JR 137

I usually feel proficient, then I learn something new and realize how much I have yet to learn. Or I spar with someone out of the ordinary (like a person that usually isn't in the same classes as me), and realize I need to go back to the old drawing board.

I don't know what transpired with the former instructor, and maybe I'm out of line saying this... Perhaps letting him know how you feel about the current situation will change things. Even the most irrational people can put things aside for a thank you for something as big as this. If my worst enemy (I don't have one) reached out and thanked me under circumstances like this, I'd be cordial. Again, perhaps I'm out of line, or perhaps it'll make things worse. Just speaking my mind. I think you know me well enough to know my intent here.

Visit as many as you can. The most important style is the teaching style. If what they're teaching and how they're teaching it makes sense to you, that's all that matters. Students are usually the best indicator of a teacher's effectiveness. Are they competent? Are they sloppy? Are they disciplined (I don't mean are they being disciplined)? Are they all over the place? Is the school mostly kids, adults, or a mix? Are the people there people you'd like to be around? Is it like everyone's trying to outdo each other, or are they working together? Can you afford it? Is there a high pressure sales pitch? Does the schedule agree with yours? Is the commute reasonable? Are there a ton of requirements outside of day to day training? Will you be charged a bunch of fees for every little thing? The main question is does the place feel like a place you see yourself being at for the long haul? Style and teachers' credentials should get you to visit. The other stuff will make you a part of the dojo. Don't settle. Best of luck.

You could have someone run it for you while you're away. Just saying.

Regularly cross-train at "Judo" Gene LaBell/Gokor Chivichyan's dojo. Train at Hajime Kazumi's dojo Train on Okinawa; not sure with who though Train boxing with Kevin Rooney and/or Teddy Atlas This is of course assuming that my image of them and what they do is actually correct.

Welcome FYI Yoga is great. Also just so you have a bit of background info on a physio and an exercise physiologist/scientist (physiologist = master, scientist = undergraduate). A physio will do some rehab and can assist with flexibility. But an Exercise Scientist or an Exercise Physiologist are exercise prescription based whilst working with injury or not + work with rehab where they can prescribe more in terms of what you want to improve on whilst a physiotherapist doesnt Different countries have different resources/specialists, and call them different things. Each field also has different training and expertise, and individuals within each field have their own expertise. Saying go see someone with X credentials in India (or the US) can be misleading. Then there's the financial aspect of it. And availability. Please don't take that the wrong way; tone of voice doesn't come through in text. In my neck of the woods (capital of New York State), unless you're a college athlete (at a higher level program), or a pro athlete, you don't have easy access to Exercise Physiologists, strength & conditioning specialists (not weekend credentialed personal trainers, but college graduates with a nationally recognized and respected certification), Athletic trainers (should be called athletic therapists) or the like. You've got PTs (physios as you call them), but you need an injury for insurance to cover them, otherwise you're spending $150 a visit. Many PTs, CSCSs (certified strength & conditioning specialists), and ATs here have a bachelors or master's degree in Ex Phys, Ex Science, or Kinesiology. A lot of the specialty degrees like PT and OT are graduate programs, and accept people with undergraduate degrees in closely related fields. Very few exercise physiologists here have a terminal degree in Ex Phys; it's usually their undergrad degree.

Life deals us some pretty crazy cards. All we can do is play the cards we've been dealt. We can get perseverate on the negatives, or we can persevere and keep positive. I read a story about an MAist quite a while back who was battling cancer. What helped him get through it was what he learned during breaking: punch through. Hesitating will get you hurt; sitting there staring at it won't get you anywhere. Not fully following through won't get the job done. Just punch through. I haven't faced anything of the magnitude your family is facing. You're all facing it; in different ways, but you're all facing it together. You've got to stick together. I've seen it in close friends, and it's not going to be easy. Everything I know about you and your family tells me you're all fighters. You all have to just punch through. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Like everyone's said, adapt techniques to the individual. I'll also add... Don't treat him/her as 'disabled.' Everyone needs some empathy in their lives, people with disabilities for the most part don't want sympathy. Successfully modifying/adapting techniques to the individual is what separates a professional/expert from everyone else.

