Encouraged, Edified, and Enlightened

I want to share my heart with you on this page. My hope is that you will be encouraged, edified, and enlightened as you read these updates. (Yeah, the three point message is a little cliched, but it makes it easier for me to explain and remember.) In Ephesians 4, the last half of the chapter is the encouragement I'm talking about - putting off the old self and putting on the new. Some may say it's to become better than you were before, which is true. But more specifically, it's an encouragement to be Christ-like. For those who were with me for any length of time, you should know becoming Christ-like is not a call to be religious. It's a whole different focus - to develop a trusting friendship, a growing relationship with Jesus. Yes, I will encourage you in other ways, like if you need support in some way, I'll find a way to encourage you. But the encouragement will be in the realm of changing the attitude of your heart and mind, which will inevitably bring helpful change to other areas of your life. I'll continue with the other two ideas soon.

Message

God has been prompting me ever so gently over the past few months of continuing to serve you all through updates like these. I'm finally following through with it. We may not be able to get together because of one reason or another, but we can still communicate through FB. I've invited former members of youth group as well as those who were only guests but who I'm friends with, to be part of this group. Everyone needs guidance, whether you're in high school or in college or out in the real world. I know I needed the most help and guidance while I was in college even more than when I was in high school. So this is an opportunity for you to keep learning from God's word if you're not doing so already and to have someone who is a little ahead on life's road as a signpost to point you to the Architect Himself. Life is crazy enough, it's always good to seek guidance from the One who made the blueprint. And it's easy to jump ship because of who may be here or that there's an emphasis on Jesus, but I hope you've gotten past some of those old hurts (and if not there's always private messaging) and that you're open to seek the truth. I know we can all get along while we're here. Hope to hear from you!

Pacquiao vs. Bradley Round by Round Quick Analysis

When I heard Pac lost, I was taken aback!  So I had to watch and analyze as soon as I was able.

1st
Pac defensive, TB aggressive but no lands.  Pac ends well.
Winner: Pac, although can make a case for TB

2nd
A little more even throughout with aggression but Pac landed more.
Winner: Pac

3rd
Whoa!  Pac clearly dominated with aggression and lands.  TB close in the end but not enough.
Winner: Pac

4th
Pac clearly won on all counts.  TB got a few but not enough.
Winner: Pac

5th
Pac once again clearly won.  TB looked hurt.
Winner: Pac

6th
Pac way more aggressive but can tell both getting tired.
Winner: Pac

7th
Both slower and TB hurt.
Winner: Pac

8th
Slow round for both, definitely tired now.  Pac seems to be having fun whileTB frustrated and stumped.  Didn't attack!
Winner: Pac

9th
Pac listened to his coach - uppercuts!  A little more action finally!  Second wind!
Winner: Pac

10th
Wow!  A little action from TB finally!  But Pac not hurt.  Neither are taking advantage of shots.
Winner: Pac, but can make a case for TB (saw replay of 4th - TB hurt his ankle while stepping)

11th
(Note: from previous fights and this one Pac keeps dropping his hands to fix his shorts, leans forward way so far that he's on one foot for a second, other hand doesn't guard well and sometimes drops, and from MMA standpoint, ducks too much)
Fairly even, good defense by TB.  Pac still aggressive.
Winner: Pac

12th
Even, but Pac got it with his drive
Winner: Pac, but can make a case for TB

I don't know what the officials were looking at, but it definitely wasn't the fight in front of them.  If I were being generous by giving Bradley 3 rounds where he showed a little spirit, Pac would still win.  Just about everyone was confused and some even thought conspiracy.  Pac was definitely disappointed, but he flowed with it.  "I did my best, but I guess my best wasn't good enough," was the statement of the night.  No, you were robbed, Pac, plain and simple.  Too bad you can't really do anything about it.

Dim Mak Poison Hand Touch of Death

Been looking at some Dim Mak and Kyusho Jitsu videos again.  I know it's not the best thing to depend on, but I can see the validity in some of the moves and points.  No, I'm not about to seek out Dillman or Cameron for their knowledge and I'm not about to brush up on my Montaigue books either.  But it's nice to look into it every now and then to study the weaknesses of the body to enhance my training.  I've been studying some of Pantazi's stuff recently and it's got my interest.  Mainly I seek the practical, head-hunting stuff rather than the body shots.  I'm still a big fan of researching the science of the knock-out.

