Karate in the Hospital.

 Im not surprised at human nature much these days. Hostile and abrupt behaviour towards people dedicating their life to helping others can seem almost normal. But definitely not acceptable.  

Yes im back in hospital with a few Hip issues.

An under funded over stretched under staffed system, my heart goes out to the front line carers that are a part of it. I think in general, they do a fantastic job.

So where does Karate fit inside of a Hospital? Well, first off, respect for everyone around you. Being honest the same, no frills, just facts. Looking inward at yourself to see what you can do to make everyone's day/night easier. Helping yourself to help the staff. By this i mean the physical stuff. Rehabilitation isn't easy, but the hard work has to be put in to make progress so that the rehabilitation becomes easier...

Sharing a room with other orthopaedic patients is an eye opener. Not one person out of 4 wants to put the work in to help fix themselves. As each day goes by, that first step becomes harder, and recovery, further out of reach. 

Talking to a guy who had had a tibia reconstruction, I explained the above. To his credit he tried, and then tried again. He saw me walking with a frame and setting an example. At this he kept trying, then after 3 days came over and thanked me. I'd had a Tibia and knee reconstruction myself decade's ago and fully appreciated what the poor guy was going through.  

Anyway, Karate. Helping others, setting an example, trying to make the lives of people around us simpler, happier and less troublesome.  Perfecting character ( that old karate cliche ) if you will. Or to put it another way,  doing the right thing, simply because its the right thing to do.  The physical act of Karate is one thing, giving it depth and meaning,  thats something else entirely.  

Scratching the Itch...

 If you have read the last few posts then you will know i haven't been training for a while. 

Today that ended and I well and truly scratched the itch...

Kettle Bells for Hojo Undo and training in Sanchin and plenty of work with the various Makiwaras that adorn the Dojo...it felt great.

The plan now is to get myself work ready. I will be signed off to teturn to full duties in a couple of weeks. The plan is to train every day. 

The real positive to come out of returning is the mental health side of the training.

Im sure if you're reading this and train in whatever it is you do, then you will agree. The benefits in my opinion for mental health are insurmountable.  Something I'm realising more now than ever before. 

When you do something all the time, you can often become comfortable in the things it has to offer. Not always appreciating it to its fullest. I do now. 

Jony...

An itch you cant scratch...

 My rehabilitation recovery journey continues. 

The last 3 weeks have been tough, both Physically and mentally. The Gasshuku's I have been a privilege to be a part of standing me in good stead with the challenges I have had to face. 

I'm now at a point just 3 weeks post op where I am walking normally and unassisted.  Zero pain and generally feeling stronger every day.  

Ever had an itch you can't scratch, that's me with Karate at the moment. 

Now im fully mobile again and continuing with the rehab, I will use the time to refurbish the Dojo. Fresh paint, a deep clean and service the tools....

Sounds like a plan.

Thanks for stopping by....Jony

Challenges

 Like many I've had some big challenges over the years. Challenges that mould you in to the person you become. 

Being bullied, (ha, try that now) both physical and emotional. A knee reconstruction, 3rd degree burns, losing family and Facing the Black Dog. 

Martial arts however, in my case Karate-do and Judo, have kept me grounded. A staple diet of challenges and being uncomfortable to help forge Integrity, Will and Spirit. A place of both familiarity and the unknown. 

For nearly 2 years the debilitating pain of hip necrosis was taking its toll. Opioids to help me keep working for my family, along with a tenacity of to not give up, despite how difficult a 12 hour shift was. The D.F.Q attitude, tried and tested over and over, Shift after shift, day after day, month after month.  Forged in the Dojo, an internal spirit i didn't really know i had. It's not until real hardship sets in that you realise just what it is that you're capable of. A Gasshuku would now be a piece of piss by any comparison.  And I have done some hard ones of those.

Coming through the other side of such a massive challenge, staying positive and having hope prepares one for any thing. 

The rehabilitation process is so much easier too. Taking hardships and lessons of the kind away from Karate-do, ensures steady and positive attitude, a can do attitude. Fighting pain and hardship, but of a different kind.  

Karate-do is a beautiful thing when you can use it to win the battles life throws at you. More than a bunch of moves in a gym, school hall or bonafied Dojo. When you can use its very essence, its core teachings and practical approach to problems, you really are blessed in life. 

Jony...

Been a Minute...

