St. Louis Seminar Materials -1

We received some written information at the seminar in St. Louis and I'd like to share with you some. They don't have any author's name, so I hope it's OK to copy/paste here.

(My comments are in Italic)

Karate Top Ten

1. Present no kyo; mental, emotional or physical.
2. Be prepared. The correct posture, breathing and intention are necessary.
3. Move from your center, make no pre-movements or extra movements.
4. Make no back motion; don't wind up or swing your limbs. (Very similar to #3.)
5. The strongest course of action is also the fastest course of action. (I don't exactly know what this means. Perhaps if you flip "fastest" and "strongest" it makes more sense.)
6. When the hips turn, the foot turns. (? I don't think so. It refers to Mawashi-geri maybe? But even then, I'd want to switch "hips" and "foot".)
7. Be reluctant to ever lose the floor.
8. Straightening the standing leg is not part of any kick. (Any "basic" kick, I may add.)
9. Kiai is necessary.
10. Hard training builds self-confidence, self-confidence leads to stable emotions.

...So I don't completely agree with what's presented here, and I don't think this is the absolute top 10 list. But it sure gives us some ideas to think about...!