phoenixfire

I've been in a similar situation. When I was a lower ranking belt, I sparred a blackbelt who was very boastful about his kumite skill. He kept throwing these really wild high spinning and jumping kicks. I kept backing out of his zone until I could guage what was going on. Then suddenly I jumped in under his kick and just lifted his kicking leg while he was still in the air. He fell flat on his behind and completely embarrassed him that a lowly blue belt could do this. Of course he took me aside after class and informed me that he was having an off night and perhaps I should watch my control. I wasn't really concerned because another blackbelt took me aside and let me know that this guy has a tendancy to be a bit big for his britches and needed a lesson in humility. Some people feel the need to show off and when they get called out or shown up, they get really ticked off. Good luck with your situation.

There is a muturity level that should be reached with blackbelt. Currently I don't know anyone under 18 mature enough to accept this honor. I have teenage blackbelts and younger walking around tournaments demanding for lower ranks to bow to them. My mom was a teacher at the time and a green belt. She informed them that if she could still put them in detention or timeout then she doesn't bow to them. Whether that is right or not is another discussion, but if you feel the need to demand that people bow to you, you are not mature enough to be bowed to. Respect is earned, not demanded.

My school has the policy that (most of the time, there are exceptions) a black belt must be 18. Before that most children do not have the maturity to become blackbelts. However, there is no set roadmap to becoming a blackbelt. The journey depends on the student themselves. We have actually been to other schools and tournaments and seen 5 and 6 year olds with blackbelts running around with kamas and katanas! Most parents don't let their kids run with scissors much less a large weapon. I would warn you not to expect a blackbelt within a year. If your child does recieve one, then I would be wary of the school and the quality of your child's training.

Our school has the same problem! Our school is VERY traditional and students can spend years at one belt level if they are not ready to test. It seems as we go on fewer students are even willing to make it past white belt. I have been with this school for 15 years and I am still a brown belt. (Lately work/life has intervened in my training) I don't wish to offend any parents here however, the root of the problem seems to be the parents. They give their children everything and don't think they can do anything on their own. When I was a child I had to earn anything big or wait till Christmas or a birthday. Also, parents don't push their kids to learn anymore. While teaching a child something (pretty basic) one of the parents actually intervened and suggested that perhaps this was too difficult for their child. I asked her politely to sit back down and we would see if their kid could do this or not. Turns out her kid was smart enough and had enough ability to do as he was asked! Who Knew!!! My mom always pushed me to do better and be smarter. I don't understand these people who are willing to allow their kids to be lazy dullards who think the world owes them any little thing they desire!

Good luck with your tournament and have fun! Be explosive with your techniques, quick in and quick out. Try to score so that the judges can see it. You can stick many good techniques, but it doesn't mean much if the judges don't see them.

Oooohhhh, hope the lip is ok everygrey! I know how that feels! Fortunately I haven't had any "serious" injuries, unlike my mother who had her toe broken off! That's a long story!

hongkongphooey! Thanks for the info about hockey, never knew that! As for everyone else, I knew it eventually had to end with Chuck Norris! LOL Has anyone else seen the Chuck Norris jokes and posters? They are really hilareous! My brother has one and we laughed till we fell out of our chairs! Stuff like "Under Chuck Norris' beard is another fist" (stupid stuff really) But with all seriousness, back in the day when he was part of the American Karate Association Competition team, my Sensei was on the team with him. Now my Sensei is tough and he very readily let us know he beat Stephen Segal in a fight, however he has never revealed the results of the fights between himself and Chuck Norris. This thread has been interesting and fun!

Alcatraz, I totally get what you're saying! This happened in my school a few years ago. This guy comes in and acts like a white belt. (He obviously wasn't) He was not asian, but his teacher was. He acted like they had so may great ideas and so many people got sucked into it. When he talked so many of the younger students thought he was sooo wise. Mind you our teacher was caucasion and his teacher was his father, the only asians in our school were a few of the students, none of them black belts. I do think that due to tv and movies and because the martial arts in general developed in the east people tend to be biased. They don't see technique or talent first, they see race. I think it is just stereotyping. Just like asians are good at math or white people can't dance. (by the way, I'm white, and cannot dance, LOL)

We have traced our roots to approximatley 417 A.D when Taisha Daruma, a Zen Buddhist Monk from India traveled to China with the intention of teaching the emperor the art of sanscrit. While traveling in China a civil war blocked his path and he settled for the time being at a Shaolin monastery. There he taught the monks a form of exercise and physical defense that was developed into Kung-Fu. The art then spread through China, developing different style. It finally made its way to Okinawa and was then combined with the existing fighting system called Okinawa-te. It was then called karate, the symbol for Kara meant Chinese hand. From there it continued to develop until in 1917 Ginchin Funakoshi introduced it to Japan. He changed the character for kara to mean "empty hand". He is now know as the father of Japanese Karate. From there it spread through Europe and the U.S. from service men stationed in Japan and Okinawa in WWII. There is a bit more detail and lineage that is more direct to our school and system, but that is what we have so far.

I am a brown belt in Beikoku Bushido.

