Tiger1962

For me and people my own age that I trained with, it wasn't a learning experience nor a fun part of training; and, speaking to people my age that I meet up with regularly at events, I've learned it was nothing but a source of frustration and more to them. ....and these are people who are Dan members who are fantastic at either forms and/or sparring. From what I've witnessed, I think the kids get more of a thrill out of it than the adults I've spoken to.

I agree with you here. As far as doing a re-break for a test, let's say you're in a situation where part of the blame of your inability to break was on behalf of the holder. (see above posts on holder responsibility) - well then, because of someone's less than adequate holding responsibility, the student has to re-break and can only hope they get a good board holder for their re-break. I mean, this could go on! I don't think breaking should be part of a testing cycle at all. To me, the whole act of breaking boards is something for entertainment, flash, dazzle and NOT for testing or a means to judge one's capabilities. One can be an outstanding martial artist in all areas except breaking.

I know the one I was affiliated with, I had heard CAN indeed DO that. Like some other posters here, I agree - they can't take away knowledge and experience. Nor, can they enter my home and take my certificate and belt from where I live. They can record or demote anything they want to in their records or files, but I earned what I have, paid my dues, both physical and $$$$$$$$$ and they CAN NOT take THAT from me. Now, whether or not I think its appropriate - well that's a whole other topic.

Two in particular I like are "Yoga for the Martial Artist" and "Martial Arts for Over 40"

I agree with you ---- and I do know instructors that do this!

DWx - what you say is true. We've never broken bricks but regarding wood, have been told that the way the grains are on the wood boards also determine how or if the wood board will break easily or not. Any *knots* in the wood will make it more difficult. I've also heard of instructors putting boards in the oven to *bake* them making them more brittle and thus easier for the kids to break. Don't know if anyone else has heard of this or not.

I agree wholeheartedly !

What I have discovered during breaking after all these years, is that the holder is as much responsible for the outcome of the break as the person doing the kicking. Case in point & speaking from personal experience: you could be performing a break and the holder isn't holding the board properly. As the kick is executed, the holders push back extremely hard causing the kicker to go flying back on the floor landing on their backside. Alternately, you can get holders that are afraid to hold and pull away at the last moment. In either case, it can work against the kicker. Holders need accurate instruction as much as kickers do.

I've had a few unsuccessful breaks during class, after class and at one testing. It happens. Being embarrassed is normal, however, no one dared chastise anyone (at least not within earshot) who doesn't break because it can happen to anyone. Nobody's perfect. If more time was spent practicing breaking during class - be it actual wood or plastic - then more people would be successful at it. This falls on the responsibility of the instructor. To Joesteph: do you know why your request was turned down?

I can certainly attest to that. In my experience we never spent enough time on practicing breaking. Which explained a lot.

Very sad. A talented actor, he was. Condolences to his family.

I'm sorry but I find this utterly outrageous, unnecessary and irrelevant to training. If I was that lady, I would have refused and left the school. Just goes to show you how some head instructors have an overactive ego and inflated vision of themselves.

This is where learning how to teach comes into play. I think that it is important for instructors to have an instructor's class, where they can get together and discuss and review how they teach the forms, moves, etc, of the system, and more importantly, why they teach them that way. I think this kind of class can decrease the number of incidents like Tiger here has discussed. I agree with you 110% and in the style I used to train in, they did hold (and still do) instructor classes. However, judging from what I've seen in the past after these instructor classes, I don't suspect they discussed HOW to teach correctly or if they did/do, very little time is spent on that - again judging from the results of what I would witness in class afterwards. I think they work strictly on improving their own technique, which is good, but, there are some instructors who really need to improve their TEACHING skills. Perhaps my situation is a rare one and those of you out there don't find this problem where you train.

I've been in a situation quite a few times where a senior ranking person at my school would be teaching the class for our regular instructor and we would be working on a technique or form and the instructor would be showing us the incorrect method. Suppose you KNOW this person is teaching you INCORRECTLY but speaking up to the instructor to voice this would be considered "out of protocol". How to rectify this? Wait until regular instructor is back in class and ask for correct technique to be shown. Yet, over and over again the same technique is shown incorrectly by alternate instructor who will pitch a fit if anyone dares correct him/her or challenges him/her and if so, you will hear from him/her "I AM THE INSTRUCTOR" (dan member, sa bom, kyo sa, etc., -- insert title here) It's so frustrating. Some people are so quick to remind others of their rank, certificate and whatnot, but on the floor, it's apparent that rank doesn't demonstrate the knowledge that is supposed to go along with it. I know a few individuals who fit this. Thankfully, I no longer have to put up with it, since I no longer train at said school.

