C&S Online
An Online Newsletter For The
C&S Self Defense Association
Spring 2001

Confidence. Fitness. Success.

Views From Around the Association...

I wrote The Program Director's Orientation Manual (PDOM) in the mid 90's as a resource guide for Program Directors. It describes what association policy and beliefs is, what a club should try to accomplish for its students, and an analysis of what the goal of the different ranks is.

This guide, however, is not just for the Program Director: it is for every student in the association to read. Everyone should be aware of why C&S Self Defense Association was created and what the process of training is that each student is taken through.

I think everyone Green Belt and above should read this manual, though I feel that our Yellow and Orange Belts could benefit from its insights as well. I wouldn't necessarily advocate just anyone off the street having access to it, but for serious students of our association I feel it is important that you understand its material. This material directly impacts you and what could be a lifetime of involvement with our association, its goals and beliefs.

Please take the time to read the PDOM. Your Program Director should have a club copy readily available for review.

---

Grandmaster Peter M. Rose holds an 8th Degree Black Belt. He began his studies with Grandmaster S.A. Brock in 1968. He has operated the Rose School of Karate in Portsmouth, NH since 1972. Grandmaster Rose is a senior software analyst, designer, and technical project manager. Grandmaster Rose can be reached at zzrose@yahoo.com , or you can visit his personal web page at http://www.zzrose.com/pmr.html.

It's not too often that a movie comes along that has both martial arts action and a love story that the critics love; however, "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is taking theaters by storm! What started out as a foreign film with a limited release has now received 10 Academy Award nominations and has now been released to a larger number of theaters. Recently, a few members of the Somersworth School of Self Defense took to the darkened theater to see what the excitement was all about. We knew the movie was subtitled and wondered if that would make it impossible to keep up with the plot. After all, how many movies do you ever go to that you have to read as well as watch! Needless to say we were all pleasantly surprised and thought it was a great movie that deserved a "Siskle and Ebert" review for the newsletter. I posed the following questions: did you like it - why/why not? Did you feel there was a message to the movie? What was the message you got?

Sensei Bruce Vinciguerra says, "When I go to a movie I hope that I can see realism as well as fantasy...What made this film more enjoyable than just another typical Martial Arts movie is that is told a good story and had the fantasy mixed in. " The message he got was that "The movie emphasized respect and honor even among adversaries."

One of our Green Belts, David Gouldsborough, reports "I tried not to laugh at the flying people. That was a little over the top." The messages that David got were "the powers of love and kindness will always overcome the dark side, and secondly, the love story between the two stars was a good example of what not to take for granted in our life."

Lastly, I get to share my thoughts. I really enjoyed the action and the beautiful landscapes. There is something so mysterious and timeless about the people and temples in China. I agree that the flying and the tree fight scene was way over the top, but hey, that's a typical old style martial arts movie. One thought that really struck home, perhaps because I am in the process of really analyzing our kata's, is the point they made (at least twice) of learning the symbols but not knowing the meaning. It was knowing the meaning behind the "secret texts" that allowed the princess to be so far ahead of her master - who only knew the symbols. This reminded me of when you first learn a kata. You spend the time to learn the movements and you may even have really good form; however, you don't have the spirit that comes from knowing the meaning behind the movements. When you integrate that knowledge with your physical movement, the kata becomes so much more dynamic and powerful. (THIS DOESN'T APPLY JUST TO KATA EITHER!). That is what makes the difference between a good practitioner and a good martial artist. Ok - that was the practical application of the movies message to me in relation to Karate - but - how do I apply that in real life?

Well, we use symbols all the time - the English language for one. We can read it, but the written word is easy to misinterpret. E-mails are misinterpreted all of the time. We also have the Bible. The Bible is full of symbolism and people interpret it according to their own knowledge, backgrounds and needs - thus we have many different flavors of religion based upon one book. We have symbols for life and for marriage - yet how many of us truly open ourselves up to the point that we feel we have bared our souls for others to see and touch. Typically, we close ourselves off so that we reduce our chances of getting emotionally hurt; unfortunately, that also reduces our chances of feeling great heart exploding joy as well. The message for me was that we really have to study the symbols in our life so that we come to a greater understanding of ourselves. If we don't know ourselves, then we are just "going through the motions" and not really experiencing life as best we can.

I had one final review of this movie that I thought I would pass along as well. This one comes from my wife - who is not a martial artist. She loved it! I give her credit for going to see a "martial artsy" type movie, but you know what? It doubles as a "chick flick" too due to the romantic theme of the movie.

Sensei Vinciguerra rates the movie 2 and 1/2 stars.

David Gouldsborough rates it 2 stars.

I would give it 3 stars.

Don't just take our word for it though, do yourself a favor and go see it!

---

Shodan Larry Holman is a student and instructor at the Somersworth School of Self Defense in Somersworth, NH. He began his martial arts training in 1982 with Grandmaster Rose. After taking some time off for personal reasons he continued his training under Sandan Bruce Vinciguerra. He lives in Dover, NH, with his wife Sue and their three children. Shodan Holman can be reached at lholman@mediaone.net.

A couple of months ago, I was driving home from work listening to a local Jazz radio station. I was particularly moved by a song concerning the quality of the human soul. The lyrics of the song postulated that whatever qualities are owned by our souls can never be taken away.

This theme was particularly resonant for me because of my ski/snowboard instructor experience. During ski/snowboarding clinics, we would obviously practice drills. Our instructor would indicate our proficiency at these drills through ownership, rental or "not even in the neighborhood" status.

If we owned a drill, we could execute it flawlessly every time. If we rented a drill, we could execute it some of the time. "Not even in the neighborhood" speaks for itself. Ironically, I immediately owned the "yard sale" and "face plant" drills, but never could find the "royal christy" neighborhood.

This ownership theme can be applied to our art in many different ways. Do you own your basics? Do you own your drills? How about your kata?

This concept can be further extended into our philosophy. Do you own the attributes of personal confidence that allow you to approach each day without fear? Ultimately you can solve any problem with that attitude.

Master Dusenbury asked all the students in his class last week if they had it. I had no idea exactly what he was talking about, but I knew I had it (I would not even think about answering any other way.). Ultimately Master Dusenbury was referring to the ability and confidence to break a board. Whatever it was, it did not matter to me. My abilities are a manifestation of the confidence I own.

So, can you find the neighborhood? Can you rent? If so, what work do you have to do to own?

---

Nidan Russ Jones lives in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire where he founded the Sachem Self Defense School. He began studying martial arts under Grandmaster Rose in September, 1985. Nidan Jones is a Senior Software Engineer at RiverDelta Networks in Tewksbury, Ma.. In his spare time, he can be found snowboarding, hiking, playing bottleneck slide guitar or doing kata in the park next to his house. Nidan Jones can be reached via email at: elizibethreed@yahoo.com.