Martial Arts Professional

[Dana Sheets]

John,

I'm not quite sure why you are choosing to make a personal attack on me, my moderating style, and my forum.

I made a suggestion to you that the way you posted might not be well received by many people. I was in no way upset or angry and I am still quite at peace with who I am, what I do, and how I train.

I've been writing online for years and a quick comment or two from any poster isn't enough to get my knickers in a twist. I have learned over the years than when a poster writes something where they imply that I have a certain opinion on something that I need to correct that quickly if I don't agree.

So the intent of my post was to clarify that your post was not a reflection of my understanding as you had implied that it was.

I was also telling you, very clearly, not to do it again because I don't appreciate it. Trying to control you? Not so much. What I was trying to do is to make clear to you that I find it unacceptable for someone I've only met via this written medium to claim that they are able to write about my understanding on anything.

[benzocaine]

[jorvik]

Hey John the shades are really cool ......is that what "Elitists" wear??.......have to get me a pair

[John Giacoletti]

Marcus wrote:

I havent seen anything remotely karate related in this thread .

Karate begins with courtesy

Didn't Funokoshi, the Shotokan founder, write something similar to that? I recall it as:

There is no first strike in Karate. Karate begins and ends in respect.

Grand Master Uechi Kanbun agreed to resume the teaching and practice of Pangainoon in Wakayama, Japan in order to relieve the immigrant Okinawan textile workers from extortion and oppression by ruffians and gangsters.

The respect and courtesy was for Master's Kanbun's kinsmen and not for the oppressors.

I'd say, historically and philosophically, that karate begins with the defense and protection of one's self and one's family or associates.

[John Giacoletti]

Gee, Ben. Thanks for the great visual. It speaks to your personal high degree of professionalism as a health care provider.

I relate the numbers to THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE.

Jorvik mentions "eletist," I think you're "merely" a scholar.

Let's see. The pugnatious jaw is labeled #1. That would be habit #1, BE PROACTIVE.

The tail end labeled #2 relates to Habit #2, BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

The conclusion I draw from your visual is that management needs to take off the shades, see things in the clear light of day, and get Dana's forum input and questions from hundreds of women.

[John Giacoletti]

Dana,

Last I knew you put your gi pants on the same way I do.

Last I knew this was Bill Glasheen's forum and not yours.

I'm John Giacoletti. You represent your self as

Dana Sheets
Site Admin

In addition, you come on with a bunch of do this and don't do this.

I for one take offence.

My statement about the lack of participation of women on your forum is in no way a personal attack. Unfortunately it's a statement of fact. I've clearly indicated that you are not responsible for the state of affairs but that the burden rests with management.

All that needs to be done is a few tuition swaps for example for inquires from newly enrolled women; solicitation from female spouses for the woman's point of view about the partner's participation; or contributions from senior women on how they see the role of women in karate and so on in addition to the google priority fix. I'm sure our very capable dialoge experts can come up with a deep well of thoughtful resources.

Get you own house in order before you concern yourself with mine.

[Stryke]

Didn't Funokoshi, the Shotokan founder, write something similar to that? I recall it as:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no first strike in Karate. Karate begins and ends in respect.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

your recollections jumbling precepts

Funakoshis first precept is

Karate begins and ends with courtesy.

the second precept being

There is no first attack in karate.

I'd say, historically and philosophically, that karate begins with the defense and protection of one's self and one's family or associates.

systemisation is of course in direct relation to need , but that is merely the physical response to Habitual acts of physical violence , Karate Philosophy is varied and rich , with a lot of influences far greater than just a response to violence .

Buddhisim , Taoisim , Confucianisim , Zen , Shinto , etc etc , the original masters considered themselves Bushi , of the pen and sword , and much philosophy accompanied teaching in some schools .

and amoung some of those teachings a respect for the self that is only held true in respect for others , hence courtesy given is indeed courtesy for oneself .

It`s a high ideal I wish I could come closer to bearing in every day life .

But never the less , something to think about the next time you bow before a fellow student , or instructor , or kata .

[Dana Sheets]

Issues, not people. Style of posting, not the poster.