 I've not been on the blog for a while, for too long in fact. But this said, it still gets lots of views and interest, of which I hope goes some way to help, inspire or open the eyes (Kaimoku) to the world within which we Martial artists move. 

My absence has been caused by AVN otherwise known as Hip Necrosis. No blood flow to my right hip saw the femoral head die and subsequently in November 24 a total Hip replacement of Titanium, Ceramic and a special polyurethane was had. 

Just when I was cleared to return to training by my surgeon almost a year had gone by and my left Hip joint then presented itself with the same issue. Fast forward another 6 months and I had it replaced last week. So i'm currently in rehab again. 

The rehab process can be slow. Which is how i see it. But this said, I'm told my progress is exceptional, in both cases. For my latest one I was in hospital from admission to discharge for a total of 35 hours. Karate can be attributed to this. Shin, Gi, Tai. Body, mind, Spirit. 

The hardships undertaken in the Dojo can be applied to the process as a whole. 

So, there we have it. My Karate will never be the same again. And at this stage, I'm not too sure what it will actually look like. Titanium hips have a limitation in just how far the joint will articulate before dislocation occurs, so there are Interesting times ahead.

Thanks for stopping by the Blog. I'm now back in a sense, albeit in a different way. Time will reveal what that eventually looks like....

Jony..... 

Moving forward.

 It's been a few months again since a post...  I thought I was back, then bam! Another tear another setback and more rehab. Fortunately I didn't lose any time from work. 

The Dojo beckoned this morning. We were in the minuses a 5:20 am in my part of the World, so being very cautious I started with a good half an hour of Junbi Undo. (Preparation exercises) Exercises that involve bodyweight, body resistance and stretching. 

I only used the Dojo tools today. No Kata at this point as sudden stops in movement aren't good for injury recover or so an expert in sports med tells me. Couldn't get stuck in to a Makiwara either due to the shock generated through the body, but all in good time.

I'm the wrong side of 55 now, considered old by some. 

I prefer to look at it that I'm just getting going. With more than 3 decades training behind me, I see it that I've easily got 3 left in me, but now with more knowledge and experience under my belt, so to speak. 

What I do know is that I don't want to be limited in moving around like I see a lot of my peers. At this point in my life Karate is more about maintaining good health and being able to enjoy a good future and continuing to move forward. It's not about living on past glories and stories or being stuck in an arm chair reading a news paper or watching Netflix every day..  

Stay strong and healthy out there... 

Until next time. Jony.

Life hits hard.

 It's been a while that I have written on the blog... life gets in the way sometimes and hits hard. But this being said, I'm now back.

And what of life? Well, it's easier with Karate in it. This is something I have come to appreciate more and more as my existence on this large rotating globe moves on. 

I'm not talking here of the Karate that the likes of little kids practice or that of which is found on the high street of any large town or City. No, it's the Karate that is practiced in a similar way of anybody who has a home Gym. It's easy training in a group, all that is needed is to develop a habit of showing up and being told what to do. 

Isolated training requires a different mindset. Its a mindset of pure discipline, tenacity and Will. Boxers and Weight lifters of some years have this mindset. To go and train by themselves, going through the same routines and sets day on day rep by rep for slow gradual improvement .

I don't do Needy people. And heaven knows, there are lot of those around in our modern world. Look around and the future is not too bright with their Namby Pamby ways and ideas. 

But this said there is hope. As long as we have those who pursue a solitary life of self improvement through their actions of Discipline, Tenacity and Will, then there will always be a strong societal backbone when it is needed and called upon. 

I'll leave this post here with a quote from Sylvester Stallones fictional Character Rocky Balboa. 

A little goes a long way.

 The weather has turned here in South Australia, there is a distinct bite to the wind and the Dojo is becoming like the winter icebox I have come to know so well. 

Its cold outside 

Training in the cold is always good when it's over. In a conversation today, I talked of how to overcome low motivation. Something the cold weather seems to embrace as it is always more difficult dragging yourself out of a warm house in to the cold to train. But then again, with this said, it all comes down to discipline. 

I read a post last week that said, if you do something for just 16.5 minutes a day, every day, then at the end of a year you will have done 100 hours. I used this in the conversation I had {did not take credit for it} and said the most difficult thing was actually doing the first 5 minutes. 5 turns in to 10 turns in to 20 then 30 and maybe 40. Which if you did every day then more than 240 hours would be achieved in a year.

The Karate maxim of doing a little every day never rang so true, and if nothing else gives purpose and meaning to what might otherwise be sedentary and mundane. A little really does go a long way. 

