sensei8

No, you'd not sound like an MMA hater, not at all! You'd sound like someone who doesn't want to train someone who's seeking to pad their MA resume, if that is their main goal...and that was HIS words!! I too, don't like seeing the post fight celebrations; they lack humility and honor...two staples of the MA.

Have you spoke about this with your Sensei? I'd make that my first place to visit. I don't like, nor do I appreciate the advise this guest Sensei is providing. For one, doing as he suggests might get one disqualified quite quickly; it's down right uncalled for!!

I would not teach him because he's shopping for rank to add to his resume. I've not the inclination nor the desire to pad his MA resume... If this isn't his goal, then I'd consider to teach him!!

Isn't Oyo wonderful?! Bunkai IS the black hole of understanding possibilities; there's not only just one way of any Bunkai as you're sucked in with no ending of discoveries. Imho!!

Nice read through and through. I liked how he explained why "it" mattered, even though his reasons of that we his opinion; I agreed with them all!!

Very nice tutorials, both; thank you, Alex for sharing them.

Ouch! And I'm NO "scam artist teaching fly-by-night Rex Kwon Do." I don't have a website/facebook, our Hombu doesn't have a website, and neither of us truly want a website, and my reasons as to why can be found somewhere here at KF!! Btw, I'm quite finished defending our/my reasons for not having/wanting a website!! A WEBSITE MEANS NOTHING...IMHO!! Why? Proof is ON THE FLOOR, and not in some website! I've known and seen so many schools of the MA that have running water and power and real MA training, but their ineffective across the board. I take offense to being lumped as a fake, and this is what I'm being told that that I am. If I am, then so is our Soke, Dai-Soke, student body, and Shindokan!! I've more important things to worry about than creating and managing a website, like, teach Shindokan, and administrate the SKKA!! I respect those who do have a website, but I'm/we're lampooned and lambasted mercilessly because I/We don't have a website!! Does any dojo that's apart of the SKKA have their own website? I can't speak intelligently about this because I've no idea!! That type of information isn't recorded at the SKKA because things like that aren't managed by the SKKA; dojos are independently owned, and separate and away from the SKKA when it comes to how they choice to manage and operate and administer their own dojo!! In short, I'm unaware of the goings on at their schools in this regard. I can tell you without any ambiguity that I've never had a website of my own, and the Hombu has never had a website either; that's never been the practice of our Soke, even when websites first became the rage of the page. I simply just can't believe that I'm/We're STILL having to defend our stand concerning this matter...STILL!! Being judged on the sole basis of whether I've/We've had or have a website is wrong and unfair!! Imho, this seems to borders on harassment!! Here's a very bad example, and it's a hypothetical example...Maybe, MA Forums, like KF, should ONLY allow members to join based on whether that prospective member has a website for their dojo and/or Hombu and/or throughout their governing bodies network...No website, you're not welcomed, therefore not allowed to join our community. Proof is on the floor....now and tomorrow and until the end of time!! Solid point, a website is not necessary, however, do you guys do demo shows or how often do students bring in new people? From time to time we do demo's, however, not as much as we use to for one reason: Scheduling conflicts!! Soke, when him and Dai-Soke first opened the Hombu, gave many demos wherever they could. Soke was big on demos; that's how he began teaching Dai-Soke back in Okinawa...Soke would do demos on street corners unannounced, if need be. Students bring new prospective students whenever they can; word of mouth, a most invaluable tool of any business, imho!! Students aren't required to bring anyone except themselves; you know, there's no set goal that each student is required to meet in the terms of that.

In time, and only in time, applicable knowledge will match up with theory, and in that, it's not consistent because we learn something new everyday; the learning curve varies as we acquire new information!! Imho!!

What an amazing post; SOLID!! Congrats, Hawkmoon, and well deserved!! Shodan...feels good, huh??