BG Fighter, I am only 5'2" and 135lbs. I have never fought professionally, but I have fought some pretty big guys who are really good. When I fight, I generally try to keep my side to them to give them a smaller target. I keep my head out of the way and use their size as an advantage. Usually if you can get past the legs and past their lunge punches then you should be fine. A lot of the taller/bigger guys depend on keeping their space, they arent' sure what to do if you get too close to them. This is not 100% but, it seems to be a good majority. I'm sure if you got invited to such a big tournament, then you must be really good. If I were you, I would at least give it a shot. A lot of these big guys underestimate shorter people too, so you might suprise a few of them. I wish you the best of luck with your decision. Keep practicing and keep us posted!

evergrey, just checked out your blog and I like it so far! You are a hoot! LOL Keep up the great work! Like you I am a bit silly and can be a royal pain in my Sensei's rear end! I have known him and his wife for a number of years and they treat me like their slightly insane adopted niece. However, during class he gets the respect he deserves! I loved the bits about self-sparring and not running into people's fists! LOL, not that long ago I ran into a fist and got my cornea scratched. I finished my fight, drove myself with only one eye to patient first (that was an adventure) and got some drops. I finally broke down and called my mommy because at that point I couldn't open either of my eyes and had her drive me back to my place. I couldn't work out for a good two or three days! (grrr) Of course, I learned a valuable lesson about not blocking with my face. lol!

In Bushido competitions we do not use low kicks. However, we do have several kicks that can be used for self-defense or scenarios that would happen on the street. Most of these however are aimed for the knee, thigh, or ankle and the purpose is to stop an attacker by any force necessary, ie broken bones.

To me, Karate, just wouldn't be the same without kata. Bushido, just like most forms of ma is steeped in tradition and history. Of course like all sports it is constantly evolving, but basics are basics. Kata helps with muscle memory so that if you ever actually need to perform a particular technique, there will be as little hesitation as possible if any at all. In my system we do not believe in changing katas for tournaments to make them more noticeable or flashy for the judges. We simply believe in doing the kata to the best of our ability and trusting the judges will do their job fairly.

everygrey, That's really cool about the ma couple! My last sensei practiced with his wife until he passed away. They were a really awesome couple and I miss them. ninjanurse, I love that video! I immediatley forwarded the link to my mom. She used to take with me and wants to come back, but sometimes she gets discouraged because of her age and having been gone so long. (Silly girl) Anyway, I love it, thanks for sharing! :pony:

joesteph, I agree with you. I like to know the applications of my kata's before I show them off. In my system when we test we have to know the applications of the techniques in our katas. Sometimes after we do the forms to our Sensei's satisfaction we have to go through the form move by move explaining what we are doing. Not only do I feel it helps me to understand my techniques better, but it helps me to remember the kata when I am first learning it. I also agree with you on feeling genuine when performing a kata. Anybody can learn choreographed moves, but to actually understand the what and why is priceless.

white yellow blue green purple brown 1, 2, 3 black 1-10 10 is grandmaster and that is handed down to you at the death or retirement of the previous grandmaster.

Thanks! Yeah, my bf really likes that I take MA. He gets a real kick out of me commenting on the deadliest warrior or when I yell at the tv during a fight. He thinks its cool that he's got the only girl at the bar that actually knows whats going on! LOL.

Also, if your teacher is more interested in self-defense rather than competing, that can be good. There are a lot of teachers out there more interested in tournament and "looking good" rather than the good of their students. Again, good luck.

Welcome to the board and welcome to the sport! I agree with some of the other posters. We don't know your sensei and haven't seen him practice so its really hard to tell if he's "good" or not. I would do some research. Some good indicators are if you can trust your blackbelt or not. If you can't, leave. While it is important to know how to defeat your opponent, does your instructer use self-control? If not, then leave. Also, pretty much any kind of fighting experience is beneficial in street fighting. I don't live in a rough neighborhood and I try to avoid dangerous situations when possible, so I am coming at this from a different point of view. My school does focus on a lot of self-defense. My teacher used to be a cop and he always said he didn't want me to be another statistic. The biggest thing I can reccomend is to try to avoid a dangerous situation. Then often times the kind of punch thrown on the street is a "haymaker", they come in swinging. Those are easily blocked, if you can block and counter quickly, that is usually enough to discourage the opponent. My school only encourages excessive (bone breaking) force if the fight escalates or the person is a real danger to you. Generally attempting to diffuse the situation completely is the best option. While you may be good, there is always someone better and you don't want to find that someone. That being said, if you don't mind carrying pepperspray, Mace brand has one that is a gel with UV dye and it will stick to the opponents face. Another benefit of the gel is that it isn't a mist or spray and is less likely to blow back on you and harm you as well. Well good luck and sorry for the long response.

I practice in Colonial Heights, VA. I may be moving to the Great Bridge / Chesapeake area in the next year though. Any body practice Bushido in that area?

Thanks honolulu, that could be beneficial to us all.

That's good to hear! In my school, the only other girls are the kids and sometimes it can be difficult to find other ladies who practice such sports. I understand with my style. It's hards style Okinowan Karate, very little is pulled and some of the techniques take a little more strength. It doesn't mean they can't be done, it just takes a little more practice and sometimes some improvosation. Of course I reap the benefits because when practicing self-defense I realize the guy attacking me will most likely be about the same same as the guys I'm practicing with. 6' and 220lbs vs. 5'2 and 130lbs. Also when you get older some things tend to get in the way like marriage and pregnancy. Stuff like that can take you out of commission for sometime. I welcome any feedback from the guys too. I was just curious :pony:

I am a female marial artist who has been practicing karate for 15 years. I was just wondering if there were any other gals out there if this is pretty much an all guys forum. No offense guys, but sometimes us gals have some pretty unique issues when it comes to martial arts and self defense.

I agree with Dobbersky. I would try some light yoga to get yourself started. If you can't get a stretching bar try using a railing around your porch or stair railings in your house. I know people who make fun of dancers, but their flexibility is unbelievable. My mom got me started in karate when I was 14 and she did it too so I wouldn't be the only girl in the class. She had some issues, but working slowly and patiently she regained her flexibility.