jaypo

It also depends on how the instructor ran the sparring session. Did he specify light contact only? Did he specify it during the match? If not, then your son didn't do anything wrong. If the match was set up by the instructor under a rule set specified by the instructor, then the lady has the option of declining the session if she didn't want to be hit. If the lady has an issue, it should be with the person overseeing the session, unless she asked for him not to hit so hard before or during the session. I am actually considered the "nice" instructor at my club, but I also came from a pretty strict school that took the discipline and respect part of the martial arts very seriously. It was almost military in nature. And I believe that we're learning a form that was created to do damage to human beings. So there is an inherent risk of injury any time you step across from another human that is trying to employ what he has learned in class with you. As far as your son's control- I have 2 opinions on this. I absolutely hate sparring someone with no control. It leaves me open for injury to myself and to the opponent. For example, there are 2 20+ yr. old females that were brown and black belts during 1 certain test. I was asked to spar with both, and for the first round, I had to do nothing but defend and evade. I have very good control--of MY techniques. But I have no control over the opponents (in most cases). For the next round, I was able to counter attack only. These girls are very aggressive, and they throw good, strong techniques. So I had to block hard and counter fast. The first girl came in with a hard kick, and I used an angle, blocked, and countered, but she kept moving forward. I pulled my punch short, but she leaned into it because she overcommitted on her kick. I wound up tapping her in the eye (padded gloves). I was trying to just shoot the punch to the face with no contact, and it would have worked if she hadn't stumbled into it. So my control was there. Hers wasn't. The other one was similar- she kept moving forward and attacking, so I used a "Heian Sandan" returning fist to keep her at range. She didn't block or evade- she just walked right into it. Luckily, again, I was aiming to land the technique for a point, and not for contact. But she leaned into it, and I got her in the stomach harder than I planned on. Again, my technique was purposely short, but she moved right into it. I think that in the future, if he's asked to spar with her again, they need to have the instructor/ref what contact is allowed and if both agree to it. If she doesn't want the contact, she should let it be known up front.

Thanks for all of the insights, guys. I'm going to meet with my M.I. tonight to go over a few different options. There is a video of the sparring session in question, and there are multiple video clips of the 3 our test that I would be able to show the student to justify her rank and why she hasn't advanced further. Personally, the fighter in me says to tell her to do what she wants to and we'll meet that challenge head on. But the P.C. side of the club is trying to keep everything calm and fix the issue as quietly as possible. I'll know more after our meeting tonight.

So today, things took a huge turn for the worse. Tonight, the Nidan that basically runs the operations of the club told me that "K" has been informing the parents of some of the students that she is being unfairly targeted. She claims that in her kumite for her test, she was hit intentionally and it caused a slight concussion (nevermind the 3 kicks to the Nidan's "man parts" that she dealt out prior to that). She approached our M.I. and informed him of this and basically said that she's thinking of filing charges against the Nidan. I'm not quite sure if it was an ultimatum to have him removed from his position of authority within the club, but the Nidan has resigned from his duties at the club for fear of having this person ruin the club. He will now train only as a student but will have no authority or voting power in the club. He feels that this is the only way to avoid giving the club a "black eye" for lack of a better term. I was present at the test, and I was literally 6 feet away when that "hit" occurred. (I put "hit" in quotations because it wasn't a hard enough strike to hurt my 5 year old- they both attacked at the same time, and the Nidan's strike got there first- he tried to shorten the strike, but the student had committed forward, but was trying to lean back) The Nidan was wearing thick padded kumite gloves, and the hit occurred as the student was moving backwards and was done slow and with no power and certainly not intentionally. 10 minutes after that "hit", the student's daughter ran and fell head first into the wall of the same room, and she did not suffer a concussion! After the test, the Nidan actually offered positive encouragement and offered to help the student achieve the rank she desired. Which is why I am floored after hearing what I heard tonight. I have no other words. I've never come across this kind of childish garbage in the martial arts.

Our M.I. chose the Nidan that she had the issues with to spar with her. He basically showed her that her skill level is not where it needs to be. And the sad part is that I can tell how much she has worked since her last grading. She has the determination that I appreciate, but it's for the wrong reasons. We're about 99% sure that she won't return to class. But in the slim chance that she does return, I'll be the one to take her aside and let her know what's expected from that point forward.