Between Stomach 4 and 5 (Mental nerve) - on the jaw between chin and jaw hinge (obvious one, seen in boxing and UFC all the time, much like the rest of these).
Gall Bladder 1 -  Behind eye, above cheek bone
Gall Bladder 4 - Top of the temple, behind hairline
Gall Bladder 14 - Just above the eyebrow to the outside
Gall Bladder 12 and 20 - Behind earlobe, 12 on hairline, 20 just behind it
Triple Warmer 17 - Behind and under ear lobe
Triple Warmer 23 - Forward of temple, outer point of eyebrow
Stomach 9 and 10 - 9 side of Adam's apple, 10 about an inch below
Large Intestine 18 - Side of neck, in the middle, just anterior of frontal plane
Small Intestine 16 - Side of neck, in the middle, just posterior of frontal plane
Governor Vessel 15-19 - 15 top of the neck, 16 right above it, two inches above 16 is 17-19 roughly two inch separation between each
Below Conception Vessel 24 - middle point of chin
Bladder 10 - Hairline, back of head, side of spine


Slapping GV 13 and 14, which is the bottom of the neck top of the back, will help revive.

Biblically Hostile

Great article listing concrete evidence that Obama's faith really isn't in the God of the Bible.

The Motto for Guiding and Counseling Others

“We are both broken, we are both on the journey, and we are both fellow pilgrims.”

- Pastor Ed Dobson

Upside down

"We're in an upside down world!  You can't be silent anymore!"
- Glenn Beck

Barna Year in Review

“Not surprisingly,” he continued, “our research found that a majority of churchgoing adults are uncertain as to what their church would define as a ‘healthy, spiritually mature follower of Christ’ and they were no more likely to have personally developed a clear notion of such a life.

“It may well be that spiritual evaluation is so uncommon because people fear that the results might suggest the need for different growth strategies or for more aggressive engagement in the growth process. No matter what the underlying reason is, the bottom line among both the clergy and laity was indifference toward their acknowledged lack of evaluation. That suggests there is not likely to be much change in this dimension in the immediate future. In other words, as we examine the discipleship landscape, what we see is what we get – and what we will keep getting for some time.”

Death by Coveting

Atheism has killed more people in the past 200 years than religion, any religion, has in the past 2,000.  I wanted to put that phrase up on my Facebook update but it seemed a little too incendiary.  My FB isn't serious and if it is, it's for immediate pressing concerns, nothing that would cause debates - political, religious, or otherwise.  Besides it's not really about the dichotomy between Atheism vs. religion, but differences in worldviews and people abusing their authority vs. true Biblical authority.  As I taught in Life Group recently, our coveting is what causes wars and conflicts.

From the website The Road to Emmaus:

"The Bible states that the person who says he loves God, but hates his brother, is a liar. There are many people through history that have done horrible things in the name of Christianity, but Jesus' words, "you will know them by their fruit" tell the real story regarding their love for God and whether they follow the commands of Jesus Christ.

The second point to make is that, yes, people who claim to love God do kill, but nowhere near to the extent that the lack of religion does. According to University of Hawaii political scientist Rudolph J. Rummel, the total number killed in all of human history is estimated to be about 284,638,000. Of that number, 151,491,000 were killed during the past 100 years. The single largest killer in all of human history is, by far, atheistic Communism with a total of 110,000,000 … over 1/3 of all people ever killed! If we add to that number just two other regimes where religion of any sort was strongly discouraged, Nazi Germany and Nationalist China, the number rises to 141,160,000. Almost 50% of all the killings in human history were committed in the past 100 years by regimes that either actively promoted atheism or strongly discouraged religion. We have not considered the over one billion abortions, where Christianity seems to be particularly unwelcome. When the murders of history are tallied up, it is very clear that atheism is the most dangerous philosophy ever embraced by humanity. The most effective restraint on mankind's inherently evil tendencies is faith in God through Jesus Christ, a faith that actually follows the teachings and commands of Jesus Christ as a daily way of life.
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM (all stats have come from this site)"

Architects of Ugly

I read an article on the Blaze about the controversy over these towers, how they looked too much like the WTC in mid-explosion.  After reading the back and forth between so many people, I didn't see any comment about what the motives were of MVRDV, the Dutch architectural firm who designed these buildings.  People were either for or against and only assumed these architects' motives.  After a little research, I put in my two cents:

They may not have meant to offend, but they admitted that the WTC was part of their creative process in designing this monstrosity.  They said about their firm that they like pushing boundaries and to be Michael Moores of architecture.  So this Dutch firm either wanted to jab at America "we're just joking but your country does suck" or was truly ignorant, "saw a pic of an exploding building and I was inspired."  Much like the fashion designer who was inspired by Holocaust victim prison attire as something avante garde and yet she didn't mean to offend anybody.  But it was offensive nonetheless, especially if these designers knew where they were getting their inspiration from.  Aside from the obvious 9/11 connection, this is just aesthetically displeasing!  I appreciate art - beauty and balance are important to me.  These towers barely had either!  A few of their organic looking buildings are nicely designed but for the most part, in their effort to be on the edge creatively, they fell off the cliff!

