JR 137

Started in 1995 in U.S. Budokai Karate. The founders came from Seido Juku (before I joined). Trained for 6 years until I had to leave for graduate school. Would have tested for nidan had I not left. Upon getting my master's degree I started a career that left no time to train, and got married shortly after that. 14 years later, a 4 year old daughter, a 2 year old daughter, and 30 pounds the wrong way, I started Seido Juku Karate. Started at white belt 3 months ago and earned my blue belt (8th kyu) 2 weeks ago. So glad I changed careers. I now have time to do the things I enjoy. More time with my family is the biggest benefit. Karate is easily the distant second.

Where do you study kyokushin? The Castleton dojo? I study Seido in East Greenbush/Defreestville.

Let's just say kyokushin was an inherently better art (for the record, no art is inherently better than any other). Would you rather... A horrible teacher in a better art A great teacher in an art that's not as good, but can be pretty effective A great teacher who has mostly kids for students A mediocre teacher who has students that can challenge you The list goes on and on. Visit a bunch of schools and decide which one fits you best. The teacher and his/her teaching, the atmosphere of the dojo, the students' physical abilities, the class times available to you, and on and on. The best art is the one that checks off the most boxes on your list of priorities.

I called Shureido USA today. Very nice people. I'll definitely order from them rather than anyone else. The price of the gi is about $10 more than discountmas.com, but they impressed me with the conversation. Here's what they do... You measure yourself - shoulders, chest, biceps, thighs, waist, etc. They can make any adjustments to the gi, and will split sizes - different jacket and pants if necessary. The cost of sleeve and leg length alteration is only $10. I'm pretty sure it'll look like a factory hem. Maybe the factory does this? I'd have ordered today, but I called from work and didn't know they'd go that in depth with measurements. I figured it would be a situation of "these are my current gi measurements, I want this longer, that shorter, etc., what size do you recommend? My beautiful bride has offered to pay for it as a combined Father's Day and birthday gift. My 4 year old and 2 year old have been telling her "Daddy needs a new gi for Father's Day." Jedi mind tricks.

I've seen a bunch of posts where people say they test whenever the tests are offered. Not sure how to paraphrase that though. I'm pretty confused by this... In your dojo, is it like a sign up to test policy for anyone/everyone? In my current system of study and former, tests were held at regular intervals, but there wasn't a sign-up sheet or show up if you wanted to give it a try policy. It was your instructor asked you if you'd like to test in the weeks/months (depending on the rank) leading up to it. More like he told us we were ready for the test, but that's another conversation. Is where I am/have been the norm or the exception? Maybe I'm misinterpreting what I've read here. Not that the way I've been asked/invited/told to test is inherently better, just different.

Excellent post/points. Kids need to be challenged every day, otherwise they lose interest very quickly. Something about the junior black belt just turns me off. I know it shouldn't, but it does. But without it, I wonder how many kids wouldn't bother even starting?

Judging by the posts I've read written by you, it's a great thing you 'stuck it out' so to speak and kept training all those years with no chance to promote at that age. And nor did you know that you'd achieve sandan that quickly after shodan. You're an extreme exception, and definitely not the rule. At least not nowadays. It's all about instant gratification these days. I'd be willing to bet we lost a lot of great would-be martial artists because there was no perverbial carrot on a stick to keep them going when there's several years between junior black belt and shodan.

Ranking kids in martial arts has some issues IMO. Let's say that it takes 4 years to achieve junior black belt. Let's say they start at 6 years old, and a full black belt has a 16 year old minimum age requirement. So a kid starts at 6 and achieves junior black belt at 10. What do they do for the next 6 years? 6 years to a 10 year old is like 60 years for an adult. How do they stay motivated to keep studying and doing their best? Perhaps that why there's all the patches, breaking, gymnastics stuff, demo stuff, etc.? I have a few students (I teach middle school science, not MA) who achieved junior black belt at 10-12, then left. Their feeling was they learned everything until they're 16, so why stay? Being adults, we know better, but being pre-teen or even a teen-ager? I'm not a fan of junior black belt. I think they should have an entirely different belt. Either camouflage (a mix of all the colors) or a belt made of the all different colors, kind of like the red and white paneled belt worn by high ranking black belts, only each panel being a color they've achieved. With this belt, have dan levels, so to speak. 1st degree camo, 2nd degree, etc. if you've run out of kyu level material, start dan level stuff, like say the opening sequence of a shodan kata like Seienchin. 2nd dan camo could do the next sequence, and so forth. I don't teach MA nor do I have my own system, so what do I know? I don't like the junior black belt concept, but I get it. I think a junior black belt takes something away from full black belt. I know I shouldn't feel that way, but I do.

