Modern Arnis and Soke Boards

stickarts

stickarts

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Dan Anderson said:
Hi All,

Back in Dallas. The event went well and the testing for induction onto the council went even better. It took roughly an hour and was split up into two parts: oral and physical. Any of you who know me will know I have no problems being shy explaining any point of view that I have: technical, philosophical, historical or what not. The physical presentation I felt went very well. I was prepared mentally, was quite confident and I believe it showed.

My thanks to my partner from Dallas, Don Kerstetter and my CSSD/SC brother Shuki Dray from Florida. Don began training wth RP back in 1983 and is originally from Tennessee (for those of you old camp guys to remember him) and now trains with me. Shuki is Bram Frank's longest continuously training student dating back to... I forget when but he's been around Bram the longest and has the best historical perspective of Bram's knife work. They were not only quite willing to participate in it with me but neither of them are direct students of mine so they moved differently enough to keep me on my toes and in present to shift gears when they did something off beat. I like when that happens. Good stuff.

Aside from the induction onto the council I, along with the amazing Don Jacobs from Trinidad (see this guy if you can - amazing), I was also presented with the Grand Master of the Year 2008 award. This was totally unexpected and was very kind that Bram nominated me for it.

So, in the long run what does this mean to me? Acknowledgement. One thing that is so underrated is the power of a simple acknowledgement. This is something I learned in my Scientology training many years ago. A couple of examples of acknowledgements: I remember at the first WMAA camp, Jeff Leader mentioning in passing that he liked the fact that I was out there on the floor training along with eveyone else (the lower ranking belts) and that meant a lot. The same comment was made by a number of people when I was in the Philippines where I was an instructor for my own classes. I was till out there training in other people's classes. Both of them were acknowledgements of an action taken. Rather than looking into them for any kind of hidden meanings or motives it was just a statement noting what was done. "Hey, you wuz on do floor and sweated, too."

Another great acknowledgment was being accepted by Manong Ted Buot as a student. He recognized that I was being sincere in my desire to learn balintawak eskrima. Acknowledgements are powerful things.

This is what this examination was to me. I have been in the martial arts for 41 years. My credentials are pretty strong - both in karate and arnis. I have nothing to prove to anybody. But rather than have that as a "you can kiss my ***" attitude, I fully recognize that I have a long way to go. I think a skilled practitioner knows not only his strong points but also knows his limitations. He keeps his strong points well oiled and his limitations gives him something to continue to work on. I also keep in mind that I have seniors. There are people out there who have been in the martial arts longer than I have and some longer than I have been alive. To receive an acknowledgement like this from my seniors is special.

All in all, it has been a very good weekend and when I get home I'll catch up on the sleep I've missed.

I'll post some pictures when I get them from Shuki. All for now.

Yours,
Dan Anderson
Click to expand...

Congrats Dan! Glad it was a good experience for you. I have been away for awhile: sorry for coming into this discussion late.
 
hapkenkido

hapkenkido

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SM Anderson,
Let me say congrats for being inducted into that Soke board.
I was very honored that I had peers from different arts sit on my 3rd and 4 dan testing board, and to have them say that I should be promoted. Now, I know it wasn't a test for rank for you. But maybe someone can tell me what is wrong with the whole idea of the board. For I am just a todler in the arts compaired to some of the people on MT.
 
Bob Hubbard

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hapkenkido said:
SM Anderson,
Let me say congrats for being inducted into that Soke board.
I was very honored that I had peers from different arts sit on my 3rd and 4 dan testing board, and to have them say that I should be promoted. Now, I know it wasn't a test for rank for you. But maybe someone can tell me what is wrong with the whole idea of the board. For I am just a todler in the arts compaired to some of the people on MT.
Click to expand...
The short answer is, "Soke" is a Japanese term, doesn't actually mean what alot of people say it does, and tends to indicate someone who bought some rank just as often as someone who actually earned it. Some JMA people and traditionalists find it a "problematic" term. Some will argue that it's original meaning doesn't matter, but what it's being used for now. All I can say to that is that I dramily wrangle that they gibblet the cola nut. ;)

You can also check out the "Great Debate" forum for some of the longer and ah more passionate, threads involving "sokes".

Course, there's no one higher than God-Emperor. Just ask Leto II. ;)
 
The Last Legionary

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Bob Hubbard said:
The short answer is, "Soke" is a Japanese term, doesn't actually mean what alot of people say it does, and tends to indicate someone who bought some rank just as often as someone who actually earned it. Some JMA people and traditionalists find it a "problematic" term. Some will argue that it's original meaning doesn't matter, but what it's being used for now. All I can say to that is that I dramily wrangle that they gibblet the cola nut. ;)

You can also check out the "Great Debate" forum for some of the longer and ah more passionate, threads involving "sokes".

Course, there's no one higher than God-Emperor. Just ask Leto II. ;)
Click to expand...
You stop touching my cola nut. BAD TOUCH! BAD TOUCH!
Stop giggling too. I saw your soke certificate egg roll.
;)
 
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