A bar fight is not much different. They are lucky to have left alive. If they lost the fight, that isn't the point. The point would be if they were the one who STARTED the fight, not if they defended themselves and lost (or won). In my opinion, there are no winners and losers anyway in a street fight.

Ditto that. I hate politics. It's why some schools go under and/or lose members.

I would say to the person to find yourself another higher rank instructor SOMEHOW - from another school - out of state even, if you have to; to train from. Instructors NEED to train themselves to keep current, keep endurance and keep abreast of the changes and things going on in their art. To each his own - but, this is why I don't think people should jump at the chance to run a school the minute they become Dan members or at the rank where you're permitted to open a school. They should give themselves time to become more acclimated to their rank. Unless an instructor passed on the school to someone and there isn't a choice of someone else to run it -- It might be difficult in certain situations for an instructor to find someone to train them, but you have to keep looking and do it. What happens when your students reach YOUR rank and want to continue? They certainly can't train a student for a rank level they themselves don't have. LOL

No, I would not lose respect for my sensei nor quit for that particular reason. People are human and humans aren't perfect. I've noticed something in martial arts. You might find one or two students who truly believe that their instructor is infallible, --- perfect --- above and beyond making mistakes. They idolize and worship them blindly --- and so in a case like this, that student seeing their instructor fail, most likely would find some specific excuse why their "hero" didn't win. I say, "big deal" - they lost - fair and square. You win some and you lose some. It just means that wasn't your time to win or someone was better strategized than you. It really annoys me when a student will look at their instructor with "rose-colored glasses" and make some excuse when this happens. They lost, big deal, get over it. Next time they'll do better. But I would not be ashamed of them. In some cases, it actually humbles people.

I can see where this can be a sensitive issue between instructors and students. Let's say you have your main instructor and basically you like the way he/she teaches. Once in a while you have a subsitute teacher or know someone from another school that is an instructor who has some technique about him/her or some quality that your regular instructor does not possess. If your regular teacher is "secure" with himself, I don't think it would or should bother him/her - there are some instructors who would say its ok to practice once in a while with someone else to pick up other things, as long as your main "devotion" (for lack of a better word) is to them and your school. Then you might have another type of instructor who forbids you training with someone else, forbids you visiting other schools, etc., because it is viewed as disloyal or disrespectful. This is a topic that needs to be discussed when joining a school so you know what the deal is up front and what is permitted and what isn't. The thing is, people starting martial arts for the first time, don't always know what questions to ask or the right questions to ask. How many instructors should a student have? Well, my answer is generally, one, HOWEVER, I see NOTHING wrong with training with someone else sometimes. This keeps the student from being stale or locked into training in one habitual manner. (i.e., the teachers way). It certainly is beneficial for the student to mix things up a bit. My former instructor seemed to have had no problem with us training or visiting other schools as long as we let him/her know ahead of time. That being said, I know a couple of times that I asked to train at another school and the question seemed to make my instructor uncomfortable judging from the body language & the response. Mixed signals here, wouldn't you say? I was also aware of my former instructor being more lenient with certain students training elsewhere than he/she was if I wanted to train elsewhere. But, nepotism probably played a major factor in that. Which is one reason I no longer train there.

My opinion is this: Although the instructor in question might be qualified to teach the style, I believe he should be certified in it before actually training students. While that might seem like a formality to some and perhaps not necessary, I feel that it is - again, it does not matter to me if they are already qualified without that "piece of paper" (as some might view it), I WANT to train under a CERTIFIED & RECOGNIZED instructor. Would you want a doctor to operate on you if they were qualified but didn't have the diploma or official credentials stating that? Now, I realize a doctor and a martial arts instructor are two different things but if I am paying to learn something as serious as martial arts, I want my instructor to be certified/recognized by the governing Federation/organization of that style. The other part is, in some martial art styles, you can not advance in rank until you are an official member of their governing headquarters/federation, and pay annual dues. Advancing in rank and ultimately becoming a certified teacher requires paying dues, fees, testing before a board, etc. and so on. Again, not all styles operate by these methods but some do.

Yay! Good luck - that sounds awesome!!!!

my best weapon is to just carry a picture of myself without any makeup on and that usually scares the daylights out of everyone. :lol:

Welcome to KF !

Welcome to KF !

Welcome and hello !