Lupin1

Anyone can invent their own art and name themself a 10th dan. There's no overseeing organization for all martial arts. If someone wants to take his yellow belt in Shotokan and invent his own style, call himself a 10th Dan and open his own school tomorrow, no one will stop him. That's why people have to be so careful when shopping for schools. There are a lot of good, legitimate teachers out there, but there are also a few who have done just what I described.

I think that's an amazing topic! Research is always so much easier when it's on something you're interested in and that has personal meaning to you. As a school librarian, I always see kids pick topics they have no interest in and then complain the entire way through the research. Way to go in picking such a great topic for yourself! If the belts are what interest you, I'd say go for it. You probably won't even need to add to it. Keeping your focus smaller will allow you to get better detail, and there's more than enough for a research paper just in belts. There's a lot of history there. I find the history of the belt system even just within my small program to be fascinating. We started off in the 70s with just five belts and added levels slowly over the years. Now for the kids we've got nine belts with 13 different levels. Hearing the reasoning behind it and how it affects things like student motivation and retention is extremely interesting to me. You won't find the deep, spiritual history some people expect when first looking into this (a lot of the myths that surround karate belts are just that-- myths), but if you appreciate learning the REAL story behind things, you won't be bored. And if you have to give a presentation, you'll have a unique topic that I bet will hold the interest of your audience and teach them all many things they don't know. Awesome topic!

I'm not quite sure that time ever existed. Even my main style of Isshinryu was developed from our founder taking what he learned from Goju and Shorinryu and a few other things and mixing them together. The creators of the "traditional" styles all took from other styles or from different instructors and mixed and matched and put them together. The martial arts are always changing and evolving and have always been that way. I think whether you like older styles or newer styles is just a matter of preference. I prefer the more traditional "feel", but have no problems taking things from different styles to add to what I know.

Welcome to karateforums! In my opinion, ideally kids under 12 (or under 18, for that matter) shouldn't be put in a position over adults. Have them help with the kids' class. They don't need to be in charge of it, but assisting will help them get their feet wet and will help the adult instructors by giving them the opportunity to break up that wide range of ages and skill levels into smaller groups. So have the kid black belts first start helping individual kids who might be falling behind, then maybe work with a small group closer to the middle of the skill level range while the adults work with the beginners and advanced students. Even going through teaching college as an adult, they had us start off working with kids one-on-one our first year, then small groups our second year, then assisting with a full class our third year and not taking control of a full class until our fourth year (and even then, under the constant supervision of a "master teacher"). I wasn't completely in charge of a full class until I was 23 and a year out of college. There's no need to rush anyone into leading a full size adult class as an 11-year-old. Those leadership skills take years to develop and it's perfectly acceptable and preferable to work the kids into those roles over the course of years. So have them start just as assistants in the kids' classes, then as they get older, more experienced with teaching, and more mature, give them more and more responsibilities in the class (but always with adults there and in control). If they do want to help out with the adults as they get older (say 16 or so), talk to the adults beforehand and let them know that they're helping these kids develop these skills. Never have it be that the kids are in complete power over the adults, but have the adult, even if they're a white belt, be helping the kid with the leadership skills even as the kid is helping them with the karate movements. Make it more of a mutual partnership with both of them helping each other with different things. Most adults, especially if they're parents, are open to helping kids with that development and are willing to be led by kids with the understanding that it's to help the kid learn and that if the kid steps over the line, they as an adult can step in and correct it (so don't give the kid dictator power over the adults-- adults always outrank kids when it comes to leadership. No kid should be yelling at an adult, telling them to do pushups, correcting adult behavior, or anything like that. Just helping them with the moves). That's how I'd arrange it, anyway.

Wow. Congratulations. That is a HUGE accomplishment!

Great job, andym!

I've been doing Isshinryu since I was 8, but have taken several breaks. If you take all the time I've been actively training and put it together, it's probably been about 5 years, with a good amount of that being remembering things I forgot and getting back up to speed after breaks. Right now I'm a 3rd kyu, so I've probably got somewhere between a year and two years left to get to black planning on the three month break I'm going to have to take this summer (life...). I'm in no hurry, though. Brown belt is a unique period in one's training that I'm not intent on rushing. According to my instructor, in our program an adult will take about four years of steady, dedicated training to get from white to black (although very few of our adults are able to do that and most train somewhat off and on). A child will take between 7 and 9 years to get to adult black belt. Although in the 30 something years he's taught, he's only promoted about 10 people to black belt (we're a very small program), so really it's a very individualized thing.