John I more than welcome a critique of my forum and my moderation style - however where you chose to post it has nothing to do with this thread. Being professional, treating others with professionalism - did. I found your remark about other practiciting martial artists to be unprofessional. There is a huge difference between critique and detraction.

You have no idea why I am listed as an admin of this site so leave that rest.

[benzocaine]

Gee, Ben. Thanks for the great visual. It speaks to your personal high degree of professionalism as a health care provider.

I relate the numbers to THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE.

Jorvik mentions "eletist," I think you're "merely" a scholar.

Let's see. The pugnatious jaw is labeled #1. That would be habit #1, BE PROACTIVE.

The tail end labeled #2 relates to Habit #2, BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

The conclusion I draw from your visual is that management needs to take off the shades, see things in the clear light of day, and get Dana's forum input and questions from hundreds of women.

Glad you like the pic John.

I've never read the Seven Habits. Habits one and two sound pretty good though

[MikeK]

...

[John Giacoletti]

Dana,

My purpose has never been more than to submit interesting and stimulating to read posts, posts interesting to the readers of the forum who greatly exceed the contributors.

You are an administrator of contributors and your watch words are topics like issues, dialogue, posting style.

Your agenda and my agenda obviously aren't exactly synchronized.

You are more pleased with your position than I am.

I expect that as long as I post i will be an able aggravator to administrative types. And the forums will be incrementally more enjoyable to read than if I toed the line and conformed to your administrative desiderata.

Believe it or not I have feed back from non-posting Uechi practitioners from all over the country who follow the forums and like what I write.

[MikeK]

Believe it or not I have feed back from non-posting Uechi practitioners from all over the country who follow the forums and like what I write.

Once again the legions of ever mysterious silent lurkers make themselves known. Kindof, sortof.

[jorvik]

Well back to the original point of this thread .the martial arts professional.
some folks are not totally keen on this idea .Why? you may ask
.well!! put simply there is the Mcdojo that we hear so much about.
A lot of folks have had experienceses with these type of folks ...and they are not nice.their "art" is there solely to make money for them and to give them a grand lifestyle...and to be frank this goes against traditional practices in Okinawa and in Japan.
The real art of Japan is the sword.but neither love nor money will buy you into classes with a true master...and to a point the same applies in Okinawa.
Chojun Miyagi of goju Ryu used to practise and teach in his back yard.....so much for expensive dojos
I'm not against folks making money out of ma's .but once you start to do that then you cease to be solely a martial artist.you become a salesman .and then you have to promote your school by "Selling"........and the poor punters, who really know nothing about real martial arts will be really impressed by things that look flashy and cool so you start to do them and the teaching changes and is watered down
Now I'm not saying that this has happened in John's school,,,,,,,,,,,,what I am saying is that this is why a lot of folks are put off by such schools ( except of course for the folks who have bought into the "Sell")........the school that I go to now is very expensive.As an example one hour class costs £7 whereas the local Uechi ( non-profit) have a beginners course on offer £20 for 10, 2 hour classes

[Bill Glasheen]

Well this has certainly been amusing if not enlightening. So, where do I begin?

First... These Forums are a place to share ideas. One of the Golden Rules of the Forums is to present why YOUR idea is appealing to you, and not so much to attack other points of view or ways of doing things.

Ric Martin is first and foremost a great martial artist. He wouldn't be where he is today without that. God knows I've read every business methodology and people management whatevers from Six Sigma to Covey. But in the end, you need a product that the consumer wants to buy. Without that, all the MBAs in the world aren't going to get Joe and Sally in the showroom. The strength of Ric's karate combined with his charismatic personality are the product. Everything else supports this center of the Uechi Ryu Universe.

Don't believe me? Any MBA program will tell you that second generation family businesses almost always fail where the first generation passes away. It's more than the programs and the 4 wall and the standards and such. And if that wasn't important, then CEOs of Fortune 500 companies wouldn't be making the tens of millions (or more) a year that they make.

What you're telling us, John, is that this formula can be franchised and made to work elsewhere. Maybe it can. Or maybe not. It's a worthy subject of debate. Do I think you, for instance, could take the business model and go elsewhere with it? If so, John, why haven't you? Hmm??? The deal seems too good to be true. Where's YOUR mega dojo?