Daniel of the Year

"It's not rocket science. You don't have to have a counseling degree to bring somebody to Jesus and walk them into a place of wholeness. But you do have to have a lot of patience because it's not going to get all cleaned up immediately." 
"God is 100 percent grace and 100 percent truth.  If we fail to represent any part of that then we fail to represent Christ."
- Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, 2011 Daniel of the Year Award Recipient

Coexist

I've always wanted to write my own article about this bumper-sticker, but someone else beat me to it!

You’ve seen these, right? They make me mad. Why? Because they don’t really mean what they say.

Let’s break it down. We’ll call each worldview by the letter it’s supposed to represent. So:

• C = Islam
• O = Pacifism
• E = “Gender equality” (=the LGBT agenda) 
  
• X = Judaism
• I = Wicca / Pagan / Bah’ai
• S =Taoism / Confucianism
• T = Christianity

And let’s assume a very broad definition of “coexist”: living together without calling for the destruction of each other. Here are the problems with that:

• C wants to kill E, X, T, and (by implication) O. If they achieved the world they wanted, I and S would also no longer exist.
• O doesn’t allow for effective resistance or defeat of C.
• E stands in direct opposition to C, X, and T, and accuses those who speak against them of hate speech. Also, they’re trying to edge X and T out of public schools in favor of their own agenda. (They’re afraid C will be offended, so they get less trouble.) E is actually very, very intolerant.
• X’s existence is threatened not only by C but also by O, who invariably supports C over X.
• I and S are statistically insignificant and are mainly on there to complete the bumper sticker.
• T is who the bumper sticker is really arguing against, but poses no physical threat to any of the others.

Historically, T has brought about more tolerance– “coexistence” if you will– than any other movement. But the kind of “coexistence” the people who make this sticker envision is one where at least X and T are completely marginalized.

http://wisertime.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/coexist/

Notes on Cholesterol

'A nice adaptation of conditions will make almost any hypothesis agree with the phenomena. This will please the imagination, but does not advance our knowledge.' J Black, Lectures of the elements of Chemistry 1803

In truth, the current ideas on plaque formation used to keep the cholesterol hypothesis afloat are complex nonsense. But the entire area is now protected by a ring-fence of scientific jargon that frightens off all but the most dedicated seeker after truth.


Dr Malcolm Kendrick is a medical doctor who has spent many years researching the causes of heart disease. He has been critical of the 'cholesterol hypothesis' for many years, and more of his writing on the area can be found on the website of the International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics. This is an edited version of a chapter in Panic Nation? Unpicking the myths we're told about food and health, edited by Stanley Feldman and Vincent Marks (buy this book from Amazon (UK) or Amazon (USA)).

Cholesterol research paper

Inadvertently started something

My friend Cheyenne posted a video on a Facebook update of a pro-abortion person berating the peaceful protest of pro-lifers.  Cheyenne was supportive of the pro-abortionist's outrage, even though she's neutral on the issue.  But she inadvertently started a discussion thread concerning the video.  In italics is a friends of hers who responded to the video and then I responded afterwards:
   

"Without talking about the issue of whether aborting the baby was right or wrong, this isn't a very christian way to approach abortion. Even if you believe the act was a sin, it would do well to remember the addage 'hate the sin, love the sinner' and these people have no sympathy or love in them, there is a way to say you disgaree with abortion without acting like this. It's not like they just decided one day, 'hey we should have an abortion and kill a baby'. Perhaps they should have got a second opinion but, working with the information they had their child would have had a brief life of intense suffering, in my opinion the humane thing to do is kill the child. One might argue that we are 'playing god' but if you take that stance why use medicine at all? If god gives somebody cancer, don't treat them they must deserve it. Either way you are altering the 'natural' cause of events Even more puzzling is the pro life camp's stance on stem cell research the US is far behind the rest of the industrialized world (whats new?) in this promising area of research because people are scared of using non-sentient cells that would just be frozen in a lab or discarded. If medical research on stem cells is playing god, then fine, we are gods"

