granmasterchen

back in my training days i could do 500.....that was way back though.....and now i could probably do 100 or so....

yes this can help you being a striker based fighter. I grew up training as a striker and learned ki but i learned it as another one of its many names, chi, here i used it to break bricks, after years of training i learned how to focus it more naturally and apply it to all my strikes. Therefore my strikes became very very powerful to say the least, i can now break concrete with ever hard surface of my body with out having to build up and go through the normal wait of breathing and such.... hope that helps you with your question

ninjitsu has adapted to times my friend. That is why it is formally called ninpo budo taijutsu now by the only true living ninja in the world, hatsumi sensei in tokyo japan, recognized as a national treasure for his knowledge. He changed the name, or his predescesor did. Because we no longer live in a world fought and based on farms and armies on horses with spears and sword. Today is different and the art has adapted to survive the tests of time. Look into it if you are interested. I have studied this art here in japan. It is interesting to say the least.

I am a Christian and have no problem dealing with martial arts or ki. I study and use it. I look at it as something that God has placed in us and given us the ability to use if we so chose to. Most people don't. But when i meditate and such, and use my ki/chi/qi I feel that i am tapping into something that brings me closer to understanding my purpose regardless of what religion one may be...ki is there for us to learn about to make us open our minds, be at peace and logically and nonviolently find our own answers that best serve us in our own personal paths of religion and enlightenment.

I trained in the USAF and worked with all the services teaching the special forces martial arts back in 1999-2000. After that i taught classes at a base that didn't have special forces. I have worked with police and such in many areas teaching martial arts for years though. I hope that answers some questions, I am currently in japan on a military base teaching martial arts and also studying like all martial artists should.

well here is advice from someone that trains in japan and lives here. You are only allowed to stay for 3 months unless you get permission to live here, which is hard. I have lucked out since i work with the military and the united states government. But it would be a good idea to learn japanese before attempting your trek....just my advice, message me if you have any questions that you would like me to look into for you. ......you can always get a civilian job with the government and get transfered to japan. I may be able to help you with this if you are seriously interested.

in my school you can definitely fail your testings. For the novice belts : testing for yellow for example you are a good amount of "mistakes" as long as you have the overall idea and you didnt mess up too bad, plus, we dont test you until we think you are ready, so everyone is usually ready and makes few mistakes. now testing for purple and green we only allow 2-3 mistakes and these are minor mistakes too. So if foot work is wrong in one stance of one kata or you land wrong for just one kick there is a point right there, and you only get 2 or 3. now for brown you may make 1 if it is very very very very minor.....so basically this must be perfect...and of course black belt has to be perfect. Now we test very hard too, we do great physical things before the testing begins so that all the students are tired and easier to make mistakes, this just emphasises the fact that we dont give out belts, if you really want that belt you better train very very hard....and thats the bottom line.

i feel that you should study one art for a long time so that you have already mastered the basics, if you learn these and then want to better yourself go ahead and cross train. I myself waited about 10 yrs after my boxing career to learn a martial art....now this art was suppossed to be traditional but we combined alot to make it very street effective, so after 9 yrs there i started to cross train during my time in the military and just tried to pick up stuff from all the styles i was ever able to take, which fortunately was a great amount. I do encourage cross training, but i feel that you should have a great understanding of martial arts to begin with before you change or add another style.

there is some truth to it. There was a school in california that was teaching students to control their ki in certain ways to take these great hits with out loss of consciousness or death or even pain. I have only studied it briefly. It has a lot to do with body conditioning and ki, yet from what i have learned there are also a lot of tricks to it too. I have trained my neck to take ridgehands which was cool, but i have been studying for a long time, and my origininal master taught us how to ignore kicks to the groin. Other than that i can still get hurt if i am not prepared. That is why my best defense is to BLOCK my opponent's attack, not just try to focus my ki.....sorry but i dont want to risk my life in a real situation...