That was part of my discussion as well, but my M.I. handpicked her to train, and I think he has a soft spot in his heart for her. He initially saw a lot of determination in her, and in the beginning, she trained with purpose. When she complained to another student, I believe that my M.I. was hurt more than anything. Myself and the other black belts on the council were upset. We all train because we respect the art and what it does for us. I believe that she is training to show everybody the color around her waist. I personally think she's done with the club, but we'll see in August whether or not she returns when she comes back to the states.

I know there are a lot of variations of Naihanchi out there. Which version do you do? Any chance of a video? I actually do what my instructor calls "Naifanchi". I thought at first that he was just pronouncing it wrong, but it turns out that it is a variation of the kata. I'm working on putting all of my katas on video soon, so when that's complete, I'll post it.

No, you have to know all prior ones as well. The way our system is, we learn all heians according to JKA and all pinans according to Shorin Ryu guidelines. We also have association katas that we learn. So for her test, she literally had to know heian shodan, nidan, sandan, and yodan as well as Pinan Nidan, sandan, and yodan. She also had to perform 4 association katas. She did well with the katas, but her kihon and bunkais needed some work. She has spent a lot of her time working on just the katas, but not everything else. I feel that if she spent a little more time working on perfecting the stances and how to use the angles while moving in the stances, she'd do very well. I think that if I had her for private classes for 3 weeks, I could drastically improve her as a martial artist. But I think that her ego will affect her decision to quit because she's unhappy with the rank she was given.

Okay. The test went down Friday evening. There were 5 people testing- 1 from orange to green, 2 for purple, and the one in question testing officially for blue. As the test went on, she did fairly well. She improved a lot since her last test, but she still has a lot of issues she needs to work on. Her stances and moving forward and backwards in them needs a little tweaking. She needs to work harder on completing the step before the counter is launched. Simple things that I can fix with 2 weeks of training. The other student that started at the same time as her ("C") knocked it out of the park. She performed almost flawlessly. She even got a clean point on me in Kumite!! (without me letting her!!!) However, "K" performed a level below "C". And in her kumite, she was put against the Nidan that she questioned earlier. He did not try to humiliate her, but he did show her that she has a lot of holes in her game. That was done by design. And after, he pulled her aside and coached her as to what she needed to work on. When the grading took place, she was presented her blue belt, because honestly, she performed to blue belt level. She performed 2 katas above what she needed, and she knew the bunkais to go along with them. During the grading, she was told that if she showed the dedication to fix the few little things she needed to over the next few weeks, she may be able to obtain the advanced ranking. The Nidan that she questioned offered to take her under his wing and work with her. As we were leaving, she mentioned that she will be out of state for a month. When she had left, the M.I. came by and said that he feels that we'll lose her as a student. If that's the case, it won't hurt my feelings. I'm one that used to have to do pushups on my knuckles if I didn't focus 100% on class, so any act of disrespect makes my skin crawl. If she happens to return, I would gladly help her to achieve her goals because she does put in the work. She just needs to realize where she truly is. She is so worried about "C"'s training that she forgets where she actually is. Thanks for the discussion, guys. I'll probably post an update in August when she returns to the wonderful state of Louisiana!

Our style is a mix of Shorin Ryu and Shotokan, but our Master Instructor trained in Okinawa in Goju Ryu for a while as well. He also trained a little Muay Thai and Tai Chi. Our core katas are the Heians and Pinans. But we also have 10 katas that were created by him for his system. The ones specific to his system utillize the Shotokan techniques as well as Shorin techniques within the same kata. The advanced belts learn the Naihanchi series, Bassai Dai, Jion, Chinte, and Kanku Dai. Nobody in our club has advanced past these as of yet. (We're still fairly new in this area)

I know a lot of Shodans in my system that are head and shoulders above some Sandans in other systems, so I'd say that the skill level is more important than the rank. If the system is credible, then the rank should reflect the level of skill from the instructor.

