Ozpunker

I have absolutely no problems with fighting dirty. If someone attacks me in the street, I see all aspects of being civilized flushed down the toilet. I find that the only time people complain about a fair/unfair fight or fighting dirty is where they have lost or they are trying to justify their actions in being in a fight to begin with. Although this may seem to go against what I just said, there can be an unfair fight if a big guys starts a fight with a small guy, but I don't believe it to be unfair if the small guy is the one to provoke the fight. I guess when it comes to this, it depends on the original intent.

We have a similar system at our school. Most people choose to wear the regular coloured belts. Depending on their skill level, they are sometime allowed to do multiple gradings and skip belt colours as long as they meet the requirements (In our style, each belt sort of represents a new skill e.g. yellow- elbows/knees, purple- takedowns/self defense, green- ground fighting etc). I heard the head instructor tell one new student that he wouldn't make anyone take off their black belt because that would be like saying that you have 'unlearned' everything you already know.

In class last night before I had a chance to ask him, Shihan addressed the class saying how he was surprised that more people didn't get tips. Because it was such a large grading he wasn't able to personally oversee every aspect and he said that he was going to review it and make sure it was done properly. We were lucky that because it was our 15th anniversary and such a huge event we had at least 3 video cameras filming the whole time! He also said how he's awarded people tips after the grading purely based on the fact that he has seen them preform in class and know that they definitely deserve the extra recognition.

I'm not sure about you guys but when I was in high school, we used to have a sport day once a week. At the start of each term you had to pick a sport and after lunch on Wednesday we all went to our chosen sports. We could do stuff like cricket, football, gym (weights), bowling, cycling etc. Only since starting Martial Arts I found out that my Shihan actually goes to local schools and teaches karate for sport throughout the week. (It sucks to know that he teaches at my old school.. I wish he sis it when I was there. lol). The classes mainly consist of very basic techniques with the main focus being on self defense (i.e. getting out of holds, avoiding attackers etc). I think teaching children self defense is a great idea... the younger it is taught the better in my opinion.

Thanks for your advice guys. and for the record, the tips I was referring to are stripes on the end of the belt.

I had a grading on the weekend and received my orange belt. I was dissapointed when I didn't receive tips to go with it especially because I felt I really deserved them. I soon found out that no one in my group of fellow new orange belts had received tips either. I found this odd because during our training we under the impression that we were one of the best groups to go through together. I question if we were graded properly. It was the biggest grading in our club's history with over 100 people involved and certain parts seemed to be run sloppy. The majority of the orange belt grading was focused on the use of elbows and knees... particularly in self defense (80% of attacks had to be elbows/knees). When it came to the self defense part of the grading were directed by a black belt from another dojo who got us to line up where we were told to demonstrate 2 foot sweeps each on the person next to us. Following that we had to form a circle where one person stood in the middle and got attacked from various angles (We were told specifically that at our level we were only graded on SD from front and back attacks). Once again we only got to demonstrate 2 takedowns each which didn't allow us to show the skills required, especially for the guys who got 'attacked' from angles that don't easily allow counter attacks with elbows or knees. Our yellow belt grading required us to demonstrate more SD! Tomorrow when I go back to class I want to see the head instructor and ask him to review how the grading was conducted. I don't want anything that I don't deserve and I'm more than glad to re-demonstrate parts of the grading requirements to show that I am deserving of what I expected to get. If it was only myself who failed to receive the extra marks, I wouldn't be doubting what happened. It's only because out of quite a few guys not one of us obtained the extra recognition which I feel like at least some deserved. Please tell me if I'm out of line or if I may be justified in asking someone to review what happened. Thank you.

Truestar, my advice.... DO IT!! I did the exact same things with a couple of friends and it was one of the most fun things that we have ever done. It started one night as a joke, One mate bought a couple of old karate gi's from the local thrift shop, we tore the sleeves off, put bandanas on and went down to the pub drinking. We got a laugh from everyone.... We called ourselves the Lambton Ninjas (Lambton being the town we were at). It's been a bit of an ongoing tradition now.. We still call ourselves the Lambton ninjas whenever we get the chance to catch up. I think our myspace still exists... try searching lambton ninjas. Actually, It was partly from this that I decided to take up martial arts. Just a side note, I don't think I have to mention as long as you don't get up to any mischief you shouldn't get in any trouble... What we were doing was obviously a joke and for fun and that's exactly how people saw it.

