chiliphil1

Honestly, I do not. You may end up having to buy something a little too big and then having a tailor take it in for you. Depending on how much you are looking to spend Tokaido offers half sizes but those will run you near $300 USD.. I think you would be best to go with something like a Ronin brand and then have it altered. And don't forget that most if not all gi's will shrink in the wash as well. I have heard of some people tossing them in the dryer and trying them on, then they would dry them again until they fit..

try discountmas.com. They have a great selection and will ship anywhere.

You are indeed correct and I did not mean to make it sound as though TKD was just a sport. I think what I was getting at was that from what I have seen most people who just want to do "karate" thinking it would be fun and all the kids who look at it like going to soccer practice seem to almost always be students of TKD. I think this has more to do with availability than anything because it seems that 90% of local schools are TKD. Now, with that said I do understand that things slow down at black belt, I think this is pretty common with all styles hence the high attrition rates of most schools however with what I have seen from the TKD schools I have witnessed they move up the gup ranks very quickly, something like 2 months between gradings which increases slightly the higher you get, at the 1st gup it's something like 6 months in between and then another 6 months to dan. I am not trying to say anything is wrong with it but I think this is why they keep so many students, since there is always something to shoot for and you feel that you are accomplishing a lot because every 2 months you have a new belt. Whereas some traditional styles I have seen only have 3-4 belts which take a year or more in between each and this can cause burnout with those who are not fully dedicated.

I'm reminded of one guy I know who brought up the point that the people who are the most skilled/experienced/competent tend to not talk about it as much. He then continued with "take myself for example". I had to wonder if he was actually listening to himself. This is what I meant about modesty. Not the guy who walks around saying "look at me I am so modest" but rather the one who will never ever say "yep, I am really good, I can do all of those kicks better than them" To me true modesty is one who not only doesn't talk about how good they are but one who most others do not even realize how good they are. Like the old Kung-fu masters who would only talk about how great their master was but never themselves.. Bruce Lee was one of those.

I am not in your specific style, so hopefully someone who is will come along with a better answer. In my style we were told that the bo should be right in the middle of your forehead, it should not be taller than you and should not be down at your eyes or nose. Given your height I would think a 6' bo would be about right for you, hope this helps.

I think you have a point here, however I would argue that experience does make one better. Not that anyone would ever achieve perfection but someone who has been doing the same punches and kicks for 20 years should certainly be better at it than someone who has say 2 years of experience. With that said I do think that the traditionalist schools loose a lot of students because of the reputation of basics whereas TKD schools seem to attract people in droves because the style is more "fun" with all the jumping and spinning. The TKD schools seem to advance very quickly as well which I think also helps them to retain students, long term traditional school attendees in my opinion are the ones whom have decided to pursue a life in the martial arts, they are not the ones looking for a workout or a sport.. and as far as modesty goes, there is nothing wrong with that, I would think most high ranking dans would not go bragging about how good they are, instead they would only tell you how much more they have to learn.

I would highly recommend contacting whomever you choose to buy the Gi from. Everything I have read says that Tokaido is made smaller than their competitors, if you wore say a size 5 in Century you would be a 4 in Tokaido. Whomever you are dealing with should be able to help you out but from your description the size you're looking at seems about right.

Congrats! I had to take a year and half break myself a while back due to a broken ankle, I came back and after a few months I was back in the swing and passed my next grading. I made it to first dan within a year and a half of coming back, something about being gone and coming back made it more special and made me work even harder.

Thank you very much! Don't even know what to say, huge honor!

I read in a book a while back that a certain branch of TKD wanted to start referring to people 4th dan and above as master. Their thinking was looking at it like a job, you have master mechanics, master plumbers, etc. They looked at it that way, it was a level of achievement more than a reference of actual knowledge or ability. One can be a master mechanic but still attend many classes in a year learning new things.

This is unbelievable to me. If someone with your experience and credentials offered to come to my school (if I had one) I wouldn't care if you taught how to dance like Britney Spears I would find myself a red carpet and roll it out. This to me is like saying that the chief of naval operations cannot visit an air craft carrier because he was a submariner and it makes absolutely no sense. If this school is passing the opportunity to have a 9th dan visit and share wisdom then I cannot give them much credit for sense! I hate to say this because it makes me fit your stereotype but I find that the schools that do this are generally TKD and oftentimes ATA.. I don't think there is anything wrong with them directly but I believe this is the result of the schools being ran like a Wal-mart you want to make sure the shoppers don't see the other store's sales papers at any cost.

John, first off let me apologize for not recommending your store, I completely forgot about it I'm sorry for that. Secondly you are right, I wasn't even thinking about the Chinese Tokaido line. I have heard that their quality is not very good and lifespan can be under 6 months on one of those, have you had any experience with them?