Be ready....

 Where I reside was a life choice. It's a sleepy little town with low crime and almost zero violence. I like it. It is a complete contrast to the urban areas of inner and outer Birmingham where I grew up and lived for forty years.

But this said, there is always the occasional wanker who might just be out to try and ruin your day. I experienced such an asshole today.

Minding my own business he threw verbal abuse at me for pulling up at a petrol pump he wanted to use, apparently I should be a mind reader and understand that although he was facing the wrong way and turning around, I should have know he was next in line. So acting all tuff he verbally abused me. For about 5 seconds, then he stopped. I wonder why that was. Well, he was faced with an imoveable force greater than himself, an imoveable force that is no stranger to being accosted albeit not that often These days and, as is the norm he turned to mush. Altercation over and he never got hurt.

Ok so my little story, whilst being dead set true is one thing but, it got me thinking and raised a few questions.

The small town I live in is under development and is set to grow quite substantially.

Q,  so will this mean more assholes?     A, quite probably.

Q, Will there be an increase in crime and violence.                     A, Probably. .....solution- work more on fitness and speed to eliminate self doubt and to create readiness.....Better to be prepared and not need it than to need it and not be prepared. 

It's a changing World we live in with snowflakes, namby pamby's and those easily offended like woke people. The thing is there is little to no patience that these people have and flying off the handle so to speak is a normal occurrence for them, they just don't know what to do when someone doesn't give a flying FK about them .... My advice, be ready. 

Going soft

 

Late night training in front of the wooden mirror....

As the title of the post suggests, this has been me. 

It's very easy to let life, injury and the grind of 12 hour rotating shift work get in the way of training, tiredness is ever present.

But this said, when you realise that you are going soft, it doesn't sit right. Training lately has been spasmodic at best, and Ive actually caught myself making excuses not to. Quite different than having a reason.

Tonight, and quite late I might add, I faced the wooden mirror (makiwara) for more than an hour. By the end of looking at myself I was no longer soft. Sore and a little bloody, but certainly not soft. 

When part of an Authentic dojo, a lesson early on was to be "honest with yourself" and if you can't be that with you, then who can you be honest with.....

So with sore hands and arms I begin a new 12 hour shift.... Feeling in general, far better about things...

Jony

 

 

Just you ..

 What you mean to others is actually very little. Outside of family that is. 

And whilst karate groups, organisations, clubs and even small private dojo have this 'thing' they call family, they're not. 

This is evident when you stop training with them. Lip service and b.s is prominent. 

Budo, the art of looking inward to oneself carries no weight it would seem. For if it did then outside of Karate you would still matter. 

It's a common theme,  with no difference in the work place either.

But this being said, and I know how negative the above sounds, it does help develop a ' stoic ' nature. It hardens you mentally. Words like self sufficient, tenacity, and endure have a deeper meaning. As a Karateka, you realise that all the things you thought you needed were really just add-ons, and that ' letting go ' as we so often hear, would serve you well here too.

Being yourself. Is this you? Or haven't you met that person yet? 

A poem " the glittering black" kind of sums this up. 

" With the deepest gaze in to the glittering black, to feel the hand of insignificance pat firmly on the back.

To whom does it matter when the farewell clock strikes its final chime 

Save to yourself and those who love you so, beneath the glittering black." 

Be you, train for you, learn to be stoic and know that ultimately it's just you.

Always has been and always will be

And then be ok with it...

.  

 

You must.....must I !

 So I/You, We, reside within a world, that on a daily basis decisions are made by somebody somewhere at sometime that are supposed to be in My/Your, Our, best interest. 

There's a few things wrong with this.

Firstly, and quite often the decisions made do not come from a position of experience, but are made from one of good intention. That's admirable and all that, but it doesn't necessarily mean that its right, and certainly doesn't mean that You should adhere to it. 

Being a bit of thinker, I'm quite happy to look at decisions made for me by someone else objectively. If I think that there is value in it and it ' fits' within the scope of things I'm happy to do, then ok, I'll go along with it. 

However, if it doesn't, if I'm not happy about it or it doesn't align with my values, then good luck enforcing it, because it just ain't going to happen. 

You see, far too many cowtow to others simply because somebody somewhere at sometime said so.

Be your own person. Don't be a sheep, and make decisions based and what you want, right or wrong. 

Either way, you'll be standing squarely at the feet of experience and not just because you were told to do something that isn't necessarily right. 

