evergrey

Hello, and welcome to the forum!

I'd tell my instructor. I'd dread it, if I knew I could have avoided it but let my anger get the best of me, but still I would tell them. Actually, that's helped me stay out of a potential fight. Last Christmas season there was almost an incident at Walgreens around the photo booth, haha. People started yelling and cussing and getting all worked up! My first thought was "oh no, if I get in a fight I'm going to be in so much trouble with my instructors!" Thankfully things calmed down. The best part is that a week or two after that incident, the woman who had been nasty to me ran into me (in a big city, no less) and apologized for her behavior. We shook hands and that was that! If I did have to fight, however, it would most likely be a case of self defense, in which case I think my instructors would want to know what happened, and would do their best to advise me, both on how to protect myself better next time, and how to avoid the situation next time. Besides, a couple of instructors and a number of students at my dojo are law enforcement officers... I am quite sure that if I were involved in an incident where the police got involved, they'd know before I even limped into class... heh.

I always believed that his BB was honorary? I think I have heard that as well.

The problem with self-teachng and not having anyone to watch your form is that you can, without realizing it, develop improper form which can harm you, or which can lead to bad habits that will be much harder to un-train later on when you DO have access to learning what you want to learn. It is easier to just learn right the first time. You may be eager to learn right now, and not want to believe what we are saying here. Of course you can choose to listen and agree or not! But these are good people and I think that they are trying to give you the best advice they can, and some are speaking from experience. This is the advice that I will give to you. If you are going to be taking up TKD, then put the whole of your heart into TKD. All martial arts have holes and weak points. TKD might not be strong enough with it's punches for your taste- for me, Kyokushin has no grappling, and I would like to learn ground fighting techniques. Why do I not try to learn them now? Because a martial art is hard to learn well. It takes a great deal of time and dedication. As a beginner, learning two martial arts at the same time is especially hard. It confuses the body, and you do not yet have anything trained into you as an automatic response to stimulus. I feel that it is best to first develop your core martial art. Focus on it until you are quite good at it- this will take a number of years, depending on your natural talent level, and your dedication. It will depend on how much you practice it outside of class, and how much you go to class, and the quality of your instructors as well. Once you have become good at that style, if you have the time and resources, then take up a style that is better for hand strikes. Cross train. Expand your horizons then- but for now, focus on the style you are training in, and wait until you have someone to watch your form. My Sensei started training in his style, Kyokushin, 35 years ago. About 22 years ago, he and his Sensei had a falling out. He wandered and trained in some other styles, and practiced Kyokushin at home. He had no one to watch his form in Kyokushin. When we came back to the dojo, he started getting major knee problems. The reason? He had, during the decades he was away from his Sensei, forgotten to pivot his foot when rotating into his roundhouse kick. This put a lot of nasty strain on his knee, and when he came back to the dojo and started doing a lot more of those kicks... it hurt his knee. Thankfully now he has people to work with and check on his form. He can watch me and see exactly what I am doing wrong. All the knowledge is there. But even looking in a mirror, he can't really see everything about his own form. He needs someone to watch him and give him feedback as an outside observer who also knows exactly the proper form of whatever he is doing. It is like riding a horse. There is nothing that can really teach you the ways your body has to move in order to properly ride and balance... except for actually riding a horse. There are not even machines that truly simulate the complex oscillations of the horse's body. This is a thing that you can only learn by doing, and experiencing. It is the same with learning how to fight... and you are way more likely to do it properly and a lot more safely for yourself and your partners if you have a guide to watch over you as well. I hope that this makes sense. Please always feel free to ask more questions, and know that I am speaking to you with only care for your well-being, because I want to see you do well in your martial arts journey, and find great success! OSU!

I have always heard that TKD is very big on the kicks. A lot of fast, fancy high kicks. Having a strong punch will help you in sparring, of course... but there are many ways to punch and they might decide that yours needs to be re-trained to be properly a TKD punch. In many martial arts, once you reach a certain level it's expected, I think, for you to develop a bit more of your own style in your sparring within the framework of the style you are training in, as you find what exactly works best for YOU. As a beginner in a style, however, it is best I think to go in with an open mind and not allow yourself to have the attitude that you already know "enough" about this or that thing. Then you are not open to learning as much, and as a result, your progress might be slowed down. I'm not going to tell you that you should or should not take up TKD, of course. I won't preach "this style is better or worse than that style!" I will only say, if you choose it, be the clay that is ready to be shaped and molded by your instructors. Don't come in trying to already be a certain shape! OSU

OSU, Kyokushin at one time had more kobudo than it often does in most modern dojos, so I hear. Has anyone ever heard of a spear kata in Kyokushin? I am interested in learning the spear. I guess I could vik one from the Okinawans if need be. :} OSU!

It does happen. It has happened to me many times. Meditate, breathe through it, let it go. Keep the wheat of what you learned, and leave the chaff of the feelings of failure behind. Another day will be another day, and perhaps it will go differently. Do you practice outside of class? It might also help. But some days our focus is just better than others. Over time, there will be less of those days... but even a master can sometimes lose focus, whether he admits it or not. None of us are absolutely perfect at it. That is why we always practice. :} But yeah, it's no fun! The thing is, you kept going, you finished class, you showed UP for class. So many people don't. And that is an accomplishment right there. Really it is! OSU!

