CredoTe

Great posts everyone. Beginners can't learn from books any better than they can learn from videos solely on their own. We give our students reference videos of the kata they have been taught; as they learn more kata, we put more kata videos on their disks. We make it blatantly clear to them: do not learn kata from the videos, they are for reference only! That's because, while the videos seem to show all the moves, there are many nuances and minutia that they will miss in the videos and require an instructor to teach. IME, the McDojos with good instructors were once well-founded dojos that did very well in business, and as time went on, the dojos were passed down from parent to adult child and so on. As a generation or two went by, the control of the dojo branched out, and soon, the dojos became McDojos whether they know it or not. So, it's possible to get good instruction at a McDojo, just not likely IMHO.

I came across these interesting articles online today. The first is about a 19th century samurai training manual that was deciphered. The second is a companion piece regarding the Romans using ancient "MMA" athletes to recruit folks into their army. Interesting reads... http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/08/29/1th-century-samurai-training-text-deciphered/?intcmp=features http://www.livescience.com/19354-martial-artist-recruited-ancient-roman-army.html

Good question.... I don't know But I'll find out and get back to you. Thanks for the links, I'll use them to start my search.

Agreed

Well said... Totally agree...

I think my main style, TKD (my TKD style, not all TKD styles), is missing a big piece of self-defense application. We don't do a lot of self-defense oriented training. We unfortunately spend a lot of time "teaching to the test." At testing, we test on forms, one-steps, sparring, and board breaking once you hit the brown belt ranks. So, classes include heavy basics, then forms, one-steps, then we get to sparring. I think we have a good vehicle for adding in some variation with our one-steps training, but the problem is we never move from the down block, punch, defend method of training them. And some of the higher ranked one-steps include a lot of high kicking and spin kicking, which develop some great physical skills, but application-wise, need to be addressed more and in different ways. The upside to the training method we use here is that we have a pretty technically proficient group of students, by and large. There are some kids that tend to slack off, but that's a different issue. When I was teaching my hour-long class these prior months, I would try to save myself some time in the class to address some different things for the students. Some self-defense ideas like working from a fence position, and working on the crossed-arms chamber position that so many hand techniques start with as an initial blocking posture. And these ideas were just as much for me to try to learn something new as it was to present something new to the students. In the past, we brought in the Combat Hapkido curriculum, and that was a very nice supplement to what we did in our regular TKD classes, and I still try to keep up with it to this day. I also actively seek out Defensive Tactics classes and courses to supplement my training, as well. I have put the bug in the chief instructor's ear about maybe adding in some of the ground defense applications I've learned through the GRACIE course I took this year, which he said we may try to do eventually as something fun at the end of classes. Perhaps. The instructor also mentioned that one of the other senior black belts in the org has started adding in some ground fighting positions, and is making certain knowledge testing requirments for the students of his own school. So, I think part of the problem lies in the Grand Master of the org, and part with our isntructor. The GM does have a set of advanced 3-step sparring segments that he shows to the black belts, and I've seen 4 of them, I think. They have some promise, and I'd love to do them in various degrees of teaching steps (if that makes sense). However, they aren't an actual requirement, and we don't currently hold any black belt classes to focus on them. I also think the testing cycle is a problem. Testing cycles in our system are 2 months long, and we are always working towards being ready for the next testing. Which means basics, forms, one-steps, and sparring are paramount. Of these, the first two take precedence. We've extended our class times, so we are getting more sparring in, which is good. But board breaking is usually only practiced on pads a week before testing, which I think could be done differently, but that's purely my own opinion. I would personally like to see the testing cycle extended to 3 months. I think this would take some of the pressure off teaching to the test, and work towards other stuff that is more inclusive of the Martial Arts. Well, there's my rant. You asked for it.... GREAT Post! Yes, I did ask for it... Good to hear that you're in a position to modify your dojo's curriculum to fill in what you believe to be missing. I have some influence into our dojo's curriculum, but I'm not CI; he has final say-so in what we teach. I'm also glad to see that you think teaching to a test and short testing cycles are unfortunate. That shows you care about doing things right, not only for your art, but for the betterment of your students, and for your own MA journey. Thank you for sharing.

Ah... OK! Thanks for the clarification I agree with you on this, as well. A few of the videos I've seen of Kyokushin matches show the competitors just wailing on each other with punches without any attempt or regard for checking, blocking, or evading... But not the majority. Does this reflect a correct ratio of the "sluggers" you mentioned versus those Kyokushin-ka that do? Absolutely... the three "K's" are the "Triforce" of Karate, regardless of style / branch. If there were a Kyokushin dojo in my area, I would consider taking it, if only to learn how to improve my dojo's kumite practice.

...and sometimes I think I need to work on being more simple and to the point like this... Great post Hawkmoon!

27 Aug 13: Core / strength: pushups, pushups, pushups... Leg-lifts, dips, planks Iri kumi (in-fighting) training Led Youth Class

As many have mentioned, can't do much barring, locking, trapping, grappling, etc without good hand strength...

I can't either, but we were taught how to use it properly . It sounds like Ruben has skipped all the way to conditioning like Morio Higaonna without proper training, which is dangerous to say the least. Great posts Totally agree with both...

