JohnASE

Did you know that Elvis Presley took Kenpo from Ed Parker? I never met Mr. Parker, but I went to the Parker house once, back in the 80's, and saw one of Elvis' capes on display in a glass case. It was white, covered with studs or rhinestones.

I'm no expert, but Elizabeth's suggestion is the first thing that occurred to me. It shouldn't be too hard for someone to walk you through the procedure on the phone. I'd offer to do it, but I'd bet you have Windows, and I'm not that familiar with Windows. Maybe your computer person would be wiling to help you to determine whether you really need to take it in. On a related topic, having a full hard drive is not good. Your computer would be much happier with some free space. If you're not ready to upgrade your computer and can't delete much, you need some kind of additional, external storage. External hard drives are pretty cheap these days. I didn't realize how cheap until I followed Adamo's links! Alternatively, if you can get by with less storage, you might be able to make do with a flash drive. There are actually a lot of back up options. Things to consider are how much info do you want to back up, what's your budget, and how computer savvy are you? Do you want to back up everything or just a few of your more important files? My mother-in-law has a few, small, crucial files she needs to back up. She doesn't care about the rest. My wife set her up with a flash drive and showed her how to copy files from her hard drive to the flash drive. It was simple and cheap. Great solution for DOC files, but not as good for large photos or video. At work, I periodically back up to an external hard drive that I only run while backing up. I just copy over all the files I want to save. It's not very elegant and takes a long time, but it's easy. There's software available that can keep track of things and only back up files that have changed since your last back up to be more efficitent. Oh, and it can compress the data for you too, enabling you to back up more data to a smaller space. This can be important if you're backing up a lot of info. You can also back up to CDs or DVDs if you have a burner. I don't remember why I didn't like this option. I think it had to do with problems adding more info after burning, even with re-writable media. This might be good for files that don't change, like photos, video, or music. These are just a few, quick thoughts from a non-pro. Good luck retrieving your data!

LOL...Seeing that this forum is for discussing things concerning the martial arts...I create most of my topics/thread, like this one, for the sake of us to discuss 'it' amongst ourselves; to have a friendly and informative conversation. Nothing more, nothing less. I found this thread both interesting and educational.

I agree with tailgeese. The choosing is made by one individual. If the rest of the organization is to go along with it, they're opinions should be considered, but in the end it is one person's decision.

I don't have a source for Meijin in the UK, but it's a product of Dragon/Tsunami. Maybe ask them if someone distributes Meijin there. I wouldn't be surpised since they're UK ex-pats! http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/

I'm late to this thread, but I'll throw in my 2¢. It's kinda funny that Elizabeth's "this" link was to Cool Guard, Slayer2004's link was to Cool Guard, and IcemanSK's link included a "Super Chest Guard" which is a Cool Guard with thicker inserts. I guess people like them! I also recommend Cool Guard. We've carried them for a few years or so. Most of our customers find them more comfortable than typical turtle shell types. They also like that they wrap around the sides a bit. They're more expensive than most turtle shells, but our customers think they're worth it. Oh, and one more thing. With these types of products, fit is important. If the inserts are too big, the edges can dig into you uncomfortably. If they're too small, they might not be able to adequately disperse impact.

Zen Kamikaze, are you in Greece? Advice might be different for different countries. Are you planning on selling merchandise? Uniforms or sparring gear? If so, here, in the U.S., you should have a resale license. Many dojos get by without one, but if you are a serious business, you need to keep things legal. Selling merchandise can be a pain and dealing with sales tax definitely is, but selling can also generate extra income to help support the dojo, and your experience can help students get decent quality gear at a reasonable price. Oh, and yes, the hours can be brutal. Many dojo owners have a day job and teach after work. Some start their day job early, work a full day, then teach kids in the afternoon and adults in the evening. Many of them are really tired! Even when you love teaching, being busy from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM several days per week can take its toll.

I've heard many Shito-Ryu karate-ka use "Oss". My ex-girlfriend is part of Minobu Miki's organization, and people in her dojo used it all the time. I remember them using it as a greeting. I don't remember them using it as "yes" for agreement, but I do remember them using it when acknowledging a command or instruction. I'm sure I've heard people from other Shito-Ryu groups use it and definitely Shotokan. Not sure about Goju or Wado or the Shorin Ryus. Many believe that Japanese should be used in the dojo for consistency among countries. The theory is that you could visit a dojo in Greece or Mexico or Japan and train with them because you all know terms like "sensei" and "hajime" and "yame". Or if a sensei comes from a foreign country to give a seminar, it would help if he could give basic commands in a common language. Have you ever spoken English to a Japanese sensei? Some are fine, but some are really hard to understand, even if they've lived in the US for several decades!