If you are totally committed to always training barefoot, why not toughen your feet on the concrete? I wish I could advise you about what to buy... I'm not sure what you could put down on concrete that would work, although... if you OWN the property, I suppose you could use some sort of tough outdoor paint. That would make it smoother... but it would also be quite slick, especially when wet.

I use the callouses on my feet when I practice kata on concrete. Of course, one has to develop said callouses, hehe! But I also train in my normal footwear when outside of the dojo. If I am going to fight to defend myself, I should be used to fighting when wearing normal street clothes. No one will wait for me to put on a dogi, after all... Though in the warm months I mostly wear sandals that I can easily kick off anyway. I spent many years running around barefoot... and I often still do! OSU

Is there any kind of spiritual practice that doesn't involve some level of blunt force trauma? If anyone says "yes", I'll call shinannigans. That sounds nasty indeed..! It's okay, we already know people think we're crazy, haha!

I hope it goes really well!

Sanchin in Kyokushin is both external and internal... though they all are in a way, but this one is a lot more about focus, and it is more spiritual in nature. Of course, it being Kyokushin, spiritual in nature still involves getting beat with sticks and fists and stuff while you're testing with this kata.

Glad you made it through! OSU! Take it easy, don't be me! I jacked my knee up for life, I'm afraid. Went back to kumite way way way too soon, apparently. Sighhh.

Great topic! There is a guy who came from our style name Yamaki who was a big Yakuza bad guy in The Punisher. He is tall and has a gorgeous body but his face looks very stern. It is really too bad he couldn't get any hero roles, but I guess they think he is too scary looking, despite his being a gentle giant and a really patient sweetheart in real life! But he does not just have the look... he did the 100 man kumite, he won all-Japan twice and all-world (Kyokushin full contact knockdown tournaments) once. An amazing martial artist, and a living legend. *I might have a tiiiiny innocent crush on him, haha*

That's a lot of new belts to buy!

I am terrible at sewing and actually have commissioned my Sensei's mom to shorten my dogi sleeves for me, lol! Glad I don't have to do all that, or ask Sensei to!

I have a friend who goes to a school where the first 6 months of their shodan is a "trial period" where it's kind of a "shodan-ho." If they behave and perform well, I think it gets automatically upgraded to "shodan" without another test though. Sounds like that school has, what... an extra kyu then?

Ooo! That's one I really want to cross train in, if my knees are ever up to it.

Haha, always fun seeing a couple of the instructors at my dojo blinking and sniffing and coughing after a day training with the spray. I do not envy those guys. I'm going to experience a taser at some point... but I think I'll pass on the spray, thanks!

Haha, so if you make it up here at the end of the month and we end up sparring, you'll wear some protective gear then? Not that I'd assume I could ever manage to land something, LOL! OSU!

Ahh, interesting, thank you! I've a friend who teaches movie stunt stuff out of a local kempo dojo (but he doesn't, himself, teach kempo) however I have not been by to watch any of it. We haven't had a kempo person show up to our open sparring day yet either, far as I know. I'm always interested in hearing about different schools and styles. Please do keep us updated about the various classes you take!

OSU, In my dojo, if someone has a rank in KYOKUSHIN already, regardless of the organization, they are allowed to keep it. If they have high rank in another style, they have to work their way up like anyone else, but if they are really advanced then they may be double tested, or even triple tested... but they have to do everything that is required to test for all three ranks if so. I think it's a fair solution. OSU

Hello and welcome! :} Month to month is pretty standard, avoid schools that "guarantee" a black belt in a set amount of time, or rank in a set amount of time, I'd say. I tend to avoid long contracts too! Go watch and then take a free class at whichever school you're looking into. Are you thinking of a stand-up (no grappling) style then? What's the most important aspect of martial arts to you? OSU!

LOL, well you're the head of your style now, Bob! OSU! PS sorry about this past weekend- I was a dork and I thought I was online on skype, but I was offline!

Hah, story of my life, except beyond the Sempai... I have THREE instructors! One is a 2nd dan, one is a 5th dan, and one is a 7th dan. The 5th dan owns the dojo, and the 2nd dan claims me as his own personal student. They all teach techniques a little differently! I often find myself having to adjust how I do things to cater to whichever instructor I am working with at the moment. The 7th dan always wants me to do as he says. The 5th dan says ultimately I should follow the orders of the 2nd dan. I have learned the value of saying "OSU," trying all ways, and then developing the technique that works best for ME... just as my sempai and my instructors ultimately did, haha, and just as your sempai have. Sometimes they forget that what works best for them might not be what works best for everyone. A technique that works really well for a tall, lanky outfighter, for example, may not work at all for me. I'll never forget the time the 7th dan told me that, during a certain kata, I must not bend down to do a certain groin block. He insisted that blocking with my back straight would protect my groin sufficiently. I have very short arms and a very long back. The 5th dan disagreed and said that I should bend down. The 7th dan decided to demonstrate how he was correct by telling me to block his way, and swinging a front kick at my groin. I'll never forget the look on his face when his foot connected, haha! At any rate, there's something to be learned from all of them. In your case, err on the side of your head instructor. Nice and simple. If you get chewed on, bow and thank them for their advice and say you mean no disrespect but you must obey what your head instructor told you. Usually if there's too much of a conflict on how to do something between myself and one of my sempai, I call over an instructor and ask them to clarify. I feel ya on the cheeky 17 year old bit though. Sometimes I think teenagers aren't ready for a black belt, because leadership requires a certain amount of maturity. Some handle it fine though, and the others... they hopefully grow into it. OSU!