The Christian way to approach the abortion issue is to do so in a loving way, be it protest like this or on a personal level. Don't know about these two women, but I have been to a protest where everyone was civilized on both sides except for a few pro-abortionists who weren't even part of the event. If a person believes that aborting a baby, or for that matter assisted suicide, is an option to "prevent suffering" then it just shows a lack of understanding about the meaning of life and a total disregard of the greater possibility that the "suffering" is temporary, which is usually the case in the abortion decision (check CDC and medical records, in nearly all cases, there is only emotional "suffering" rather than an actual medical emergency). It's not a case of natural vs. preventative, but rather a case of the preservation of life no matter what vs. terminating life because of suffering, or worse, "possible" suffering. This even includes the nonsensical example where you state "why use medicine at all? If god gives somebody cancer, don't treat them they must deserve it. Either way you are altering the 'natural' cause of events."  The issue is beyond the ideas of "if god gives somebody cancer" and "natural cause of events," which misses the point.  The issue is "preservation of life" and the emphasis is seeing God at work through the difficulties and tragedies that we brought upon ourselves from the very beginning and still bring on ourselves today.  To allow this thought process of "preventing suffering" to succeed on a federal level is even more deplorable because it will go down a slippery slope to a worldview in which government will determine life or death and will even hold the information to such a decision. To bring it back to the pertinent, there are always options besides abortion especially if you have more information and not just the opinion of those who believe in their rather limited ideas. Quickly, concerning stem cells, embryonic stem cells aren't effective in treating disease and to keep trying because the theory sounds good on paper is to waste precious resources, not to mention actual lives. Adult stem cells are still the most effective in treating a variety of diseases and ailments and the US is among other industrialized nations ahead in that respect.

Inductive Bible Study

I'm reading a guidebook on doing personal inductive Bible studies.  It's been a very long time since I've done any real, deep, organized Bible study and I've been quite inconsistent with my personal devotionals.  I needed to get into this book so I can reinvigorate my desire to get into the Book.  Not that I've lost interest, but I remember what it was like when I was on fire, struggling through, exploring new places, finding wealth in well-trodden places, searching for treasure, digging deeply, and inevitably growing.

On Credentials and Credibility in the Martial Arts

"Hoping to see karate included in the universal physical education taught in our public schools, I set about revising the kata so as to make them as simple as possible. Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The karate that high school students practice today is not the same karate that was practiced even as recently as ten years ago, and it is a long way indeed from the karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa."

Gichin Funakoshi, 1868-1957, from his book Karate-do: My Way Of Life, 1956

All the martial arts styles in existence today were invented by people with great imagination and creativity.  These founders formalized and systematized what they believed were the best methods of self-defense in order to transmit their knowledge to future generations.  Some based their style on their military/law enforcement background, some based it on their dueling and fighting backgrounds, and some just made it up.  Their different styles were improved upon over the years by successive teachers.  New styles were created when the founder combined various different styles or just found what was effective for him.  Many of these founders and teachers did not have credentials to teach, other than proving what they knew through battle, dueling, sport, or teaching ability.  There were systems that were created because the founder had one minor altercation.  Some founders did not even get into any physical conflict and simply had the ability to organize techniques into a good structure for ease of teaching and learning.  The common denominator for these founders is the ingenuity to develop an instructional methodology and the willingness to pass on their knowledge.  For the martial artists mentioned in the following, there will be excerpts of their training history from Wikipedia and other sources and my brief analysis of their credibility as a founder and instructor.

Miyamoto Musashi

"(Musashi) was apparently trained by Munisai in the sword and in the family art of the jitte (law enforcement weapon similar to the Okinawan sai). This training did not last for a very long time, as in 1589, Munisai was ordered by Shinmen Sokan to kill Munisai's student, Honiden Gekinosuke. The Honiden family was displeased, and so Munisai was forced to move four kilometers (~2.5 mi.) away to the village of Kawakami..."

"It's said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is very uncertain. He did have formal training either by his father until he was 7 years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of 7..."

"According to the introduction of The Book of Five Rings, Musashi states that his first successful duel was at the age of thirteen, against a samurai named Arima Kihei who fought using the Kashima Shintō-ryū style, founded by Tsukahara Bokuden (b. 1489, d. 1571).”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi

The Greatest Swordsman of Japan trained in combat when he was a child.  But those few years, possibly from 7 to 13 years old, were the only time he formally trained.  From thirteen to thirty, he was on a warrior's journey.  His training consisted of duels and, with each victory, he learned a little more about combat.  Most of the time, duels were fought with wooden weapons.  But they were not sparring matches and they sometimes used real weapons if the conflict had escalated to that degree.   So he had to learn fast or be injured or even die.

