It's particularly satisfying when one of my oldest students, who has an immense, learning does so well against her peers. brian k said: In regards to Sensei Steven Seagal's technique, (the question asked) I thought he showed good, crisp, clean and accurate technique. SiFu (Chinese) - Teacher - usually 2nd-degree black belt or senior. My name is Jesse Enkamp. And so it goes. I like to start in the most basic, fundamental way possible. whistlekickMartialArtsRadio.com, in case you missed it the first time. Look forward to the next one. Salute you. I'm actually used to this because I communicate with people from all over the world all the time, so crossing time zones, using the online digital medium is part of my daily routine these days. They don't improve for 10, 20, 30 years. Something that fresh and different would surely get the old juices flowing again, Short, sharp and insightful, Jesse-san! Being a nobody white belt again was truly great. of. Glows with a silver hue. I'm finding it difficult to train because all of the knowledge I have gained makes that next step seem insurmountable. At events, Ill demo our shin guards by putting them on and shin kicking door frames as hard as I can. Although I am just blue belt, I can feel your pain. I have had the pleasure of being a white belt twice! So yes, forget your belts and teach and work with lower ranked karatekas and you will see how much left you need to perfect! Let's be honest, shin guards are sweaty, ours are, too. So true! The self-proclaimed Karate Nerd talks about his past, his goals in the martial arts, and why he cares so much about what hes doing. Would you do it any differently? Sure there are different levels of understanding this but sometimes you just need to let go. You cannot know if your technique is good until you try it on someone who doesnt know it. You put in words what I feel this time of the year. Jesse Enkamp (\"The Karate Nerd\") explains the Karate black belt meaning, grading systems and Japanese terminology Sensei Seth is a Karate teacher and kicking / tricking expert famous from Instagram. You see yourself reacting to challenges. He saw that it could be used as physical education as well, to improve the motor intelligence, of kids especially, by introducing it to schools. Excellente article. Anyway, I'm about to fight this Russian guy, and I had no idea what he could do. Not to mention, we put an extra layer of foam right over your tibia - that's your shin bone - so you're sure to survive those brutal shin clashes. Jesse-san, when confronting you with my hikite-theory, or mind blowing revelation I thought, you looked at me and said: ok that's good, but I just try to keep it simple. Oh, interesting. We were talking before we started recording a little bit about competition. As is often the case, the lessons learned from martial arts ring true through life. You see, when you teach a beginner . After talking with Sensei Enkamp, I had two, overwhelming I guess, thoughts. Yesterday we had a new beginnerenroll in our dojo. Put yourself in their minds and you'll see what I mean. That is a very interesting question, because its hard for me to give you the answer you are searching for, because honestly, I don't even know what my end goal is, other than enjoying the journey, and maximizing all of the opportunities that are presented as I go along on this or climb on this road up Mount Karate, like I said before. [2] Background [ edit] Karate [ edit] Enkamp grew up with martial arts as his family runs Combat Academy - a martial arts center in Tby - where he himself started training already at a couple of years old. Common names for the dan ranks are thus: 1.Il dan - first degree black belt (also known as cho dan) 2.Yi dan - second degree black belt 3.Sam dan - third degree black belt 4.Sa dan - fourth degree black belt 5.O dan - fifth degree black belt 6.Yuk dan - sixth degree black belt I flew him out to Europe, and none of the participants knew that he was the Secret Sensei, and then he came in there and just told us all how this whole seminar was ***** with the pink belts and everything, and then he started to teach us the truth of his gospel, right, the Ameri-Do-Te. I call it liberating. People don't know this, but if there were blogs back when Bruce Lee was alive, he would be the greatest blogger alive, because he wrote down so many things related to philosophy, history, tradition, and all of these things that were still talking about today. I think that probably a lot of other Karate masters at that time in Okinawa would criticize him, because as we know, the original purpose of Karate was practical self defense. That is why I like the tradition, but I'm not stuck in it. And humans, were hard-wired to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. It wassurreal. That's my experience. 'Unless you become as a little child again, (Beginner's Mind)you cannot enter the true Way of Karate.' . The simple solutions are often the best ones IMO. It feels like that's like a metaphor for all of my work, constantly not fighting, but having to prove myself to others who are more established, or have more credibility in this whole martial arts world, specifically Karate because, again, going back to tradition, the whole traditional thing is so strong, and people love to do things the way they've always done them, and I like to do things in a new way. Sempai/Shidoin/Sensei. Once again I donned a white belt despite my sensei telling me that I may wear my black belt with a white stripe. I think you hold the title so far of furthest guest. As shestepped inside, I could sense her vibeshe was as scared as she wasexcited. About the Author: Colton Woodard is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Kuniba Kai Karate Do and holds the title of Kyoshi as well. I have been training irregularly for forty years now, am 65 years old and got my shodan last year only because I wanted to teach what I think I know. It was a lot of