I've seen them at demos. When I lived in Westchester County, NY, there was a huge mall right across the bridge. A TKD school would do an elaborate demo there every spring or summer (can't remember which). There would be kids running around everywhere with a ton of patches on their dobaks (Korean for gi?) and black belts. Some had the white stripe through them, most didn't. They looked pretty good, but there's more to MA than flashy jumping spinning kicks added to what looks like traditional kata with music playing and breaking boards. I the rest of what little respect I had when I saw a kid in the food court wearing her uniform and black belt. She had a patch that said "Senior Instructor" and another one that said "Expert." 4th dan. She looked really young, and she was pretty small, so I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and thought she just looked really young for her age. The person at the counter asked her how old she was - "I'll be 15 next week."

A lot of good exercises posted in the runners' world link. One that I didn't see (maybe it was there) is putting an exercise band around your kicking ankle and do low kicks. Attach the band to a low place like a table leg. Do front, side and back kicks. Make sure the band is tight throughout the entire movement, and the band is directly pulling against you - turn sideways when doing a side kick, face the object holding the band when kicking backward. The kicks don't have to be textbook kicks; you're strengthening the plant foot, not the kicking foot. In my sports medicine days, I'd have all my athletes with new and chronic ankle problems do this. I also did slideboard, airex pads and bosu ball stuff, but when I started adding this, the results were far better. Rule of thumb - work through soreness and tightness. If it causes actual pain, stop and/or alter the movement. If I can find a video or something close, I'll post a link.

To work on grip strength, try doing lifts using a towel. For instance, throw a towel around a pull-up bar and grab that to pull up rather than the bar. Use a very short towel/hand towel through kettlebell handles rather than gripping the handle directly. Make sure the towel is strong enough to support the weight, and don't use the towel where the kettlebell will swing. A strength & conditioning coach i used to work with loved having his athletes use towels for push-ups and kettlebell rows. Makes the exercises so much harder. Hockey and lacrosse players really benefitted from it. He began bjj while I was working there, trained his friends from the club, and had them do as much towel stuff as he could. He used to be the strength & conditioning coach for West Point lacrosse and football, and did a stint with the Vikings before working where we were. I really trusted his opinions.

Any good strength & conditioning coach will tell you you for every "pushing" exercise, you should be doing at least one "pulling" exercise. People don't like to do them because they're too hard to do. Another excellent strength & conditioning coach saying: the most important exercise to do is the one you hate doing. Why do people hate doing certain exercises? Because they're not good at them. IMO, push-ups, rows, dips, pull-ups, squats (and/or variations of each), and planks should be the cornerstones of strength training. Throw squat-thrusts/burpees in there too. Crunches are very overrated. Do those exercises well, and there's not much else you need IMO. Olympic lifts are great too, so long as you know how to do them properly. Way too easy to injure yourself if your technique is off, and a lot of people mess them up.

Have you thought about looking into an organization with dojos in a lot of locations? I may sound very biased in this (look at my style), but Seido karate has branches all over. They're independently owned, but the syllabus is the same. If you have one near you and near where you travel for work, it could work out well. You'd have to speak to both instructors to make sure they're ok with the logistics/terms. Seido is a very tight knit organization. Most instructors know each other pretty well, as they come to NYC from all over the world pretty regularly. I'm sure there are other organizations like this. Kyokushin karate comes to mind. That organization is splintered, but the people I know in it are very accommodating. Just throwing out suggestions. Neither system is for everyone, nor are either of them interchangeable. I don't know about TKD associations to suggest an organization to look into.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave the original teacher?

