KorroddyDude

With the way episode 10 ended, I anticipate that concluding the series in just five more episodes is going to feel rushed. It took a whole season for things to get back to normal after Miguel broke his back. But a death occurs in a tournament on the Cobra Kai team, and we're gonna wrap up the whole series in just five more episodes? No, just no.

I think time in grade serves three useful purposes: 1. It eliminates any perception of bias or favoritism among the students. 2. It communicates a hard minimum timeline to the students, which eliminates awkward conversations about "when can I test?" 3. It aligns with how education systems typically work. A five year-old in kindergarten knows that he or she has twelve years (minimum) of education ahead of them. You don't see kids asking their teachers when they're going to graduate. They know that, as long as they're meeting the academic requirements, what year they're going to get their high school diploma. At the end of the day, every instructor is free to run their school how they see fit (particularly if they're unaffiliated), but if potential students are aware of the various promotion systems among martial arts schools, that may very well affect the school that they choose.

I'm rooting for Tyson, but I say Paul takes this. But if Paul doesn't pull this off, this needs to be his last fight.

Oops, looks like there are TSD guys who beg to differ: https://www.amazon.com/Tang-Soo-Do-Martial-T-Shirt/dp/B0CDF2KRV1?customId=B0752XJYNL&customizationToken=MC_Assembly_1%23B0752XJYNL&th=1

I've read that the Coba Kai series won't be considered canon in this movie. Did that change?

I'd say it's cruel. With children, I understand. Not all of them are there by choice, and the instructors end up having to deal with that (at least for as long as they choose to). For adults, it's different. As I said before... when motivation fails, discipline prevails. This means that everyone is gonna have those times when motivation is lacking, but discipline is what made them show up and get on the floor that day. Give them some credit. Hell, give them more credit than those who only show up when they're motivated (i.e., not enough to maximize the benefits of the training).

When I was suggesting that it could be considered American moreso than Korean, I meant in a "for all intents and purposes" sense. Boxing, as we know it today with its Marquess of Queensberry Rules, originated in the UK. However, with Americans and Mexicans having dominated the sport for so long, no one associates boxing with the UK. The rise of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury came too late to change that. Paprika is generally considered to be a Hungarian thing... even thought it's native to the New World and was brought back to Europe by Columbus' crew. Similar history with Italy and tomatoes. So when I say that TSD may as well be American now, it would be analagous to these examples.

...when motivation fails, discipline prevails.

I'm kind of curious if "Korean karate" is even accurate. From what I've read, it went something like this: with the boom of Eastern Martial arts beginning in the early second half of the 20th century from China, Japan, and Thailand; South Korea wanted to make a name for itself. TSD wasn't fit for this because it wasn't unique enough to give Korea it's own thing. This lead to TKD. Apparently, Hwang Kee wanted to be the chairman but was not selected for it, so he stayed with MDK TSD in order to remain the head of something (apparently, the person who was selected to chair TKD defected to the North - so not choosing Hwang Kee was probably a mistake). TSD eventually became bigger than himself, so he couldn't maintain the control over it that he wanted to - so now to correct this, we have Soo Bahk Do, which Hwang Kee had trademarked. In any case, TKD became the art that Koreans held onto. From what I've read, TSD dojangs are almost non-existent in South Korea - only two exist in the entire city of Seoul. Not that TSD is popular in Japan either, but it is more than in South Korea. It seems that Koreans have largely divested from TSD decades ago and don't want much to do with it. It might as well be American now.

Right, the only entities I know of who are in relationships where they are the ones getting paid while having the upper hand are pimps and the IRS. Two things that no sensei would ever want to be compared to (at least I hope not).

Sounds like marketing to me. Which means that they went out of their way to avoid using the word "karate." Sounds like they're distancing themselves from karate to me.

Is the customer always right? No. However, I don't think it should be as one-sided as some here are suggesting it should be. In almost any other relationship where one person is paying another, it's the person doing the paying that has the upper hand in the relationship. And I'm not suggesting that it should be like that in martial arts. But at the same time, the person doing the paying should at least have some pull in the relationship other than the ability to "leave if they don't like it."

Let's say you saw this awesome kata and you really want to learn it. This kata is not taught in your school. However, there's a dojo a half-hour drive away that is of a style that teaches it. Would it be an unusual or odd to go to that school and inquire about it?

In my opinion, there's really no room to play semantics on the word "master" if your school has that as an official title. If your school says a 5th dan is a master, then that's when you're a master. By the way, I think titles like Master and Grand Master may be more of a Korean martial arts thing, as 5th dan in some Japanese arts confer the title of Renshi (which does not translate to "master"). "Master" in titles - whether in martial arts, among tradesmen, academic degrees - doesn't mean you know everything. But it does imply a certain level of authority in the relevant subject.

This would include ditching the word "karate." This is actually the case with Soo Bahk Do. As a matter of fact, the word "karate" does not appear at all in the 130-page member manual issued to new students by the US Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation.