NewEnglands_KyoSa

Good luck, i'd like to heart what it will be/was like? Let us know.

I third the australia thing. i've always wanted to go...we have an aussie at our studio...i love his accent!

Good, im glad i could be of some assistance. Emotions can run high in MAs for various reasons and instructors need to be prepared to deal with that because people are only human and it will happen. But, it sounds like you have things handled...keep me posted, and let me know how things go!

Uhm, that's very lengthy and confusing. Usually, when you don't get straight answers of your instructor...it's not a good thing. I'd be a little wary of what you're doing and what this school is all about. Just the fact that i am a black belt and instructor of multiple styles and can't really follow what your instructors are telling you sets off bells and whistles with me too. I'd just be very careful, that's all.

This is very sticky and in my professional opinion you musn't go any further in speaking. This is because you want to make 100% sure you will not be looked upon as the bad guy. So, unless you are spoken to by your instructor about this i would respectfully decline speaking any further about this with anyone else. No disrespect to you, but i think that you should not have seen or heard about the contents of this email or even that it occured because now it is causing a problem. I think that it may also have been wrong of the sempai to take a private email between him, the head instructor, and the person who sent it and speak of it to anyone else, even if it affected you. Me, as an instructor would not do that, and avoid the further conflict it has caused and also the uncomfortability and general awkwardness it is causing you ma'am. Instructor matters are instructor matters for a reason, that is obviously the case now that you are afraid to go back to class. In my opinion, and judging this on my own prior experiences i would say this needs to be squashed immediately in a team effort fashion by the head instructor and sempai, not a tag team, and not ganging up, but by with the head instructor leading the way and the sempai taking a firm stance behind him. Nothing looks worse than a student/co-worker disagreeing with his head instructor on matters such as this. The head instructor needs to take control of this before it ruins your training experience. Because women in the MAs are already looked down upon and often times have to prove themselves to be accepted, that doesn't happen everywhere BUT that's just the way it USUALLY is. You don't need anymore reason to make things harder on yourself. Like i said, ease this on your end and try to be quiet. But honestly i'd give it a week or so(no more than two!) that should be enough time for the instructor to think, get a feel for what's going on in class, watch a class or two behind the scenes, speak to the sempai and make a decision. If he does not make a decision and training becomes hard for you, and the disrespect continues, i would strongly consider, and i highly recommend you leave. Respectfully, with a letter(so carefully written) explaining your thoughts and why you are leaving(don't just up and leave, that only leads to more trouble and having your name dragged through the mud!). I am truly sorry this is happening to you ma'am. It only takes little political or 'clicky' things like this that make the training experience tainted and not worth it. I personally would not tolerate this in my dojo/dojang and would be very upset with mostly everyone involved, sempai and all. I wish you much luck and i hope things changed. Hope this helped!

wow, i've never done this before hmm... 1 rubber knife 1 wooden knife 2 beautiful real knives 1 sword set 1 'fantasy' sword(not a big fan, it was a gift) 1 huge karate duffel bag 1 karate uniform bag 1 set of foam chuks 1 regular staff 1 two piece red competition staff 1 pair of adidas karate shoes 1 pair of white ringside boxing gloves 1 set of navy blue macho sparring gear 1 pair of century gloves, open fingers(amazing, leather, my favorite!) 1 pair of hardwood tonfas that's all i can think of for now... i have an 75 dollar gift card to a place in chinatown, i can't wait to blow all of it!

So as to cause no disrespect or unrest i'd talk to the offender in my office and tell him that his actions are inexcusable. He's been given a lot of opportunities and has been treated very nicely. I would explain iam very disturbed by his actions and give him a warning, and if this occurs again i would have to dismiss him from the school. Before he joins though, i would like an apologize from him to the woman who he called out in the middle of class, and the sempai. Also i would call the students affected(the woman, the sempai, etc.) and explain that the matter has been handled and the student should not be treated any differently. He has one more chance, and if they think something violates this chance to tell me(the head instructor) and i, and ONLY i will dismiss him. I would then ask for everyone to put this behind them and act normally. Hope this helps. and good luck with this situation, sounds sticky.

Well said! No worries Patrick, i don't think anyone took it the wrong way

Sorry Pat, but i can't pick just one. for pure vacation purpose...and tropical island, aruba, bahamas, hawaii, whatever. for karate vacation purposes...south korea, shaolin temple, etc.

Not built in, but a i have a TomTom. Not gonna lie, it's got me outta some sticky situations, but it can be one annoying machine sometimes!

yes, you're right. i suppose 1000 would be my next goal. sometimes i find myself taking the closed mouth stance just so i don't say something that would get me the boot! i often find i learn a lot more from listening anyway, which is often the case in life. but yes, 1000 here i come i suppose!

Those are very good suggestions, and we would if it was just a tradition of the organization we left. Because it is a tradition of Kempo, and he is more than qualified for such a rank, my current Instructor who runs the school insists. I see no problem with it, and if it's kempo tradition then so be it. Now, if he was a 7th or 8th and we had to jump him to 10th, or if he wasn't worthy i would step up and say well...following that tradition might jeopardize the integrity of the school. That, in my eyes would be a big no no, tradition or no tradition.

