Nidan Melbourne

For the Chief Instructor (CI): How many CI's meet and greet their students and visitors before and/or after each class with a smile and a hand shake?? I'm not a CI but mine does on occasion when he isn't being asked tonnes of questions from others and the start and end of class. Is that important to you, the CI?? To him it is when the person/people are new and want to show his respect to others. Do you, the CI, insist OR encourage your assistant instructors to meet and greet, either at the door or on the floor before and/or after classes? He does when the assistant instructors are new or haven't met the students before. So they can learn their names and see how they're going. For the Assistant Instructor: Does your CI require you to meet and greet? He does often but is not a requirement especially if you aren't teach often. But if you're a regular teacher the students and parents will come up to me instead. I still get surprised every single time. Does your CI conduct training on how this should be conducted? No he doesn't conduct training on how it should be done. But he does say that we should be polite and respectful to others even if you dislike the person. Does your CI discipline or counsel you if the meet and greet isn't provided as required? Nope he doesn't discipline or counsel us if it isn't provided. He will if we are rude or disrespectful during a meet and greet. For the Student: Does the CI meet and greet you? He does when he comes up to the back of the dojo and he has to do something. Does any Assistant Instructor meet and greet you? Only one of them does when he teaches but the other Assistant Instructors don't Is this important to you? Not overly but is nice when it does happen to let me feel acknowledged. For the Visitor: Does the CI and/or any Assistant Instructor meet and greet you at anytime while you're visiting? When I visit other dojos the CI will come over and greet me and ask me a few questions about my visit and if i have any questions. If the CI is busy the AI (assistant instructor) will do it for me. Does this matter to you? Kind of when I visit other schools that I am not part of. Sometimes I would just like to sit up the back (or where ever the seating is) and watch.

It is totally normal considering you've done martial arts for so long.

CONGRATS SPARTACUS!!

Look up Sports Science Powerful kicks on youtube. They did some research on kicks and what was the strongest of the styles selected.

I realized Karate was for me when i received my Shodan (and subsequent Nidan at the same time) last year. And that was 11 Years worth of training underneath my belt. Because it made me realize to an extent that I was just going through the motions for so many years and wasn't being creative or wasn't completely enthusiastic about it. When I received my Shodan-Ho (in 2008) I got the kick in the butt i needed and i worked harder ever since.

welcome to the forum and hope you learn a lot from us here at KF.com! And congrats on the promotion.

just an update and to close the whole situation. Sensei called the parent in question and he conferenced me in for her to apologise and he was to mediate it. I took some of your advice and apologise for what i said. But she said "No you don't need to apologise for what you said. I am the one who should be apologising for what I did and that I was 100% in the wrong"

Just an update on the situation Sensei spoke to the parent in question and has severely reprimanded her for it. And has told her that she is not welcome back until she apologises to me for what she said, and for her to find out the owner of the bag and apologise for it. She is fully aware that the bag is mine. Since my bag was open and she threw the bag off the seat all my kit was thrown onto the floor.

I feel like 25% of my students only respect me because of my rank. But still 75% of students respect me because of who i am, my knowledge, how i treat them and how I teach them. Also if they respect me and i show them the same mutual respect or even more then they seem to work harder to improve. Several of my students have had that lightbulb moment of how patient i am with them and how much i want them to improve even at their own pace and not rush it. That 25% that only respect me because of my rank i have personally found are actually progressing slower than those who respect me. This is because those 25% aren't truly listening to what i am saying or what the instructors are saying. So they struggle with what we are doing; and if it is kata and I am going through particular details of some steps that will help make their kata stronger or will improve the kata as a whole.

She didn't even apologise for behaviour either. Sensei told me that he would talk to the parent in question and reprimand her for her behaviour. I've been around long enough to at least get the respect I deserve. Also she at least respect others that are training there. And not to have an attitude