Passage of time...

 I was asked the other day if I missed training with others. My immediate answer was a resounding No. 

Understanding the kind of person I am has been at the forefront of seeking contentment, of which I found some time ago. I'm not needy. Don't need others, and for good or bad I'm quite capable of training on my own. This way I don't get caught up in other people's B.S. 

I watched a guy receive his Sensei's black belt once, being promoted to 1st Dan.... he couldn't make his Karate work, and his ude tanren ( arm conditioning) was weak, but hey his Kata looked peachy so why not, good luck to him. This is the sort of thing I don't miss. 

                      No Needy

Karate-do, a solitary pursuit done in The company of others.... To quote my last Sensei..."Or not." To quote me.

I'm finding that these days there are more and more 'needy' people. 

The need for acceptance, the need to be with others, the need to be acknowledged, the need to be validated, the needy list goes on. And again as my last Sensei once remarked, "the need for likes and shares."  

In fairness though, the latter is only relevant if that's what you're after....many aren't. 

So where does Karate fit in? 

Well, if you train in the manner in which Karate used to be trained, then you will learn to be self sufficient. When there is just you, there is no escape from the task at hand and no blaming others for your short comings, you become less needy, self reliant and learn to be by yourself. Completely by yourself. Something I think many have trouble with these days; the passage of time will tell and when looked back upon from the vantage point of experience, you may get a glimpse of who you are, needy or not. 

Beating the Black Dog

 Despite another shoulder injury, this time my left supraspinatus becoming detached just like the right one did years ago, Ive still been training. Nothing to heavy obviously, just simply trying to keep a range of motion that lets me continue to work and provide a living for me and my family. Pain... Yes, giving in ....No 

Rehabilitation of such injuries is hard, with the mental health aspect of recovery probably being the biggest challenge. Accepting that you can't do what you want to or what you once did, being the major source of a downward spiral in mental health. I can't even begin to imagine what service men and women go through with such horrific injuries that they may return home with after putting themselves on the line that we me live in a relatively peaceful society. 

Unless you have hit " rock bottom " and faced the black dog you won't really understand what it's like and the struggle involved in recovery. 

Yes I have, it's bloody hard. 

A friend of mine, a Karate-ka ( person whom studies Karate-do ) is in a pretty rough physical place at the moment which is also impacting on his mental well being. He continues to train despite his injuries, albeit at a toned down level, or is it. 

My last Sensei once said that training at 100% is different for everyone, but as long as you're not slacking off, and giving it 'your' 100% then that is all that can be asked. This in my mind especially includes injury. Infact it probably takes more character to train when being injured than when we are not. 

I generally find that Karate-ka are not very subservient people. The mind set is different. They make good leaders and make and stand by their decisions and moreover own their mistakes. Karate-do breeds tenacity and mental strength, the shear ability to move forward when faced with unpleasantness. Sure there are times when you don't feel like it, can't be arsed or make a feeble attempt at excuses, but the bottom line is you're a Karate-ka and will always be one and, that is enough to move forward one small step at a time, one more kick, punch or Kata to get yourself to a better place, physically and mentally; Beating the Black Dog.

Sun Tzu Said

 Sun Tzu, the master military tactiton who's 5th century B.C.E writings still apply today.

Read probably the greatest military treatise of all time, and you may better understand how to move through life it's very self.

Have you not deceived people in your day to day interactions with them ? Sort to put one over on someone or get the upper hand ? Or even used somebody, being all nicey nicey to get what you want ? Or indeed been a victim of it.

All this can be found in the Art of War written by the afore mentioned. Make no mistake in thinking that the book and the contents that lie within it's pages only apply to battles or wars, they do not. The work place can be and is a prime example as is Your own personal world as you move through it on a daily basis.

The problem arises when people you have been using wake up to your agenda. The smart ones, who may otherwise come across not that well read, become a living nightmare. I've seen it before and it ain't pretty. These people know exactly what they're doing.

In entering many martial art competitions, I always used to study my opponents, if given the chance. Patterns generally emerged which could then help me put a strategy together when engaged in combat on the mat, aggressive or a passive start, wade in or sit back.  It didn't always work of course, but before I stopped fighting altogether I was winning more than I was losing. This can be seen in my medal Tally. But this said the hardest battle was always from within.

A notable 8th Dan Sensei once told me that competition fighting where you would try to beat someone else had little or nothing to do with Budo and was focussing Karate outwardly not inwardly as is the case with the Budo. I took this on face value at the time, well, he was an eighth Dan training in the Art for more than 40 years after all. I now know differently.