I don't have one yet. A few years ago I was really good at our second kata, which I did for a competition when I was 10. I worked that thing for hours as a kid. I used to practice it on my trampoline thinking it would make me more stable and balanced (it actually helped-- 10-year-old ideas aren't always bad) and when I re-started karate as an adult, I found my muscle memory for that one was extremely strong and a lot of the movements in it became my intuitive go-to moves the few times I've actually needed to use my martial arts (a lot of turning away at angles to block or shifting into cat stances to put yourself on the outside of the attack rather than the usual "plow through the middle" defenses). So it still has a lot of my preferences in it, but now that I've learned half a dozen kata on top of the few I had as a kid, I'm not as attached to that one and I haven't quite found one to replace it yet.

Welcome!

Nothing wrong with what you're doing-- it's very close to the way it traditionally would have been done. No storefront dojos in feudal Japan. I think you've found a very good opportunity here. The only drawback you may find is not having different partners with different sizes and styles once you start really working applications and sparring. But you can definitely get up to a decent level with private training and then maybe start training with a bigger group later on, although that's not entirely necessary. And if you've got services he wants and he's got services you want, I see nothing wrong with not exchanging money. People should barter more.

Lol. Sounds like you had a great night, FangPwnsAll7. If you're having fun, you know you're doing something right. Can't wait to hear your results!

Awesome! Congratulations!

Good luck, bud! I know you've been training very hard for this. You're going to do great!

What about when your former student is going off and starting their own school? Do you ever feel weird about him/her out there teaching the things you taught him/her to others? Like they're peddling your product? How does that work?

I think we have to go back to that question that keeps popping up everywhere-- "what is a black belt?". That answer is different in every group. If you belong to a group where a black belt is just an indicator of a certain skill level, then it'd be silly to keep yourself at 1st kyu even as your skill level is advancing well beyond that. But if you're part of a group where being a black belt means taking on more responsibility and teaching or becoming a leader in the dojo or something like that, then it'd make more sense for someone to keep a kyu rank while continuing to train if they can't or are unwilling to make that commitment. Likewise, I had a friend who's been a 1st kyu (white belt) in Aikido for over a decade because in her group, testing for black belt involves hundreds of dollars in testing fees and traveling to a certain location to take the test and she just can't afford it. So there are situations where staying at 1st kyu would be perfectly reasonable, but if black belt is just a symbol of mastering the basics and they've mastered the basics, then refusing that black belt wouldn't make much sense and could be confusing to others and would also contribute to the mystical view that's developed around the black belt which is not entirely realistic.

Welcome! I'm looking forward to you sharing your knowledge and experiences, too!

That's about the age of the kids in our class. They love relays. Set up a line of instructors with bags and some standing bags or whatever you use and have them do certain moves or combinations at each station before moving on and have a race. We save stuff like that for special occasions so it's more of a treat-- games shouldn't make up the majority of training. Kids that age are definitely capable of training without having to play games all the time. Keep it as a treat and a motivation to train hard-- if they work hard all class, they can have a race or play a game at the end or something like that. It'll work wonders for classroom management.

What age are the kids?

To me most of it is about perseverance. Like they say-- a black belt is a white belt who never quit. There's also a commitment to learn the movements and theories behind the physical movements-- to me that's the difference between a martial artist and a brawler. You can be a good fighter without being a martial artist. Finally, there's the self-control and sense of responsibility to use your skills appropriately and not become a bully or a show off or a brute.

Hey Mike! Welcome! It's awesome to find something you love to do. Makes you just feel more alive in every aspect of your life. Looking forward to hearing more from you!

People get surprised when they find out I do martial arts (I don't tell too many people). I'm a school librarian with a pretty academic, bookish focus. When I was really overweight, people seemed shocked because I guess I didn't seem like I did anything physical. I also used to be a lot quieter and meeker and I still am in some settings, but I'm becoming a bit more gregarious due mostly to my summer job which requires a lot of energetic interaction. Now people aren't as shocked, but it still seems to throw them off a bit. I like that.

In most cases in wouldn't do them much good anywhere else.

I originally started training so Zordon would pick me to be the next Power Ranger (the orange ranger). Fast forward 18 years and my motives have changed a bit (though that'd still be cool...). I train now mostly to give myself the mental and physical challenge. I love learning and developing new skills and this gives me a perfect outlet for that. It also gives me something to look forward to after work where I can socialize and bond in a recreational setting (something that's sorely lacking for most people once they hit adulthood). And now that I'm advancing a bit more and helping out with the kids' classes, a new motivation is beginning to develop where I want to learn enough to be able to teach in a few years and pass it on.

Congratulations! Awesome looking trophy!