I posted a little about this on our Facebook page, and I thought people here might like to know. THE SHORT VERSION Expect martial art uniform prices to go up in 2011. If you're thinking about getting a new gi soon, I'd do it sooner rather than later. Cotton price increases are driving up the prices of uniforms. I've talked to other vendors, and it's crazy out there! Most are looking at 30% to 60% increases, but I've heard as high as 100%. I'd guess that most of the bigger percentage increases will be on the lower end of the market, but high end gis should go up as well. ADDITIONAL INFO There's a worldwide cotton shortage. As I understand it, the bad economy had led farmers to grow less cotton, then catastrophic floods in 2010 destroyed significant amounts of those crops. Now, everyone is scrambling to get enough cotton. Someone told me that cotton is about 2.5 times what it was last year on the commodities market. People have talked about switching to synthetics, but I don't see much of that happening. Developing and introducing new products takes time, maybe not as long as it takes to grow more cotton, but it won't be worth it for most companies. Some companies have already increased prices. Others have announced pending increases. Some might be waiting, but not many companies can afford to lose money for very long. I think everyone will have to raise prices, it's just a question of when and how much. We just received an announcement from Tiger Claw for increases effective February 1st, but we don't have any numbers yet. I would expect uniform prices to stay high for at least all of 2011. I wouldn't expect new crops to grow and be transformed into uniforms until the end of 2011 at the earliest. Then, who knows what supply and demand will be like, but I'd bet that if prices go down, they won't go down much, at least not right away. I'd guess that it'll be at least a couple years before prices come back down, and I hope I'm not being optimistic. At ASE, we're raising uniform prices across the board. Prices aren't finalized yet, and I haven't examined suggested retail as closely as wholesale prices, but they're probably up about 30% to 40%. Tokaido might be around there or lower. Tokon is only going up a little. Adidas is definitely going up, but I'm not sure how much yet. We need to confirm some things with the US distributor. By the way, I expect this to be a worldwide problem. The cotton shortage is worldwide. Most of our sources and our competitors' sources are in Asia. I'm sure all of these factories provide uniforms to other countries. Prices will have to go up everywhere. So, buy a gi now! Or buy two!

OMG! A working Trash-80? Cool! I used to play Defender on one of those WAY BACK in the day. No graphics, just ASCII characters flying around the screen! Aaah, simpler times.

I think advertisers often leave off discussing "effective self-defense" in ads because it's understood. They're advertising benefits that the typical person might not think of. Plus, the combat side of martial arts concerns many parents. Many would see it as a negative and don't need to be reminded of it. Regarding mentioning the specific art or style, many people would just be confused. Most people wouldn't know what the heck "kobudo" is, let alone "Shindokan Karate-do Saitou-Ryu". It's just a bunch of gobbledygook! Know your audience. If you were targeting knowledgeable martial artists, sure, get detailed about your style, but if you're targeting Joe Blow Junior's mom, leave all that out, or at least don't put it in a place of prominence. It's like naming a school. Sure, "John Smith's Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu" might be more descriptive, but "Family Karate Center" would probably get more people in the door.

Different styles, even different branches of Shito Ryu, could do Bassai Dai differently, and have different bunkai. I agree with sensei8. Ask your Shihan. He's your sensei! Your karate should be his karate. It might be interesting to know how others interpret the kata, but your sensei's version is the important one. Plus, of course, if you're tested on this, you have to know HIS bunkai.

I don't think the Tokon Monarch is WKF approved. We don't carry it, but we carry the Tokon Europa and America, and they are not. As you said, the Kaiten Monarch appears to be. I don't know about the Kamikaze Monarch. WKF approval would probably need to be obtained (and paid for) separately for each of these brands, so one might be WKF approved while the others might not. I don't know anything about the Kaiten vs Kamikaze, but I'll give a quick rundown of what I know about Kamikaze vs Tokon. As I remember it, Kamikaze, a company based in Germany, was selling worldwide under the Kamikaze name. There was a company distributing Kamikaze gis in the US and I think in Canada who also called themselves Kamikaze. I heard they trademarked the name here. When they stopped distributing Kamikaze gis, they kept the rights to the name. Rather than fight over it, Kamikaze Germany changed their brand to Tokon for the US market. Tokon USA (tokon.com) is owned and operated by Marcus Hischberger, the nephew of the founder of Kamikaze Germany. I'm not sure who is running Tokon Canada (tokon.ca). Except for labeling, Tokon gis should be exactly the same as Kamikaze gis. I just looked up Best Buy Martial Arts. I'm not familiar with the website, but I know the company under another name. They're reputable. Been around for decades. Don't know much about their customer service, but they're experienced vendors. Saw a pic of the label you mentioned. I'd bet it's an old pic. If you ordered, I'd bet you'd get a Tokon. Could be wrong. Every once in a while, an old Kamikaze will pop up out of old stock.