Ouch! And I'm NO "scam artist teaching fly-by-night Rex Kwon Do." I don't have a website/facebook, our Hombu doesn't have a website, and neither of us truly want a website, and my reasons as to why can be found somewhere here at KF!! Btw, I'm quite finished defending our/my reasons for not having/wanting a website!! A WEBSITE MEANS NOTHING...IMHO!! Why? Proof is ON THE FLOOR, and not in some website! I've known and seen so many schools of the MA that have running water and power and real MA training, but their ineffective across the board. I take offense to being lumped as a fake, and this is what I'm being told that that I am. If I am, then so is our Soke, Dai-Soke, student body, and Shindokan!! I've more important things to worry about than creating and managing a website, like, teach Shindokan, and administrate the SKKA!! I respect those who do have a website, but I'm/we're lampooned and lambasted mercilessly because I/We don't have a website!! Does any dojo that's apart of the SKKA have their own website? I can't speak intelligently about this because I've no idea!! That type of information isn't recorded at the SKKA because things like that aren't managed by the SKKA; dojos are independently owned, and separate and away from the SKKA when it comes to how they choice to manage and operate and administer their own dojo!! In short, I'm unaware of the goings on at their schools in this regard. I can tell you without any ambiguity that I've never had a website of my own, and the Hombu has never had a website either; that's never been the practice of our Soke, even when websites first became the rage of the page. I simply just can't believe that I'm/We're STILL having to defend our stand concerning this matter...STILL!! Being judged on the sole basis of whether I've/We've had or have a website is wrong and unfair!! Imho, this seems to borders on harassment!! Here's a very bad example, and it's a hypothetical example...Maybe, MA Forums, like KF, should ONLY allow members to join based on whether that prospective member has a website for their dojo and/or Hombu and/or throughout their governing bodies network...No website, you're not welcomed, therefore not allowed to join our community. Proof is on the floor....now and tomorrow and until the end of time!!

Ouch! And I'm NO "scam artist teaching fly-by-night Rex Kwon Do." I don't have a website/facebook, our Hombu doesn't have a website, and neither of us truly want a website, and my reasons as to why can be found somewhere here at KF!! Btw, I'm quite finished defending our/my reasons for not having/wanting a website!! A WEBSITE MEANS NOTHING...IMHO!! Why? Proof is ON THE FLOOR, and not in some website! I've known and seen so many schools of the MA that have running water and power and real MA training, but their ineffective across the board. I take offense to being lumped as a fake, and this is what I'm being told that that I am. If I am, then so is our Soke, Dai-Soke, student body, and Shindokan!! I've more important things to worry about than creating and managing a website, like, teach Shindokan, and administrate the SKKA!! I respect those who do have a website, but I'm/we're lampooned and lambasted mercilessly because I/We don't have a website!!

Like an introduction only? As a way to filter them into the school? If that's what your saying it's genius. I have seen one other program do this that teaches chun kuk do in the Phoenix area. Smart! Although I have to wonder what's more beneficial. Is it to do it that way, or to simply make that recreation center a second location? Very interesting. @lupin1 I think that's awesome that there's a program like this. I would love to see more programs that got state/city funding and payed for it all, so that people in a certain income range could do it for free. I have been thinking of it myself, and how I would even start. Wado, The one area I am truly lacking is being ready to do any type of demo, I have only been open as a program for eight months now and it is something I should look into more, I find that the flyers don't seem to get me anywhere . I posted all over town and put flyers everywhere with a special, it offered a free uniform for that particular month, I got new students that month but nobody with the flyer for the for uniform LOL. Sensei8 i'd say I would've pegged you for a guy that doesn't advertise, I suppose the question would also be too many instructors, is this your only job. If it is not been advertising and creating an income Is less important, in my case with it being my only source of income at the moment it is more important. There's a fine line here though that if people become too dependent on it they need to watch themselves to make sure they are not just becoming a belt factory with a bunch of hype. The goal needs to be to drive to school forward With the thought of good karate in mind, and not money first. my personal goal at the moment is to offer martial arts in my area for a much more reasonable rate and some of the other competitors, Targeting a different financial group if you will. Sensei was right on about finding a gold mine if you can find a school that will let you hand out flyers, that's a very big deal. We have a program that already handles all of the martial arts programs for the district called young champions. They are contracted with the district so that leaves little guys like me out Lol Kyuodan Dojo and Kaicho of the Hombu/SKKA are my only jobs...my entire life!! However, Kyuodan Dojo is on hold right now, until I locate a proper venue to re-open Kyuodan Dojo. If it wasn't for my being the Kaicho, I'd be unemployed!! I've ran the advertising gauntlet seriously, yet, I find that word of mouth has been at the core of my ever increasing student body. When I sold Kyuodan Dojo to my senior student, the student body was 311; and that's not bad with word of mouth as the main source of advertising. I don't mock how any school of the MA advertises because one has to do what one has to do to satisfy that bottom line!! And I've done my share of what I call, "Mutt" Advertising: a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