The thing about competition fighting though is this, whilst granted you are trying to beat, literally, someone else, you have to beat yourself first. Fear, nervousness, self doubt, fitness ( you have to be first and foremost in good physical condition, a battle with the self if ever there was one) all have to be overcome in stepping out on the mat to being punched, kicked or put in a lock. 

Just to clarify When I was competing we only had a mouth guard and a box, that was it. Split lips, fractured/broken ribs, cuts above the eye, black eyes, bloody noses, stitches and bruising were very common. 

Back to Sun Tzu. 

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer unless that is, you wish to stop their lack of integrity and poor behavior which has now become a personal choice.

Sun Tzu Said "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself then you will succumb in every battle." 

Sun Tzu Said......

 

Authority and the Bus

 People only have Authority over you when You give it to them.

What has this got to do with Karate?

Everything really. 

I realised long ago that Karate, particularly the way of it, the 'Do' is a pathway to freedom and choice. 

Karate is a way to not put up with bullies. To remain calm when faced with aggression (strong violent authoritarianism) for that's what aggression is. Someone forcing you to bend to their will, cowtow to them, to be subservient. 

Conversely it is a way to remain calm until you choose not to be. The leader who bullies his people is shocked when there is one whom he cannot. Make no mistake, the majority of bullies (authoritarians) will back down when faced with a force equal to or greater than their own. It is an amazing leveller. 

"Kaimoku, the opening of the eyes."

You may have heard the authoritarian phrase that goes "or/and, there will be consequences".  This makes me me laugh. I have found myself hearing this phrase a few times over several decades, both as an individual and in a group, and each time I have asked what those consequences are, the person saying it has no fkn idea, and as a consequence of being challenged they fold more easily than a wet tissue, and then try to move on passed what they have said as quickly as is possible. Keep pressing the point and their standpoint of Authority turns to mush. 

I admire leaders who command respect, as opposed to those who demand it. Those who demand it have no idea how to manage people, extract the best from them or recognise when someone might just need a little help.

These types of leaders are self centred and 'own goal' orientated in their daily pursuit of being. You will also find that there is very little in the matter of integrity too; trust them at your peril. There might just be a bus with your name on it. 

Karate and the way of it gives you the choice to be subservient or not, cowtow or not, have a go back, or not.

It teaches respect to give to those who are deserving of it and a tolerance (to a point) of those who do not. 

 In actual fact, the only thing you find you become subservient to, and that has Authority over you is the way of Karate its very self. 

FUN ?

 I've heard many times that learning Karate is 'Fun.

If this is the case then it would explain that what you find in the average high street club is very much diluted from what Karate really is.

I've never in 25 years looked upon my Martial art training as Fun.

Standing in the rain facing a Makiwara is not fun, a necessity, but not fun. The cold rain beating hard against the skin quickly chills the muscles and bone, and all there is for a little warmth is the repetitive blows and relentless thudding of the Makiwara. 

Its a challenge. If Karate the original way wasn't then I guess that then, it would be fun. 

This Makiwara is the thicker of the two I have of this configuration. Its actually quite the beast in so much as there is very little flex within its trunk. The feed back it gives is very different from the more flexible one. Fun it isn't. 

The same goes for the other tools in the Dojo. Used correctly they are certainly a challenge. Not fun.

Knuckle push-ups aren't either. 

Neither is striking Groot.

Groot the Gum tree log....very unforgiving.

Then, back in my Judo days as a lowly yellow belt I had to face a line up of my peers. Fighting first the Dan ranks, and then making my way down all the other ranks to white belt, I won one match of 13.....not fun and very humbling.

Just where the idea of Karate being fun emerged from, I'm not too sure. Probably due to advertising a club to get little kids through the door, this Karateka can only speculate.

Best go and not have some fun now ...  later readers.

Dont be Namby Pamby

 Today I sat and endured a type of training that, IMHO, will create weak minds, weak personalities and more issues than it cares to solve. 

Apparently people are that easily offended these days, that workshops and educational programs are now in place to make people (you and me) aware that anything that is  said might offended someone else.....

Its a great way to generate a new industry and create jobs, spend money and reap the taxes from it. So it starts at the top with Government and then filters on down through companies as law, and therefore a requirement. 

Now, I don't condone bullying or harassment of any kind.  I've been bullied myself back in the day. Hence another reason I do a Martial art.

