NewEnglands_KyoSa

I know that we use electrical tape to denote ranks in between our gup belts. There's one in between orange and green, two in between green and red, and two in between red and black. There's really nothing wrong with them, it's better than duct tape which leaves marks on the belt. and i know a lot of people who wear plain belts and just put their dan bars in electrical tape on it because they want to stay plain and don't see the need for an extravagant black belt. it's just simple and in no way meant to be offensive. it's the more than one color on the same belt electrical tape that kind of makes me mad.

Yea, this is normal but it's called a concussion too many of them can take you out of contact activity and do brain damage for life.

Funny you should ask. All my facilites have airconditioning, their usage depends on where and how hot. Using heat in your training is always an option and a helpful one too. Students who wish are also allowed to wear the school tshirt tucked in their uniforms instead as well.

Welcome!

If someone passes out because they don't hydrate themselves, I can't see how I am blamed. But people don't just pass out, it either has to be extreme situations like extreme heat, extreme lack of nourishment, etc for the body to react like that. And if it's extreme heat, i'll make sure my students are hydrated. The body is only as fragile as you treat it and teach it to be. And i am willing to take responsibility for all of the above because there is nothing wrong with it. These people signed up for martial arts, not basket-weaving...that's why people sign wavers.

What's wrong with good old electrical tape???

Well, i am an avid athlete. I love running, and i do it everyday, except for now that I'm rehabbing from a surgery. And I'm not afraid to pick up a basketball everynow and then either, i used to be pretty good. I am also a certified basketball referee. But aside from that, MAs consume a good chunk of my life.

Yes, i agree with bushido here. The exchange of information and ideas should be the whole point. And as i understand where you're coming from, i'd only be concerned with someone who is going back and teaching their students something that was wrong. As long as the teacher understands it, they have the right to teach it as long as they credit where it came from. When i personally go to other schools i stand at the back wherever i am and if they think that because i am a black belt and i should be moved else where then they'll tell me. if not, i am happy with where i am. I am here to learn not trump people in rank, so if the person coming into your school wants to stand senior to you...let him, what does rank matter anyway? It's just a bunch of dye on cotton. At the end of the day, it's been your school for longer, so your instructor will come to you with issues, ideas, and concepts first. So i'd say don't worry, and just focus on you and what kind of martial artist you look forward to becoming.

Glad everything went well. And sounds like you have an intelligent kid on your hands, or a wiseguy We'll go with intelligent.

Let's keep in mind, that like Ruach said not everyone is fit to use old school methods i have many disabled students and some with serious medical conditions. But i have never met anyone who has passed out from not having the air conditioner on. If you can't make it through a one hour class and you don't have the smarts to hydrate yourself properly beforehand you need to learn good health practices before you learn good martial arts practices. Usually, most students will advise an instructor or are atleast told to if they are feeling that they can't handle things. Just like conditioning...like someone mentioned kicking trees...are you going to start off with the tree? no. You'll probably start of with something with a little padding to it, then so on and so forth.

Well said ninjanurse. I think that is every teacher's ultimate goal. To find the student that one day will have the steadfast passion that you did and have the willingness to learn, keeping pushing forward, and eventually have the wisdom and courage to take over for you. I think i may have two of those students now, but you really don't know what the future will bring.

Training realistically and actually getting hit and hitting someone is a good thing. You don't want to be shocked when it happens because you really can't shake shock, it's like a momentary involuntary mental and physical lapse...momentary being seconds, to minutes. and i think you have to understand threat levels too and study the escalation of force so you know what is proper to use. it is obvious for most black belts but not everyone here or in the MAs world are black belts.

Well said, tallgeese. MAs get in the way of everything and has for a long time. i've had to make very difficult decisions. but i've busted up many relashionships and other important things that's made me realize every now and then i need a break from MAs 24/7 to realize that there's other things that are important too. I love it too much to let it go. I plan on learning and teaching for the rest of my life.

uhm i have literally no space to work out at home with. and when i tried, i smashed a light bulb. but i train outside, in all whether, it's great. i used to have a 400ft gravel driveway which was awesome foot conditioning, but now its paved because i had to get too many front end alignments, it became more worth it to pave the driveway! but i still train out there but considering i do martial arts monday through friday i don't even have much time to practice at home. and i have a key to my dojo that's 5 minutes away from me, beautiful facility, air conditioning, heat, ballet rails, heavy bags, all sorts of weapons, anything you can imagine! it's beautiful.

yea, im not a fan of dan bars either, or rank for that matter. but we have a required format of what our ceremonial belts have to look like and dan bars are apart of it.