fun. Now, anybody that's seen your online content knows that you're really passionate about the traditional aspects of Karate. It certainly helps you to peel off all the complex thinking in my mind and just focus on the real Karate. I appreciate your time. all the seniors help out in our dojo! You've worked hard. I was fortunate enough to get a [board 36:17] smashed through my face. I am delighted when I see the kids improve, and it's a joy to work with them. Were able to reflect on that experience for the rest of our lives, especially when things become difficult. As a white belt. After 36 years of training I found the kids to be my greatest teachers, after all "The aim of Karate-Do is not the victory or defeat, but the perfection of character of it's participants", not that we ever reach it. If you haven't shared an episode of the show with your martial arts friends, this would be a great one to share. Overthinking stuff? I felt dizzy, I was bristling like a Rhino and oh gosh, my body still hurts. That's a slick answer to a changenlilg question. Okay, so you're a good person to ask. Were crossing quite a few time zones to get to you. You know what? You simply cannot use an average measure and expect yourself to fall within that range. I learn so much by teaching beginnershard to understand until you do it. Sat. Dear Sean, dear Francis, love it. That's rotation sorted, now need to figure out by a way to explain by how much ???? I'm not really into Karate movies. I had to make a conscious effort to be precise, clear and slow-down in the execution of my techniques so that the novice member of the class could follow The problemis how to remain an artist once we grow up.. Generations of masters have come before us, and to not use their collective knowledge to improve our current understanding and practice of karate would be foolish in my opinion. Hes one of the most underrated guys in the history of Karate. I have, because Karate is my life. Then I think another favorite is Iron Monkey, with Donnie Yen. Nevertheless, if you really want to know how long it takes to get a black belt, learn basic skills or master an entire . Feeling like that made me depressed and confused cause of all the 7 years study, hard work and practice I'd put in. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. Okay. Teaching karate is like learning all over again. Then I don't feel quite as guilty for robbing your free time. That you're - maybe hoping is a little bit too diminishing of a word - that you are going to accomplish. Do you hate clashing shins when you're sparring? Thank you. You've got a lot going on, and I'm not even going to try to tell all the listeners about everything you've got going, so that's your opportunity to do that. Yeah, and these guys, they were from separate parts of the world, and the fact that I just stood there and I thought to myself, Man, I did this. If someone is willing to take you up on that and they want to start exploring his books, is there a place you would suggest they start? I felt like I was right there with you. A few things that have always helped me keep this perspective, is teaching kids and beginners a lot, but also remembering that cho dan means beginning level. Do take heart and keep training. . There certainly is a lot of wisdom in a loss. Yeah, because at that point, I didn't really understand the concept of softness. . Hes done a lot to further the arts for sure, and I really appreciate what hesdone. If you've ever wondered what makes this guy tick, you're about to find out. Well, you could say it was a family thing for me, and for as long as I could remember, I've always been practicing martial arts, more specifically Karate and Kobudo, the weapons. A lot of people from different countries around the world decided to help me make this seminar a reality, and in return they would get videos, because I had a professional guy record this whole seminar. Like they say in Japan: shiranu ga hotoke. Hi Jesse, you know what,you can easily become white belt again, just not many people swallow the pride and ego to swap their black belt for a white one and stand up somewhere in an unknown dojo for a month training, where you will be corrected from people with red, purple or green Belts, and kids with 2dan black belt ;) Would you do it? Hat's off to Sensei Seagal for showing . Wow. Thatjourney he made really resonates with me, even though I blog instead, but I guess he would do the same if we had blogs back then. Welcome! Each individual belt is called a 'Degree' of Black Belt (1st Degree being the lowest). I would say if I had to do my black belt over, I would try to relax a bit more, and pick my moments where I would go in and attack, and then I would basically chill out a bit more, so I could last longer and have better efficiency and economy of movement. When numbering the dan ranks, Sino-Korean numbers are used. The best English equivalent is ignorance is bliss. I've got a feeling it does, because I think the universal experience that you talked about with these two individuals who had never met, who had come together because of martial arts, and developed a friendship, but a very different kind of friendship than most people outside of martial arts are able to make, they're experiencing pain with education, with their development, and using each others bodies to do so. To some people, it might seem like I'm living a very limited life, like I don't enjoy other stuff. Quick-Rip Tag makes it easy to manually remove the size tag. I got my first degree black belt in taekwondo last year, and it's only heightened my desire to learn and teach. My respect Sensei Jesse for such humility. I am a nerd about Karate, and as you know, nerds don't do anything else other than the stuff they're nerdy about, right? A lot of people use tradition as an excuse to do stuff in an old-fashioned or outdated way, but that does not interest me. Why do we do this instead of that? You had my nodding along here. I