singularity6

Starting your own club, Danielle, is a great idea because you've got everything required in making it a great success!! Your Student Body will be very fortunate in having you as their instructor!! I hope so... though it probably won't go over well at my current club or with my instructor True. However, I believe that they'd both support you across the board because you represent them. Albeit, If your current club and/or your instructor create difficulties for you then neither of them are worthy of you, therefore, there are more fish in the sea than the for you to affiliate with. Why do you believe that it probably won't go over well with your current club or with your instructor?? After all, neither of them own you!! I believe that the club is just a chip off any Governing Body, and in that, if the club shuns you, the Governing Body should still support you opening your own club. Sure, it's always important to have their support, I respect that, but you have to follow your dreams, and not theirs. I ran into some difficulties when I first wanted to open my first Kyuodan Dojo from my Dai-Soke, but, it was my decision, and not theirs to make. If that meant that I'd be shunned with no direct relationships with the SKKA and/or Dai-Soke, then so be it. There are worse things to have happen. Like being their slaved robot. When Dai-Soke saw and realized that I was going to open my dojo without his blessing, and that it was my right to do so, he quickly jumped aboard in full support. No matter what anyone says, you have to follow your own path, and not the path of others...no matter what!! I won't go into too much detail on a public forum but I'd be looking to change associations and affiliations. It boils down to not agreeing with the direction the club is going or how things are being taught. We're also at the point now where we don't always agree technically and I've been looking elsewhere for technical guidance. Also though I wouldn't intentionally go after them, I think a number of students would leave with me. We just had a similar split in our school. The person with the highest rank in our club and our master instructor were frequently butting heads about how and when to teach certain things (and also about particular motions in forms...) In the end, there was a split, and several students went to the new club.

I gave up on making New Year's Resolutions. If there's something I need to do, I'll do it. There's no need for a special day to make such things, in my opinion. That being said, once I get the new house, I do hope to train daily, or close to it. Bag work, forms and basic techniques should all be fairly doable in the new place! I suppose one could call this a new house resolution?

We are moving forward on the house. Purchase agreement has been signed... Just waiting on the bank! There will be plenty of space for me to practice my forms and hang a heavy bag. Unfortunately the basement ceiling is quite low, so probably no jumping kicks for me.

While the first 3 videos show people who have very sloppy technique, I don't think it's a large enough sample to assume all American point karate fighters fight that way (the first 2 videos feature the same fighter.)

I use my training as a reminder of what my students might be going through. Anytime I get nervous, frustrated, or any of those other "feelings" that can get in the way of learning, I tell myself exactly what I'd tell my students. I also let them know that I still have similar experiences.

I've mentioned this before: I started martial arts in my mid-30's, and didn't do too much physical before that. While I lacked flexibility in my legs, I suffer from hyper-mobility in my shoulders. I am making progress with regular exercise (PT-based, mostly.) Overall, I think it's very worth it.

While I think it'd be nifty to know lots of forms, I agree with MatsuShinshii: You'd only need a few to focus on, as they're very difficult to master.

Submissions take too long. To quote one of my instructors: "Just punch him in the face."

My wife and I have had different experiences with tying our pants. Both of us use draw strings. I've had issues with mine not wanting to stay up, and she hasn't. I mostly attribute that to the fact that she has hips, and the draw string sits above them.

Congrats!

Which quotes were good and which were out of date?I'd have to go back and review. I do recall reading it and thinking "wow, the world has moved on from that perspective." Hagakure gave me a similar impression, as well (except Hagakure was way more boring.)

I read it a couple of months ago. It had some really nice quotes, but some others were very outdated.

In my experience, the only gi that had a drawstring that stayed when pulled was from my Century middleweight gi that had an elastic waistband. I don't think you'll find that in traditional waists. You'll just have to do what the rest of us do: suck it in when you tie!

A cowboy!

I'm not superstitious at all. I'll enjoy supernatural things in entertainment, but beyond that, they have no impact or meaning on my life.

Welcome!

Boxing gloves do not allow you to make a proper fist, either. There could be a tendency for one to stick out ones thumb while training without gloves.

I almost posted the same thing! Were you too embarrassed? I personally have no shame. Well, ALMOST no shame As I say to my students when I screw up: Public humiliation builds character! I have a lot of character. No, I wasn't embarrassed. You just beat me to it!

It would be nice to see all the gis you compared these to. Sometimes "reasons why this one didn't make it" are more helpful than "reasons why I chose these 3."

I almost posted the same thing!

I love the British spelling! We are moving from town called Gladstone to a town called Escanaba. Overall, it's less than 10 miles from door to door.

If I bought property outside of town and had privacy, I'd be comfortable with doing that for maybe 4-5 months out of the year up here (Michigan's UP.)

Our school philosophy is approximately 5 years if you attend class regularly and advance appropriately. Our master instructor says that if we earn a black belt under his training, then he is confident that we should be able to effectively defend ourselves against a single attacker on the street. That being said, I'd say our blue and red belts should do fine... while it's not the same, I think it speaks a lot: Our blue and red belts go toe-to-toe with black belts from other schools and win in tournaments!

My wife and I just made an offer on a house. So far it's just been handshaking, but things are definitely in motion. Paperwork will be signed today! And boy, is it a house! Brick exterior ~2200 sqft Plaster walls Hardwood floors LOTS of storage; space is well used Partially finished basement (room to train!) VERY well-maintained My only qualms are that I won't have enough space to swing my sword... so I can't easily get back into iaido.

I had a procrastination problem. I stopped saying "I'll do that later" and started saying "I won't do that at all." Problem solved.