If you didn't have Wado experience, I'd say check out both schools, especially the instructors, and decide based on that. Even with your experience, I'd suggest the same thing. Your experience would probably help you more at the Wado school, but I think it would help you learn Shotokan faster, too. Regarding keeping rank, I don't think it's important, especially in the long run. You'll learn as fast as you'll learn. Some dojos might let you wear your old belt as a sort of probationary thing while you learn the new style, although most would probably start you as white belt or close to it. Either way, you'll need to learn the material. Like others have mentioned, if you're good, maybe they'll accelerate your progress. I don't think you'll have too much trouble adapting to a new style. We've had many customer switch styles, but I don't remember anyone having too much trouble working it out.

I'm also confused by "open to all disciplines", especially in combination with "More like a dojo class." This probably isn't the kind of advice you're looking for, but you mentioned teams. Out here, in SoCal, there's a small group that puts on tournaments with an intercollegiate competition. I'm not sure how it was set up, but there was one team representing each school. I think there were teams from 3 or 4 colleges competing against each other. Off the top of my head, I think UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and Riverside CC were involved. Maybe UC Irvine, too. Maybe you could spur interest in your club by doing the same thing, putting together competitions with rival schools. It'd probably make good publicity! Just a thought.

I agree with most of what's been said here. I remember hearing somewhere that Mr. Miyagi's style was Goju Ryu, but I don't remember the source, and I'd agree that Cobra Kai's style was likely heavily influenced by American Tang Soo Do. We have many customers that trained under Pat Johnson and Chuck Norris or their students. They used to have a studio not too far from our location. If I remember, I'll ask someone if they know anything. I see Demura Sensei every once in a while too, but I'm not comfortable taking up his time with Karate Kid trivia.

Please elaborate. I've seen a few wax wood bos, but not escrima sticks. Is it durable, light, slippery?

For everyone's info, this isn't that expensive for this kind of coverage (multiple angles, slow mo, bunkai). Cheap instructional videos usually retail for close to US$30, better quality typically runs $30-$50, and top quality videos run from $50 to $80 or more! I know many of you will think that's a rip-off, but not only do people pay these prices, but they love the videos enough to come back again and again! Most of our customers are experienced martial artists, so I'd bet they get more out of them than the average student would. Then again, there are also some excellent videos out there geared toward beginners.

I've never seen a gi with velcro. Please report your impressions after use. Is it secure? Is it comfortable? Oh, and where is the velcro? Pant waist, jacket closure, or both? Thanks!

Ha! Yeah, I thought the same thing. I think average height for a male in the US is about 5' 10". I don't know what the standard deviation or whatever is, but I'd say anyone within about 2" of that is average. Calling yourself short at 5'10" is just insulting to those of us who are. Do it again, and I'll punch you in your kneecaps!

Here are a few of my thoughts. The TARDIS (Doctor Who's police box). Goku from Dragon Ball. Underdog. Cyrano de Bergerac. Vash the Stampede (Trigun anime/manga). The Stig from Top Gear.

I don't have any first-hand knowledge, and we don't keep them in stock, but we've special ordered the Shock Doctor for wholesale customers a few times, and they reorder, so I assume they're happy with them. They're available from a number of suppliers. Local to you, off the top of my head, GTMA and RevGear. I'd imagine that most tuck under to varying degrees, but I'm not sure how much. I don't remember what the Shock Doctor looked like, but the pic shows some tuck.

The Europa is unusually nice for a first gi. It does NOT normally include a white belt. Most middle to high end gis do not. Europa buyers usually already have a belt. I just ran out to our warehouse and checked a Europa size 7. The pants were about 27.5" across the hips and about 44" or so from the top of the waist to the bottom of the hem. We don't have a size 8 in stock. Remember, a gi is not supposed to fit like typical street clothes. You need more room for freedom of movement. Hope this helps! By the way, properly hemming a gi like a Europa might cost more than hemming a student gi. Better gis usually have more lines of stitching and sometimes have a separate piece of material sewn into the hem (pants and sleeves). More labor could mean higher cost. We don't have gis listed on our website yet, but https://www.tokon.com is a legitimate website. If you're concerned about the security of their shopping cart, shoot them an email or give them a call. Maybe they can put you at ease or fix the problem. Good luck finding the right gi for you!

A friend of mine used to hold her stance while brushing her teeth. There's always time to squeeze in a little practice.

Good points. Different schools require different types of gear, and almost any tournament will require a specific type of gear. Some require the gear to be "approved" by the sanctioning body. If you're not familiar with what is used in your son's school, I suggest getting gear from the instructor. It might cost a little or a lot more (or sometimes less), but you will benefit from his knowledge. It's better than buying the wrong thing and having to ship it back somewhere. It's hard to recommend a product or source without knowing more about your school. If it has a website or if you know what organization it's affiliated with, we might be able to help more. Having said that, the store recommended by NinjaNurse (Tiger Claw) is a reputable company with locations in California and Tennessee. They don't have the WKF style gear favored by many traditional Japanese styles, but they have dipped foam used by more open styles and TKD style gear. Good luck!