karate_woman

This is probably so hard because it is your parents and not someone off the street. Colds aren't caused by working in barefeet, but I suppose your training could theoretically cause you to be vulnerable to one, if you overtrain. It is unfortunate when instructors talk negatively about other martial arts to their students. Martial arts are very personal, individual things and people take them for different reasons. Being snooty because someone is taking a "hard style" when you take a "soft style" or vice versa isn't appropriate. I have tried T'ai Chi, and my Sensei teaches it as well, but I can honestly say it isn't for me at this point in time. As my first Sensei told us....T'ai Chi and karate take you to the SAME destination, just by different paths. It sounds like - though your parents are older - they are new to "the path", and have all the answers, and the pride of the new student in the superiority of their style over all others. Ironically, the longer they train the less they'll feel they know, in spite of all they'll have learned All I can suggest is that you respect their choice - though advise it is not for you - and ask that they respect yours. As for them thinking you are taking it because of your Sensei, well of course you have a great Sensei, but it is the combination of the Sensei and the information that you like. I'm not sure it will help though - the newly initiated into the martial arts are often a bit feverish with their "discovery" and can't understand there are other ways.

I think it would depend on how the pre-emptive strike was done and what the person was doing to you . BEWARE! Do not be a defensive fighter in a street fight A defensive fighter is one who permits his adversary to seize and maintain offensive control in a fight. Beware! This defensive mindset can get you killed in street combat. Simply put, allowing your antagonist the opportunity to deliver the first strike is tactical suicide. It is like allowing a gunslinger to draw his pistol first. Never forget that in unarmed combat, if you permit the adversary to strike first, he might injure or possibly kill you, and he will most certainly force you into an irreversible defensive flow that can preclude you from issuing an effective counter attack. Employing the first strike principle requires an offensive mentality that compels you to act rather than react. You must be aggressive and take affirmative and absolute control of the situation by making all the decisions and acting immediately without apprehension or trepidation. Unfortunately, some martial art instructors teach their students to wait for their opponent to make the first move. This can be a BIG MISTAKE! In the mean streets of America, this reactive type of approach will get you a one way trip to the city morgue. There are also self-defense practitioners who are simply too timid to take the initiative and attack first. Many will not strike first because they simply do not know how to successfully execute a preemptive strike. While others are uncertain about the legal requirements and justifications. As a result, they second guess their instincts, hesitate, and end up kissing the pavement. Therefore, it is imperative that you have a basic understanding of the legal requirements of launching a preemptive strike in a self-defense situation. From RealFighting.com The article goes on to expain "justfied" pre-emptive strikes. I don't necessarily agree with all they wrote, but certainly won't discount certain pre-emptive strikes, or the highest level of fighting...avoidance.

Yes, I'd heard that too and just pulled up a reference off of this site: http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/jackiechan.html He doubled for Bruce Lee in the fight scene between Chen and Yoshida where Chen does a somersault (JING WU MEN (1972)).

Perfect practice does; make sure you're practicing stuff you know how to do properly.

I didn't hide the fact I took karate, but I also downplayed it, and said I could get kicked out for fighting, so it wasn't worth it - which was true; our dojo had a similar rule to hobbitbob's.

Mine is embroidered. My school's name isn't on it, though. Name on one side, karate, kobudo on the other. I know what my name looks like in Japanese, so I have an advantage - a japanese man wrote my first name on my gi during a seminar once Well...wouldn't all the black belts in your dojo have the same kanji on the one side?

Hey, whatever works, but some people like to "challenge" martial artists - I guess you haven't run into any? My Sensei's son was a brown belt at 13, and couldn't grade for black until he was 16 because of Butokukai rules. Anyway, LOTS of kids in the schoolyard wanted to challenge him, and he was forced to defend himself numerous times, just because his last name was the same as the name of the dojo in town; he wasn't a showoff, and was always successful, but STILL got challenged on a regular basis. It is a bit of a prestige thing for some folks to try to beat up this "martial artist", so I'd be careful if I were you. Here's the thing...they've got nothing to lose....if they lose the fight they say, well, I got some good ones in and he's a brown belt! If they win, hey I kicked this brown belt's ass! Win - win for them.

It took me a while too, which reminds me...there is a white belt at our club that has trained for a few months now and I've noticed his belt is tied partially wrong (the knot is correct but his tying process doesn't go under all the layers of belt). His best buddy is a student and a brown belt, and another friend is an orange belt, and they haven't helped him, nor has Sensei mentioned it to him. He's always with his buddies before class or I might have mentioned it to him, but I don't want to embarrass him in front of his friends, and since Sensei hasn't said anything I'm puzzled as to how to proceed, or if I should bother saying anything as Sensei will likely mention it before he has to grade for yellow. Any thoughts?