Very interesting situation. I thought you were going to say you'd been away for several years or more. While not training for a year seems like forever, in the grand scheme of things, a year is a pretty short time to be away. Giving the benefit of the doubt due to both teachers' common lineage and experience, I'd have to say both are emphasizing different aspects of what they know/learned. Perhaps what one held as important, the other didn't think was relevant. Perhaps one thinks kumite skills are far more important than kata; displaying textbook technical skills are more important than getting the job done effectively or efficiently on the floor. In your shoes, I'd have a lot of questions too. Not directed disrespectfully at either teacher, but questions nonetheless. Don't doubt your skills. You've done what you've been asked and earned each rank. the way I look at it after a 15 year break is the rank doesn't make the person, the person makes the rank. Enjoy the process. I'm sure it's frustrating thinking why you weren't taught what you're currently learning, but contemplating that is an exercise in futility IMO. Easier said than done though.

My old sensei said everyone in his original system failed their shodan test the first time. Apparently that was part of the test - to see how well you handled failure. He's no longer in that system. Auto promoting and auto failing are absurd. In my former and current system, it's very hard to fail. You have to either give up, completely freeze, or be disrespectful to fail. The catch is you're not invited to test if you haven't proven yourself worthy of the rank. Your teacher determines when you promote; there's no "sign up if you feel you're ready" policy. Basically, you've proven you're worthy of the rank before the test. The test is pretty much a test of spirit/being pushed further/seeing where you're breaking point is. After I earned my shodan, I assisted with 2 other shodan tests. Both were different due to the different personal limits of the people testing. The curriculum demonstrated were the same every time, but the intensity was different. It was a test of how far they came and if they were truly giving it their all rather than "all shod and much kick at least X height, throw Y punches per minute, break Z boards, etc. That's what it's all about IMO. Demonstrating what you've been taught while showing you can keep it together during your maximum intensity/physical stress.

Most MMA schools in my area advertise the staff's competitive records and their students' records/accomplishments. I think the qualifications/certifications/records get people in the door to visit, but most people ask themselves if the instructors can truly defend themselves or if they're frauds. Not that inexperienced prospects are the best judges of this, but they've got a pretty good idea for the most part. Then again, if the public was truly well informed, the McDojos would be urban legend.

In your shoes, I wouldn't do it without the full approval of your teacher, even if the head of the organization allowed it. Is it a bridge you want to burn? Not that I think you plan on going over his head, but if you don't have his blessing, you could be out of your current dojo. Then what training do you have access to? Who will promote you, and when? If you don't have his blessing, you're pretty much fully on your own. I think the minimum 3rd dan rank thing is a rule of thumb for most organizations. I've seen people open dojos at lower dan ranks, although it is rare in my experience. I remember a 1st dan opened a shotokan dojo where I went to college. I worked out with him several times when I was also a 1st dan (not shotokan). He was quite good as a practitioner and teacher. He had more and better experience than the typical 1st dan, and that's why he was allowed to open under his organization. You can go it alone. Many people do. Just be prepared to pretty much truly be on your own if you do.

Excellent posts. It's also a teachable moment, in that you can say "we all have different abilities and difficulties; we must adapt when necessary, but must never make excuses." By excuses, I mean exaggerate something just because we don't feel like doing something that's difficult.

I agree, but is it necessary to always learn from a "master?" There are lots of good teachers out there that aren't masters, and I think its a shame to pass them up if one has the chance. Of course, I didn't mean master in a literal sense, just a figurative one. The only people that I consider to be masters are those in Kung Fu because generally that's the only style that uses it as an actual designation. Sure, a lot of styles will call someone master or grand master however I believe (and I may be 150% wrong) but Kung Fu is the only style where it is actually a rank.. Please correct me if the above is not true. Not correcting, just stating what I've found... Many karate styles use specific titles at specific dan ranks. Seido uses sensei at 4th dan, jun shihan (new master) at 5th, sei shihan at 6th, etc. Others follow similar titles. In my old system, senpai was a title at 3rd dan. From that, I guess you could say master is a specific rank, in a way.

I've noticed most instructors put the amount of time they've been studying and/or teaching as well. Probably better for credibility, as else being equal. People have a ton of reasons for choosing a school. I'd say cost and proximity/convenience and class times are easily 3 of the highest for first-timers. They factor in for experienced people too, but there's more involved after you know what you're looking for. I think the best gauge of credibility is observing their students - technique, eagerness, attitude, etc. As a whole, students are a reflection of their teacher(s).