You've found a school(s) that allow you to pass out fliers?? That's a goldmine of potentiality!! Schools usually forbid that for many reasons, usually student safety; you being on school property being at the top of that list. Also, schools doesn't promote commercial enterprises, and they're not in the business of allowing any advertising. Also, school is private property, but across the street isn't, but either way, without permission of the school, police will be called quickly. If you rent the gym after school, the school will allow the passing out of fliers, and the school will even pass them out DURING SCHOOL, plus make announcements on the PA system, and even mention MA training in their newsletters. Yes, we have some teachers whose kids go to the dojo, so it goes home in kids folders. That's nice to know that this can be done within the safely organized mindset of the public schools. I was met with disdain from any school I've had meeting with about this sort of thing. A "How dare you even ask" attitude, in which after meetings like this, I could've sworn that I was left to feel that I had done something wrong to them personally, as though I ran over their cat, not once, but twice. Parents sometimes don't like it when their child brings home anything other than homework, and the like. Schools bow to the desires of the parents, in things like that. I don't blame them; it's both their right, and their responsibility!!

Any differences, imho, are nominal, at best!! The differences are quaint, yet suttle, and just about so easily discerned by practitioners no matter the knowledge/experience. In Shindokan, we train in the Taikyoku Shodan, Taikyoku Nidan, and finally, Taikyoku Sandan. Our Taikyoku series is a prerequisite to the Pinan Series, whereas in other styles, the Taikyoku series is sprinkled within the Kyu ranks, and at rare times, I've seen Taikyoku Sandan in the Shodan curriculum.

Solid post!! Missed you, Hawkmoon; glad to see you again!!

Congrats; well done, and well deserved!!

To the OP... For as long as I can remember, I do very little advertising, if at all. Word of mouth!! That's about it!! I'll pass out fliers and do an occasional demo here and there. I've done many different types of advertising like, Bus signs, billboards, t-shirts, newspapers, and things like that. But word of mouth...well...nothings better than free advertisement, but that can work for you or against you. I learnt that from our Hombu!! Soke, when the Hombu first opened, he'd do an occasional demo here and there, and that was IT!! Word of mouth spread throughout Canoga Park, CA, and in short time, his student body grew by leaps and bounds!!

You've found a school(s) that allow you to pass out fliers?? That's a goldmine of potentiality!! Schools usually forbid that for many reasons, usually student safety; you being on school property being at the top of that list. Also, schools doesn't promote commercial enterprises, and they're not in the business of allowing any advertising. Also, school is private property, but across the street isn't, but either way, without permission of the school, police will be called quickly. If you rent the gym after school, the school will allow the passing out of fliers, and the school will even pass them out DURING SCHOOL, plus make announcements on the PA system, and even mention MA training in their newsletters.