Musashi was not recognized by any authority to teach what he learned.  His skill was only known by reputation and his reputation was spread by the story-tellers of his day, sometimes even exaggerating his exploits.   But the founder of the Niten-Ichi Ryu school of kenjutsu had tremendous talent and truly understood that core principles, or “the way of strategy” as he called it, is important and that techniques are the outgrowth of those principles.  Through practice and testing your skill against others, you will understand the way of strategy.

Jigoro Kano

"When Kanō attended the Tokyo Imperial University in 1877, he started looking for jujutsu teachers. He did this by first looking for bonesetters, called seifukushi. His assumption was that doctors knew who the better martial art teachers were. His search brought him to Yagi Teinosuke, who had been a student of Emon Isomata in the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school of jujutsu. Yagi in turn referred Kanō to Fukuda Hachinosuke, a bonesetter who taught Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū in a 10-mat room adjacent to his practice. Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū was itself a combination of two older schools: the Yōshin-ryū and Shin no Shindō-ryū."

"Fukuda's training method consisted mostly of the student taking fall after fall for the teacher or senior student until he began to understand the mechanics of the technique. Fukuda stressed applied technique over ritual form. He gave beginners a short description of the technique and then had them engage in free practice (randori) in order to teach through experience."

"Kanō had trouble defeating Fukushima Kanekichi, who was one of his seniors at the school. Therefore, Kanō started trying unfamiliar techniques on his rival. He first tried techniques from sumo. When these did not help, he studied more, and tried a technique ("fireman's carry") that he learned from a book on western wrestling. This worked, and kataguruma, or "shoulder wheel", remains part of the judo repertoire."

"On 5 August 1879, Kanō participated in a jujutsu demonstration given for former United States president Ulysses S. Grant. This demonstration took place at the home of the prominent businessman Shibusawa Eiichi. Other people involved in this demonstration included the jujutsu teachers Fukuda Hachinosuke and Iso Masatomo, and Kanō's training partner Godai Ryusaku. Unfortunately, Fukuda died soon after this demonstration, at the age of 52. Kanō then began studying with Iso, who had been a friend of Fukuda. Despite being 62 years old and only standing 5 feet tall, Iso's jujutsu training had given him a powerful build. He was known for excellence in kata, and was also a specialist in atemi, or the striking of vital areas. In Iso's method, one began with kata and then progressed to free fighting (randori). Due to Kanō's intense practice and his solid grounding in the jujutsu taught by Fukuda, he was soon an assistant at Iso's school, and in 1881, at the age of 21, he gained a license (kyoshi menkyo) to teach Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū."...

"Initially, Kanō borrowed ideas from everywhere. As he wrote in 1898, "By taking together all the good points I had learned of the various schools and adding thereto my own inventions and discoveries, I devised a new system for physical culture and moral training as well as for winning contests." However, after judo was introduced into the Japanese public schools, a process that took place between 1906 and 1917, there was increasing standardization of kata and tournament technique."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigoro_Kano

"He dedicated himself to formulating a system of reformed jujitsu founded on scientific principles, integrating combat training with mental and physical education. He borrowed the "katamewaza" (mat techniques) and "atemi-waza" (throwing techniques) of Kito-ryu, holding onto those techniques that conformed to scientific principles and rejecting all others. All harmful and dangerous techniques were eliminated."

http://www.judoinfo.com/kano4.htm

In the late 19th century, Jigoro Kano trained in ju-jutsu for three years from age 18 to 21.  At 22 years old, he created the new system he called judo, as the safer way to train in ju-jutsu and to help in character development.  In his own words:  "By taking together all the good points I had learned of the various schools and adding thereto my own inventions and discoveries, I devised a new system for physical culture and moral training as well as for winning contests. This I call Kodokan Judo"

At the time, most of the Japanese arts were becoming "-do" arts, (using martial arts for lifestyle change and enlightenment rather than combat) and Kano was one of many caught up in the atmosphere of change during the Meiji Restoration.  He showed his openness to change and to other cultures when he learned a western wrestling technique to defeat his training partner.  This was only the beginning because Kano continued to refine his system for the rest of his life, even after judo was standardized.  

