Buddhas Belly

I hate to break into this .. but are you attending a Frank Grant associated school?

When testing for Sankyu ... I was the puncher for a person testing for Yonkyu and he managed, somehow, to catch the side of my hand with a block and dislocated my thumb. I had to finish punching at him then do my test with said dislocated thumb.

From the kata it sounds like the Uechiro variant of Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu .... and given that you're in Centreville, I'd hazard a guess that you're in a Scaglione associated school.

I'm an example of failing a Sandan test ............ but it's ok ........ circumstances paid off in the end.

What's the info on this seminar ...... I'm only 3 hours from Houston ....... and planning on driving over today anyway. Might be a good way to spend tomorrow.

You guys will like this .... I failed my Sandan test ......... granted I taught 2 classes that morning/noon and then drove 4 hours to the test (getting there 10 minutes before the test started). My instructor's feeling on the matter .... in his eyes I'm a 3rd .... in dojo politics ... 2nd.

Yes

In the dojo where I got my BB ... an average of 9.5 years. The quickest was 5 years ... the longest was 14 ......... in reality, most took 8 years or so to reach BB.

I've never seen a jump/leap in Pinan Godan ... but then again, I do the Okinawan version.

In my old instructor's dojo it used to be about 50$ per test (I don't know what it is now). For black belt rankings, it's 100$ per level, i.e., 300$ for 3rd degree. In my school, I charge a flat 50$ for underbelts and 100$ for black belts. This covers certifications and eating out afterward.

Kyan no Sai & Kishaba no Kun

Well, in my case it wasn't a matter of starting with kids .... I only taught kids. For some reason teaching adults didn't click with me and I never had adult students for long. But when it came to kids, I always had a room full. Loved teaching them too. Guess everyone is different.

I think that makes you and I the old farts of the forum SaiFightsMS! I know I have gray hairs..lots of them as a matter of fact! lol I got a late start in life compared to most of the "kids" on this forum. I was 22 when I started taking my first class from Sensei Miller. Another "old fart" here ..... 25 years for me

I know in my style that in the US schools use a variety of coloured belts for the under-ranks, but in Okinawa the style only uses 2: white and black.

In my case, if I were to belong to one of the half-a-dozen "offical" Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu associations out there I would have to have certification to run my school and all my promotions would have to be approved by the "money-grubber du jour." However, since I quickly got tired of the politics, i went "renegade". Hence, I do all my own promotions, and promote up to my current ranking. I'm sure this will be looked down upon by those in favour of associations. But I've found that associations exist mainly to feed the egos of those politically well-connected in said associations. End of my 3 cents