sensei8

Still, performing at a tournament after having only 10 days of EXPERIENCE with either of these Katas, or any Kata, isn't such a good idea, imho! I don't imagine that you'd be willing to execute any Kihon, Kata, and/or Kumite for a grading test with only 10 days of practice. I don't know of anybody who would! Wanting to compete is fine, but being unprepared isn't the martial arts! Any way, good luck and let us know how it went. I hope you do well!

Speaking about hair. Once I sported a grizzly adams style beard. My Dai-Soke looked at my beard more intently as my beard gained fullness and length. He'd walk up to me and stop and look and shake his head as he walked away muttering something in japanese. He did this for about 3 weeks before I asked him if I had done something wrong, to that he said nothing...still. I liked it, but my Dai-Soke finally mentioned to me that while my beard looked ok, I've given my future opponents an advantage. I asked, "How so sir?" :::YANK::: Yanked at my beard as hard as he could...then just walked away. A few seconds later he stopped...turned...and said in a very deliberate and quite voice... "Do you understand?" Man that hurt, I mean that HURT! Couldn't of he just told me, you know, sat me down and explained it to me. But no! That's not his way because he's one of those "picture is worth a thousand words" kind of Sensei. I got the point! I still didn't shave it off for about 6 months because it was getting very hot to keep it in the middle of summer.

Toptomcat, That's a very good point....a very good point! Possibly it's easier to teach the mass against the one and in that, it bumps up the revenue!? Thereby lowering the controllables on a P&I by some margin, i.e., eliminating the number of classes per day, and in that, saves on the utilities and the payroll.

One caters to the tangible while the other caters to the intangible. Can you elaborate? Because that strikes me as an oversimplification at best. I deserved that! Tangible in this case speaks about BELTS and how easy they are to obtain as well as the importance of them. Intangible in this case speaks about BELTS and how hard they are to obtain as well as the unimportance of them. I seek only that which is intangible!

james4949, Welcome to Karate Forums. Nice post and dead-on sir! Hey, at least the doc had cartoons!

Is it me or...? Has anyone else noticed that private lessons are slowly becoming a thing of the past, kind of like a drive-in theater?

One caters to the tangible while the other caters to the intangible.

Kanku Dai or Jion in 10 days? Wow! Then compete with having only practiced either for 10 days? Wow! My suggestion would be to practice either of them much, much longer before entering any said tournament with either of these kata's. I'm not saying that you can't learn either of these katas in 10 days. But, I believe that when you're performing either of these katas; you'll appear to the judges that you just learnt either of these katas...in 10 days! Not saying that you won't do an awesome job and that the judges won't give you high marks, but, Kanku Dai is a physically demanding and visually impressive form, when performed correctly, and it's one of the most popular katas in modern competition. Jion has a grandeur to it that should show through with all the movements. Jion is a powerful but very basic and honest kata. Mistakes are very hard to hide in Jion due to its calm power and smooth transitions in the movements. A student must have good Kihon to make the kata run smoothly and with power. Having said that, pick a kata that you already know inside and outside. Remember, judges aren't just looking to see if you know the kata, but, the judges are looking at, to name just a few, your focus, believibility, posture, technique, breathing, balance, understanding of said kata, and transition.

Control isn't a suggestion for the black belt student; it's a requirement!

Going right to 3:00 and watching what follows is eye-opening. I agree...very eye opening!

$180 per month? OUCH! $250 per month? OUCH...OUCH!

It's possible that they don't want to have the apperance that they're dumb. Students don't want to say to their instructor that they don't understand some technique(s) for the fear of the appearance that it might reveal to their instructor. Obviously, you're the only one in your class who's actually heard the saying..."There's no such thing as a stupid question." I wouldn't. Yet, I still wonder the very same thing myself about karate students throughout the world. I agree!

I agree!

The key for you, imho, is that your instructor is "pretty good" across the board. Therefore, I believe that you're not at a disadvantage because you've never had a private lesson. I imagine that I'd love to have a private lesson from Nishiyama or Kanazawa, to name a few, but, being in a group lesson with either of those two would've still provided me a very solid lesson.

ROFLMHO GO YANKEES!!!!!

Spending more time selling/pitching the close than what was spent during the actual free trial lesson is what would've turned me off as a potential student. Does the school/instructor care more about me as a student of the martial arts or as someone who can sign a contract thus provide revenue? If it's the latter, well, I'm not interested.

Imho, It was just ok. To me it seemed to focus on Al Dacascos more than on Musashi...again, it was just ok...no wow factor.

MLB Baseball season is around the corner. Pre-season has been as it's always been to me...ok. Open day in MLB should be a holiday, imho. We've got the defending world champions....NY YANKEES going against the Red Sox in Boston on the opening day. The Yankees roster looks good, their depth looks good, bats look good, the bullpen looks good, the fight for the number 5 pitching rotation spot looks good, Mo looks good...it's all good! Yankees will miss the veteran presence of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui as well as the clutch, Melky Cabrera. On the other side of the trade coin, the Yankees added Chan Ho Park from the Phillies and I look forward to him helping the Yankees defend the title and go on to win #28...World Series' that is. 162 games of awesomeness across MLB! 30 teams battling for the Commissioner's Trophy. Thank God for big-screen TV's...it's the only way to watch the WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK YANKEES, even when they [Yankees} lose, they still look AWESOME! Wooooooooooooooooooooo! Play ball! GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!

He lives up to his tagname...AMAZING! Thanks for sharing this....it was amazing!

GNR

At once? Nope! Other than the tinbe-rochin that Toptomcat mentioned. It [different weapons at the same time] could be doable until I picked up a weapon that required the use of both of my hands to wield it. Still, it's an interesting thought and the combinations are quite intriguing...which with my luck, I'd only end up hurting myself for one reason or another.

Time in grade is important, but, imho, it's only important in the Dan rankings especially Godan and above, even then, time in grade is a very minuscule element of grading. Rank isn't important within its proper context, especially when rank is compared to knowledge. Being held to a timeline can't be placed aside because even knowledge must be aquired within a timeline. Why? Because knowledge isn't always instantaneous; even then, knowledge must be nourished over time. If we rush growth, we deminish or destroy the practitioner's desire to cultivate themselves as solid martial artists, no matter the rank, Kyu and Dan alike. Imho!

I've class during the airing of Samurai, but, I'll be recording it and then I'll watch it when I get home. I'm only watching it for two reasons. One, I love ALL martial arts history. Two, something might be aired that's new to me or forgotten by me about the Samurai. Either way, History Channel will more than likely do the topic justice.

Many of us in the martial arts are quite familar with Bruce Lee's unique cat-like kiai's. If not, watch Enter The Dragon. Bruce's kiai's were unique, but, Bruce didn't use his distinctive and unique kiai away from the silver screen. Questions: A student of your's was mimicing or wants to copy Bruce's unique battle cry kiai, would you allow or deny it's use? Do you think that Bruce's cat-like kial's served/accomplished the intended purpose(s) of the kiai? Your thoughts?

It would appear to me that we're on the same line concerning this topic, we're not exact, which is absolutely as it should be. It's just that that TKD instructor I mentioned in my OP has a very different method but... 10 minutes inside of a room no bigger than a closet ISN'T a free trial lesson by our definitions..... Yes or No?