CloudDragon

Yes, if you mean repitition as in drills. No if you mean review of old material. We do that almost every class. BTW I voted yes if my comment voided my vote.

Welcome aboard!

If you read my post you will see that the tree is wrapped with an old carpet, making the striking surface somewhat similar to the feel of a makiwara, and call it what you want, but it has worked great for me.

Welcome aboard!

welcome aboard!

sounds like you have never blocked a shin kick to the leg with your shin

Do like I did, work your butt off and pay your own way and when you can drive yourself and make sure the car is full of gas when you get back!

I use an escrima stick and a tree wrapped with an old throw rug.

My thought on this: caveat emptor (sp?) or buyer beware, the government regulates enough already trying to protect the public from itself. If you can't figure out what is fluff from what is real, then you most likely won't have any serious input to a true self defense situation. This brings up another thought, if MA were regulated the instructor could be liable for any injuries sustained by a student in a self defense situation. Similar to the bartender that serves a person who kills someone in a DUI accident. The bartender will most likely not be able to tell if a patron has appropriate reaction time to avoid an accident. Likewise the instructor will not be able to tell if the student is able to defend himself in any self defense situation. Just keep this in mind: regulation is a tool for litigation. IOW it allows people to sue others for their own poor judgement.

There's a kid in my school who is up to my elbows, (I'm 6'1") who was ripping up our VTS at max height with jumping round kicks and side kicks. What was cool is that he was able to use it in sparring later on in the class. TKD is for people of any height, the great thing about it is that it encourages you to use your natural strengths based on your own body type. (BTW the "max height" on a VTS is about 6'2")

OK, G.I. Joe rocked, but c'mon, Gymkata? I was like totally a yellow belt back then and it was grody to the max, fer shure!

"Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior" by Richard Marcinko, not totally fiction, but still an engaging, fiction like read. The language is strictly for adults though.

Welcome Song, always nice to meet another ATA member.

The most common story I have heard is that they came from the samurai class, to be used by their commander as covert operatives for intel gathering and assassinations. The other variation to this is that they were not samurai, but ronin that were hired by military commanders for the same work.

No, it means that the "little tricks" you learn in life with experience and practice will overcome a younger and less experienced person. It has nothing to do your body betraying you. The point is that one may not be able to do things exactly as they did in the past, but they can have a knowlege of things that wil help them to overcome youthful opponents.

WOW! my first * the word I was using that was so dirty was a word that means jerk in Hebrew. Just insert it there.

Hmmmmm, ok, sounds like you ran into someone having a bad day or they were a schmuck. Either way, don't take it too hard, the world is full of both. Just remember to look at the rose and not the thorns (although some people can be pretty thorny! ). If you have problems with one person, train hard and beat them in sparring , if you have problems with alot of people in your dojo, look for another school. In my years of training I have only found one school that was xenophobic and that could be traced to the instructor, but that is a long story. BTW most schools use sempai for brown belts and above with the exception of the sensei of course. But if your not sure, "sir" or "ma'am" when speaking to a higher rank can never steer you wrong.

Sounds right to me, there is nothing wrong with looking nice going to class. The only people who would consider you a distraction should re-evaluate their priorities in the dojo. May I ask, why are you so concerned about what others think about your personal grooming habits? Who said something to you? Most peole won't be so concerned with a matter that is so far from martial arts training unless it is a matter of spite.

