Grego

DXw, that depends. Its really based on the physical fitness of the martial artist involved. But even an out of shape 30 year old can subdue a child blackbelt.

We don't use pads in my style, so I can't comment.

its the most practical weapon that produces a psychological effect. You can't carry a Katana into the local wal-mart.

Espina, you can what-if any scenario you want. Anyways, the Army has trained me to disarm knife-wielders, as has martial arts. The only reason I produced the knife was the scare the guy.

I agree.

I carry a knife at all times, usually multiple ones. my benchmade auto opener saved me from getting beat up by a drug dealer, he ran upon seeing me produce the blade. I doubt that an escrima stick would have produced the same psychological effect. The stick works well in combat, but isn't very scary. A knife, on the otherhand, brings BLOOD to one's mind. If you fight somebody with a knife, chances are you're gonna get cut.

to me, a belt SHOULD be an indication of skill. A green belt should not be able to easily take out a black belt. A white belt shouldn't be able to take out a green belt, ect. However, when you have schools that promote for money or because they've held a certain rank long enough, it degrades that belt. Skill alone should determine what belt you are. Thats why when I see these children black belts, I get so mad. There is no way that a 10 year old "black belt" is going to defeat a 23 year old martial arts/combat veteran. It just won't happen.

Karate-Do Kyohan by Gichin Funokoshi Karate-Do Kempo: The universal art of Self-Defense by Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose (good luck finding a copy0

Yeah, I agree. Thats when the sensei has to be observant and punish those people. And definately don't promoted them. One of my sensei's rules is "be deadly serious when training"

That is why we don't have a such thing as people under 18 being black belts.

We don't use pads when we spar.... Lets see Gi Belt cup mouth guard lots of books uh...thats pretty much it.

What he charges isn't really the issue, Traymond. I don't pay for my lessons either, and I'm very close to my sensei...however, if he attacked me like that, I'd probably try not to comment right away. I'd pull him aside later, and communicate that his actions were unbecoming. A teacher never has a right to injure a student, no matter how senior. You can't really argue that fact.

Well, the advice my sensei gives me before a test is "try to excel, but be prepared to fail."

I take a more moderate approach. I wont just throw my belt on the floor, or let my dog chew on it...but I don't think of it as sacred. I don't get torn up if it touches the floor. Though, Traymond, I think its cool that your black belt is made from your original white belt. Ive put on a bit of weight since I started training at 10 years old, so I couldn't do that

Traymond, since you pay to come there, there is plenty of legal grounds to convict. It would be like renting an apartment and being attacked by the landlord. And even if you were a guest in somebody's house, they can't just beat you up. Being on somebody's property does not exempt them fro assault charges. The only way that is a legal defense is if there are uninvited people on your property. Traymond, I'm not badmouthing your sensei. However, he could get into serious trouble for these practices.

I remember my test for 5th Kyu. 1. my sensei made use take a physical test (a run). It wasn't really graded, he just wanted to make sure we had acceptable physical stamina 2. When changing into our gis, to my horror, I realized that I left my belt. My sensei, very kindly, allowed me to borrow an orange belt he'd brought for one of the students that tested and failed 3. Did every kata twice. 4. Since I was a bit of a nerd, and our head instructor was in town, my sensei made me answer some basic trivia about the history of karate. Nobody else rally had to do this. 5. Kumite 6. I failed this test. So did almost everybody else That was about 7 years ago. I talked to my sensei recently about that, and he said that he fail me because he wanted to see how I reacted to failure. And that I forgot my belt.

Traymond, Most dojos make student's sign waivers. This is just so they can't be sued. However, from a legal standpoint, if he kicked you hard enough to cause a shoulder dislocation....well, thats assault. That is a criminal act, and somebody could sue the crap out of him. I know you wouldn't, but somebody else definately could.

I like it because one kata may be your "test" Kata for three ranks in a row. The grading criteria changes though. Our sensei got the idea from reading Dr. Chitose's (Osensei) book. He studied ONLY Seisan for nearly 10 years before learning anything else. As a result, his seisan was perfect. and Its Bassai Dai we're doing.

Also, what if you were a minor? Say 16 years old? If I was a parent that had a student in that class, and saw him kick another student (regardless of rank), I'd have problems sending my kid back

Traymond, my sensei is very traditional too. I've been punished by taking a whack, or pushups....but he's never hit me in a way that could injure me. I'm not saying that you should not study under him again...but if he dislocates a shoulder, that could affect your Martial Arts career. Notice that my objection was to him injuring you, not to him kicking you Sorry if you think I was implying that you should stop studying under him.

I have trouble tying my belt unless at least part of it brushes the floor. I kinda think the rule is a little outdated and unecessary. Its a belt, a piece of cloth. It doesn't have anything to do with you as a martial artist. That said, If my sensei kicked me like that...i might have had some choice words for him. I don't think it is ever ok for the sensei to hit his student hard enough to injure him. BTW, i sparred my sensei last night for the first time in...oh, six years. I'm sore today But I suprised him a couple times.

I have many many knives, and they tend to be my favorite. My handy benchmade auto-opener saved my life when it scared away a crazed drug dealer. I also have a large "combat" Kukri from Cold Steel. It is my favorite weapon of all time.

For me, I learn best when I'm the lowest in the class. Everything is at a higher level, and it helps you avoid plateuing and getting stagnant.

Square knot, with rank stripes on the right.

they had a date on there, but I forget I know that parts of samurai armor were made with wood and leather, but I thought that it had iron underneath.