Rolling with other students can be challenging across a many avenues; some pleasant, while others aren't so pleasant. While your training partner used the wall as an allied in his plan. I commend his use of the surroundings to his advantage because that's what we're suppose to do; adapt and conquer across the board. Him being over aggressive is ok! Was the instructor near by? If the instructor was observant of your two rolling, but chose to say nothing, then I see no problem. Being put in situations is part of being trained. An instructor will gauge the training in the hopes that the student(s) will work the situation out, while still maintaining that no one's injured. Training needs to be, has to be challenging for students to learn!! What I read in your OP was that while your training partner might've been aggressive and used the wall to his advantage, I see that your were provided a many challenges that you could learn from. Did you learn anything? If so, then it was a productive roll, for both of you. With you not willing to tap, and I commend that as well, any discomfort and/or pain was your choice to endure. In the safety of the school, things are done this way and that way, and your instructor is that safety valve. But in the streets, you're on your own. Did you panic? No!! You worked!! I put my students in panic modes often because they've got to experience that, and they've got to learn how to work through it to the best of their abilities. I'll make life uncomfortable for them so they can learn to work through varying degrees of difficulties. Of course I don't hurt them, but I'll make them uncomfortable, like use the wall, one of my favorite things. In the UFC, for example, the cage wall can be an allied. Learn how to adapt, and this will take time. I'll lightly apply Kyusho jitsu points to them to make them uncomfortable. His tactics, might've felt cheap, and you've seen no one else do this before, your training partner did you a favor: he challenged you! I love it when my training partner will challenge me on the floor because I need to improve my MA betterment, and the best way to do that is to be challenged across the board. To be put, and to feel in uncomfortable situations is LEARNING!! I love to learn!! Your training partner was resistive, and that's good. Un-resistive training at times can serve no value to learning! Go with this and go with that, without any resistance at all, gives that false security, and that's unproductive. The vibe is set by the instructor, and if your instructor allowed the roll to continue, he saw nothing negative at all, but only saw an opportunity for you, and your training partner, to learn through working in and out of the situation(s). I feel you had a good roll! You finally got to a place where you could roll, and that meant to neutralize his allied wall; smart of you to do that because had you not, he would've STILL used that wall to his advantage. Some students believe that they MUST win every single time on the floor! That's fine! DON'T LET THEM WIN; MAKE THEM EARN THE WIN!! If they earn the win, shake their hand with an acknowledging grin of approval!! Do you feel that your instructor DIDN'T do his job in keeping you safe and free from harm?? If so, then the time is now to speak with your instructor about what you're feeling. If not, then train hard and train well!! I believe that you'll learn to be more aggressive, but that'll take time to figure that all out. I see no harm and no foul in your roll, just opportunities to learn.

Mat time? For a testing cycle?? Is the testing cycle conducted In-House?? Is the approved Testing Cycle mandatory?? Governing bodies sure are big in their britches, imho!! Charging whatever they want to, and the poor student is saddled with the high costs, in which the student is left with no further recourse. No fees, then you get no bag of MA goodies!! Governing bodies and the like can hold tangible items hostage, but the acquired knowledge/experience belongs to the student!! Tangible things shouldn't cost an arm and a leg!! Blood CAN be gotten from a turnip, after all.

$400 for a Shodan testing cycle?!?!? Holy Gouge, Batman!! It's JUST a belt, some little paperwork, and some time!! Time and paperwork are not worth $300+!! All of these are only tangible things!! So, $30 each for all kyu testing cycles!?! OK...I must be missing something...let's see...hhhhmmmmm...same belt material, just different colors....same time and same paperwork... A $370 increase from Ikkyu to Shodan...I wasn't aware that the market demanded that type of increase with the same tangible items. I know it's whatever the market can bear, and allow. $400 is quite a lot to bear and allow!! Imho!!

Short, but right to the point! I agree with you here, Brian!!

I've NO belt...man oh man!! I've had that happen before, too. Ever flew anywhere and you went to one place and your belt went somewhere else?!? It sucks!! Once, I flew to Okinawa, but my bags flew to Hawaii. No clothes, no gi, no belt...NOTHING! When I finally got home, my bags were waiting for me...I hope my bags enjoyed Hawaii!! I had to go shopping for some clothes and things like that to survive the trip. Dai-Soke, thank God, had some great MA friends, and was able to get me a gi and belt. And if not for that friend of Dai-Soke, I wouldn't have been allowed to train...NO WAY!! Dai-Soke wouldn't have allowed that because the floor is sacred to him, and not being attired appropriately would've been an insult to him, the hosting dojo, and just down right RUDE!!

Welcome back...post away to your hearts content!!

25K posts, is indeed a milestone!! You deserve quite a lot of sincere appreciation because of your vision, a countless amount of people, both MAists and non-MAists, have a place to enjoy all types of conversations over a plethora of topics, as well as a place to call home. You deserve some type of token of our appreciation; you've earned it through and through, therefore, you deserve it! You're quick to honor members here with some type of token for their achievements earned here at KF, so, why not you!! 25K...that simply boggles my mind!! Keep on posting!?!