I started around 6, some of the other kids in the daycare that I went to attended classes after their parents picked them up. I remember thinking how cool the uniforms looked so I asked my parents if I could do it too and they finally agreed. I have been in and out of it since then but I have never lost my love for it. One funny thing though is that out of all the kids in my day care and all the people I have met along the way I am one of the very few who actually stuck with it, its strange how people come and go in the martial arts.

You could also look at KI, they make excellent GI's in the Mugen line. Tokaido is going to cost you about the same as Shuriedo would. There is also Ronin, they make quality gear at good prices. Check discountmas.com they are an american suplier but they have awesome prices and I believe they ship international as well.

I think that you made the right call, allow your chief instructor to handle these issues and don't get into a measuring contest with someone else. In addition I think you are headed the right direction in regard to saying that you would leave. If you are not enjoying the school and you are having a hard time then maybe leaving would be the best thing. It is supposed to be fun and if it is not because of something like an inconsiderate person whom sounds like he has a bit of a "power trip" going on then by all means you should pursue what does make you happy. I would certainly give your instructor some time to sort it out but please don't let something like this push you to that edge just step away if you need to, sometimes you have to take care of #1 and I think this would be one of those times.

I know it's for a different reason but I did have my belt taken away once. I left my belt at the dojo one night by mistake, my instructor found it and when I showed up the next day he informed me that I would be treated as a "no belt" until he decided to give it back.. 2 weeks later I got it back and I never forgot to take it home again! In our school people start without a belt, you have to earn even the white belt, so when I say "no belt" that's what I mean.. You start at the back of class, no privledges, etc.

I have a few but no MA ones. I plan to someday do my right arm in a grayscale with a samurai standing in front of a Japanese landscape with a rising sun in the background.

Another thing that comes to mind would be the "fire with fire" method. If the father continues to threaten to sue in that case you could sue him for slander since he is going around telling everyone about your personal information. You wouldn't have to go through with it if you did want to but it seems to me that you have a solid case for this, I would imagine that if he were served papers that he was being sued for ruining your name them he would back off a bit.. Though that could also have the opposite effect.

I do find myself doing this sometimes, generally it is when I am going for a very quick spin. I find that I can spin twice as fast on the heel as I can with the ball however the cost of this is that you have less power when you do this and your power comes from the speed in this case because you don't have the same leverage when you spin on your heel. When using the ball of your foot you can push against it so that you can really drive in and you are also much more balanced on the ball. 2 ways of achieving the same end but each with it's pluses and minuses.

Great review! I have this book myself and I have not completed it yet but it's on my list of things to do.

This exactly, within my organization there are about 6 throws that are taught. However one of my instructors when I was coming up brought in about 10 more that we learned and the other schools did not. I think TSD is a very well rounded art I feel like I have training in all areas. We did hand and foot strikes, throws, grappling, locks both doing and escaping, blocks, and much more. Very good art IMHO.

I find that interesting. I know that these days most people seem to be going to the blended materials but I always thought that Tokaido's top of the line was the "ultimate" gi that they advertise and it is 12 duck canvas... I'm lost.

All of the things you mentioned are really on point. I think a lot of these are what have pulled MA down in my opinion to a sport more than a life style. While I balance on the edge of being happy someone is practicing MA even though they see it as a sport and being upset that someone looks at MA as a sport.. In the end I am glad there are so many who practice but I don't like the image that MA has gotten lately. I also will add to your list by saying I don't like flashy looking uniforms.. I have seen every thing from multi color to golden uniforms with patches from one sleeve tip to the other and sashes over obi, and on and on..

Yeah, I feel great. My gi has been altered to fit comfortable & patches on . Starting a nice memory-bank of moves, getting in-shape, and motivated! It's nice the classes are small & they focus a lot the training toward me; my main training partner is a 1st Kyu so I get maximal experience going against a more experienced fighter. Excellent! I am glad to see that you have the right attitude, you would be amazed at the number of people whom I have come across that want to have nothing to do with higher ranking students. For whatever reason they only want to partner with others their own rank. One thing I have picked up over the years is that if you really want to improve the way to do it is to pair with and train with the higher ranks, sure they may embarrass you but you will pick up much more from them than you would from another white belt. Your attitude is excellent, seems you are taking it slow but steady which is 100% correct! Don't be afraid to push yourself but don't over do it either, that can lead to injury and more. Keep working away, you certainly have the drive, I think you will do well in MA. Good luck to you!

There is a good one that I read a while back, if you have a smart phone or a kindle it is a free book from amazon but it is called Bushido: The soul of Japan. This is a pretty good book, I enjoyed reading it and you sure can't beat the price!