octopic

Just because someone fits the legal definition of an employee and not a contractor doesn't mean that they get treated as an employee. I don't know if this is done at USSD studios or not, but my guess is that it is somewhat common at many martial arts schools around the country (and many other small businesses) to try and treat employees as contractors. Of course, if this is a systemic thing, an org that encouraged this could find themselves facing a really nasty class action from all of the instructors who didn't get the proper treatment under the law. My guess would be that if it is happening that the people who are being treated improperly don't know their rights or are too scared to say anything.

I'm not sure about that. However, even if he had protected the name, Mattera et. al. could've just choosen another one. For me, them using the USSD name either implies they have no creativity, or that they were just trying to shove it in GM Villari's face.

I don't know for sure, but my guess would be that Villari never protected the USSD name (either through copyright or trademark). Otherwise, I am sure that he would've been able to go after USSD for their use of the name. In fact, he probably could've anyway, but likely decided that it wasn't worth the trouble.

I did a little research and it does appear that Mattera owns Bushido (the contact name for the company is listed as being "MATTERA, CH"). I guess if you really want to make a lot of money in the MA business, then if helps if your schools have to pay you in several different ways.

There are a number of smaller chains, plus a ton of independents out there. A partial list can be found at: http://www.urbin.net/EWW/MA/KEMPO/fv-ft.html Here are a few more schools that teach SKK that I know of: Kempo Academy of Martial Arts (http://www.kempoacademy.com/) Karate International (Scott Wood's schools) Dynamic Martial Arts (http://www.westportkarate.com/page951880.htm) Adojo Shaolin Kempo Karate Center (http://www.njkarate.com/) Loudoun Academy of Martial Arts (http://www.loudounmartialarts.com) I'm sure that there are a ton more out there that I don't know about.

I hadn't heard that. If that's true, that makes it a pretty sweet deal for him. Those companies take several points off the top, and then he gets money from the school for the license as well.

Do you mean style as in Shaolin Kempo Karate, or style as in how they apply it? I would imagine, them being two different people, that they would apply it in different ways. However, as far as I know, and I could be wrong on this, both of them are still basically doing the same SKK that they did back when they were with Villari. I know that they've added a few things back in that Villari took out (e.g. Cerio's Circle of the Panther), and that Demasco has been doing some work on Black Tiger Kung Fu, but I don't know how much this has affected what is taught in the USSD schools or what Demasco and Mattera practice on their own.

What are you getting for the $175? If it's only group classes, that is rediculous. If you're getting weekly privates, it's still high. USSD schools tend to charge more because of their overhead (they have to pay the national org for their license).

After leaving Villari, Materra went under Nick Cerio. I know that Cerio gave him at least an 8th. At some point, however, there was a falling out between Mattera and Cerio, and I don't know the current relationship between Cerio's organization and USSD (if any).

It is my understanding that Demasco was a 7th dan when he and Master Mattera left the Villari's org to start the USSD organization. I don't know who (if anyone) promoted him beyond 7th. The Villari's/USSD split was mainly a business decision. I have never worked with Master Demasco, but I have heard that he is an excellent martial artist.

I hate it when someone can't show anything besides the hock. It's okay when you're a purple belt, but much later than that, you should be able to apply what you've learned in your combinations (e.g. 2, 18, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19) and apply them to your Kempos. By the time you're green stripe or 3rd brown, you should have at least 10 different ways readily available to take someone to the ground.

I don't have a version like that, though I've seen about 7 different versions of this combination. Officially I have two versions of 23. 23-A trap and pull them into simultaneous knife hand strikes 23-B redirect the punch, simultaneous tigers (groin, face), rip up and down, remove voice box with inverted twisting eagle's claw. The body throw is taught by a lot of people as either 23-C or 23-A depending on your exact lineage. I've seen it, but don't officially have it. Most people don't seem to have the 23-B that I have (I've shown it to masters who claim they'd never seen that version before). My guess is that the 23-B that I have was a west-coast special. There is some advantage to having had instructors from both the west and east coast lineages. It means that I've seen more of the combination variations. However, it's also meant that I've had to relearn my combinations a few times

There are a few different forms that I really like. 1-Kata -- Basically it's the first form where the style really starts to show. You're really putting cominations of strikes together against different types of attacks. 2-Man Fist Set -- It's really neat to have both sides of a form (not all SKK lineages teach this form) 6-Kata -- It's called the "Iron Lung" form for a reason. You get quite a workout doing it. I guess is many ways I'm mor partial to the Kempo stuff. However, I'm really just starting to get into the Kung Fu aspects, so maybe you should ask me this question again in 5 years or so.

Isn't eveyone who does Shaolin Kempo from the Villari lineage (even if they don't admit to it)? Seriously though, I'd be happy to discuss anything about SKK. How long have your been studying? Where do you study?

An attacker is an attacker. I don't descriminate. However, my tatics are clearly dependent on who is attacking me.

