CloudDragon

Welcome Aboard!

Nice one!

That was great!

I am lucky, my dojang has about 100 active students and the Instructor makes it a point to keep the family atmosphere, even with so many people. When we have a black belt ceremony or go to a tournament it is like a family reuinion, everyone brings food and has a good time enjoying each others company. I have trained in smaller schools that didn't have this sense of family and karategurl, you are right it is a good atmosphere to learn.

Drunken Monkey: I have read and enjoyed your posts for quite a while and I respect your opinion. If my attempt at humor has offened you I am sorry. CloudDragon BTW I thought that your alternate names for other arts was pretty funny, after all, if we cant laugh at ourselves...

Thanks for stipping with the food metaphors, I was getting too hungry! My point was that I don't think people are wanting the better martial arts instruction, because it isn't convienient for them, and they don't realize that an extra 10 or 20 minutes of drive time could give them a better choice of instruction. Many people will watch the olympics and think that what they see is automatically the best there is and take it as that.

Sorry to ask such a dumb question, but if you are in Beijing, why not study Kung-Fu? You might be able to pick up Karate again at a later time.

AND THE CROWD GOES WIIIIILLLLLDDD! Oops, sry thats baseball.

Matt, its been almost 2 months, what did you find out from your Dr.? My guess is that you should have started on your diet 2 months ago. Have you made any progress?

Personally I would pick one style and totally absorb myself in it. Learn the how's and why's of it, learn the history amd prominent people. Most important, learn from your instructor, learn not just the art, but how to run a school and teach people who are different from yourself. Trust me, it will be useful someday.

Tiger Stripe camo, cuz its sweeeeet!

I think that cleaning the Dojo before use is a great thing. You get a chance to focus on the upcoming training and dump some of the cares that you must carry with you on a daily basis. As far as cleaning after... well lets's just say I'm ready to go home!

As long as you have an opportunity for some actual face to face training (preferably with whomever made the video) I think it is a great idea.

Welcome aboard!

Gotta go with Bruce Lee on this one.

I think that most martial arts with many kyu or gup grades tend to keep students motivated by encouraging them to "get through" the current rank so they can learn the next kata or form or whatever the next belt material holds. While this is good for keeping students interested they may only have a superficial knowledge of their current material. I feel this robs the student from the enjoyment of the "journey" to black belt and beyond. I would make it so that testing was about 3 times a year and so that the students could display true knowledge and comfort with what they have learned. I would think that 6 kyu or gup levels would address this, with a skipped testing at the higher levels.

DLopez, you are right, but where I was going is that like TKD it is difficult to find quality instruction and those who have little MA experience have been lured into thinking they were learning one thing (traditional MA) but are taking another. I must disagree about the overwhelming majority demanding the finer cuisine. Not because they want something cheap and fast, but because they don't know any better. This is what concerns me, it's like paying for a buffet, but not getting the prime rib because you live too far away from the carving station or you dont know how to get there, so you just fill up on mac and cheese instead.

True, my only concern would be for the people who have never tried good ravioli. They might try Chef Boy-ar-dee and think it is the best, because it is conveinent, easy to prepare and easy to buy. Get where I'm going with this?

I would like to find a groin guard similar to what the boxers wear, but that will fit under a uniform properly. Any ideas?

AAAHEHEHEYAAARRGH!, STOP THE MUSIC!!!!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Long term contracts that are high priced with no provision for termination and guaranteed black belts. Also, go with that little voice inside, if something doesn't look right it probably isn't.

You know, after reading these posts, I think that the XMA isn't such a horrible thing. My only beef is that the call it a martial art. Sure, its alot of super cool tricks that I will never be able to do, but my issue is that even XMA people say it isn't for fighting. Well sorry to burst any bubbles, but "Martial art" is used to describe arts for war or fighting. Maybe they could call it "Xtreme Super Happy Jumpy Flippy Pseudo-Fighting"? It's just a thought.

Balducci Levitaition? Sounds interesting, got more info on it?

Nice to see you back!

Welcome aboard!