Absolutely Superb

The article from which this quote comes is absolutely superb. I could have profitably quoted much, much more from it. If I could write like this, I would own myself a writer. Emphasis is mine:

Since God no longer exists in government, and his history there is no longer taught, is it any wonder that millions upon millions of Americans believe, in utter opposition to the founding philosophy, that our rights come from the government? Where else would they come from? And should it be any surprise if those same Americans desire that the government give them other things as well? After all, if our rights are not by the grace of God but by the grace of government, then whoever controls the government has the ultimate authority over man. Government by definition can do no wrong. This is precisely the kind of thinking our Founders literally warred against. It is also precisely why Americans of all faiths should be proud to own America’s Christian Heritage, and why without it, America is lost.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.” - Thomas Jefferson,
“Deist”

“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian Nation…” - Barack Obama, “Christian”

Hat Tip to the inimitable Kat.

And just as an afterthought, it occurs to me that people who enjoy that article might also enjoy Benson Bobrick's Wide as the Waters.

Can't Find RyuTe in Oklahoma? Consider Seidokan

In some respects, I am remarkably fortunate. In the whole of Oklahoma, as far as I know, there are only a handful of RyuTe practitioners. There is one fellow way out in the Western part of the state whom I've not yet met, and I have no idea how many students he has. Probably not many. Looks to be a pretty rural area. And there is my own teacher, whose health issues make it quite impossible for him to take on more than the handful of students he has. He's said that if an association member from elsewhere in the country were to move into the area, he'd take him as a student, but otherwise...

I am lucky, very lucky, to be able to study RyuTe here. And I'm sure that there are people in Oklahoma who would love to be in my shoes, people who've heard of Taika Oyata and RyuTe and who would love to be able to study.

Well, I can't help those people. Not really. I am not a teacher. But I do have a suggestion: consider traveling down to Oklahoma City occasionally and studying Seidokan karate. Seidokan has some things in common with RyuTe. They are not identical; don't get that impression. But though Seidokan's tuite is different from RyuTe's, they at least have tuite; they have some very practical kata applications. There is even some lineage in common: Seidokan's founder, Sian Toma, received much instruction from Uehara Seikichi, headmaster of Motobu Ryu, and someone with whom Taika Oyata participated in a research group, if I'm not mistaken.

There's a gentlemen--a yondan, or fourth-degree black belt--teaching Seidokan in Oklahoma City by the name of Adolph Pearson III. He is assisted by his wife, Jackelyn Pearson. If you're in Oklahoma and interested in tuite, and frustrated that you can't find a RyuTe instructor, consider giving Mr. and Mrs. Pearson a call. Follow the link to find contact information. If you want to know what Seidokan tuite looks like--if you're unfamiliar with the subject, bear in mind that what you are about to see is karate, not aikido or jujutsu--here's a sample:

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UPDATE: If I understand the situation correctly, a seventh-dan RyuTe practitioner has, in fact, moved to Edmond recently. If you are interested in pursuing studies with him, you can probably obtain contact information from via the RyuTe website

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The Occasional Wisdom of Standing Pat

A phrase I heard on the radio the other day is the title of a recent Wall Street Journal editorial and also of a book: "Don't just do something. Stand there."

As soon as I heard it, I wished I could take credit for it. It is brief, to the point, and very expressive of a simple truth that is too often forgotten: In the mad rush to "do something," all too often anything, to solve some problem, real or perceived, we are prone to forget the all-too-real possibility that we might make things worse.

"Possibility" is too mild a word when "doing something" means "government doing something." When government does something, the probability of screw-ups and dangerous unintended consequences is so high as to be a virtual certainty.

The reality is that often, even in the midst of a very bad situation, the best course of action government can take is simply to "stand there," recognizing that it is simply not suited to be the agency by which the solution comes. Sometimes it really is best to just stand pat.

The Fingerprints of God

A Quote from "Openhand"

This gentlemen has been practicing RyuTe for a long time now. I thought I'd share this particularly pithy comment with you:

I've observed (numerous) “video” training tapes, and been in attendance at more than several Lectures (ie. “seminars). What I (more often than not) “get” from them, amounts to a desire (by the lecturer) to believe (without question) “what-ever” they, the presenter, is “selling”(most often “literally”) to the attendee's. Very often, these presented “concepts”, depend on some “theory” that the presenter has “come up with”. Often (IMO, too often) these are “based” on (some form of) “vague” Chinese Medicine Theories. Which, only means that YOU, can't (really) cross-check the information with any “reliable” sources (to validate any authenticity to the claim). If you do actually “research” the TCM “theory” part of it all, you (fairly quickly) discover that there is/are MANY conflicting concepts in that whole “theorem” (TCM).
RyuTe is NOT based on, nor does it utilize any of those (or similar) concepts in it's instruction. Taika's only remark of those theory's is “Bull****” (or, more accurately,”Buu-****”,LOL).
Their “prominence”(of use), more illustrates the (complete) lack of real “study” or practice by those individual's(ie. It's easier to blame a bad “Ki” flow, than to admit to a bad technique “execution”).
By the same token, techniques that depend on (only) physical “strength” to be effective, are of little use (to the average student). Granted, “strength” is an admirable attribute to have, but is “hardly” any guarantee of successful technique execution and can ( from my own observations) even prove to be a detriment to the initial “learning” process.

You can learn a lot from this guy's blog. It's well worth your time, if you are at all interested in old Okinawan karate.

The Key to Predicting Human Behavior

Here it is. Click on it for a larger image.

Hope that cleared things up for you--that is, once you get a grasp of this, predicting what people will do gets much easier.