So last night at class whilst waiting for it to commence I was mucking around with a couple of white belts (not that type of mucking around that adults do). They were basically going two on one (they do this every time since they started training) and I restrained one whilst dealt with the other. Now this is where it got interesting, a parent basically called me out going "Sempai cool down" or something along those lines. But was incredibly rude. Now I responded with "Don't you know who I am?" as she spoke to me disrespectfully and was incredibly rude about it. Also prior to that she had just shoved my bag (that was open) to the ground. Not only did i say "don't you know who I am?" but also went "do you know who's bag you shoved off that seat you are sitting on?" Several other people agreed with me on what I said and my partner that came with me almost superman punched her. Now the parent was not a parent of either of the white belts, nor of any of the other students waiting for class to start. I am well known in the dojo to have the best control of techniques and application of techniques that can be considered dangerous (Chokes, Locks, Throws, Takedowns etc) but are applied in a manner that is safe at all times for both participants. And also the two white belts have worked with me enough to know that I am not going to hurt them if they are trying to double team me. I have never hurt anyone inside the dojo unless it was 100% accidental (there has only been 1 time that I have hurt someone but they acknowledged that it was both our fault), even if I don't like the person or if they deserve to be hurt (legit). And definitely wouldn't hurt people that are still learning the basics and that I am NEVER going to apply a full move on someone unless I am fully aware that they aren't going to panic. With White Belts through to orange and/or red belts I will do the softer variant of the techniques. Whenever these two have teamed up to take me on whilst off the mats they know that they are going to learn something from how i move and what techniques i perform. The one i had in a controlled choking (Controlling the head & jaw but no pressure on the aorta or windpipe to be a choke) was asking me for a couple of weeks on how to apply such a move and what type of moves the opponent could do to be put into a situation to be choked. Sensei was watching as well since he was nearby and he knows that I didn't deserve to be talked to like a child. He also knows that these two were mucking around trying to annoy me but I was controlling them in a safe way without the risk of injury. And also said that the parent shouldn't have behaved like that and that he also acknowledged that the two white belts learn heaps from me when we are off the mats. All the parents that are regulars to all the advanced juniors classes know how strong my technical abilities are and how strong my knowledge base is + how well I can apply techniques at different levels of ability/strength. And that I am crazy on safety of others and will look after them as much as possible. And also ALL students that I train with or even teach have a large amount of trust with me and respect me enough to not hurt them. Plus all of them have said at some point or another that they prefer to work with me over anyone else (other than sensei obviously). I understand this lady isn't a regular and I may have gone over the top. Sensei said that I don't need to apologise because I was in the right to question her when it comes to knowing me. What do you all think of what transpired and how I handled it?

Solid post. It really shows that he is a goju practitioner. He is aware of our schools bunkai for it. But I don't think he really knows the usual shito-ryu version type of bunkai or how those practitioners do those techniques, which is slightly different to the goju way

But there are many kata that the 'original' way may have been lost. What do you think then of say two styles of kata having the same kata but is slightly different? Or even multiple styles having a kata of the same name but the way the kata is done as a whole is different? Evolution. Do I see a lock where you see an elbow? An escape or a take down? The bunkai we see changes how we do the kata, and kata are often 'adapted' to different styles. True but then again bunkai for kata is different for every school and every person. Obviously each kata say seeiunchin is different between the styles. But then again it might be adapted to those who do it differently due to physical reasons

Since you do both at the same dojo then it is fine to not grade in one. It is great to hear that your instructor (ninjanurse) is on here too. If at different dojos i would grade at both

Just to add to my last post I have an Adidas Black Belt that I was awarded when I attained the rank of Shodan-Ho in 2008 and still wear to this day. And it has kept up extremely well and still looks brand new

I reckon' it is totally fine to grade in one and not in the other. If you don't grade in one of them your instructor will respect you for it. He/She may grade you differently for it

There are a lot of brands that are really good. But go for a high quality belt. They cost more but last long. I have heard in TKD you get a new Black Belt for every dan grade you receive so you might just buy it through the school

But there are many kata that the 'original' way may have been lost. What do you think then of say two styles of kata having the same kata but is slightly different? Or even multiple styles having a kata of the same name but the way the kata is done as a whole is different?

Solid Post. Considering Tai Jitsu is basically hand to hand combat and Karate is empty hand. So it is going hand to hand combat empty hand. Taijitsu as you said Harkon72 is right about being a sub-style of Ninjutsu.

Since you've had major surgery make sure you take your time before returning to the mat, but also make sure you don't make excuses not to do your rehab. Work hard to complete your rehab and continually work on it to reduce the risk of injuring yourself again. But don't push it too hard straight away build up slowly

That sounds rather interesting. Sounds a lot like GKR to me because i've heard they do something exactly like that. It makes me think scam big time

That's how it is at my school. The kids pay $1 a class just to help buy and maintain our (sparse) equipment. For adults it's free, so the vast majority of the adults come in early and volunteer with the kids' classes to help out and give back to the club. why don't the adults chip in?

At my dojo my sensei pays 2 instructors; 1 who teaches on Fridays and 1 who teaches when he can. I teach on Saturdays but I annoyingly don't get paid. Although he did pay me for one saturday because i ran the class as the lead instructor. Although currently I am in negotiations with him in relation to getting paid for every saturday i do

If you have to fight someone who is like that it is best avoid them aka dodging, but in relation to techniques i would go for their legs. Also what type of football are you talking about? Because there are people that don't live in America and don't call NFL football

Today 15/9/14 6 am 3 km run 7:30 Seipai Kururunfa Suparenpei all 3 times each: Slow, Medium, Fast (Full Strength + Timing) Tonight 7 - 9 Double Class