I've got flexibility issues too. I think we all do. If I stayed out of training to work on it, I'd never come back. Any rational instructor doesn't expect anyone nor everyone to be perfect before they start training nor while training. You'll improve your flexibility through training. The roundhouse kick that can't go any higher than knee level gradually creeps up to mid thigh. That gradually creeps up to waist level, shoulder level, head level, etc. Sometimes it doesn't get up that high, no matter what you do. We're all built differently, and have to play the cards we're dealt. There's a lot more to any MA than one or two techniques. Everyone has weaknesses. Do your best to improve them, and make up for them with your strengths. I can't throw a head level roundhouse kick like I did in my 20s (not that it was anything to write home about anyway). I'm better at a lot of things now at 39, but flexibility definitely isn't one of them. Keep at it. Perhaps look into taking yoga once or twice a week alongside MA. Talk to your teacher, as I'm sure you're not the first student who's had this issue (unless he started last week), and you certainly won't be the last. None of us are getting younger.

I've seen some of the "Anti grappling" on YouTube and the like. I think it was Wing Chun or similar. Coming from a guy who wrestled for a good 10 years and assisted coaching the sport (me), absolute nonsense. Avoiding a takedown is all about footwork. Angling and sprawling. What the arms are doing is important, but if you're not moving the right way, nothing else matters. I guess you could say the same thing for anything else too though, such as punching, kicking, etc. During my time wrestling (and coaching it), very, very few people we're successful in taking me down with single and double leg takedowns. I've got pretty short legs, so that counts for some of it, but I always taught everyone willing to listen that it's all that initial reaction, pivoting (but your pivot foot isn't planted firmly), and sprawling in one fluid motion. If you can react and pivot/angle quickly and effectively, you don't even need to fully sprawl where your weight is fully on their shoulders/upper back. I got to the point where I'd move and push my opponent out of the way and get behind them before they knew what happened. I used the same basic thing in football; playing defensive line, I'd end up jumping over offensive linemen who tried to chop block me. I know I just made myself sound like I'm some unbeatable wrestler. There's a lot more to wrestling than avoiding singles and doubles. But what those anti grappling guys are doing is so far off it's beyond comical. They know absolutely nothing about what's really entailed. And the guys shooting the takedowns are even worse. You wouldn't be able to pull off the defenses those guys are teaching against an older elementary school wrestler who's been at it for more than a season or two, tops. Far too much momentum coming at you to be able to grab someone's head while sticking fingers in their eyes and stop them, especially without moving your feet.

As sensei8 said, proficient by who's standards? Furthermore, define proficient (not the Webster's dictionary definition, but a real world working definition. IMO, proficiency didn't take too long. I learned quickly how to properly throw a punch and how to properly throw a few basic kicks. After some sparring, I learned when to throw them and not to throw them, and how to avoid them. It certainly didn't take years to be able to use them in a self defense situation. I'd say I was proficient after few months of sparring at most. What's proficient? According to my example above, being able to use the basics when needed, in a realistic manner. Not against UFC competitors, former inmates who've done serious hard time, etc., but everyday people. Proficiency and mastery aren't one in the same. Not even close. I'd say proficiency in its earliest stages is a functional knowledge, or ability to use the art at its most basic form. It's being able to use its fundamentals. An analogy could be a high school physics student being asked how long it would take an object to hit the ground that was thrown out of an airplane flying at X altitude, and approximately where the object would land if the airplane was traveling at Y miles per hour. The student was taught the theory and how to solve the problem. If the student can reasonably solve it, he/she is proficient. There's a lot more to the problem that puts it beyond a high school student's head, such as terminal velocity based on the shape, drag, air currents, temperature, etc., but understanding and applying the basics makes the student who can solve the problem proficient. The ones who can get more specific about the other stuff have reached a level closer to mastery. Just my opinion.