We're dealing with issues in our club because of gradings. My sensei has typically held classes of around 10 students for years. However, over the last few months, we've grown tremendously, and last night, there were 23 in the beginners' class alone. And another 15 in the intermediate/advanced class! Sensei has always determined testing like so: He'd observe his group, and when a few of them were ready to advance, he'd schedule a test date and allow those that he deemed ready to test. However, that is becoming a problem now that there are so many students and so much diversity in skill levels. Some students that began with others feel that they are ready just because their classmates are, and we don't feel that they are. So they're pushing to test with the others, and we're faced with the difficult task of trying to make them understand that they're not ready when they think they are. It's very difficult to tell someone that they're not ready, but it's equally difficult to tell someone that they've failed a test. I would prefer to be an excellent 9th kyu rather than a poor 6th kyu. When I was younger, I was a yellow belt that would defeat black belts in kumite. Which would you rather be- the yellow belt, or the black belt? As a Sensei, I hate to fail a student, so I will not allow them to test until I feel that they are ready. You have to trust that your Sensei knows when you're ready and that he will set you up to succeed rather than to fail.

Mazzybear, you're exactly right. I was talking to one of the ladies that started with her last night, and she claims that the student believes that she is as good as the other 2. As I stated before, "C" is a level above the other 2. "S" is average to above average, and the student in question, "K", is below average, but she feels that she's as good, if not better than "C". Our Sensei's daughter is a black belt, and she's very, very good. She spars very hard but with control. I think that for this test, if she should choose to go thru with it, she needs to do her kumite with Sensei's daughter. That would show her humility! But from observing her last few classes, I'm pretty sure that she will fumble greatly on kata, kihon, and bunkai.

I also just found out another wrinkle in the story this weekend. About 6 months ago, our club underwent a big structural change. We've been growing substantially over the last year, and we had to appoint a new Deshi and shuffle around some personnel to handle things such as accounting, scheduling, etc. One change was that a certain Nidan was put in charge of belt tests, scheduling, and he has a big voice in the grading process. I just found out that the student in question assumed she would be testing for the same rank as the ladies she started with, but the Nidan that handles belt tests has her testing for a lower rank based on her skills and knowledge, which I think is appropriate. When she found out about his decision, she made the comment that "He has no authority". I also know that she disagrees with his methods of instruction (when he runs a class in the M.I.'s absence) because he is firm on basics and discipline. We have a class tonight, and we'll be discussing the tests that will be held this weekend. I'll post an update!

Another hitch in the story, I found out, is that my M.I. has been attempting to have that meeting, but she keeps avoiding it. He's constantly training classes and private students when he's off of work. So the only time he has free is after class. Well, the other night, she bolted out of class and left the gym. We're meeting at 5:00 today before class. I'll post an update Monday. Thanks for all of the advice!

I sort of remember the first class that she was in while I was training. She did something well, and a made a comment that went something like "this girl came to me and said she wants to make black belt in 14 months". Or something like that. So my first impression was that she was 100% all in. However, after training with her, it's clear that she doesn't feel like putting in the work, she doesn't learn anything, and she's more fascinated with the color around her waist than she is about the skills being taught. Yet, she believes that she is the best martial artist in the class EVEN when she botches something as simple as Heian Nidan.

That is exactly how I feel. I'll be meeting with the board and discussing it.

A while back, 3 ladies started training with us with no experience. One of them is clearly head and shoulders above the other 2. The next one is above average. But there is 1 that does not take instruction well, she doesn't learn what is taught, and she doesn't show the proper respect. In her tests, during Kumite, she goes full on Mike Tyson on her opponents with no control whatsoever. Ironically, she believes that she is the better of the 3. During her last test, she was testing with her fellow classmates, and the other 2 ladies obtained advanced green ranking. She had heard someone mention that they think she made green and not advanced green. She made the comment that "I'm not going to accept it". However, the Master Instructor felt that she did well enough to advance and gave her the advanced green ranking. The situation was addressed, and everything was fine. Last night, while discussing the next testing cycle, it was made clear that the best of the 3 would be testing for advanced purple (and she deserves it- she trains twice as hard and is just flat out better- the 2nd is injured and won't be testing). One of the black belts that is on the grading board said that the student in question would only be testing for blue, which would be the next rank from where she is. Upon hearing this, she told a fellow classmate that if she couldn't test for the rank that her fellow student was testing for, she would quit because she thinks that she is better than the other lady. Fast forward to class- myself and another Nidan were asked to each perform a different kata and demonstrate applications, which we did. This student was asked to perform Heina Nidan, which is a lower level kata, in front of the class, and she absolutely butchered it. She forgot techniques, she performed techniques from the wrong kata, and she wouldn't listen to the Master Instructor's count. She went back to her spot, and while performing the next kata, the M.I. said, "Come on, green belt! Do the techniques correctly!" She then said, "I'm done for tonight", and walked out of class abruptly. Personally, I'd like to request that she not return to training with us. Have any of you ever had a similar situation?