"Age and treachery will overcome youth and energy"

Welcome to the forums! You bring up an intersting thought, "how can I look good and kick butt at the same time?". Well, to be honest, who cares? I once gave private and small group lessons to a cosmetologist whom I knew well out of the dojo. To describe her as "prissy" was an understatement, but when we trained it was all business, and she was a great student. So I say to you, don't worry about others concern about your being well-groomed on the outside, worry about being well groomed on the inside. If others are voicing negative opinions to you it is their problem, not yours. Focusing on your appearance does not go against the philosophies of Karate, however, one can focus on it too much therefore detracting from focus on training when it is time to train. You don't have to change your mindset on beauty to focus on your martial art, but you must strive to remember when learning takes precedence over worrying about your appearance. Am I saying to not put on makeup or dress nicely before class? No, it shows confidence and self respect, but in time you may see that you are accepted by your fellow students just as you are and not feel the need to wear make up or dress a certain way. Martial artists can be some of the best people in the world, one of the strong points is that they accept you as you are. Don't be afraid to be whomever you are. People will like or dislike you based on you, not because of your clothes or make-up, at least the ones that matter. Hope this helps.

Spaceman, first off, welcome to the forums! I hope you stick around as you have a great writing style and its obvious you put alot of thought into your posts. Have you trained with these schools yourself? From just what you show as your reasons that these schools are mcdojos, well it looks to me like slick marketing. After all, if the school doesn't make any money the doors won't stay open, and martial arts, especially in metro areas is a very competitive business. Quite ubiquitous, and quite McDojo. If you look at the site, it gives the message "Where Every Child is a Superstar!!!" -- that should set off a major alarm. Why? Making kids feel special can have a positive impact on their life. Take me for example, I was the fat kid, sucked at team sports, and was doing poorly in school. Martial arts along with guidance from my parents helped me lose over 100 lbs., find a sport that I was good at, and helped me gain the self discipline to be on the honor roll my last four years of school, and through college. On the classes page, we learn that the kids' programs for 4-6 year olds is referred to as "ninjas". This one is straight marketing, not that I agree with going out of your style for class names but most people who aren't martial artists don't know a ninja from a "numb-chuck". This doesn't make it right nor am I trying to justify it, just trying to explain it. Above them is a little blurb that says "FREE Uniform Call Now!" Good marketing, it's called "value added" if people can get more for their money they will at least check you out, plus people tend to shy away from things they don't know when a large cash outlay is required up front. McDojos like to be patriotic, to get money and put out good-vibes, wholesome PR. Well then I confess I am a human, walking, talking, mcdojo! Except for the money for patriotism part. They appeal and go after kids... sort of like Joe Camel and Ronald McDonald. They do, kids are the life's blood of martial arts, if you start something young you are more likely to stay with it for the rest of your life. It is like Joe Camel and Ronald McDonald, except they aren't promoting killing yourself with cigarettes and fatty food. They try to use people's fear. Most people get into martial arts because of fear of not being able to defend themselves or their family. Sometimes they are wildly successful and have lots of schools. As long as they provide quality instruction, what is wrong with that? They don't say what kind of "karate" they teach, often. Refer to the "ninja and 'numb-chucks'" comment. What style you teach usually has little to do with getting a new student. Experienced students however will want to know this but, are more likely to base their decision to join on what they see and hear in the school itself. They try to use the appeal of awards and media exposure/saturation. Word of mouth is your best advertisement, but you won't keep the doors open without media exposure, one way is when students earn awards, post it in the news paper. Lots of stupid belt "colors" and meaningless ranks. Although many people abuse this, and I totally understand where you are coming from on this one, however it can also be used to help with shot term goal setting, our society is the internet, drive thru, one hour photo society. We tend to see life as a race and not a journey, many of the schools who started this years ago did it to make the material easier to learn (smaller amounts) and to provide regular reinforcement for their training efforts. I don't always agree with it, but it is a sad commentary on our society today. What the hell is camo belt!? From what I understand, camo belt was first introduced by GM H.U. Lee of the American Taekwondo Association in the early 80's. It was added for reasons similar to those listed above. Cardio kickboxing to lure the mom, too. Value added. I also do cardio, it is not a martial art and the school where I take it does not in any way portray it that way, I feel it is great conditioning that helps me in my training as I hate stationary bikes and the like. Freebies. Freebies!!! What's wrong with that? Gross, disgusting misuse of the word "ninja". See related comment above regarding the "Little Ninja" classes. I don't agree with this, being truthful establishes trust and that is the foundation of the student instructor relationship. "Master Instructor" What is wrong with that? It is used to show an instructor of a certain rank. Or an instructor who trains other instructors, similar to a professor. Some people like the flashy title and I will gladly refer to someone as Mr. Super-Cool Chief of all Badness if what they teach me is good. A title is as good as a belt, it's nothing unless you as a person can back it up. IOW don't get hung up on titles. The Apollo's ad takes up half a page. The bottom half is occupied by a legit ad for a legit school, teaching silat, muay thai, and eskrima. How do you know this school is legit? By your statement the mcdojo took up half a page and the legit school took up the other half, so wouldn't that make it rather mcdojoish in this aspect? Really, this place follows the same formula as Apollo's. Advertisement, saturation, flags, ninjas, Master Instructors, cardio kickboxing, etc. It is one of Apollos' students per the instructor profile. This one's situated inside Gold's Gym, rather than having its own building. Small-time operation. Every tree starts with a seed. And, according to your previous statements, since they are not wildly successful they probably aren't a mcdojo. -- Family Discounts Bring all of them in! More money! And then... -- Law Enforcement Discounts I'm going out on a limb and assuming you are not a parent and not a cop because these are two types of people who usually struggle with money or don't get paid enough for what they do. It is good marketing to give these discounts. If they are giving discounts doesn't that contradict the mcdojoish tendency to squeeze the student for every penny? My personal "red flag" is a locked in long term contract, if you have to sign a multiple year contract within 3 months of joining you need to watch out. On that note I called Mr. McCaslin at the Oklahoma Black Belt Academy and just asked him about contracts. He explained that the contracts he uses are 1 or 3 year contracts and they are not "hard nose" about enforcing them i.e.: you move away and the like. From what I understand there is also a monthly option. I think that we as martial artists have enough bad press from people who don't know about martial arts in general. We don't need to add to it ourselves by labeling each other, let the individual decide what they want. Thank you Spaceman for such an interesting and thought out post. I hope you take my opinions and thoughts with the same consideration that I have taken yours, this is in no way meant to be a personal attack on you, your knowledge or intellgence, as it it obvious that you have both. I just used this post as a general rebuttal to the sometimes too often used stamp of "mcdojo"