think Karate should be a highly personal journey, and you should do whatever you like, or whatever you want to do, and if that involves competing, good. Seishin is the name of my Karate lifestyle gear company, which basically is a way for me to make awesome products related to Karate that other people can enjoy as well. Sensei Jesse Enkamp is the host of Karate by Jesse and a self-proclaimed Karate nerd. Welcome to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio episode 174, and thanks for being here. Now, if you've selected him, I'm guessing you've read a fair amount about him, as much as is out there. Tell everyone where to find you, the things that you're doing, and just tell us all about the Karate Nerd. Since that day, I went back many times as I got older as well. Great insight. They may know you in a couple other ways, and were going to get into all that as we go on. You're doing a lot of that co-mingling, bringing people together, through the work that you do online, and its work that I enjoy, and well hear a bit more about it as we move on. What martial art I don't even know how to phrase this question for you. My mind is clear after reading your article. We end in the same way, but its always a little bit different with each guest. Oh, for me, its not so much about the traditional aspect, but more the contrast, or the way that you can combine the traditional aspect with the modern world, with our todays society, because there are some You know, there are generations of Generations of masters have come before us, and to not use their collective knowledge to improve our current understanding and practice of Karate would be foolish, in my opinion, so that is why I am interested with the traditional side of Karate, because there's so much knowledge there that I think we still have not unpacked, because it has not been properly transmitted throughout the years, throughout the evolution of Karate. Then, after we did that seminar, we shot this whole fun thing for his YouTube channel as well, which is the video you're referring to, where I'm supposed to teach the audience how to break a board, but he ends up breaking the board on my face instead. So, for me, that's like a metaphor of standing up to the dinosaurs. When you win, as one of my instructors used to tell me, when you win, you learn that you did things right. I never fail to be amazed at his ability to gauge my character and training requirements. Now, you're the Karate Nerd, as you've referred to yourself. Then, if I had to say another more martial arts, more general, then perhaps why not the books that Bruce Lee wrote? Thank you for throwing light on this! You know, as you get more advanced, as you progress, as you get more experienced, you start softening up, and you realize that you don't always have to go 110%. I did always feel a bit sad that over time I forgot all my katas! Its self-discovery and self-development, because you want to be able to face bigger challenges, to compete in the bigger leagues, which means that you have to train not just harder but smarter as well, which means that you start thinking about a lot of things. Lets talk about competition. He loves to teach Karate, Kobudo . If you can teach it, you understand it. That's why I started Karate, and I liked the whole aspect of having weapons as well, because I love fighting with weapons, too. This is expressed in another Japanese saying known as Bun Bu Ryo Do, which means basically, The pen and the sword together will guide you on the way.. As featured in this Youtube vlog by Jesse Enkamp (11:45 mark) In a lot of schools, its designed to be that way, and I'm proud that I have that to reflect on. Yes, even the art of the empty hand has its sparkling star of the web. I would have to go with Itosu Anko. Wonderful Jesse-san! When I opened my dojo, I said that I didn't want to teach kids, but quickly changed my mind, not because someone said "the kids will pay your bills", but because as you said, you really do reach the next level. Well, the whole thing about being a Karate Nerd means that I don't do anything else. Of course, I jumped to it -- but not without thinking to myself why had my senior instructor called ME out to help? I needed to be reminded of this. After ripping through yet another karate gi, Jesse Enkamp - international karate ambassador and entrepreneur - discussed with his student Marcus why there was no better karate uniform out there. I enjoy your writing and dedication, so just a word to the wise "keep doing what you do", Shoshin shogai, Jesse-san, shoshin shogai. Dont Talk-Just Do!.the number of times I have said this?!?! I am glad to have earned a Black Belt, and wouldn't have wanted to miss the experience and challenge of those years. Br, Senthil. First, I wanted to bow to him, shake his hand, thank him for caring so much about this crazy martial arts thing that so many of us do. Here on Martial Arts Radio, all of our listeners know its about stories. I'm going to have to go with a very nerdy answer, since I am the Karate Nerd. I shall try your solution. The very next day I felt awfulI felt like I didn't know a thing about being a Black Belt and wanted to just hide.my belt and myself. When did you first realize that you could be completely, not just satisfied, but enjoy your life if it was end-to-end Karate? Chantal,its a bit of a case of "the grass is always greener". talprofs. The challenge for me is to get them engaged. My Sensei often has me work with the kids and beginners. I found out that when they notice that you train with your heart and soul, they will help you along the journey since they are as passionate about karate as you. Of course, weve had Master Ken on the show, and that took a while to make happen. Keep training & reading! I only knew that he was an expert at Jiu-Jitsu, and not the Brazilian kind where you roll around on the ground, but the Japanese kind where you mostly stand up and do these nasty joint locks and