Your dojo thinks that it would be easier to fight a streetfighter than a karateka? Does this include your Sensei? I'm just wondering because I think it odd that a Sensei would give his/her students that kind of blanket statement - it could lead to overconfidence, which is not a good thing in my opinion. We've always been taught to never underestimate our opponents, to avoid dangerous situations, carry ourselves with confidence so we aren't singled out as a target, etc. I guess it also depends on who the streetfighter is...is this a seasoned street fighter who has fought FOR THEIR LIFE a number of times, or just a punk in a bar trying to get into a fight to show off for his girlfriend? Do they have a weapon (I'd bet most street fighters would have at least a knife, if not other weapons)? Also, just because they are fighting "on the street" doesn't mean they haven't been trained in the dojo too...I know of a "gang" member who is a 7th Dan with over 30 years in the martial arts, plus street fighting experience. I somehow think you wouldn't want to attack or be attacked by him! My opinion on this one....there are too many factors to make a valid determination of who would win.

Congratulations!

For grading purposes I have to keep track of the hours I spend training in the dojo, plus seminars, and tournaments. Some people write down what they learn in class and others don't.

Well, I spend LOTS of time on the internet, but also go for walks, read, play softball, golf, camping, and spending time with my husband and kids. I like to go skiing too but haven't done much skiing in the last few years. I also work full-time (though I'm on maternity leave until July 28).

A technique I learned in a seminar taught by a sandan in Judo was this: usually, the person is also trying to choke you while applying the scissors - grab that arm to stop the choke, and then cross your feet and put them on top of his crossed ankles, pressing down...it hurts him like hell, and I've even had people tap out by applying that counter.

I thought you wrote EROTIC weapons...that caught my eye. I must get my mind out of the gutter Anyway, I have trained with: uwara escrima sticks nunchuks sai tonfa jo bo bokken

Hi, and welcome

Welcome from a fellow newbie!

OK..in that case, go to a competition and see what you're up against, then you have a starting point. From what I recall, creative forms are often quite flashy (being theatrical, throwing weapons in the air, using chrome/graphite bo, music, fast pace, showing off flexibility/acrobatics). Check out this link http://www.nblskil.com/skm/sportkaratemagazine/issue%2380/sgweapons80.html for an example (still shots though) of what I mean.

I thought you were being taught? Why would you have to create a competition bo kata right away? I don't compete in creative forms but I'd think it would be hard to make up a kata if you haven't done any other bo kata. Why not use a traditional one like Matsu Higa no kon/bo? The only thing is it isn't usually the first one taught, as it is more complex than some.

What I do at home: After a warm-up and some stretching, I will do all of the kata I know, back to back, including weapons kata. I don't practice "new" kata, however. Sometimes I will also practice some basics (in combination). The reason I don't generally practice "new " kata at home is because I don't want to mess them up by practicing them incorrectly; only after I'm reasonably comfortable with the kata will I practice it at home. I'm a shodan in Goju, so I have a fair number of kata to practice (though not as many as in some other styles). If I'm preparing for a competition or demonstration, of course I focus on the skills/kata I'm going to be using in that particular competition/demonstration. Something I want to add to my home workout in the next few months is a heavy bag. One thing you could do is ask your Sensei (before or after class) which skills you are ready to practice at home at this point.

Well, when people ask me if I can beat them up, I generally try to make a simple statement like "I have no idea, why are you going to attack me? We've alway been taught that we should never underestimate our opponents, so I never really thought about it". I realize your situation is the reverse, but a statement like that may still be work as it is non confrontational and gives the guy the benefit of the doubt (saving his ego).

I will continue with karate, but will probably increase my training in jiu jitsu as well.

I haven't named mine but am obsessive about being the only one to use it; if someone else uses it I've had it fly right out of my hand - even if I didn't know someone had used it.

We are (rather Sensei is) revamping when we start teaching the bo, though I first started using it at Green Belt. The logic behind that was weapons are an extension of your hand so it is good to get some basics down first. As for what kind, it is a personal choice, and some have more than one. I have one that is oak, tapered at both ends and isn't super light or thin but fits my hands well. Who is going to teach you to use it? Perhaps they have a preference for what kind you should learn with?