Being a professional educator, he acknowledged the need for consistent goal-setting and created the first ever belt rank system to give students immediate goals to strive for.  There were three sets of colored belts at first - three white, three brown, and three black.  Since then, the belt ranks expanded to include more colors and even spread to other styles, most notably karate-do and tae kwon do.  He became a martial arts legend by following his own life goal philosophy - to make a positive contribution to the world. 

Gichin Funakoshi

"Funakoshi had trained in both of the popular styles of Okinawan karate of the time: Shōrei-ryū and Shōrin-ryū. His own style was influenced by kendo distancing and timing."

"He changed the name of karate to mean "empty hand" instead of "China hand" (as referred to in Okinawa); the two words sound the same in Japanese, but are written differently. It was his belief that using the term for "Chinese" would mislead people into thinking karate originated with Chinese boxing. Karate had borrowed many aspects from Chinese boxing which the original creators say as being positive, as they had done with other martial arts. In addition, Funakoshi argued in his autobiography that a philosophical evaluation of the use of "empty" seemed to fit as it implied a way which was not tethered to any other physical object."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gichin_Funakoshi

"This beginning was a highly personal, yet formal ceremony in which Funakoshi is said to have handed out lengths of black belting to his pupils. Still there is no evidence that Funakoshi himself had ranking in any budo under the dan/kyu system.

"Actually, Funakoshi was greatly influenced by Jigoro Kano, aristocratic founder of judo, and originator of the dan/kyu system. Kano was a highly respected individual, and Funakoshi prided himself on being an educated and "proper" man who rightly believed that he was acting correctly. Kano's system was not only being applied to judo, but to other budo as well under the aegis of the Butoku-kai and the Japanese Ministry of Education. Funakoshi, then, just adopted the order of the day: a ranking system officially sanctioned by Japan's greatest martial arts entities. Funakoshi's own rank was of no consequence, since it seems that belt ranking was really just something for the students, not for headmasters.

"After the ravages of war in the Pacific, the surviving karate leaders had to begin anew. With the Butoku-kai administration shut down for years to come, each karate group was on its own. The acknowledged leaders of each faction, as well as individual dojo chiefs, gave out dan ranks based upon all original sanctioning by the Butoku-kai or mandates inherited directly from the ryu's founder.

"Rushing in to fill the vacuum left by the Butoku-kai, various dojo coalesced to perpetuate the art and legitimize its members' ranks.

"Usually in a legalistic and officious way these groups would simply adopt or adhere to some even higher authority or granting agency to further legitimize their actions. Recognition by the Japanese Ministry of Education was the ultimate sanction for individuals and groups in these times. Also new associations -- both in Japan proper and in Okinawa -- appeared. These became the grantor ranking authority, much in the way the Butoku-kai had acted previously. These new organizations were to set the pattern and be the original source for today's ranking. As with the single-style clubs, the head instructors often assumed the rank for which they were qualified, based on criteria they wrote themselves."

http://judoinfo.com/karateranks.htm

Karate, like most other martial arts, was created out of necessity.  Over several centuries, the native fighting styles of the Ryukyu Islands and the influx of Chinese styles from merchants, travellers, and royalty, contributed to the creation of Okinawa's karate.  Some of those earlier masters trained in different styles of fighting for only a few months.  Some even learned a fighting style taught to them by someone they just met who beat them in a duel and the lesson would only last a few days!  Karate at that time was just a cultural combat art form with three main branches in Okinawa, named after the towns they were from: Naha-te, Shuri-te, and Tomari-te. Karate started turning into it's modern version because of the Meiji period's legacy of change and during the tumultuous Taisho period of Japan in the early 1900s. 

Gichin Funakoshi and other karate masters during the turn of the 20th century, presented karate to the Japanese Ministry of Education to gain credibility.  Funakoshi learned karate from two teachers in Okinawa.  Those teachers in turn learned from a man who integrated Chinese ideas into karate. So, Funakoshi constantly changed his art in order to make it more accessible to the masses.  He presented his martial art system to the Ministry of Education, people who did not know anything about karate other than what was shown them.  Funakoshi's goals, like Kano's, focused on the holistic development of the student.  He turned karate-jutsu (karate mainly used for combat) into karate-do (karate mainly used for self-development).  The Ministry of Education was convinced that it would be good to teach karate-do to the youth and by their decision "legitimized" karate-do on official documents.  Thus Japan officially accepted this new martial art from their southern neighbor, Funakoshi's Shotokan karate.  Many karate-ka, or karate practitioners, during this time branched off with their own styles of karate.

