Zaine

+1 for reading Frankenstein. A lot of books from that era are written to the audiences of that era and can feel archaic to modern readers. Frankenstein grips you, though. Mary Shelley hit it out of the park. Also, it's the first sci-fi novel ever and, if nothing else, understanding the origins of sci-fi is a really interesting use of time.

One can only hope!

We're really excited for the upcoming Frankenstein by Guillermo Del Toro.

I posted this and then had more thoughts. I want to come back to this point, in particular, because doing this really created a lot of growth in my martial arts. As we know, kata is not a choreographed fight. No one with any actual understanding of kata who was unfortunate enough to need to use their training in a real situation would start doing pinan shodan to get out of it. Instead, if they have worked the techniques in pinan shodan with a partner, they might be inclined to use a particular technique from that kata in their attempts to get away from the confrontation. By adding restrictions to your kata, you open up lines and variations in your technique. You start to ask yourself "how would this work if I couldn't take a step? How would this work if I couldn't extend my arm all the way?" These questions and concepts can then be drilled with a partner. You end up exploring more than the surface level of a kata. It's an incredible way to gain understanding. When I started doing this, I was already a black belt. The growth you experience as you rank up becomes increasingly incremental and you learn to look for the change in different ways. Doing this, on the other hand, was anything but incremental for me. It really pushed me towards growth much faster than I had expected.

It really depends on what I'm doing. Sometimes I go slow to help emphasize techniques and feel them through. When I do this, I often employ some amount of dynamic tension (similar to Sanchin). Sometimes I do it faster than I would normally go so that I can push myself. When I do it for tests I do it at what I consider a normal speed. A valuable practice is changing up the cadence of your kata. What does it look like if you can't move your feet? What does it look like in a space too small for the kata? All this changes, of course, when you want to compete. The kata becomes less about the effectiveness, and more about the performance. You benefit from taking dramatic pauses, going fast with some sequences, and slower with others. This may seem silly, but I have found use in practicing kata this way, as well. Plus, if you're doing demonstrations (in public places or even just in front of peers) it does look cool if done with skill.

I've been enjoying it immensely. It's can be hard to teach your children, especially at first. You're their parent, and kids have a hard time switching into that mode of learning rather than just being your child. Anyone with a child who was in school during lockdown can tell you this. However, it is very rewarding.

I do think that there is some nuance here. If the TKD tournament restricted poomsae (kata) to only TKD forms, then I can see an argument being made that the black belt should be allowed to compete in a lower rank for the poomsae section. However, personally I disagree with the argument as presented. A black belt in another system will, all things being equal, have much more technical prowess over their poomsae than someone at the same level. In this case, all roads, regardless of merit, lead to the competitor only competing in the BB divisions.

It's almost a rite of passage to ruin a white gi with bleach

I take an active part in a local tournament circuit. When I started attending that circuit, I was either a 4th or 3rd kyu. I went as a black belt, because that was the highest rank I had attained. It didn't matter to me that I wasn't a black belt with the current school. I had attained a black belt in my first school. For me, there was of course the ethics of competing at a lower tier. It's unfair to the other competitors who trained very hard to compete. More than that, though, was that I had no desire to compare my skills to lower ranks. Playing a video game using cheat codes isn't nearly as fun as playing it as intended. Similarly, I want real stakes. I want to be able to lose. I want to be up against people who are not only at my skill level, but above. I want to learn. I can't do that sweeping the green belt division. Similar to what others have said, if I found out that anyone was lying about their rank to get an easier competition, they would be expressly forbidden to coming to any more tournaments.

My first student was my child. Unless you want a more philosophical answer, in which case I was my first student.

I would take it to a cleaner. Cleaners are pretty inexpensive, just do some research to make sure that you're taking it to someone who looks trustworthy.

For me, it's about trust. I start bo fairly early, but I need to know that my student is going to be responsible. Do they have awareness of their body? Are they mature enough not to joke around with a literal weapon? These are all considerations. Safety is a priority and insurance claims are not cheap. I also think we can look at the demographics of Eastern martial arts and HEMA. Systems of karate have a very low barrier to entry. All you have to do is show up and pay some dues. Most schools seem to offer a gi with the first payment of dues. Furthermore, a lot of the revenue for Karate is seated in the youth classes. If we're apprehensive about handing an adult a weapon right away, then doing so with a child would be much worse. Because it is easier to have a homogenous curriculum so that one party doesn't become angry that the other is learning more, often times the difference in the content is small. You'll notice a difference in approach between these age groups, but they are generally taught everything in the same order. This simplifies a lot of the work that a dojo/dojang owner has to do, but admittedly doesn't allow for a lot of variance in those who are more interested in different aspects of martial arts. HEMA, on the other hand, is mostly adults. The barrier to entry is much higher. Yes, clubs often have loaner equipment, but you're encouraged to purchase your own gear if you plan on coming for a prolonged period of time. You still have club due, of course, but even a cheap, good trainer (e.g. Feder) start in the $150 - $200 range, and you still have to buy the accoutrement. This means a mask, gloves, possibly a gorget, most clubs recommend a certain type of sole for your shoes, you need body protection, so at least a gambeson. The bill ads up, and while buying good quality gear will last you a long time if taken care of, you're still accepting a future in which everything needs to be replaced eventually. Few parents, who already have to deal with buying new clothes, shoes, etc. every time their child grows an inch, which is a lot, want to sign up for that kind of monetary commitment. It also works against HEMA that it is so connected to historical analysis. Often, HEMA benefits from you having some historical knowledge (which members of HEMA clubs are only too happy to teach you about) and not a small amount of picking up medieval texts and reading them, interpreting them, and then drilling them over and over again. Not a lot of kids are down for the rigors of HEMA, and that's fine, HEMA has an academic flavor to it that it really enjoys and I enjoy that aspect of training HEMA. It just comes down to trust and confidence that your students are going to remain safe. When you have a bunch of adults, it's a lot easier to impress upon them the importance of not only being aware of yourself, but of your surroundings. Kids and teenagers usually build this awareness quickly as they progress, but lack the necessary maturity to handle a weapon upon joining a dojo/dojang.

There was a robot boxing movie, Reel Steel, that was a fun exploration of this idea. These, of course, were controlled by a human, but I think that it would be interesting to teach karate and other martial arts to AI and put them in a ring together.

This is the automated future that I wanted. Let me see that robot hit the other robot's capacitor clean off!

It probably was clear! I sometimes miss little nuances like that!