for ways to do it better, you are standing still.If you are not training at least 2-3 days a week, you are standing still.
Stand still long enough and everyone else will catch up to you or pass you by.
It's painfully obvious in training sessions who has been working on their martial arts and who hasn't.

P.S.
Don't make excuses- I have heard them all and still keep hearing them.
I could write "The Karate Training Excuse Book" , multiple pages of all the reasons people constantly miss training sessions, no longer take the time to train,  why they quit, who hurt their feelings-why they are butthurt and sad, how they are planning to train again, eventually...............(yawn)
" If it is important to you, you will make the time "( quote by Mike Anderson)

Don't tell me how good you were 5, 10, 20 years ago, I don't care about that either.
Show me how good you are right now or please don't talk to me about martial arts.

Here is a picture of myself and Taika Oyata when I received my 7th Degree Scroll in Oyata Shin Shu Ho Ryu. That is all the inspiration I will ever need to continue my training.

I think about my teacher and his martial arts every day. I work on my martial arts every day, that is how and why they are evolving.

Dr. Alex Shigo- The Tree Guru

"Trying to treat what you do not understand is the same as trying to start a Rolls Royce by hitting it with a sledgehammer" Dr. Alex Shigo🌳



Dr. Alex L. Shigo
May 8th, 1930
October 6th, 2006

This has been a long time coming, should have written this years ago!
For those living outside the Tree World,  who may not have not heard of him, Dr. Alex Shigo was
(and still is) the Arborist's Guru, the father of Modern Arboriculture. He was the rock star of the tree world for many years. A Biologist and Plant Pathologist,  he was  also  Chief Scientist with the US Forest Service.
He established the theory of CODIT- Compartmentalization Of Decay in Trees.
His research is highly published and he traveled the globe, lecturing and studying trees,
sharing his concepts with the world. His books are fascinating, a culmination of his years of research.

I was fortunate to have attended  a few of Dr. Shigo's workshops. I was even more fortunate
to have had the opportunity to meet with him privately, once for after dinner drinks and some incredible conversation with this brilliant man.
 I drank beer, he sipped wine, he talked and I listened. I had a list of
questions folded in my pocket, but never did get to the list, I had made it to the top of the mountain,
listening to the guru himself-the list and the questions no longer mattered. I was trying to absorb every detail of what he was telling me. The first thing he told me was this- "I do not have all the answers, nobody does". I knew I had met a truly honest man. He went on to say that
I would discover those answers on my own, over time.(He was correct)
His belief was that you had to understand trees as a system. Once you understood how the system worked, understood the processes, you would arrive at your own answers.
He was and still is my  personal guru-his wisdom and brilliant theories changed how Arborists around the world think about and care for trees.

Normally I would caution someone about putting people on a pedestal.
Sometimes we meet our heroes, people we look up to and are disappointed when we find
they are just  just like us- mere mortals. This was not the case with Dr. Shigo, he never disappointed.
He challenged me-asking me if I was satisfied with 70-80% or was I willing to try to be the best, always searching for answers, was I willing to change my way of thinking about trees and accept new information, new theories?
But Shigo was different-everything was simplified with him-it was one of his brilliant qualities.
Define your terms, know your subject, simple diagrams, make things clear, brief and practical.
He felt that to be a good Arborist, you had to get out in the field, get your hands dirty and really study trees up close and personal, there was no other way.

I asked him to autograph a copy of his book-Modern Arboriculture. He signed it and he also wrote me a personal note inside. More importantly, what he wrote was the key to understanding everything about trees-it is one of my most cherished possessions, because of what he wrote.
(I'm not going to tell you) It forever changed how I would think about Arboriculture.

He told me he did not have all the answers, but I believe he did.
What he wrote in my book changed my entire way of thinking.
He had the most important answer-the key to it all.

I have a theory if anyone would like to hear it.  Anyone?
The great teachers lead  you down the  path, or towards the top of the mountain.
These  teachers are your guides, but you must arrive at your own destination, having completed the journey on your own. They are helping you make the journey, but the journey is yours, a process in itself. You discover your own truths, your own enlightenment along the way.I know I did.
Thank you Dr. Shigo!

Positivity

pos·i·tiv·i·ty

ˌpäzəˈtivədē/

noun

noun: positivity the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude.

"pupils draw power from the positivity of their teachers"

I will always hold to the belief that I am one of the luckiest people on the planet.

Not because I am immensely wealthy, devastatingly handsome or incredibly intelligent.

Fortune smiles on us all in different ways- I have a job/career I truly enjoy, a lovely wife,

a strong and intelligent son to carry on my name and some very good friends.

My family has been blessed in many ways- with good health, a comfortable lifestyle and a nice home filled with laughter/life. All of these things make me a fortunate man.

I have led a rather interesting life-the ups, downs, highs and lows have provided me

with  good perspective. Over time, the high points made me realize how easy it is to fall, the lows reminded me that only hard work and perseverance would elevate me again.

The most worthwhile personal endeavor I ever undertook was martial arts training.

One of the reasons I consider myself among  the luckiest people on the planet was

the opportunity to train as a personal student of Taika Seiyu Oyata.

Some of his best lessons weren't about martial arts, they were about life.

If I learned anything from him, it was never give up, never stop trying, never stop learning.

He was forever thinking about his martial arts, changing things, showing us new concepts or the evolution of a previous concept-it was maddening at times-frustrating. He forced you to step up, to keep up or you would quickly fall behind. (as in life)

When I was struggling to learn something, he would say"you can do this, I learned this,
you can learn this" or my personal favorite"Do it-no choice". Who could argue with that logic? 

I admired my teacher for many different reasons. One was his ability to make fun of all of us, collectively and also individually, one at a time-you never knew when it was your turn.

It was very, very funny once you got used to it. There was no malice-it was all in good fun/humor, nobody was safe and nothing was off limits. He made fun of everything and everybody-I know this was a quality that was a never ending source of amusement to me and probably bound me to my teacher the most.

 My teacher was very serious about who he trained as a student. There was an expectation
that you would show up on time, give 100%  in class and then practice what he was showing you.
There was also an expectation that you would follow his moral code-you were a representative

of his name, his family art-don't do anything that would take anything away from his reputation.

This kept me on the straight and narrow path-I never wanted to be that guy-the one that badly embarrassed his teacher.

The most important lessons I learned from my teacher were right before my son was born.

He took me aside and said I always needed to be a positive role model for my son, that little eyes and ears were always watching and listening to everything you did, everything you said.

I was grateful then for this guidance, I still am.

He then went on to say"Most important lesson in life-man's words and actions must match,

easy to talk big, hardest thing is to do what you say will do-this man's character"

I have never forgotten his words. Of all the lessons I learned and tests I took in front of my teacher,this was the lifelong test, the most important test I am determined to pass.

A  man could go  his whole life and never get this type of advice.

This is just one example that reflects the mentoring role of my teacher, sharing his positive outlook, his wisdom/life experience.Was this his greatest lesson/test for me? I think so.

The lesson for today is: Positivity

Negativity is everywhere-don't accept it, don't buy into it.You have to question the motives and wisdom of people who are constantly talking bad about other people, whether it's martial arts or life in general-everyone has their own agenda. Just remember-it's only their opinion! 

I choose to keep things in my life positive and to associate with like minded people.
It seems to be working very well for me.

 Peace!