Helio Gracie

"When Gracie was 16 years old, he found the opportunity to teach a Judo (at that time Judo was commonly referred to as Kano Jiu-Jitsu or simply Jiu-Jitsu) class, and this experience led him to develop Brazilian/Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. A director of the Bank of Brazil, Mario Brandt arrived for a private class at the original Gracie Academy in Rio de Janeiro as scheduled. The instructor, Carlos Gracie, was running late and was not present. Helio offered to begin the class with the man. When the tardy Carlos arrived offering his apologies, the student assured him it was no problem, and actually requested that he be allowed to continue learning with Helio Gracie instead. Carlos agreed to this and Helio Gracie became an instructor. Helio realized, however, that even though he knew the techniques theoretically, in fact, the moves were much harder to execute. Due to his smaller size, he realized many of the judo moves required brute strength which did not suit his small stature. Consequently, he began adapting Judo for his particular physical attributes, and through trial and error learned to maximize leverage, thus minimizing the force that needed to be exerted to execute a move. From these experiments, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, formally Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, was created. Using these new techniques, smaller and weaker practitioners gained the capability to defend themselves and even defeat much larger opponents."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helio_Gracie

"Helio and Carlos Gracie learned the sport from Japanese teacher Mitsuyo Maeda, who had settled in Belem, Brazil. Though Carlos was allowed to learn the art, Helio, who often suffered from dizziness and fainting spells as a youth, was not allowed to participate, although he would often attend classes to watch. One day when Carlos was absent from teaching class, Helio filled in as the instructor and began what would become a life spent in the jiu-jitsu world."

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28913997/

The surprise here is not that Gracie taught at a young age, but that he didn't really practice Judo - he only observed it!  Then his brother made him an instructor right after his first attempt at teaching.  No belt, no rank, just observation.  His experience came by training and teaching simultaneously.  So, if you track this backwards, modern MMA was the result of the Gracie family’s determination to hold a martial arts tournament to prove Gracie Jiu-jitsu’s effectiveness - the original UFC.  The development of Gracie Jiu-jitsu was the result of a boy's enthusiasm for training and his skill in being able to execute techniques that he had learned just by watching. And better still, he had the sense to innovate and make the art even more effective for his body type based on Jigoro Kano's motto - "Maximum efficiency with minimum effort." Helio may not have been the originator of the art, but his approach toward his art, the way he owned it for himself and changed it accordingly, qualifies him with the title of Founder.

Bruce Lee

"Lee's first introduction to martial arts was through his father, Lee Hoi Cheun. He learned the fundamentals of Wu style Tai Chi Chuan from his father. Lee's sifu, Wing Chun master Yip Man, was also a colleague and friend of Hong Kong's Wu style Tai Chi Chuan teacher Wu Ta-ch'i.

Lee trained in Wing Chun Gung Fu from age 13–18 under Hong Kong Wing Chun Sifu Yip Man. Lee was introduced to Yip Man in early 1954 by William Cheung, then a live-in student of Yip Man. Like most Chinese martial arts schools at that time, Sifu Yip Man's classes were often taught by the highest ranking students. One of the highest ranking students under Yip Man at the time was Wong Shun-Leung. Wong is thought to have had the largest influence on Bruce's training. Yip Man trained Lee privately after some students refused to train with Lee due to his ancestry.

Bruce was also trained in Western boxing and won the 1958 Boxing Championship match against 3-time champion Gary Elms by knockout in the 3rd round. Before arriving to the finals against Elms, Lee had knocked out 3 straight boxers in the first round. In addition, Bruce learned western fencing techniques from his brother Peter Lee, who was a champion fencer at the time. This multi-faceted exposure to different fighting arts would later play an influence in the creation of the eclectic martial art Jeet Kune Do."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee#Controversy_over_Jeet_Kune_Do

Last but not least, Bruce Lee, the most notable martial artist in recent history, was never certified in any martial art!  Lee was a scrapper when he was young, occasionally getting into fights with other children.  He formally trained in wing chun for five years in his teens and learned other Chinese arts informally.  He was a high school boxing champion and learned Western fencing techniques from his brother.  The bulk of the references in his posthumous international best-seller, Tao of Jeet Kune Do, are boxing and fencing books. 

Lee simply read the books and applied the principles he learned when he trained with his students and other martial artists.  He had no teacher's certification in any of the arts he learned, not even wing chun.  Instead, he created his own approach.  Jeet Kune Do is Lee's own development in the martial arts and not a martial art style itself.  The thoughts and concepts of JKD may be passed down, but it is merely a name to describe Lee's personal martial art practice and life philosophy.  He was confident in his own abilities to break free from the hold of "styles" and wanted to liberate people from the “classical mess.”  Bruce Lee’s innovations and inventions, going beyond what was already considered established fact and his willingness to teach this mindset, began a revolution in martial arts that is stronger today than it ever was when he was alive.

