chiliphil1

Thank you, that is all very encouraging.

There are always the X is better than Y, yet X isn't eligible yet due to a slight difference in age. But you have to draw the line somewhere. The drinking age is 21. What about a 19 year old who's fighting in a war, risking their life everyday? Have they not proven their maturity? Of course he/she has. Do we make an exception an put an asterisk on their ID card that says it's ok for them? No. The line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just stating fact. If someone is 16 and is better than an 18 year old that is worthy of their rank, then they'll still be worthy (barring unforeseen circumstances) when they're technically old enough to hold the rank. If they can't wait 2 more years to officially obtain that rank, then maybe they really didn't deserve it after all. You have to draw a line somewhere. Their will always be people who are exceptional or make you question the rule and make it seem unfair. But the line has to be drawn IMO. If your rule is 18, it's 18. If it's 16, it's 16. I'm not a die-hard believer in the rules are always the rules, regardless of the situation, but if its a great rule 99% of the time, enforcing it that last 1% of the time shouldn't cause major turmoil. If a student quits because he/she can't wait another year or two, they'll find another reason not too long after you've made the exception. Or they'll point to that exception next time a rule is enforced. Or others will. I'm a middle school teacher, so I'm a bit biased. I see parents and students point to an exception made for very good reason, and think it should apply to their child who has a different circumstance and the exception does not apply. Is it necessary though to have an age requirement? Drinking age, driving age and so on are set by governments because they cannot possibly hope to assess the maturity and character of each individual due to the shear number of people applying and holding licenses. The advantage we have in martial arts training is that we will spend 100's of hours training with an individual before they test for blackbelt so one would hope we can say something about the individual person and attest to their character rather than look at them as another statistic. We can actually pass a judgement on their maturity. I say this every time this type of topic comes up... but it really comes down to what you think a blackbelt represents and which doors it opens. I personally find it uncomfortable that an individual can surpass the physical and emotional requirements we associate with blackbelt yet be held back and barred from progressing within the curriculum simply because they are too young. I probably should add to this that I was awarded my 1st dan aged 14 and now at 24 hold my 4th dan so this probably colours my view.. I think you are right on with your analogy. I have seen young BB but not immature ones. I think that most instructors are pretty good about promoting those who deserve it and not those who simply show up for class. While some of the younger ones may lack some strength they do tend to possess the mental maturity required. I will admit I have not run across a ton of youth bb's but the ones I have seen have been worthy of the rank IMHO. Now, I have seen a ton of students make it to 1st kyu and no further, that shows me that there are standards in place.

There are always the X is better than Y, yet X isn't eligible yet due to a slight difference in age. But you have to draw the line somewhere. The drinking age is 21. What about a 19 year old who's fighting in a war, risking their life everyday? Have they not proven their maturity? Of course he/she has. Do we make an exception an put an asterisk on their ID card that says it's ok for them? No. The line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just stating fact. If someone is 16 and is better than an 18 year old that is worthy of their rank, then they'll still be worthy (barring unforeseen circumstances) when they're technically old enough to hold the rank. If they can't wait 2 more years to officially obtain that rank, then maybe they really didn't deserve it after all. You have to draw a line somewhere. Their will always be people who are exceptional or make you question the rule and make it seem unfair. But the line has to be drawn IMO. If your rule is 18, it's 18. If it's 16, it's 16. I'm not a die-hard believer in the rules are always the rules, regardless of the situation, but if its a great rule 99% of the time, enforcing it that last 1% of the time shouldn't cause major turmoil. If a student quits because he/she can't wait another year or two, they'll find another reason not too long after you've made the exception. Or they'll point to that exception next time a rule is enforced. Or others will. I'm a middle school teacher, so I'm a bit biased. I see parents and students point to an exception made for very good reason, and think it should apply to their child who has a different circumstance and the exception does not apply. Is it necessary though to have an age requirement? Drinking age, driving age and so on are set by governments because they cannot possibly hope to assess the maturity and character of each individual due to the shear number of people applying and holding licenses. The advantage we have in martial arts training is that we will spend 100's of hours training with an individual before they test for blackbelt so one would hope we can say something about the individual person and attest to their character rather than look at them as another statistic. We can actually pass a judgement on their maturity. I say this every time this type of topic comes up... but it really comes down to what you think a blackbelt represents and which doors it opens. I personally find it uncomfortable that an individual can surpass the physical and emotional requirements we associate with blackbelt yet be held back and barred from progressing within the curriculum simply because they are too young. I probably should add to this that I was awarded my 1st dan aged 14 and now at 24 hold my 4th dan so this probably colours my view.. I think you are right on with your analogy. I have seen young BB but not immature ones. I think that most instructors are pretty good about promoting those who deserve it and not those who simply show up for class. While some of the younger ones may lack some strength they do tend to possess the mental maturity required. I will admit I have not run across a ton of youth bb's but the ones I have seen have been worthy of the rank IMHO. Now, I have seen a ton of students make it to 1st kyu and no further, that shows me that there are standards in place.

I love the COD games too, but I tend not to play online, mainly because I get killed inside of a minute But by far my favourite games are the Arkham Batman series. The last one "Arkham Origins" wasn't so good, I think because Rockstar didn't produce that one, but they're back with next months release of "Arkham Knight" which I can't wait for! Mo. That's quite alright, I can't blame you guys for not wanting to pay $10 a month to play games online.

I'm on xbox live @ chiliphil1 The only thing I really play online is Call of duty mw3 but I am pretty bad at it. I also have Nascar 2010, I think.. I would like to play it online but no one is ever on there.