there is a hawaiian style that dates back to the 1950s that was composed of 5 masters of different styles, they wanted to create a combat art that had the strengths of each style. The art is called kaju kenbo. It combines karate(ka) ju(judo/jujitsu) ken(kenpo) bo(chinese boxing?kung fu) I thought this was somewhat similar to what you are discussing, this also a true and recognized art that i have been studying for the last year and half in japan....just thought this may help some thoughts on other styles....

i agree with you guys, different dojos have different requirements based on past styles learned by the practitioner. It takes on average with most of the styles that i have taken in my long career an average of 5 yrs to reach black belt. Now my first style and the one that i hold dear and true to me took me many years to reach that level. My school was very strict and I have no problem with that, because i learned more that way and was better prepaired for the other styles that i later studied. Now i have also seen many styles in my time where a person completely new to the martial arts has gotten a black belt in less than a year and a half and many that average on 2 years, this is something that i personally don't agree with. Now there are exceptions, some schools you can reach the level of black belt in a year or two but you must train very rigorously. When i studied in korea i recieved a black belt in one year for a style but we trained everyday for several hours ...it was our life, so what i am getting back to ...my original point is that it all depends on the dojo and the instructor, some schools are good and teach fast, some are good and teach slower, some are bad and teach fast, and others are bad and teach slow..... it all depends on who you are training under.

you may want to add some simple things that could be thrown together by the schools shop class, for example, a trophy case and maybe some racks to display certain belts, maybe some flags of different countries depending on the styles offered at your school. maybe some light weight dumbells to hold onto while punching, other than that the major stuff has been covered already with the mats , heavy bags and such.

practice to get faster, then you too will be mr lightning! and remember this proverb: he who hesitates has lost..... so therefore when you see an opening go for it, when you hesitate is when he moves. Never stop attacking, work combos over and over and keep him on his feet and dont let him breathe. just keep attacking.

i have only trained alittle with it but i think it is great, wrap it around your fist and when you want long range, shoot it out and hit pressure points with the tip, a great little toy!

i like all weapons so i will refrain from the poll, i think the sais are fun to play with, there are several different styles of sai too

yes ninpo budo taijutsu

my belt and gi are always coming undone while i train hard or am sparring, but i am not ignorant enough to think that my opponent will wait on me so i continue to spar, i concentrate on the fight and nothing else, unless the individual isn't that good. In a real life street fight many things are going to happen that you don't plan on, so it is best to train yourself to ignore these distractions and to concentrate on the the threat not minor inconveniences

welcome!

i have a place set up back home in a forested region in some hills. Here i have several logs weighing about 50 lbs and the middles have rope tied around them, i have fellow trainers with me that swing these logs at me, i use them to make my blocks stronger but you can use the idea to dodge too, either way, getting hit hurts and teaches you to block or dodge, plus getting hit will make you tougher if you stick with it, you will be able to take hits alot better than usual

i always hold back on my students, when they get better i will raise my level up to meet them and give them some more challenges, most likely your instructor wasn't trying his hardest on you, i noticed my instructor going easy on me one time too, but hey that doesn't change the fact that he is still my better in fighting and i still have loads of room for improving, i can say this after all the tournies i have won and all the fights i have been in and the many talented individuals that i have beaten with ease, we must come to a level in our training when we understand that we really dont know everything, that everyone can teach us more, and we must be humbled and accept this fact, so in the end we grow and then become stronger instead of staying on the same platoue and not improving......most likely our teachers dont' let loose with everything they have.

if miyamoto musashi was the samurai, then it would be the samurai, again it all depends on the individual

well while you are there you might as well try to learn as much as you can.....sorry but it sounds like you were screwed, i would never sign a contract for martial arts plain and simple, i would never pay that price either, 120 a month!!!! just pester him alot and see what you can learn, see if you can train longer and hopefully you will learn something useful

many many styles.......i try to learn all that i can

true, alot of hibben's stuff is based on fantasy art pieces yet, there are still alot that are very useful, it is up to you to look around and choose

once he gets smacked real well by someone that he doesn't consider superior to him, he will then realise that he should open his eyes a little bit wider, there is nothing wrong with being humbled. It only helps us grow and become stronger. I would say try to help your friend before he finds someone that will hurt him badly.