Cows, Constitution, and Commandments

I don't usually care for forwards, but this one was sent by one of my students who doesn't really have a political bone to pick.  Yet he shows promise by agreeing with this message and also by saying things that reflect a more conservative bent:
Think about this:
1. Cows
2. The Constitution
3. The Ten Commandments

COWS
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

THE CONSTITUTION
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq ... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a government building is this --you cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of politicians .... it creates a hostile work environment.

Categorizing Martial Arts

from snorgtees.com

The martial arts have been categorized every which way. Any new way is merely a variation of another way. The following won't be any different, but it provides a quick explanation to understand different martial arts styles and what they generally offer.

There are two major categories, each broken down into two subcategories:
Classical, or Technique-based, includes Traditional and Hybrid:
Traditional - These are martial art styles that have been passed down through the centuries or maybe even in the past century.  They have not changed much since their creation.  Many Asian martial arts are like this - some styles have manuals with pictures from the past century where the moves and techniques are almost exactly the same as their modern versions.  Traditional styles were created by people who systematized the kind of fighting from that particular culture and time period or from an individual's way of fighting.  

Hybrid - These include most martial art styles like modern karate. Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate, said  times change the world changes, martial arts must change as well. Many of the modern branches of karate and kung-fu are merely combinations, variations, and improvements of older styles.  They generally retain many of the same movements.  This also includes the XMA phenomenon, where quite a lot of the moves resemble the classical arts.  Hybrid includes most MMA practitioners' approach to training, where they take the strengths of any system to incorporate it into the sport, and yet the different systems are still distinct.  For instance, in the stand-up portion of the fight, the competitors look like Muay Thai fighters, then on the ground they look like collegiate wrestlers or BJJ students.

Progressive, or Principle-based, includes Eclectic Blend and Universal Movement
Eclectic Blend
This includes the more elite mixed martial arts training, most of JKD, Krav Maga, etc.,.  Even though Bruce Lee's approach leaned toward the next category, Universal Movement, the present state of cutting edge martial arts is more concerned with gathering the practical and effective techniques and ideas from various martial art styles and adding them into the student's repertoire, which is one way of describing Lee's approach.  From there it is the student's responsibility to blend it into his own style.  Or in the self-defense category, students practice the most effective techniques generally culled from many different approaches and instead of just focusing on the technique, they practice the principle of the technique to make it work for their unique body type.

Universal Movement
This is where Bruce Lee intended to be, to see the totality of combat by practicing the art of expressing the human body. While the Eclectic Blend approach takes from the outside and brings it in to create style, the Universal Movement approach goes from the individual and brings it out by utilizing the best movement for combat.  There are no set techniques or formulas because true combat is unpredictable.  How you train will differ from person to person, moment by moment.  At the same time, there are the universal principles of human physiology and principles of mechanical physics that will not change.  These principles are at the root of all martial arts, but is normally overlooked in favor of tradition and technique, and most of the time, only used to explain a technique.  Rather the technique should be the expression of the root, so that the technique can be abandoned or changed while the idea or root remains absolute.  Simply put, movement-based martial arts emphasizes the principles of efficient body movement for effective combat.

Turtle speed

Slowly but surely, I'm completing all my unfinished blog articles.  I have about a dozen articles left.  For the most part, I'm keeping them short and sweet.  Most people don't like reading really long articles anyway, at least I don't.  I try to make my articles short, like the way good speeches are compared to mini-skirts: long enough to cover the essentials, short enough to get your attention.  So once I'm done with those articles, which I hope to do in the next two weeks, I'll begin my long journey of retro-fitting most of my lessons from youth group and Next Level.   

Next Level lesson 8/3/10

I told them to keep up with three activities for the coming month: pray for me, go to church, and read Galatians to Colossians.

The lesson for the day was a quick overview of what I wanted to teach over the course of two weeks: previously, I taught about the importance of love as the greatest aspect of Christian living.  Today I went over the idea that they need to have a learning attitude and to live out what they've learned.  School may have disillusioned them about the importance of learning, but it is vitally important to keep studying and growing.  Then I told them to live out and apply what they've learned, from me and from their personal study of God's word.  The only way for them to grow and change is to intentionally apply what they learned to their circumstances and experiences.