tommarker

Kirves, Is this their fault? Should they be able to subjectively say "You know, my technique really isn't that good in comparison with other Shotokan practitioners... I should give up my black belt!" As we can easily tell from this board, everyone knows the way in which they perform the technique is the best. So let's presume that in this particular case that the students are merely a product of bad teaching; instructors with a low level of talent or expectation. Heck, let's even call them a mcdojo. Perhaps even, this 8 year old is not worthy of a black belt. It seems a bit extreme to say no child can expect to be a black belt, especially basing it on this one kid? Adult life experience is great, but when can you say you have that? I'm 26, and I think I have very little. More than others sure, and even more than other people my age probably. A young black belt can be a role model when it is appropriate. I'm sure that to younger students, he is a shining example of what can be accomplished with hard work. A role model to adults? Well, that is far-fetched. I guess what I'm saying is that if an 8 year old can perform the techniques reasonably well, meets the requirements of their particular art, and can manage to hold a "prestigious" rank without it going to his head, then why CAN'T they be a black belt? Shodan is a big difference from even nidan, and isn't even in the same universe as yondan or higher. So, what's the big deal? Does it take away from your ability as a yudanja?

That's a bit melodramatic, don't you think? Unforgivable? Do they get the option to shave their heads and become monks, or must they commit seppuku? I'm still curious at to what age I can expect to master budo.

Why should I bother arguing with you? You clearly know it all. At any rate, this has deviated from the topic. If you want to keep telling everyone how much you know about Tang Soo Do, please feel free to start another topic. I'm sure you won't mind putting it "karate" since it's nothing more than watered down shotokan.

guess this will be going nowhere fast. thank you for your enlightenment.

Thanks for the info Andrew! Canadian weapons laws don't seem to be getting any LESS restrictive, so while they may be ok under this rule, who knows what else covers them?

woohoo! you win by default and therefore prove your art's superiority over Kuk Soo Won.. Sorry Doug

Last time I checked, Shotokan was a budo art. A child won't understand budo, definitely can't live a budoka life. And TKD cannot be a budo art? At one age does one really understand budo? Have you mastered it? How old are you? Shodan is nothing more than a pretty landmark on the path. None of us will be true masters until we're wetting our Depends anyway, so who gives a toss if this kid is lucky enough to get started on the path early?

i hope no one ever takes a bad picture of you... or in this case, takes a still out of a video clip and then says "boy look at this... his school must suck."

Tapered bo tend to be thinner, lighter, and therefore faster. It's an easy way of fooling someone into believing you have more technique than you actually posess a "Traditional" staff would be about 6' and about 3/4" to 1" thick. Non tapered. Usually made of Oak or Ash in this country. You should be able to pick one up for $20. roll it on the floor to ensure it is not warped, just like you'd test a pool cue. Store it flat on the floor at home, and don't leave it overnight in your car, or it will warp and crack. If you want, you could easily spend almost $200 on a staff depending on the materials

A tekko would almost certainly fall under any laws outlawing brass knuckles or fistloads. If made of wood, you may have found yourself a loophole. To answer your question though, no I don't. There is a carpenter on E-Budo who makes Chizukenbo though... I'd seek him out and ask tips... I think his name is Master Hank Irwin.. Hangs out in the Ryukyu Kobudo forum.

Treating women in our dojang like girls is an excellent way to find yourself crawling on the floor readjusting your cup and trying to pull your mouthpiece out of your hindquarters.

This sounds like a perfectly normal class. Basics and fundamentals will get you a lot further than tornado kicks and kama forms. $25 is more than reasonable in just about any metropolitan area. No offense intended, but what exactly makes you think this is a "McDojang"? Did something give you a bad feeling? Do you have a great deal of martial arts experience to compare this to? Again, this isn't so much directed at you, but it seems like (here I go again) this phrase is being thrown around to the point where people with little no experience are coming in with absolutely no idea of what the word means and applying to just about everything. Every freakin message board tosses it around to basically define every school in town that is... well, not their school. I guess I'm getting a little irritated, but if people are using the term in such a way that they are describing the exact opposite of a mcdojang, then maybe for the good of all new people on the board, we should stop throwing this meaningless phrase around.

if you can sift through the surrounding politics, it is a very nasty system. Same could be said about most systems on some level though.