Tang Soo Do is a lot about physical strength, you are right here. But this philosophy recognizes all martial artists as humans and in turn relate it to another living thing. In that table is the life of a plant... new , potential...the seed in the ground is new, it has the potential to grow but may never grow for whatever reason starting to grow...you've reached green belt you have made some sort of a commitment so in that you have grown alittle bit. hot, energetic, and agile...representing the full grown flower in it's beauty...it is bright and vibrant and full of life. maturity and wisdom...alot of times as life comes to its natural end you wilt, physically. as the human body slows down, the mind does not. you are a black belt, you've learned, gone through all the stages of the plant, you now no longer have your stregnth and agility and all those other physical things. but you have your maturity which helps you teach others and your wisdom which still gives you the smarts to fight. through this process you learn that not everything is kicks and punches, some things are slips, evasions, seeing whats happening before it happens, knowing where windows are, etc. very good question!

Thank you.

Yea, i mean having no airconditioning is just character building, understand how your elders came up, and understand how lucky most kids are to be training in some of the facilities i've seen these days. Simply stated, it's a luxury. Many of these luxuries are now making some qualities in people weaker, and again it's apart of the whole i want it, wait no, i NEED it, and i need it NOW attitude. Nobody here is saying you have to train in these old methods, no one. But you can't just throw things out because they're old and because we've advanced. We've advanced to speaking with each other on computers, it doesn't mean im going to stop verbally speaking to people.

It's not too expensive and if you're like me you've have had and will continue to have your belt for a long time. I like the embroidered look, but i don't mind a plain belt. and my black belt is from karate depot and i love it, it wears well, just the way i like it. I am getting my masters belt from eosin panther when that time comes, they are amazing quality but very pricey and that doesnt sound like what you're looking for. my karate depot one is nice but like ten buck!

cool thanks for letting us know, im definately going to check it out!

I was talking to some parents tonight about age, etc. and when parents come up to me asking if i think their child is old enough to do karate and i ask how old they are, and if they say he/she is older than the age of five i then ask if he/she knows left from right. i think that's important when dealing with kids

September 5th. Its terrible actually because as a kid, school ALWAYS started on my birthday. That very day, school would start, it was always so crappy!

I agree...just the culture you learn and the people you meet at tournaments makes it all worthwhile. You learn from the bad/cocky/whatever artists how not to train and act and you learn from the good artists/good technitions/good attitudes, etc how to act and what to look up to. Just the culture of being arount different arts is fantastic for kids and adults.

Thank you, and nicely put yourself. Yes 'old methods' often scare people and are viewed as 'bad business.' It is just prevalent now because a lot of the kids. The kids of this age are what i like to call the era of instant gratification. A lot of people don't want the work but would love to have a Black Belt. Sad thing is, the two don't go hand in hand. It's not necessarily the kids fault, it's just the age they were born it, just look at the ridiculously amazing and miraculous technologies we have. We wouldn't me posting if we didn't have it

I never expressed that i would do something just because it is 'old' or 'tradition'...that's just foolish. A mix of old and new is the best way to go. But i think the attitiude that most people hold is that the old ways are too mean or inhumane or whatever. The point is, the so-called 'old way' had many good methods. I am not by any means saying it's the only way. Some new methods are good as well. Being an instuctor is an art, and you should be learning as you teach. Learning new methods, ideas, and drills all the time. Doing any method just because it's old is not good...it's like listening to an old person religiously just because they're old and been around. It could be good, yes, but sometimes they could be telling you to jump off a bridge! Simply stated, instructors need to cater to their students, if you see bored faces, get em moving. If it's hot and they're exhausted, it's time for theory or philosophy. You should always be striving to improve your teaching abilities and methods...new or old.