Martial arts breed and nurture physical and emotional strength, and ultimately a way of being in the world. The 'Do' ...the way of Karate is part of this. It helps us navigate a path through things we don't like, gives us strength and tenacity to deal with the bullshit created by those around us and to us on a daily basis. 

One of the things I have always liked about the Karate world i move within is the non existence of prejudices. No one cares about race, religion, sexual orientation, male, female or even what job you do. 

All that is focused upon is the Karatedo and the training. 

Ex president Obama is noted for saying that Michael Jordan contributed to the way people viewed the Afro American athlete......

Personally I never thought of Jordan in this way....I only ever saw him as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.....his race had fk all to do with anything.....

And this is the problem....something isn't a problem until someone makes it one. Hurty feelings and Namby Pamby attitudes are now the norm.

Personally I don't care much for Namby or Pamby. Nurture strong minds and bodies through sweat and hardship. Or, it could be you're now part of the problem with a 'flowery' Karate club where a student gets an award for just rocking up.  

Martial Happiness

Not all Karate is the same. Not all clubs are the same. Not all organisations are the same. Not all Dojo are the same. But this said, there is a common theme amongst them all....no exceptions....control.

I once had a Sensei who would say or give an impression of one thing, but in actual reality was something else. Sure the Karate was authentic enough, but the thing I was a part of was a bit different than what I was led to believe it was. Maybe I was bit naive, or maybe I couldn't see the wood for the trees, my mind  not wishing to accept that it wasn't what I thought. 

I did however, learn to train myself. Sounds odd right. But its not as easy as you think, training yourself. It's all too easy to 'let yourself off. Let things slide; its not easy putting yourself under such self scrutiny. 

I actually feel a little bit sorry for those i left behind and the illusions they are under. The art of fighting can be an odd thing, with many who do it never having had one....

Training was a free session today ....I do one of these now and again where I give no mind to working on anything in particular. I don't worry about form, or working to exhaustion, I just do my Karate. The opposite if you like of the scrutiny I talk of. And having 3 fractured ribs at the moment hasn't kept me out of the Dojo....that would be letting myself off...... there are no illusions here. 

So....you need to know what it is that you're involved with...it could be you're happy with it, or it could be that you're not sure. Or maybe like I did, you will awake from the illusion and be in a happier Martial place. 

Weapons

 We train repetitively in Martial Arts. Technique after technique repeatedly flogged to within an inch of its life. 

Countless hours also, memorising, regurgitating and trying to understand Kata. The simulated sequence of fighting.... blocks, strikes, locks, throws and kicks that we hone in our basics. 

Typically, partner work is done with compliance, offering the opportunity to try and make your Art work and have a better understanding of the 'in thin air' techniques that every one has an opinion of. 

But this said,  the real fight is very different. There are a multitude of things that all the training in the world cannot possibly prepare you for. 

Fear, for example. My first Sensei Ronnie Christopher of the KUGB noted, that everyone feels fear. But, its what you do with that fear that will make or break you. 

All the training in the world won't help if the mindset isn't right.....

The real fight is messy and unpredictable, spasmodic too, in so much that it is very start stop. The basic punch and kick are the normal go to, possibly a headbutt somewhere, but all the flashy stuff, or kata related techniques go out the window.... 

The number of times I've heard Karateka say " I know that kata" or " I know all the kata" is unreal. Folk getting carried with themselves and false achievement for a bunch moves they can only regurgitate in sequence. 

Working basic punches, kicks and strikes is where my focus lies. Making them strong, quick and effective. My time is precious in the dojo so I don't fill it with things I deem unnecessary. The weapons I rely on are honed and tested nearly every session as are the muscles, sinews and tendons that support the weapon network, something often overlooked in a club.

The realisation of the above can be attributed to the last Dojo i was a part of.  My Sensei always saying that we should be able to take care of our own training and be self reliant. Explore karate for ourselves and keep ourselves in check as we do so. (Thank you Sensei)

I also realised that for me to continue grading through the Blackbelt ranks, then I would have to continually learn new stuff. Some of it unrealistic in my humble opinion, and certainly some stuff that with a tearing body would just make things worse. Karate really, is a young man's game. But then they can be said for any physical activity or sport....of course there are always exceptions, I talk generally of, here.

Hone but a few weapons that you can use effectively. Don't worry about those more awkward or less in keeping with ability. Keep it simple, and true. And don't forget the head.