What you aren't doing, John, is impressing anyone here by disparaging other ways. In doing so, all you do is bring down the good name of Ric Martin. He doesn't deserve that. And you make these statements and claim your brilliant point of view on the backs of others. You don't acquire his considerable ability, wisdom, charisma, and business acumen by proxy. Quite the contrary, you are a cog in a wheel. You also disparage others on their time through their media. If the grand world you speak of was so complete and the wave of the future, John, then why would you need to do it on the Forums of the father of Uechi Ryu in North America? And why would you do it in particular on the Forum of someone who has taught nonprofit for 28 years? Where is YOUR website, John? Why aren't folks flocking to it to hear from you?

But let's get back to the world, the way it operates, and the business model. I've had quite the breadth of business and academic experience, John. I've worked for 2 Fortune 500 companies and had heady titles. I've also worked for small labs, small business, and was research faculty in an academic medical institution. It's given me a pretty good handle on how the world works from many points of view.

One of the things I learned from Lee Hecht Harrison - a placement firm I was sent to in-between jobs - is that the vast majority of people in the United States are employed by small businesses. There are many ways to make a dollar. There are also many ways to make a product, provide a service, and do something important that leaves a legacy.

My most enduring legacy will be from 4 years working in a small academic lab where a handful of us published dozens of articles (30-something for me) in well-known peer review journals. At the end of the day when people move on to other things - as most do in anything these days - that legacy will still be there. Meanwhile my time in the Fortune 500s was about generating income for the shareholders. That's good stuff as well. But it's different.

I'm a professional researcher, John. One thing I've noticed is that companies often can get too big to innovate. One of the companies I worked for - one whose name you'd recognize right away - bought up a smaller company I was working for. Why? Because my company (and many other garage outfits) were kicking their bootie in the marketplace. We could go from idea to product faster, and have fun doing it. We weren't constrained by the bureaucracies that the larger outfits needed to operate and maintain economies of scale. So there was a game going on. The large outfits feared the little guys in the garages. The little guys beat the big guys in the marketplace. The big guys bought the little guys, took the product, and sent the innovators packing. Then the cycle would start over again.

This happens in many industries, John. It's the build vs. buy thing. Remember that both Apple and Microsoft started as garage operations in an IBM environment. Where is IBM these days, by the way? If you had only know that Bill Gates - the Harvard dropout - would bring his outfit as far as he did, you'd be a rich man today. Who knew?

Every operation and every service has a variety of niches in which they operate. Some tend to do well large. Others tend to do well small. It all depends upon what you're trying to accomplish. And when there's a highly competitive industry with tight margins, human capital can be quite expendable. But I don't complain, BTW. I know to be a shareholder when things go down. This way I win no matter what.

Why the business lesson, John? Let it sink in a bit. Methinks you're operating in a provincial mode. Methinks you take much for granted, and are a little deficient on history. Travel a bit, talk a bit, get some life experiences, and then come back to what I have written. Meanwhile I'm confident that what I have written registers with those who have been around the block of life a few times.

Ric's a fine martial artist and fine person. I certainly hope you do your best to reflect well on him, as you ride his coattails.

You do not reflect well on anyone, John, when you disparage others. You asked someone else on this thread to read Seven Habits. Apparently you don't take your own advice. I fail to see the win-win of reflecting poorly on those around you, and putting others in a bad light for your own incomprehensible gain.

Care to take a deep breath and think about it?

Oh and one more thing. Your comments about Dana are uncalled for. If you insult Dana, you insult me. You have absolutely no idea how good she is, how well traveled and connected she is, and how well loved she is in the Uechi world. In short, DON'T DO THAT!

Thanks.

- Bill

[gmattson]

and I "second" the warning about insulting anyone on our forums.

I enjoy most of your posts John, but every once in awhile your evil twin shows up and says things that the good john wouldn't. Hmmmm.

As Bill stated, the franchise model is a better path to take for the average person wanting to learn how to stay in business and with hard work, succeed.

However, teaching the martial arts requires a dynamic personality, sensitive and inspiring teaching ability and lots of patience. For every success story there are a hundred failures in the martial arts.