Most belt color order comes from the growth of plants. Orange being the sun (either before growth or after a period of growth), green meaning the plant has sprouted, brown is wilting or bark/stem strengthening, etc. Depends on the school. Kyokushin (and usually its offshoots) colors nor order don't follow that trend. The colors represent different ideals or maybe milestones. Taken from http://www.westislandkarate.com/beltcolours.html White - Purity Orange - Stabilty Blue - Fluidity and Adaptability Yellow - Assertion Green - Emotion and Sensitivity Brown - Practical and Creative Black - Achievement Not sure if this was the original intent when Nakamura first devised it, or if it was made up to sound cool after the fact. If I ever get to sit down and have a discussion with Nakamura, I'll ask what his intent is with the colors and order. I've got one or two other to ask too, but it's all interesting stuff. At least I think it is.

peo Le need to use canes for a lot of different reasons. Some have hip problems, some are knees, back, etc. A fellow student at my dojo was using one for a few weeks due to his balance being thrown off from a severe inner ear infection. I'm guessing they made the videos with the mentality of the practitioner will modify techniques in appropriate ways. The more techniques there are, the more they'd have to modify, and add to that different modifications for different conditions. I'd take the videos as a base to modify as needed. I haven't seen the videos, so I can't speculate if they're intended for people who genuinely need to carry canes or if they're intended for people who don't actually need to carry them.

I'm getting my information from Tadashi Nakamura's autobiography... Nakamura was the one who devised the original colored belt system in Kyokushin. Before this, there was only white, brown and black. With Oyama's blessing he introduced the order white, blue, yellow, green, brown, black. The guys who had been around for a while hated it, but they changed their minds after they saw the benefits. There was no red belt. There was no date mentioned, but he said it was while he was teaching at Camp Zama (US military base), while the honbu was being built at the same time. The Kyokushin honbu opened in 1964, 2 years before the meeting with Gen. Choi in '66. Not sure when red was introduced, nor when it was changed to orange. Nakamura left Kyokushin in '76. Perhaps red came in after that? There's no red nor orange belt in Seido. If it was before '76, Nakamura might have brought it to Seido. All speculation though. Nakamura kept the same kyu color order he devised when he left Kyokushin and started Seido.

Perhaps it's dependent on the formality of the event. Tadashi Nakamura (founder of Seido and 9th dan) wears his solid red belt during promotional testing, lectures, large workouts, i.e. formal events. All other times, like day to day teaching and training, he wears his solid black belt. I don't know how many others do this, but I think a lot do. I haven't seen too many beat up and frayed red nor red and white belts.

Poking around the internet, some Kyokushin schools still use a red kyu belt. Oyama replaced red with orange. Red/orange is 10th kyu. White belt is mukyu, or no grade. I wonder why some still use it after Oyama eliminated it. Then again, there's a ton of splintering in Kyokushin, especially after Oyama's death. I'm pretty sure he made the change well before his death in 1994.

I read somewhere that Mas Oyama used red as one of kyu grades in Kyokushin, but then eliminated it out of respect for high ranking yudansha who wore it in other systems. Speculating, but would that have come from his Korean connections? Red is used in TKD and TSD for 2nd and 1st kups normally. Not a bad speculation, as Oyama was Korean. One of his main teachers was also Korean (not sure if that one taught Shotokan or Goju). Not that I'm an authority on Oyama, but I don't recall anything indicating he trained in TKD, TSD or any other Korean art.

I read somewhere that Mas Oyama used red as one of kyu grades in Kyokushin, but then eliminated it out of respect for high ranking yudansha who wore it in other systems. I remember seeing one "traditional Japanese karate" school at a tournament that used red as a kyu grade. We were sitting in the bleachers when a group of about ten 8-12 year olds walked into the gym wearing them. My Sensei at the time quietly said to us "look at all the little grandmasters." I asked one of my classmates' little brother how he felt knowing there were 10th dans in his division. We had a good laugh about it. At my old club and current club we have Red Belts as a Kyu Grade, I am not sure why and how this transpired. My old Chief Instructor from my old club trained underneath Tino Ceberano who was a Goju-Kai Practitioner, sent to Australia by request of Gogen Yamaguchi-Sensei. So i feel like this is where it may have come from and popped up in my clubs over the years I'm not bashing Goju nor Yamaguchi. I've got the utmost respect for them. From everything I've seen, they do things the right way. Those students' Sensei has no affiliation with Goju Kai that I know of. He's independent and is a mish-mash of a bunch of different Japanese systems. They're 100% sport karate, doing only point fighting and kata for tournament/aesthetic value. The CI seemingly based his kata list on what scores highest. I visited his dojo a while back when I was first looking to get started. The only place I've ever seen that is 100% sport karate. I'm not saying that approach is wrong; different courses for different horses. But with that being his focus, his students weren't very successful. The only ones who placed in any category/ division were the ones who were naturally athletic.