Yep, I really don't agree with these types of things. Personally I see it as more of a "sport" to these kids, something like gymnastics, not MA. I don't think they look at it like MA and the instructors do not teach it like MA. To them it is just flashy moves and board breaking. I don't even know if these kids are capable of understanding the true deeper meaning of the arts, they just do it for fun. With that said, I don't like calling out a particular style but I notice that TKD seems to have these kid black belts all covered in patches in about a 10 to 1 ratio or more than other styles.

To the bold, I don't think so. Even the general public understands that most people providing a service have some sort of system in place that ensures they are learning from someone with some adequate experience in the field. I think most people will seek out this information, even if they don't know what it means. Not to be argumentative but what about the MMA schools? I have seen a few where the owner was a fairly young guy without much experience. I think it may depend on who is looking and what they are looking for. Some of the schools I have seen are more of a work out gym that does MMA or BJJ but are not really MA schools, I think in those cases people don't care about instructor qualifications as long as they seem like they can fight. I think also that in these cases the students are just looking to fight rather than learn MA and everything that goes with it. Quite possible that these places attract some of the "undesirable" students being discussed in another thread right now.

This is an excellent post!

I agree with you on this. One used to have to be accepted by the teacher. Now with so many "for profit" dojos out there anyone who can pay the fee can line right up. I am not bashing these schools, the reality is that unless you own the space or are teaching out of your home you will have bills to pay and the only way to pay them is with bodies, you can't have 3-4 good students and keep the lights on, you have to have 50 so so students whom you work with to improve. I think the only ones who could be selective these days are the ones who, again give lessons from home or are wealthy and don't need to profit. As long as they cover the bills it would be sufficient for them.

I agree, but is it necessary to always learn from a "master?" There are lots of good teachers out there that aren't masters, and I think its a shame to pass them up if one has the chance. Of course, I didn't mean master in a literal sense, just a figurative one. The only people that I consider to be masters are those in Kung Fu because generally that's the only style that uses it as an actual designation. Sure, a lot of styles will call someone master or grand master however I believe (and I may be 150% wrong) but Kung Fu is the only style where it is actually a rank.. Please correct me if the above is not true.

I don't do nearly as much as you guys! I try to do kata at least 3 days a week, right now I am in physical therapy for my hip injury which is 3hrs a day 2 days a week, I try to do kata practice on the non therapy days. I also like to cycle, it's the only other activity that I enjoy, I hate running and all that so I bike instead, bmx, mountain, road.. Whatever I can do at the time. Currently I don't study a second style but I have definitely thought about it.

When I think of a woman being grabbed on the right arm by someone with their right hand. I imagine the man coming from behind and grabbing the woman right arm across his body with his left behind her back. Many defenses for this BUT I think they need to be super simple, 1-2 moves max and then run. This is a different element than traditional MA. This kind of thing goes more into the hit to kill mentality. A female in most cases won't be able to match the strength of the male attacker so she must use a couple of short direct moves that will disable him enough for her to get away. Stepping on the foot, strike to the groin, etc.

Did you know that Willie Nelson is a 5th dan in Gong Kwon Yu Sul? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/willie-nelson-black-belt_n_5230070.html

This is a great answer. You should work to improve your weak areas while not forgetting to work on your strong ones.

I am in agreement with the posts above. I don't think that the number of degrees is going to make a difference but rather the number of diplomas. In my area there are a couple of schools which the instructors have degrees in early childhood development and things like that. They seem to advertise that more than their MA accomplishments. I think as far as instructors go as long as the person doesn't weight 400 pounds, knows the material and is able to perform it, and knows how to teach that should be about all you need. There are so many people who teach but have no idea what they are doing, in other words yes they are high ranked and yes they can do MA very well but they don't have a clue how to pass it on to others. An MA "master" and an instructor are 2 very different things.

5-17 45 min kata practice 10 minute BO practice 5-18 Work conditioning therapy. 5 min treadmil x3 5 min recumbent bike x3 3 min stair climbing x3 2 min ladder climbing x3 5 min leg press x3 3 min latt pull x3 3 min chest press x3 4 min resistance band twisting x3 40 reps multi hip wights x3 8 min arm bike x3 total time 3 hours

I don't feel I have really given up much. As a kid, I trained rather than run amok in the streets. When other kids were into drugs and gangs I was into MA. Now that I am older I again feel that I am not sacrificing anything. If I were not training I would be sitting around, so I think I am winning in that respect. I try to include my family so I am not sacrificing on that side either, in actuality I think that families can be closer through MA.

That definitely sounds like what I have in mind when I get mine going. The one biggest thing that I am concentrating on is making sure I have equipment. I know that people wouldn't want to just go into an empty room and train, I feel that you should have bags, mirrors, appropriate space, and finally matts that are there, not rolled out when needed.. The place sounds nice.

Good story, you may think of yourself as the tough instructor but in the eyes of the students you are probably a hero, a role model, someone whom they consider family.

Plus a good stress reliever!

I generally just use the spring loaded gripper. I get pretty good results with one of those. I also will take a free weight and hold it in front of me with my arm straight out and then rotate the weight from top to bottom, this builds the forearm and thus the grip. I'm sure I could be doing more but so far it's all worked out fairly well.

Welcome, Wing Chun is an amazing style, it's on my list of arts to study one day.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome, nice to have more experience MA practitioners on board to help out all of the less experienced.

Welcome! Always good to have new members.