Traditional white gi over 90% of the time. Every once in a while I'll wear a traditional-cut blue gi.

Thx! And welcome to KF!

... There's not much at all in the way of Kyokushin around my parts, so all my observation of it has been in the Internet. From what I've seen, IMHO (<--- not much since I can't see it live), it looks as though instead of hard Te (Ti) training with hard kumite, Kyokushin ramps the hard kumite waaay up. Again, my exposure to it is severely limited, so I don't know... You can't build a strong brick wall without good mortar. I totally agree BTW, I'm not being critical of Kyokushin regarding my observation of ramping up hard kumite... My limited observation is that that's how I see Kyokushin's training method for preparing good fighters.... It's certainly an effective way of training!

Great post! Choki Motobu is often overlooked and the Funakoshi-Motobu rivalry is often ignored. They were both great MAs and great forefathers. Motobu was, as you say, very passionate about Karate being a practical fighting method as it was in the days before him, and he made sure he passed on the Te (Ti). Funakoshi knew the Te (Ti) (as pretty much any karate master during those days did), but I'm not sure how much of it he passed on to the Japanese; maybe he did, I don't know. IMHO, though, many of the Karate dojos I've observed, from any style (Shotokan, Shorin-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, etc) are missing both the Te (Ti) and the necessary practical / hard kumite practice. There's not much at all in the way of Kyokushin around my parts, so all my observation of it has been in the Internet. From what I've seen, IMHO (<--- not much since I can't see it live), it looks as though instead of hard Te (Ti) training with hard kumite, Kyokushin ramps the hard kumite waaay up. Again, my exposure to it is severely limited, so I don't know...

Great posts guys! Thanks for the input!

Welcome to KF! May you enjoy a long MA journey...

That's completely unacceptable behavior, and you don't have to put up with it.Exactly... BTW, FangPwnsAll7, is this related to the issue you wrote about here (http://www.karateforums.com/my-story-vt45428.html)?

Whoa..! Keep 'em coming! I may try this one, too!

Tegumi / torite (bars, locks, traps, takedowns, grappling, manipulation, etc) is a regular part of our training and is a conceptual foundation of Te (Ti).

Ananku, Wanshu, Passai, Chinto Plus the Pinan pentad, particularly Pinan Yondan, as well as Naihanchi trio

Good to hear Sorry if I sounded like "daddy" or "big brother"; your story hits a soft spot on me... See, my wife and I are due for our first child in October 2013, and we're having a baby girl. So, the "daddy" instinct to watch out for his daughter is rising in me...

Alas, many dojos don't spar enough, mine included. I'm not the CI, so it's not up to me. Kumite is an important part of developing necessary fighting skills and mentality. As many have said here already, the only way to get better at sparring is sparring. But, also as previously mentioned, drilling your footwork and defense strategy can be done on your own; but, it won't truly improve until you use it in sparring. Good to hear that your kumite is for fighting sense, not points. Training for points / tournaments have its uses, but isn't conducive to street defense. And, actually, you make a specific example of why it's important to do kumite... uke (blocks) are seldom used as the "surface" blocks they represent. Why? They take too much time to set up. One of the few ways to use uke's as uke's is for the opposite hand / arm be doing something else to distract, deflect, or attack the opponent. Otherwise, uke's are used as strikes. In particular: As maisweh says, the best defense is to not be there. But, when blocking, an open-handed check (barai) or weighted-hand trap (kakiuke) is what truly "blocks" a strike, followed with an uke (gedan, chudan, jodan, etc) to strike the opponent's striking arm or body or face or etc... Moreover, this concept is combined with tenshin (footwork) so that while you're executing such check-uke technique, you're moving into a better position to continue counter attacking your opponent and to move into Iri kumi (in-fighting). Once you make it into in-fighting, you will have advantage over your taller opponent (as long as you keep moving, striking, etc).

Oops....lol.... I was in the middle of typing my post when you posted your age...lol

Absolutely...get out now. If your location really is Philly, then, besides the hard disrespect from a dojo-/art-perspective, all local and state governments in the USA have laws against assault, battery, and sexual harassment. As was mentioned in a previous post here, save any and all documents (electronic or hard copy) you receive from perpetrators in this school. I'm no lawyer or LEO, but as a business owner and United States Citizen, I can make some suggestions: 1. As others have said here, LEAVE THAT PLACE. Even if you have to settle the contract, no amount of $$$ is worth abuse like that. Most likely, if your case is proven in court, you'll get your $$$ back plus a lot more. 2. Since what you've posted on this thread implies a) you're a minor or b) you're a young adult living with your parents, talk with your parents extensively about this. Do not be afraid or ashamed to tell your parents what's going on. They should know and need to know (if they don't already). 3. Consult with police and obtain an attorney (your parents will be a big help here). Get official investigation going into your case. If what you allege is true, that place shouldn't be operating and the folks involved should be charged. 4. Call your local news media. A scoop regarding a small business, a "karate dojo" (one of many places that have bad raps for disreputable behavior -- most unfounded), with male and / or female members that get preferential treatment and whom verbally assault and verbally and physically sexually harass a female member? The media would be all over that like flies on ______ Please, please, please keep us posted... If anything, to know that you're OK...