$55 per month for adults, $45 for kids. Test fees depend on the rank I'm testing for. Colored belt tests range from $45 - $55. $25 national dues annually. Not sure about Dan grade costs as I haven't gotten there yet. My CI does color belt testing in-house, Dan testing is done at the honbu in NYC due to relatively close proximity. Dojo is open 4 evenings and Saturday morning. No limits on classes attended. In my area, this is dirt cheap. Our dojo is small and run by a gentleman who's recently retired and his wife who's about to retire. Tuition pays the bills and maybe a little more; it's not their livelihood. The other dojos I looked into average around $120 a month for adults. One place quoted me $350 per month combined for me, my wife, and my 4 year old. Didn't include other fees. My dojo is unique in that it's not the full-time job/primary source of income for the owner. I guess you could call it his hobby. Or maybe passion. Rates everywhere depend on overhead and what the market dictates. Btw, I didn't choose my dojo based solely on price; it was the right fit for me due to a ton of factors.

Everyone has an idea of what martial arts training should entail for them personally. I've seen many dojos that do a lot (relatively speaking) of conditioning. I'm not a fan of it, but if that's what people really want, then by all means. I want minimal emphasis on conditioning during my MA instruction. I signed up to study karate. There is conditioning going on any time you move, but I feel the conditioning should be a side effect, if you will, of the training. I look at the dojo as a school - the techniques/sparring/etc. are the classroom lessons, and the strength and conditioning are the homework. If you don't do your homework, your class work is going to suffer. I have absolutely no problem with people's interest in cardio kickboxing. It's a great workout. But IMO, it's a workout, not formal MA training. My dojo does offer kumite conditioning class at regular intervals as part of the curriculum. It's not mandatory. I haven't attended one yet as I've only joined a few months ago and am waiting to earn my sparring gear. My previous dojo in the bad old days didn't offer this, but the CI taught cardio kickboxing classes seperately. His karate students could attend for almost free; I think it was something like $3 a class/5 classes for $10. I did it for a few months leading up to my shodan test and gave him something like an extra $30 in my tuition every month. It wasn't a set price for the serious students who helped out in various ways; we offered him money.

My father and his brothers were tae kwon do black belts but they stopped training shortly before I was born. My father always wanted me to take up the art but he never followed through on it. I've had an interest in martial arts for as long as I can remember. We watched Kung fu theater religiously along with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris movies. I saw what I now believe to be a kyokushin demo when I was around 10 - nothing flashy, nothing fancy, just a very no-nonsense fast paced and hard hitting art. My father refused saying "it's too aggressive." A girl I dated during high school's mother ran a daycare out of her house. A friend of a friend that owned a kyokushin offshoot dojo was hurting for students, and she got him about 10 families to sign up. For that her family, including me paid $20 a month each for lessons. I stuck with it until I left for grad school, about 6 years later and six months away from my nidan test. The rest left after a few months to a year. 14 years and 30lbs later, I began training again at a Seido school. Wearing a white belt and starting all over again is great. I'm not chasing ranks; I'm enjoying the process. I'm not trying to out do everyone or anyone else. I'm trying to out do myself. So much more rewarding. Promoted for the first time last week. I realized how much came back in the 3 months I've been at it. Putting on the new blue belt (2nd belt in Seido) made me miss the white belt, as stupid as that sounds.

Thank you, Wastelander. I'm currently wearing a KI 14 oz. heavyweight. It's a great gi for the money. It's too heavy for me this time of year in our hot dojo. July and August are going to be so much worse once the humidity rolls in. It's close to a Shureido in cut, but not exactly. Compared to a Shureido K-10, the Shureido's cost is very hard to justify on paper ($75 or so vs $200 or so). I feel like some elitist snob when I say this, but having worn both, I'd spend the extra money. I'm about to buy the Shueido K-11, but I want to find a Tokon sizing chart before I make my final decision so I know 100% that I made the right decision. All the Tokon charts I've found are practitioner height and weight rather than actual gi dimensions. The Tokaido TAW looks interesting too now though. From what I've learned by looking at actual gi dimensions - I'm a size 5.5 in traditional Shureido cut 4.5 in Shureido tournament cut 6.5 in Tokaido My current KI is a 5 By all the height and weight charts, I'm a 5. Wondering how Tokon will fit. The Shureido tournament cut seems closest to my dimensions. Mainly shoulder width and jacket length. Any gi will need about a foot cut off the pants and sleeves. Maybe an exaggeration.