Go in to the school. Watch a class. Talk to the instructor. Get a feel for his/her teaching style. Good things: Do they ask you what you want to get out of their program? Do they let you try out a class or two for free? Does the instructor teach in a manner that you think will work for you? How good are the higher ranking students in the school? Bad things: Tries to sign you to a long term contract Is very expensive Won't let you try or even watch a class Uses high pressure sales tatics Isn't open about how long they have been training in the style or who their instructor is There's a long list of things that I'm sure have been covered in some other thread about how to choose a school, which you can search for. Specifically, if you find out who the instructor is, their rank, and who their instructor is, I might be able to do some research as to if they come from a good lineage or not. Feel free to PM me with the information if you get it.

In terms of USSD... While many of their schools are not good, there still are some good ones out there. I would take the time to go check out the school in your area, you could happen to be near a good one.

First, let me specify that I am not an expert on autism or working with autistic children. However, I've seen them excel in the dojo. My first instructors were a husband and wife team. She had been a juvenile probation officer and he had been a special ed teach before going into martial arts. They were great with problem kids. That said, the reason they were so good is that they had training in how to deal with them. If faced with this situation, I might do a combination of a couple of different things. The first would be to do some research on working with autistic individuals. There have to be a ton of resources out there with information on this. Second, I'm sure that this kid has a teacher/tutor/therapist that he works with. Get their phone number from the parents and give them a call. Talk with them and pick their brain about how to get good results when working with the kid. While it would be easy to expel the student from the dojo, and might eventually be necessary, that would be a tragedy as it sounds like this is an individual that needs the training more than most.

I'm sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. There is no way that a 13 year old could reach 6th Dan level in any art. Given that it should take at least 25 years (more likely 30) to reach 6th Dan level, the only way a 13 year old could reach 6th Dan is if the rest of the earth has been traveling at relativistic velocities while he has been standing still and training, thus giving him the 30 years necessary to reach 6th Dan while the rest of us only experienced 13. As this is highly improbable, I can say with a high degree of confidence that there is no way you could have a legitimate 13 year old 6th degree.

There are many different types of blocking. I didn't mean to imply that all I was talking about were hard, karate style, blocks. Redirections, evaisions, traps, soft blocks are all effective. What I've been seeing is even a lack of protecting one's vital areas (especially the head). A lot of it may come from people who spar where they aren't allowed to make significant head contact (likely for insurance reasons). If you don't learn that getting hit in the head hurts, you don't learn to protect it.

You seem to be on the right track in terms of knowing what you know and what you don't know. My first piece of advice is to sit down with several different people who have been running schools for at least a few years and pick their brains on each of these questions. Find people from your style, or local school owners that you have a relationship with. I'll try to give some short answers to the questions that you've asked, but keep in mind that you need to do a lot of research before taking a big step like this. In terms of major challenges, there are many, but something that many people forget is to research the area that they're going into. What are the demographics of the population? How many other schools are there in the area? Is there enough demand to make your school a success? You probably are going to want to rent space before buying a building. It is unlikely that you'd be able to get favorable financing for a purchase at this point. In terms of permits/licenses, you're going to need to consider if you want to incorporate or just file a DBA and get a business license. I'd suggest that you talk with a lawyer and a CPA about how to minimize your liability as well as the tax consequences of those decisions. While it can be a somewhat painful process, you should write a full business plan as if you were trying to get people to invest in your business. You'd be surprised what potential pitfalls you can avoid by finding problems before you open up. If you'f like, I'd be happy to go through your business plan with you after you've completed it (I'm a MBA and a black belt). The most important thing, of course, is to make sure that you have fun.

I was wondering what others on this board had observed recently with respect to the quality and quantity of blocking instruction. Recently I had the chance to work out with some different groups, as well as judge at some open tournaments, and I was somewhat surprised by the lack of blocking that was shown. It seems like a lot of people were more focused on striking than blocking instead of finding the proper balance between the two. While it was fun for me to spar some of these people (who doesn't like being able to land almost everything they throw) I'm hoping that what I've been seeing is not a bigger trend and that most people are teaching and placing the proper emphasis on blocking.

The best tests that I've seen or been a part of were a combination of fun and discipline. You can't lose focus on what you're there to do, but that doesn't mean that you can't have a chuckle or two while you're doing it.

A different question might be, how many kata are too many to learn in a specific period of time? Right now, I have 15.5 long forms (only half-way through one) in my style. I'll need to have 17 down for my sandan test. However, it has taken me 14 years (with some time off in the middle) to get to this point. If you're trying to learn a new form every month, you're never going to really know the forms. If you're getting 1-2 new forms a year, that's not too much in my opinion.

Joshua, if you (or anyone else in the Northern Virginia area) is interested in learning more about Shaolin Kempo, you are always welcome to come and check out the classes that I teach up in Leesburg. If you just have questions about the style, feel free to contact me.