Well here's the scoop from the guy who created it for The Karate Kid (Darryl Vidal): he made it up. http://www.fast-rewind.com/kkid/index.html

How are you going to keep your training up after you reach black belt if your Sensei doesn't approve? I don't think defining a McDojo should be soley based on making a living off of martial arts, which is why I started this thread; I objected to the automatic categorizations people seemed to be using to define McDojo in their posts, and wanted to bring it out in the open. Here is an artcle I found my MJ Harday. I can't find the original source for it but it seems to have been reproduced on several other forums online. I AM THE PRODUCT OF A McDOJO by M.J. Harday I went into a training program in good faith. I didn't know much about karate, or even that there were different types of martial arts, but I did know that I wanted to learn how to defend myself. To someone like me, whose only exposure was through TV and movies, when a school opens and you go to see the instructor, and he looks like what he does is a lot like the things you see on TV, you tend to believe that they really do know what they are doing. When the price seems reasonable and he says "you look like you're in pretty good shape, good enough I can promise you'll be a black belt in 2 years" you get excited, and you sign on the dotted line. When he offers you a 10% discount for paying cash up front, you jump at it. And then you start your classes, knowing that in just 2 years you'll be a black belt and you'll be able to defend yourself. He was right. In 2 years I did get my black belt. I went through the test with a dozen other people, and we all paid $500 to test, and amazingly enough we all passed. We were downright proud of ourselves and each other for getting through 2 years of sweat with each other, helping each other to learn along the way. Our classes just seemed like what a karate class should be. We bowed in, we called each other 'sir" and "ma'am"; we exercised and pushed ourselves hard to get into shape; we learned countless katas and spent hours working on special kicks. We learned a lot. What we didn't learn though, and didn't even realize we weren't learning, was how to use the techniques that were in the katas. We never learned to combine techniques. We never realized just because we could do these katas well, and just because we had nice looking, fast and powerful kicks, that we didn't know how and when to use them. We never sparred. None of us had ever taken any real contact. Most of us, so damned pleased with ourselves for sticking with it for two whole years, stayed and went for our 2nd degree black belts. And then third. The only thing that changed in the class patterns was the katas we learned. But we were doing so well! I could have stayed on that happy little path for the rest of my life if not for what happened to someone else. I wasn't even there, but it opened my eyes. It scared me so badly that I had to start reading notes posted on the Internet, and comparing what other people were saying about their schools to what was going on in mine. I even started checking out the things other schools in the area were doing. One of the men I started class with, one of the guys who blazed his way through to black belt in 2 years and stuck with it along with me was beaten up in a way I didn't think anyone could survive. He was a mass of ripped flesh and broken bones and blood, and that was after a few days of healing. He lost the hearing in one ear and for a while they weren't sure he was going to walk again. All because he was attacked, and he thought he knew how to defend himself. He says now that he was confident until he was hit with the first punch. All that kata practice hadn't taught him how to block effectively. We were never taught that a kata is a fight from one side and that the things we were doing represented someone else fighting us. It was just patterns we had to learn. Block-punch-kick... well how in the hell was that supposed to teach us anything when we never really knew what it was in the first place, what the movements represented, and how to counter attack? We're not black belts. We're a bunch of well conditioned dancers. This guy could have died. As it is he will have lasting effects of being beaten for the rest of his life. It was an eye opener for all of us, when we realized none of us had ever even taken a serious punch. Things just kind of fell into place then. We didn't spar. We weren't allowed to compete. The reason given that sport held no place in his teaching, but the truth is that he couldn't afford for us to be exposed to people in the martial arts who knew what they were doing. A few months later, we know. We were conned. This joker left his own instructor as a blue belt with only 2 years instruction because he thought he was good enough. It wasn't good enough. His ego could have gotten any of us killed. If you own a belt factory, please think twice about what you are doing. Your students trust you, and the rely on you to teach them well. I spent a lot of years of my life thinking I was being taught by a high ranking black belt when he was just a smooth talking jerk who couldn't stick with his own training. I thought I was about to test for my 3rd degree black belt. Now I know, after talking to people and then going to see other schools, that I am probably no better skilled than the average 1-2 year student with a orange or green belt. I might be faster and have more endurance, but they know more than I do. I have started training now with a Chung Do Kwan teacher who is 100% different. Nothing is a given with him. He didn't promise me anything and hearing my version of How-I-Got-My-Black-Belt insisted I begin as a white belt, and he would give me ample opportunity to progress if I learned things quickly. You know, that first black belt just isn't as attractive anymore. I just want to be able to defend myself. If you own a McDojo, think twice. It's not your life that might end in a bloody heap on the side of the road. Can you live with that? I hope not.