This is not a knock to Wado Heretic in any way, shape or form... When everything went your way and you win, it's very easy to show respect to your opponent. When you gave it your all and you came up short to an opponent who's better than you, it's still somewhat easy. When nothing went your way, you had a horrible showing, and you got your butt whipped by someone who shouldn't have lasted a minute against you, how you handle it really shows what you're made of. Win or lose, I almost always had the same expression on my face - bow (if MA competition), shake hands and say good match/game, shake the other coach's hand and say something similar, and walk away. Don't rub it in, don't sulk. Act like you've won before, you expected to win, and you'll win again. When it happens, act like you can handle the loss and will do everything to make sure it won't happen again. When it's over, it's over. You can't get it back. The only time congratulated someone was when a wrestling opponent I was friendly with beat me to go on to the state tournament. He was so much better than me and got robbed our junior year of high school. I wrestled one of the best matches I ever wrestled and hung with him for longer than I thought I could, but I just wasn't good enough. It stung, but I knew the better wrestler won.

I'm going to be both of my daughters' teacher in a few years (school teacher, not MA). I'm not sure if I'll have them address me as dad or Mr. B in class. Sounds stupid, and I've got 4 years before my oldest will be in my classroom, but it's something I think now and then. They'll each be in my class for grade 5-8 Science, which is 4 years. I'm their father and always will be, even while teaching; but I also want to separate a bit too, as in hold them to the same standards as everyone else and not be harder or easier on them than anyone else. Speaking to colleagues, some have had them call them mom/dad, others haven't. There's really no right or wrong, so long as the intent is pure.

I took a 15 year break. Missed it every single day. Once I got back in the dojo (even though it wasn't the same one/teacher/style), it felt like I never left. Well, flexibility-wise it felt like 15 years, but everything else didn't. Welcome to the forum.

Can you still kick? Seems like a good time to work on those with a heavy bag It may or may not cause pain in the elbow. Only one way to find out. If you're in a hinged brace that locks and can open to specific ranges of motion, it shouldn't be an issue. So long as you don't fall or forget that you're injured and start throwing punches. As an athletic trainer, I was always looking for ways to keep people working while resting the injury. Thanks for the update. I was going to ask how it's been going a few times, but got distracted.

How big is this trend? Clowns come and go. Real MA has been around since the beginning. There are a lot of stupid people out there, but fortunately the stupid aren't the majority* *Then again, I guess it's all relative. Everyone's stupid when it comes some things.

Looks like a ton of potential in there. A blank canvas, if you will. And as you said, things are working out because you're making them work. Keep at it!

I read somewhere that Mas Oyama used red as one of kyu grades in Kyokushin, but then eliminated it out of respect for high ranking yudansha who wore it in other systems. I remember seeing one "traditional Japanese karate" school at a tournament that used red as a kyu grade. We were sitting in the bleachers when a group of about ten 8-12 year olds walked into the gym wearing them. My Sensei at the time quietly said to us "look at all the little grandmasters." I asked one of my classmates' little brother how he felt knowing there were 10th dans in his division. We had a good laugh about it. But now that you mention it, I don't recall ever seeing a single Japanese founder and/or head of an organization wearing anything other than a solid black belt in pictures, videos or anything else. Non-Japanese, yes. Seido Juku is the only exception I know of. We're headquartered in the US, so maybe that's got something to do with it. There are several dojos in Japan however. At the end of the day, it's all irreverent as to who wears what. As long as the reasons are justifiable and are based on beneficial things.