In the present day, I'd say to report the threat and avoid this guy like the plague. These days, you don't know what he may do. When I was younger, all we had to worry about was getting jumped and beat up. Now, people are cowards that resort to guns and weapons. Report it, be unpredictable, and avoid the guy and his friends at all costs.

What about the Ip Man series? I haven't seen the entire movies, but I watched a fight scene between Donnie Yen and a class of karate black belts, and it was pretty different than any fight scenes I had seen before.

6/11/14- did all heian and pinan katas as well as 4 association katas (3 times each) in the first half hour. Then did 1 step sparring techniques for the other 45 minutes.

I'd say for cardio, kickboxing would be a great style. But if you're looking for all around fitness (balance, strength, power, coordination), Shotokan, Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do would do wonders.

Welcome! I (re)started training at 36, and I've never been very flexible. But what I've been doing, and it has helped a lot, is to work on stretches for the hip flexors. My front kicks have benefited greatly. Also, instead of the traditional "stretch good before class" method, do a good warmup and slight stretch routine before class, and do a full stretch routine after a workout. Youtube helps a lot!

Congrats! I did the exact same thing. I obtained rank of 6th kyu when I was a teenager, but had to quit. I started training in a similar style 22 years later, and I attended class in my white belt. My sensei allowed me time to familiarize myself with new techniques and remember my old training. When he felt I was where I needed to be, I tested, and I was able to get to 5th kyu. After a few more years of training, I'm now a Nidan in his system.

I fully agree about more muscle needing more fuel. I am in the process of shedding some pounds right now to gain more speed and flexibility. I've been one of those "70% bulk up top) people for years, but not by choice. I used to have very strong (yet lean) legs due to the various sports I played. I had a 36 inch verticle and was squatting 405lbs. Then my knee blew out when I landed wrong in a game. From that point (2001), I haven't been able to do nearly enough to get my legs back to where they were because of my range of motion from the knee reconstruction. However, I can still do martial arts and run. I've changed my workouts from heavy weight lifting to a lot of Olympic ring exercises. I've changed my cadences from slow and controlled motions to explosive motions. This is what I meant by building up those fast twitch muscle fibers. The ring exercises are to fire up all those stabilizing muscles that never got a burn before, and they also work wonders for your core. This also translates to more powerful kicks (just read that in this month's issue of Black Belt Magazine- an entire article on how to have more powerful kicks). As far as the discussion on soldiers, while some may be more physically fit and gifted, the one thing that trumps all physical gifts is heart. And every soldier I've met personally had it. That trumps fear. They had no fear, or else they wouldn't be willing to put their lives on the line by going to war. I'm not saying one group is better than the other. I just believe that ANYONE that is willing to put themselves thru what soldiers do (regardless of which country they're defending), there is no fear of an opponent. Only fear of failure.

I went thru sort of the same thing with I started with my current club. I had trained years before in Shotokan, and when I started at my current club, I began with my white belt. Since my new Sensei's style wasn't JKA Shotokan, I was new to his system. Therefore, I preferred to work from the beginning. However, many of the students in class had no prior training before joining his club, so as soon as I got the rust off, I was actually showing more skill than those that were a lesser rank than I was as a Shotokan student. I remember one of the ladies telling another one in a sarcastic tone "he's not a white belt!". I am a very humble individual, so I preferred to keep a low profile. That is why I refused to wear my purple belt from Shotokan and chose to work as a white belt until I was able to test up to the appropriate level. I asked for a lot of help from the students there for 2 reasons- to help me learn the way of this club, and to make them more at ease with me as a student! I didn't want them to feel like I was the cocky guy coming in to show everybody how to do things. I wanted them to understand that I didn't put myself above anyone else in that class. And it worked out pretty well. There's nothing you can do about the jealousy of others except to communicate with them your true intentions and reassure them that you're not there to step on any toes.