I have used my training many times in job related issues, security, doorman, and mental health nurse. It was done always out of necessity and over with very quickly. I think that muscle memory and the confidence and control I have learned were the most important things involved with my not being seriously injured and with my opponents not being hurt any more than necessary to stop the conflict. What is most interesting is that for every altercation I have been involved in there have been probably a dozen that I was able to reason with the other person(s) and no physical contact was needed. Maybe it is age and wisdom, but I prefer to think that it is living and practicing martial arts that make me tend to settle things without violence.

I am familliar with a school that uses a program director who is responsible for almost 100% of new students to the school. Once they come in, the instructor is there to keep them coming back. As far a compensation goes, I believe that the director gets a modest hourly wage, free training, and equipment, testing, tournament, and association fees paid for by the school. I think if you asked the instructor, he would say he is getting a great deal. Not only does the program director recruit students, but they act as an intermediary between the students and instructor. When the instructor is teaching the students can ask the program director questions about tuition, uniforms, gear, and etc.. Another thing is that a good program director will help you with scheduling, bills and billing and other business related tasks. This frees you for teaching and retaining your students.

Some ideas that seem to work are: Camps, anything from day camps to full blown week long ones. Seminars: get a known name to come to your school and invite other schools to attend. Special classes: This is where you introduce new concepts or material that isn't emphasized in your regular cirriculum, you can get students input and see if you want to include it in regular training.

Gotta go with Shorinryu Sensei on this one. The injury potential is too high. You have vertical and horizontal force combined with motion. Its a setup for a sprain or break, not to mention the previously stated "faceplant". As far as 25 years without an injury from it, that person is extremely lucky.