parkerlineage

Should've used that last year, huh? Hehe... And yes, I've thought that it might be I'm still young yet...I was, afterall , a rather late bloomer as far as height, bulk, etc.

The random number generator...duh.

haha, Bleedinglion, I know how you feel. I certainly wouldn't look for a girlfriend at my dojo!

I'm kind of torn as to which I like better - I think a simple ceremony rather follows the humble ways that karate should, but a showy type thing is also good for memories, pics, and parents. Plus, I really like the kick as a wright of passage - it's basically nothing at the beginning, but when I got kicked for my BB, I went back about seven or eight feet. It was awesome...thank God for leg-lifts and situps!

Amen to that. Let's do it, shall we? hehe..."The IKKA is now headed by a seventeen year old black belt and a purple belt." Yeah, people will go for that one... Kajukenbopr, I was never quite sure what Emperado (Joe) did, but I had heard of his name and that he had helped make some other style. Is Kajukenbo similar to American Kenpo? Peace; Parkerlineage

Do I need a workout buddy to spot me while I do all these things?

After the IKKA fell apart, a lot of schools aren't under any association anymore - that's not a bad thing. I actually am not even sure if we're still part of any organization.

Sounds like ours is a bit more...dare I say showy? I'm sure it's written out somewhere by GM Parker, though.

Teacher and student face one another, belt between them. Student and teacher kneel down (the quotes are what the instructor says - fill in your own name and rank, etc, but I'm putting my stuff in here). (While student follows instruction) "Take off your old belt, fold it up, and place it in front and to the left of the new one. The left is traditionally the weaker side, and therefore you remove the weaker belt to get the stronger one. The two belts form the shape of an 'L', which stands for the loyalty between a teacher and a student." (belt is folded and placed) "Put your hands in front of the belt, without touching it, and touch your forehead to the belt, as that is where your knowledge comes from, so it gets the initial credit." (student touches forehead) "Sit up. By the power vested in my by Professor Halsey and Master Planas, I award you your polka-dot belt." (Hold belt up by either end, snap it open, hand it to student) "Now your body can do the work and put it on." (belt is on) "Stand up, turn around and face the class. Training horse stance, move." (Student is in horse) "With the joy of recieving your new rank, it also comes with the pain of birth, which is a kick to the stomach, the higher you go, the harder it gets. Breathe in..." BAM! "Class, pay your respects to the new polka-dot belt." (Class and student exchange short greeting. Everybody claps. The end)

What is your style's/dojo's (dojang's, kwoon's, etc.) promotion ceremony like? I'm just curious, because I'm sure they can't all be the same. Peace; Parkerlineage PS. I'm putting mine on here when I'm done writing it out.

I know I've already posted on here, but I've learned a couple new weapons (bokken, dao, kama), and I have to say I'm leaning toward the dao as my fav. I did come within .04 of a 30/30 at a tournament with my sai, though, so I still love them. Peace; Parkerlineage

I must say you're the first Kenpo person that has an instructor that I like. Black belt under GM Parker, 6th Degree...looks like you've got a great school! Is that crest a school original, or is it part of whatever association you follow?

I agree that it's not a good idea, but I'm afraid that if you're in a situation like I will be, where you teach at a college, it's completely unavoidable. You know somebody's going to end up dating somebody else - maybe even you (if you're their age, which I will be). So, I agree with those saying it's okay as long as you leave it out of the dojo. Peace; Parkerlineage

Cobosan, do you know what weight people our size should be (I don't)?

Sounds good...thank you for the advice, and I will certainly follow it. I'm pretty sure I'll never be Mr. Universe - as ivette said, genetics play a big part, and my genes are for tall, skinny people. But, with your advice, hopefully, I can get a little more muscle mass. Thanks, all! Parkerlineage

180, 17, 78, 155: 8.6 What's a power level?

When you say weights, do you mean like bench-pressing, or a variety? It sounds like I'm going to need a health club membership, huh... Thanks for the advice, by the way!

How many members do you have? Space is always a luxury. Our dojo is rather large, as far as they go - thanks to the fact that my instructor has been teaching for a long time, and bought the building next to us in the mall, then knocked down the wall and continued the training floor through that building. We have about 200-300 students, as far as I know, but most of our advanced classes are less than 15 at a time - there's always the regulars, and then those that just kind of pop in and out. Most of the others are kids. Peace; Parkerlineage

It seems to me that there's a lot we could all learn from one another - though it also seems that there's quite a lot of different styles of Kenpo here. If I may ask so, let's try to make our discussions open to everybody, so that we can be a little more out in the open than we have been. Peace; Parkerlineage

Good point, Kajukenbopr. I was figuring you meant Joe Emperado - I didn't even know there was another one. Thanks for the clarification!

I think I would almost rather use a palm strike than a chop - less chance of breaking your fingers if you messed up. They can actually hurt a lot more than a closed-fist strike as well, if you do them right. Parkerlineage

I like the girl Arsineal(?) Hall fights at the end of Rush Hour 2. I don't think they used her to her full potential, but she was pretty rad.

It varies...I've been working on seeing how many I can get done in a single set...so...usually about 100 pushups (70-30) and 125 situps (50-25-25-25) (of a variety, so I get all the sides, etc.). Then, I also have class, where we do usually around 50 pushups, 80 leg lifts, and 90 situps. Plus, I teach other classes, and get about 60 leglifts a day from those, but I don't think they really count.

Awesome. If your dojo is anything like mine, the advanced classes will rock. You'll be done practicing those basics for eternity, and just plow through them like you can, then move on to deeper things. Is your dojo a big one or is it rather small?

Rockin'. I was afraid I'd hear that.