I see what you are saying here. This would be tough to do. Especially because I'll bet that we all take for granted the fact that our students can see. It would be fun for both teachers and students if we did a class where we had the students blindfold themselves. I must say, you're right. It was quite a test of my patience at times, and definately a test of my teaching abilities, but i was glad it happened to me. Not because i think i did the best job with him, but because i learned so much about myself and so much more about how to teach my students. It was an incredible learning experience for me. You truly don't realize it until it happens to you, and one blind kid, can slow down a whole class of 20 so you learn how to balance a class and a student in dire need, and so much more! And as for blindfolding...it is a great tool. I use it a few weeks before my students test. I have them get up, and i position them, make sure they know where they are starting and then i blindfold them with their own belt! Then they proceed to do their form. It's safe, it's a learning experience, and it's really quite a trip to realize where you end when you're done! It helps the kids a lot, i'd definately suggest it to other instructors.

Thanks Bushido! and Congrats...go get 'em.( No offense Patrick! )

Huh? What? Possible in KEMPO. But Songahm Taekwondo/ATA is governed by a 9th degree black belt. The number 9 is significant to the Korean people. This being said, ATA has NO 10th Dan! My style IS governed by a Judan (10th Dan), but I'm a Okinawan style. Yes, it is so in Kempo. As for other styles they all have their own unique rules and traditions.

One cannot run a school by themselves. As an instructor myself, and brought up by many great instructors, i know they appreciate help and input and i(as an insturctor) and they(as instructors) admit we'd be nothing without it. respectful comments and concerns are not a problem. i often find that my students see things that i don't. i open my doors to my students for suggestions and concerns and as long as they are brought to me respectfully and not in a pointing fingers fashion, it is perfectly fine. I do not blame you for feeling this way tkdan, it puts a black mark on one's time in the art and makes accomplishments like dan ranks mean less. i understand, and do not think that it's an issue to bring it up if you are respectful. best of luck.

Well as crazy as it is, and upset as you probably are...i must say that your son has a lot of guts to do that at a tournament in front of a crowd, and a lot of humility to be a black belt doing a yellow belt form for competition. It will be an interesting story to tell when he's an adult black belt someday. But with my students they must do their highest or second highest form, i will not let them to do any lower. i leave room for one form lower because they may not feel as comfortable with their highest, especially if its a new form. But, i don't know, just let him take his course. to throw out pride for a girl...that's rare...haha no offense guys

Well, as i realized i was nearing my 500th post i was thinking that i want to make my 500th a meanful post and i figured what way to make it more meaningful than to make a thread about it. So here it is, our own community celebration thread. Post here for the big stepping stones(500, 1000, 1500, 2000, etc!) So here it is on my 500th post(woo! ) Happy Posting!

I had a blind student for two and a half years. He quit shortly after because his home situation was tough. But it was interesting to say the least, a lot of voice directional commands. I had to be very careful as to how and when i was walking across the room because i had him trained to the point where he could follow my voice if i was in a set place. So i could say "ok now, pick up your back leg and move towards me". but before that it was a lot of picking him up and putting him where he belonged, touching the shoulder he was to turn to, etc. To be honest, i still don't know how we both did it, it was a team effort. I don't know if i could handle more than one blind student at a time though. A TEAM! that's amazing. so much credit to them and their coaches/aids/trainers!

it is the tradition of the Kempo Karate system, not the organization from which we left.

My experience is that, that is the correct way to score(dropping high and low and then averaging) but when you get a tie the two competitors tied do their forms side by side and get scored again. that's just one way i've seen it done though. there are many many ways of course.

it's tradition/law that a 10th dan governs you. it's a kempo thing, i'll get more detail on it as it goes along. but to be on your own a 10th has to govern it i suppose.

ohh, i get it now. thanks. so i can subscribe to some MA's ones if i do some research...cool!

Well, a week ago we broke away from our kind of 'governing' organization, as respectfully as possible(we did so for various reasons, that's another post!). With that being said, it is Kempo Law/Tradition that you have to have a 10th dan to govern your organization so, my Instructor(there's two a 9th and an 8th) but we decided the 9th dan is going to be promoted to 10th at a kids tournament that we're hosting at our Dojo on June 14th. We have a Hung Gar Kung Fu master who we're affiliated present and an 11th generation Soke Grandmaster Samurai present. The cool thing is, is that i have two schools, this kempo and my tang soo do one all in the same town! this is the first time both of my schools are coming together, my tsd school has about 25 kids enrolled in the tourney and all the instuctors of my TSD association will be present. This is very exciting and quite an honor for everyone present including my instructor. The thing is, he's not going to be happy to be promoted. he's a very humble man, who has the most beautiful ceremonial belt from hawaii(red trimmed in silver), but refused to wear it and wears his original BB from the 60's that is no longer black and only has 8 stripes on it because he could care less to put his 9th on it. He won't be happy and probably won't display his rank, but he will take the bullet for us so we can follow tradition, im sure. I'm very excited, and not too sure what i should do to prepare, i have alittle less than a month and all i can think of is bring my camera and wear my dress uniform. any suggestions would be good, and i think it would be proper that i bear a gift as well...any suggestions on that would be great. I'm very happy for him, and my two schools, congrats all around!

I didn't even know YouTube had channels??? ...so im outta this one.