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

Here's my list: 1. Fukyugata Ich 2. Fukyugata Ni 3. Pinan Nidan 4. Geki-sai dai Ni 5. Fukyugata San 6. Pinan Shodan 7. Naihanchi Shodan 8. Pinan Sandan 9. Pinan Yondan 10. Pinan Godan 11. Ananku 12. Naihanchi Nidan 13. Wankan 14. Wanshu 15. Naihanchi Sandan 16. Rohai 17. Passai 18. Chinto 19. Gojushiho 20. Kusanku 21. - 26. Hakkutsuru 1-5

My least favourite ... it would have to be Naihanchi Nidan. Which is funny because I LOVE Naihanchi Shodan and Sandan.

As an instructor I handle it this way. I have 2 ranking systems: 1 for kids and 1 for adults. Under 14 and the student is automatically in the junior system. For those between the ages of 14 and 21, I look at physical maturity, because much of what we do is physical contact, and without any padding or other gear. I've also set another rule..no BB under 17 (and even then it's up to me to decide if they are physically capable of handling the contact require for BB testing). A good example of this is my instructor's youngest son ... he is 21 and just now testing for his BB .. even tho he held the highest possible junior BB rank and knows more material in the school than even the 2 highest ranking BBs. It's a simple matter that this person is physcially small-framed and until now not physically ready for BB.

This thread has shown up in several of the forums ... and now it's time to add my 3 cents. The reason so many "modern" practioners think that kata is useless is that kata isn't the QUICK way to fighting skills. If one were to view the history of asian martial arts, one would find that even the ancient fighting arts of 1,000 years ago even had kata (for things like swords, spear, etc.) so one could polish his technique. The difference now is that MAs don't start practicing at the age of 7 or 8 and practice 4 to 7 hours a day. Pick 1 kata and do it 1,000 times a day for 2 years ... then decide whether or not kata is "useless".

Fukyugata Ichi

I also like the traditional white gi ... but I tend to wear white pants and a black top because the black top is more slimming As for patches ... my original instructor's school has gone to a 3 patch system because he has been courted by 3 associations within Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu (and note, the association headed by Nagamine Takayoshi is not one of them). I on the other hand use only 1 patch and it's a simple patch of my design (blue filled circle on a background circle of yellow) .... I guess I'm as much of a renegade as my original instructor who left for VA to get out of the politics of Matsubayashi in the early 70s.

Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu Adult: White, Green-tip, Green, Brown-tip, Brown, Black Kids: Yellow, Yellow w/ White centre stripe, Orange, Orange w/ White centre stripe, Blue, Blue w/ White centre stripe, Purple, Purple w/ White centre stripe, Red, Red w/ White centre stripe, Black w/ White centre stripe Kobudo: No belts ... 4 inch cloth sewn to the right lapel of the white gi top Green then Brown .... when ranked Black, students where a black gi top instead of the white one, and there are no visible differences between ranks.

For me ... Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu as a base, with Kobayashi Shorin-ryu (blocking) and White Crane (katas) added.

You should also look at this from a legal standpoint. People infected with HIV/AIDS fall under legal protection of the federal ADA act. Therefore, if you discriminate based on infection, you can be sued.

In Matsubayashi, the opening moves are neko-ashi dachi ... but when moving forward before opening the arms, it's done in zenkutsu-dachi. Hope it helps.