things. In fact, Dan's response is most accurate the time needed to get black belt depends largely on the student. Lost. At a young age, Jesse earned a black belt in karate and he also taught karate in his parents' dojo. So, KaratebyJesse.com is where you'll find my blog, and many of my other projects and videos and stuff, and of course I'm on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter as well, and you could include those links in the show notes. It takes the average student years to achieve each of the Degrees of Black Belt. When I got there, I was pretty intimidated by the number of black belts in this collective holiday session, where the focus was more on cardio. Right now, I am in training for the first belt exam but I am not sure if I'll be in shape until early February. The Bubishi, or Wubei Zhi in Chinese, is pretty important because it is the first documented connection between southern China, Fujian Province, and Okinawa, which means that we have evidence or proof that these techniques in this combat manual, this ancient manuscript, were transmitted from China to Okinawa, and lay the foundation or the roots of what would later become Karate. You see, when you teach a beginneryoure forced to think like a beginner. You can download the transcript below or download here. It was all or nothing, and that's why, of course, the stronger man won, because I didn't have that physical capacity that was needed to go all-in against this particular opponent. Were going to send you one, two, maybe three newsletters a month. When we went there the first time, we stayed at this masters house, which is also his dojo, and he also has a Karate museum in this house. Were not going to sell your address. Thank you to the returning listeners, and hello and welcome to those of you trying us on. Jesse-Sensei, couldn't agree with you more about teaching kids & beginners! Of course I do, but I enjoy Karate even more. Well, I think if I had to give a parting piece of advice it would have to be to Don't be a martial artist. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm going to do tomorrow. And much more than a blogger and a Youtuber. Id like you to think of a time in your life that made you look on your black belt test, or in some other way you used your martial arts experience to get through that tough time. What's the logic behind this particular move? From the moment you pass a test, you are back a beginner, ready to start to learn something new. I'm standing there. Are they your favorite martial arts actors, or is there somebody else that you haven't mentioned? Long story short, Dan the Wolfman sent him a FB friend request and started to pimp up his Black Belts, YouTube videos and other stuff, Jesse unfriended him, Dan the Wolfman took it personally, called him out on YouTube and challenged to a fight, "The Karate Nerd" commented on the video and apologized (for nothing) and the Wolfman kept on . If we start from the beginning, one name that pops into my head is Sensei Hokama Tetsuhiro from Okinawa. I could remotely feel their sense of proud and satisfaction. Ossu! Before he could do anything else, I just tapped out, and I said, Dude, Im bleeding, because I didnt want to get blood on the mats, because of course, me and my parents, we own our own dojo, and I know how hard it is to get that blood out of the mats. So I learn what works and what doesn't work, and I also learn that sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, they'll still disappear next payment cycle :-), Excellent article Jesse-san, one of the "mantra" in our dojo is Shoshin-beginners mind. Wow. Your arcticles always make fantastic reading, and your seminars equally superb as told by our student and Sensei Jeremy! The kids remind us of the "Student's mind", once we loose that, there's no reason for us to continue. And I have to say, I did! If you spend any time on social media looking at martial arts content, you'll know today's guest. This is how I believe the circle of karate and or in this case simplicity of the punch becomes enjoyable and pure. Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. Lets be honest. Tell us about your goals. I think I know how you feel. Itsoundscrazy, but I really wanted to be her! My warmest wishes to you on your journey! Hat's off to Jesse Enkamp for bringing different styles of martial arts to us. If youre even remotely interested, feel free to send me an email. Its hard for me to say, but I guess when Like most young men, when you finish high school, around that age, where people want you to decide what to do with your life, that's when I decided to go to Okinawa, the birthplace of Karate. Thank you Jesse san! Learning and never thinking I know it all. If you had it to do over again, how would you handle that match, that fight, with what you know now? I mean, you've traveled the world. If you don't like competing, I think that it would give you even more, because there's probably a reason you don't like it, and facing stuff we don't like usually turns out well, because that teaches you something about yourself. Its not just a sport, or a hobby, or a business, but it is truly my way of life, which means that I have the privilege of, for example, going to Japan, or Okinawa, thebirthplace of Karate, to do my own research and to be the Karate Nerd that I love to be. Teaching and coaching pulls me out of my head and my own hangups about my performance and helps me focus on helping other people. Best thing I ever did. Check them out today at whistlekick.com. I had a lot of these different ideas for this seminar, and it was well received, but one point that etched itself in my memory was during one of the sessions we were doing some arm or hand conditioning drills, known as kote-kitae in Japanese. For instance, I was trying to get those 8 to 10 years old kids to understand (to grasp the concept) how to move while keeping a low stance (avoiding the bouncing head syndrome for example).