octopic

11 required forms (two optional ones that aren't taught most places) 23 Numbered combinations (some schools require 26) 33 Kempos (one steps) 3 blocking sets (some schools only teach 2) Numerous grappling and weapon defenses

That's a pretty good site, but it doesn't come close to listing all of the styles of Karate. The short answer is that there are a lot of styles of Karate. I doubt that there is anyone out there that can name them all. Obviously there are several that are the most common, but there are plenty of flavors that are taught at only a few schools.

Google can be your friend. If you google someone's name, you'll be surprised what you can find out about them.

That's one interpretation of history... The nature of that relationship changes drastically depending on who is telling the story. I was not there, so I can not speak to what is the actual story, but people that I have a lot of respect for have told me that they were training partners, and that Cerio insisted on giving Villari rank, and that the direction of learning wasn't quite as the above post would imply. As I said, I was not there, so I can not be positive as to the actual story, I just wanted to let you know that there is more than one story out there.

Master Heroian is a great instructor and runs a very successful school out in LA. I had the 'pleasure' of having him proctor my black belt test a few years ago. I don't recognize the other name that you mentioned. In regards to your age and getting back into it. There are many people who start martial arts in their 50's or 60's. It is just a matter of being honest with yourself and with your instructor as to what you can and can't do. Of course I'm sitting here writing this as someone in their late 20's. Maybe I should look at this post in 30 years

We're pretty small, but I'm not sure I like the struggling label. I think I'd prefer "pre-sucessful"

It took me 13 years to get to my current rank (2nd dan), but I did have some time off in the middle.

I think there is some confusion between trademarks and copyrights. You trademark a name or a logo, you copyright text, music, pictures, etc. It is always a good idea to trademark your school's name and logo. That prevents someone from copying it and using it to make money for themselves (e.g. printing up shirts with your school's logo on it and selling them). Some people copyright their curriculum to try and protect their style. Personally, I copyright the student guides and manuals that I give out to my students. Why do I do that? Very simply, I don't want someone else using or selling them without my permission. I've given permission for other people to use the stuff I've written, but I want to be able to control who is using it.

I don't know if it is actually worse now. My guess is that it goes in cycles. It all depends on the current school owners/instructors. The ranking system is now white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, blue/green, green, green/brown, brown 3rd, brown 2nd, brown 1st, black. It's been that way for at least the last 14 years. I haven't heard of anyone besides black belt instructors having regular private students (and yeah, privates can be mroe than one person, which is why they're commonly called Advanced Training Program instead). When I hit black belt, I got reduced tuition rates which was supposed to compensate me for the teaching that I did. It wasn't anywhere near what I 'made' in my nromal job, but I did it because I wanted to. My guess would be that your instructor did it because he could get away with it. If you're ever interested in getting back into it, I'm sure that I could help you out finding a decent instructor in your area.

The school I teach at set the prices for grading (that way they're the same no matter which program you're in). Colored belt tests start at $30 and go up $5 each rank. Each Villari school sets their own testing fees for colored belts, however, from what I've seen the rates are somewhat similar (thought probably a bit lower) than what we charge. I haven't had anyone going for a black belt yet, so I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that. In Villari's the master doing the testing will set that figure. That price can be somewhat variable depending on if the master is traveling for the test.

The highest rank that I've promoted to so far is yellow belt (I've only been teaching here for six months). However, I have several students who have had prior training (one orange belt, one blue stripe, one green stripe, and a 1st dan).

First rule of black belt testing -- Don't talk about black belt testing All I'll say about my first degree test -- Texas, August, Outside, 9 hours

Your training can definately show up at times when you're not expecting to use it. I've used the balance work from my training plenty of times on the pitch. I've frustrated the hell out of players who were bigger than me trying to push me around. My training has also saved my butt on the field. A couple of years ago I was playing keeper and a long ball was coming into my box. I jumped up to get it when I noticed one of the other team's forwards going up trying to head the ball. If I hadn't reacted he probably would've ended up heading my head! Instead, I squared by shoulders with him, and he ended up placing his jaw right into the point of my shoulder, breaking his jaw. While I felt bad about having injured him, I was glad that he didn't hit me in the head with that much force.

I can't believe that I forgot about Tokyo Joes. They win the award for most interesting name of a Villari breakoff.

I think most large orgs have some politics that go into promotion of the higher ranks (e.g. 5th Dan and above). I can say that everyone that I've seen make 5th dan or higher in the Villari org really earned their rank.