We had our Senji (gradings) on the weekend followed by a bow in to the samurai warrior and the way of Bushido. Just after that we were awarded our new belts as well as a few other trophies. Our head instructor (Renshi Peter) was given a plaque and a few other things to celebrate our style's 15th anniversary. During the Senji we had a few guests from around Australia who form part of the nation's martial arts governing body (I'm unsure of what it's called). During the celebrations they came out with a certificate asking Renshi Peter to accept the new title of Shihan/Master Instructor (I'm sure that's what it's called). He was in tears and for the first time ever he was completely speechless. It's the first time I think I've been so proud of someone who wasn't a direct friend or family member.

There was plenty of video footage taken. I'll be sure to post it once it's been cut and edited... Should make for some good viewing.

I did my grading yesterday and got my orange belt. Didn't get tips but that's a whole other story. The other stuff went rather well. Star Wars themed showmanship went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to like the Matrix based fight as well even despite a few hiccups. Part of the routine involved a chair being broken over someone's back.. I got a call the day before the grading from the guy making the chair saying it wasn't working. I had to rush out and quickly put something together from junk in the shed. The final product worked well. During the fight we were supposed to fight with Sibats. I specially made the weapon to be used by the lead character to first be used as a Sibat to attack me and then be perfectly broken in half to be used as Bastons to fight another person.... During the first part of our fight I must have hit it too hard and it broke too early... We carried on anyways and not everyone seemed to notice.

Those are exactly some of the techniques I've been practicing. As well as the axe kick that DWx mentioned. Glad to know that I'm heading in the right path. I forgot to mention that I have a tournament next weekend. The ISKA 'Best of the Best' National Titles. The lousy thing is that I haven't had much time as I would like to train for it because we had our school's grading yesterday. Hopefully I'll be able to request more tournament based training during the week.

I've read in other threads how people have mentioned that in sparring you only need about 5 or 6 different techniques (And know them well) to be successful.. I was just wondering what are your let's say top 5 fav techniques to use in a sparring situation? (I'm mostly think of point sparring)

I think that it would be a fair thing to do in some respects. If they failed this 'pop quiz' I don't think they should lose their recently earned belt as they have already earned it. It could be handy as a reminder that they should always be ready to use their training etc.

I have a grading on Saturday.. I'm more anxious than nervous about my actual grading. I'm more worried about the 3rd dan and two 1st dan gradings I'm helping out with.

Just as everyone has said.. go for it. In my opinion it's great to join a club where you can have fun while getting fit (i.e. gym or martial arts). I find that personally I can't stick to a training program by myself at home but if I train at a club or with friends it becomes so much more fun and seems like a social event and not a chore.

Whenever I'm sparring an instructor and I get a good combo or do something that catches them way off guard they love it. If I was an instructor, I think it's be a massive complement to my teaching abilities if one of my students was able to deliver a strong attack or show specific defense techniques.

We were recently told in class that they were going to put up a suggestion box. I like this idea because of the option of anonymity about it. It gives everyone the chance to request certain things without fear of being directly rejected or feeling like they are being rude for asking something to change.

I pay about $100 AUD per month. That includes 2 formal lessons, and the option to do Tournament Training and Saturday morning training where you are free to do what you want. I love the Saturdays, we usually do heaps of sparring but yesterday I spent some time with one of our members who is also a blackbelt in Ju Jitsu learning some new ground fighting techniques.

I nearly had the opportunity to attend a seminar held by Bill Superfoot Wallace a few months ago. He was supposed to be coming to Australia for a few seminars but it had to be canceled for some reason. I'm only new to the sport and didn't really know too much about him except for that he is highly skilled. It wasn't until earlier today when I was reading through the topic about sparring shorter opponents that I realised how well know he is. I've since done a little research and now I am rather disappointed that I missed the opportunity to learn from him. Has anyone else here attended one of his seminars or something similar from another high profile martial artist?