15 years is a bit excessive for black belt. 3 years for someone with natural athletic talent and a good head on their shoulders is possible. Cho Dan doesn't mean squat. I have one, and quite frankly, the buildup to it was overrated in my head. All it means is to this point you've done a fairly good job of reproducing what you've been shown to do. To keep moving up the ladder, you have to use your noodle a little bit.

http://www.judoinfo.com/techjudo.htm http://www.trainingblades.com/vidclips1.htm http://aikidofaq.com/multimedia.html http://www.shuaichiao.org/html_files/throw_alley/throw_alley_index.htm

Lucky stiff... If I had the ability to study for a year or so with someone like Yuen Woo Ping, I would soak up as much as humanly possible. That guy is a choreography genius, wires or no wires. I think the Matrix is probably one of his LESS spectacular movies though. Go check out Drunken Master II.

what ZR440 said.... I'll trade you dilemmas

A little naihanchi back and forth between the cubicle rows never hurt anyone.

Iaido, but some people find arranging their hakama for 20 minutes between draws to be a little boring and add Kendo to spice things up. Some Aikido schools will teach sword work. Also, Kuk Sool Won and Haedong Gumdo on the Korean side.

You're young.... wushu will be fun You might like Shuai Jiao. Good standing art with lots of great throws and upper body work. Think of it as applied Tai Chi on steroids.

Two hour class on high block. With lots of time spent discussing the finer points whilst holding said block above your head.

Sounds pretty "old-school" to me. The angry instructor persona can go a long way for some personalities. It pushes you and helps you deal with confronation. Other people are completely turned off by this method.

I know this is old, but I think I'll revist it just for kicks.... I take it, since you do TKD sparring, you want to get a head shot in since it is an extra point. Fair enough? Do you get "tremble and shock" points for body shots? Depending on how flexible you are,headshots might be hard to do without opening yourself up, especially at green belt level. a lead leg axe kick or lead leg crescent might brush right by the face. Instead of wishing you could kick the person in the face (which might still come with a growth spurt, but it sounds like you're going to be short, sorry ) why not focus on the midsection? Especially when you're sparring headhunters, this might work really well for you. I try to watch everyone in my ring before we start and get an idea for their flexibility. Some people will give away their best technique because one of their main strategies is intimidation. You'll see them dropping into the splits, throwing high kicks with a particular leg.. etc... Fake it.. Expecting you to go high may leave the opening down low. Learn to throw a FAST mid level lead leg side kick. throw it as soon as you see them move. go right for the blue spot under their ribs if you can draw them in with the crescent kick, spinning back kick next is always fun.

in sport sparring? what rules do you fight under?

Hwarang Do is named after the Hwarang Dan, a group of warrior scholars from the Silla Dynasty of Korea. The rough parallel would be knights, or samurai, but this is a bit of an oversimplification. Hwarang means roughly "flowering youth" but this doesn't mean that they were pansies or anything like that. Almost all Korean arts draw a connection of sorts to the Hwarang. In fact, the creed in most TSD/TKD classes is based largely on the Hwarang Dan (loyalty to country, obedience to parents, honor friendship, no retreat in battle, in killing choose with sense and honor) I think it would be safe to refer to Hwarang Do as a hybrid art, although the founders have their own history. Too complicated for me to even bother mentioning. Hwarang Do was HUGE back in the 80s and 90s, especially with the "soldier of fortune" types. It was like Korean Ninjutsu and the Pentjak Silat of today. I.E. it was "the" fighting system du jour. Some interesting resources on HRD come from this period and before. Michael Echanis wrote some guides to knife and stick fighting that were based on the HRD curriculum. One of the books (referred to lovingly as the Black Book) was pulled from the market after some folks decided it was a little too nuts for public consumption (i.e. sentry removal techniques, etc) and it was replaced with a little green book on empty handed knife disarms. From the legends I've heard, there is another book that was never published that is sitting in a vault at Ohara Publications that will probably never see the light of the day because the knife techniques are "too extreme." I think HRD is a legit system, but due to it's "mysterious origins" gets a fairly bad rap in many circles. I'm not trying to engage in a flame war with any HRD folks, but I think even they will acknowledge this is at least a perception problem. That covers my familiarity with Hwarang Do.