Nidan Melbourne

I wouldn't worry about it. I only bought my gi from my sensei but bought my mits and pads (sparring gear) from a martial arts store in my town

As much as long classes are good (as you put it 4+ hours) you have to take into account of how many people actually would be able to attend. As most parents wouldn't be happy about their kids staying there for a fair while nor would adult students be able to do it due to work or school committments Then there is the fact that you have to pay rent for that time as well

My sensei spars every grade that is eligible for sparring (white belts are the only grade that isn't eligible). Pressures more advanced ranks but teaches the lower ranks.

My sensei will push us fairly hard but depends on what we are doing. But often if we do pre-arranged sparring we will go through indepenently in pairs so we can cover everything that we know (up to roppon kumite) then bunkai we do as a class (gekesai, saifa, seeuinchin bunkais) and our kyogi (although we only do it for grading prep). Kumite we go 100%

Contact various schools to ask for help, or ask some senior students from your old school. At my school my sensei asked a shodan-ho to assist teaching (now a nidan) and is now a full time instructor. And that was when the school opened in late 2008. And on occassion when sensei and senpai are unavailable, us adult black belts take over the reigns for the classes. Or sensei will call collegues to fill in from other schools (4 instructors are on call if necessary from other schools)

Sparring is good at all ages. But if they are young (under the age of 14) they should be closely monitered. Since they still are learning correct technique and control. Once they are old enough (or ranked high enough) they are more able to control themselves and not hurt their partners. So sparring is good at any age.

Well personally i have failed a number of people (both junior and senior gradings). They failed because they weren't showing the level of competency of the rank they were at the time or the one they were attempting. They weren't trying to do their best and just expected to pass without thr effort

Thats amazing!!!

I'm sure your sensei would have wanted you to go for your promotion.

Congrats

Go for it fella

Go for it fella

As much as it is morally justified to defend the clerk. you can cannot claim defense as you essentially killed someone. For all you know there could have been no rounds in the gun or it could have been a fake. The end of the story is that someone didn't go home at the end of the day

As far as i know in Australia you can teach Martial Arts anywhere but if you are 'busking' or doing a demonstration you need a permit but from what i read you don't need one. at my school we rent a room at a rec center and we didn't need to register.

i don't agree with young kids getting to the rank of black belt until they are old enough to understand what it means to hold it. At my school they don't have a minimum age to get it but i feel like you should be at least 14-15 to get it as they will have the emotional maturity and physical maturity to understand what black belt really means to have. If i ran my school that is the age requirement i would have for my students, unless the child is a prodigy and is above 12 years old.

You can actually be charged if you hit somebody (and cause injury) if they hit you first. It is the same as if they attack you with a knife you can't pull out a gun and shoot them or disarm them and then stab them with their own knife. And you have to inform them that you have been trained in martial arts and that you will use necessary force if required

thanks for the welcome everyone

if it is in self defense then it doesn't matter if they are male or female. It doesn't matter what gender they don't have the right to hit you. What i do is to block and restrain the person. say they do a hook punch i block it with an elbow (stiking the shoulder), trap their arm at the shoulder then follow up by striking the jaw line (not a thrust) and guiding them to the ground. if they on their side maintain that lock and do a knee ride (knee on their side)

i have taught juniors for 6 years now and what i do is that for somethings we have to teach the kids is to do it in groups or in just pairs to have them do competitions. Say we have 4 groups of 3 kids each (more kids & groups if necessary) and have one kid watch and the other two compete to see who does the fastest (& best) technique. so a punch in round 1, kick round 2, uchi round 3. so any technique for each round and the champion at the end competes against the other champions

I can understand where you come from, as one of my old sensei's was much like that even if you became injured in class. But it is a good thing you went to a new school that would treat you fairer.

Speak to a doctor about it but more of a recommendation though is to speak to a physiotherapist or an Accredited Exercise Physiologist about it. I recommend seeing an Accredited Exercise Physiologist as they are able to help with such problems and to prevent the pain from occurring again. They can help with your balance, ease/stop the pain and help you get better over the long term.

in terms of martial arts having a stronger grip strength it is better as you can hold onto your opponents easier and make it harder for them to break out of a hold or choke. but on a lifestyle point of view having stronger hands is much better as your preventing the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in the future

once you get your promotion and hopefully get the new size otherwise you can easily go buy a smaller one. I am currently a Shodan (1st Dan) Black Belt and i have 2 belts - one is my primary belt which i use for training and the other one i use for more formal situations when the need arises for it (but otherwise i keep in a case at home showing the belt off)

so you have made some slight variations between the styles to create your current version of it?

when you say sport-style grappling what do you mean exactly? Whenever we do groundwork we do learn how to escape from having someone on mount (i knew prior how to do it due to my BJJ training) and how defend from guard. Takedowns we do a fair bit of in the higher grades when it comes to Kyogi, otherwise i'm left in charge of teaching it (even when i'm meant to be training). and locks & holds i also have to teach with my sensei