I've only just started competing in tournaments. When some people have asked me if it was such a good idea to start competing so early I just said that the worst that can happen is that I can lose the comp. It's not the end of the world and no one in the tournament thinks any less of you for not winning... Once you start thinking that the worst thing that can happen is not bad at all, you can start enjoying yourself more.

aha chicken wings.. I've been working on that.. It's something that I have noticed before. It's hard for me to pick when I do it, so at training I ask the guys to let me know when I do it, or give me a good roundhouse... I learned the harder way earlier tonight lol. One thing that myself and other lower ranks have been told is to follow up on attacks. I've been working on that too. I usually throw a few singles to see how they will react. Plus with that last lots in the vid, I only needed one point to win.... I wasn't going to stop until I got it lol. Once again, thanks for all the help guys.

I'm only going for my orange belt which I have everything down pat. I'm more excited that it is the 15th anniversary for our club. It's the first time we will be grading from yellow belt all the way to 3rd or 4th dan (Currently, there have only been 2 guys to get 4th). I've been asked by a few of the higher ranks to help with their grading. One guy going for his 3rd dan asked me to help with self defense (I pretty much attack him and he throws me around like a rag doll). The thing I can't wait to be involved in is helping out 2 people get their 1st dan. Part of the 1st dan grading is showmanship where the pretty much make a choreographed fighting routine showing off certain criteria. Over the years it has become something to look forward to as people put alot of effort into it to make it enjoyable for the spectators. Past exhibits include music, costumes, having people planted in the audience challenging them to fights etc. sometimes they can be comical in nature. The two I'm involved in have a Matrix theme and Star Wars theme respectfully. Matrix is loosely based on some of the fight scenes from the movie. Shows self defense with various weapons. I've learned how to use the Jo just for this.. The Star Wars show will be loved. It's been kept a secret from everyone who's not directly involved in it. The guy going for his 1st dan has a son who trains in the kid's class. The son is dressing up as Yoda and he as Obi-Wan. They fight/spar with Bastons painted to be lightsabers to the Star Wars theme music. Once they finish the cantina music starts where I and 2 others dressed in monster masks come out to attack Obi_Wan. We attack him once where his uses basic self defense to stop us. We won;t stay down... he turns to Yoda who over the microphone tells him the "Use the force". He "uses the force" and attacks the first monster using one of our katas, uses his lightsaber to cut up the 2nd.. as he and the last monster face up, the monster gets scarred, drops his weapon and runs away. As I said, It's sometimes comical in nature but incorporates techniques of our style. They get to show off the skills but everyone has a fun time during it. Also, this only makes up for one section of the grading. The rest is very serious stuff.

Whenever I spar in class, I always choose to fight a person who is a higher rank or better than me in one way or another. For example. James, a green belt has some really nice high kicks. I spar him to learn how to avoid the kicks and get in close enough to strike. Trent is an ex Muay Thai fighter, I spar him to learn how to take more of a stand on the floor. etc Recently, the instructor told us that we are welcome to join them at our other dojo a few towns away on Tuesdays/Thursdays (we train Mon/wed) to train with different people. I guess my point is to try and learn from everyone in your club. You have something new and different to learn from each person.

I had my second tournament yesterday. I went alot better this time. I only had one fight because there were only two of us in my division. I won 5-3. I decided not to enter full contact this time.. only point sparring. Here's the video... I'm in the red headgear. let me know If you see anyway I can improve. Thanks in advance fellas.

Thanks. I forgot to mention before. One of the purposes of posting these vids is so I can get some feedback. From these I can see where I went wrong (holding guard too low, repetitive kicks with no follow up strikes etc). If you notice anything else please tell me, you won't hurt my feelings lol. The more critical you can be the better I can learn from it. I already have my next tournament planned for next month. I'm going to put the full contact on hold until I can condition myself better for it.