scottnshelly

All of the forms that I have learned thus far required the practitioner to begin and end in the same spot. After I felt I had accomplished a new form, I would do the form blindfolded to see if I ended up in the right place. It's amazing what you learn about yourself or your form if you can't see where you're going. This was also a pretty common exercise in one of my previous dojos in form practice. I've never tried sparring blindfolded or anything crazy like that though.

Seems like, when I was still attending a dojo and teaching, about every six months or so, some old guy would show up and watch a class. Then afterward he would explain to us that he was trained in [insert deadly style here] in the military. Sometimes they registered their hands as deadly weapons, sometimes they stopped training so that they didn't have to register their hands. I'm sure that everyone so far is right, the military doesn't care about loyalty to a style, they are probably more interested in getting the best stuff from several styles. I can't speak for the Korean military, but I imagine if they do train in Tae Kwon Do, it's probably a lot different from what you'd see down the road at "Butin's Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Factory"

ninjanurse makes some great points. The Instructor is usually more important than the style. You should attend a class, either as a spectator or participant, from each dojo in the area. You might want to ask around too, sometimes there are people teaching that don't do a lot of advertising. You might find the perfect style/Instructor/class in a garage somewhere. If you find a class(es) that you are intersted in, meet with the Instructor and maybe some of the students. Find out what they're all about. I've never had problems with my shoulder, but from what I hear, sometimes Martial Arts can help in the healing process. It can usually be worked around; just tell the Instructor of all medical conditions before your first class. Let us know what you decide.

Sometimes instinct and wit are the most important things taught in the dojo. We don't always just learn punches and kicks, but sometimes learn things like instinct, wit, honesty, honor, humility, respect, etc.

I would like to, however, I don't know anyone that could provide proper instruction and this doesn't look like a weapon I'd want to learn from a video. Looks like fun though. Do you train with it?

There is a guy that used to go (might still go) to OKA (Oklahoma Karate Association) tournaments named Elvis Presley. He was very high ranked in some offshoot brand of Kenpo. He was often called Grandmaster or Professor, although I never heard exactly what rank he was. I heard 10th Dan/Soke. It was the musical Elvis though, there were quite a few major differences in appearance. This website - http://members.tripod.com/beyondthereef__1/tigerman.html - says what I've always heard. I just did a quick google search, there might be conflicting stories out there: According to Elvis, he was awarded the 2nd degree in 1963, skipped the third degree, was awarded 4th sometime in the 60s, 5th in 1971, 6th in early 1973, and eighth in August 1974 (Ed Parker insisted it was an honorary degree).

Do you mean you had a dance-off with katas, or you attacked him with a kata? Was this consensual or did you catch him off guard? I have to agree with Sam on this. If you are the higher rank, you shouldn't lose your control with him, you should be guiding him. shotochem made a very good point also about not losing your rank for taking time off for whatever reason. I can empathize with the undeserved ranks, however, we have to understand that although they may not be at our standards, they were at someone else's standards and who are we to question his Instructor's authority?

If the majority of the senior students or assistant Instructor's feel the same way about the head Instructor, then you guys should be able to find a solution. Perhaps if everyone feels this way, you should all leave. Pick the adult(s) with the most experience and help him start a new school. Maybe organize a meeting with the head Instructor and give all of the assistant Instructors a chance to discuss the direction that the school is going and the direction it should be going and ways to improve.

Congratulations, keep us updated on your progress. They should give lessons on board-holding. There's always one guy in the group that bends his elbows, falls backwards or puts his fingers in the way. I tell you what...

Has anyone already said it's the practitioner, not the art? 'Cause I was going to say that.

In my dojo, we never wore stripes. My Instructor thought they were only for bragging; you shouldn't have to display your rank after Black Belt. The dojo was part of a much larger organization, however, that had nothing to do with Martial Arts. The higher-ups decided that they wanted all of the Black Belts to start wearing stripes to 'show off' a little more, especially at tournaments. So the rule changed to, if you're going to a tournament or if someone from the organization comes in, we were to wear a crisp, new belt with red electrical tape stripes on it. Otherwise, for everyday training, we wore a plain belt. In my Moo Duk Kwon Tae Kwon Do dojang, after passing each Dan test, the Instructor paid to have your belt embroidered with another yellow stripe, so it was disrespectful to not wear the stripes. In both classes, the stripes went on the left.

What styles are combined to make this style? I'm genuinely interested, not trying to make a mockery.

In response to the original question: you should never turn down information. If you are offered boxing lessons and you have the time/money to take them, by all means do. Learning something new won't hurt. It might take away time from your other Martial Art, but if you are limited in the amount of time you can learn Kempo, and you have the free time to take up boxing, you should. Refusing knowledge is the ultimate evil.

Black Belt isn't the destination, but it is a very big milestone that you shouldn't throw away. If there are no similar schools in the new area, ask your current Instructor if you could somehow come back and test for Black Belt. The reason I say that is a lot of schools will ask you to step down a few ranks, maybe even to white belt. If you've been with this Instructor long enough to be near Black Belt and you go somewhere where you'll be required to go back to white belt (which isn't a bad thing), you could miss out on obtaining Black Belt. Perhaps, if you're really close to Black Belt, your family could postpone the move for a little bit until you test. Maybe you could ask your Instructor what you need to do/improve/learn before becoming a Black Belt and learn it remotely from your new location. As far as a new school is concerned, you should know what to look for by now. Check out a few schools. I also like Aodhan's advise of asking your Instructor for suggestions or a letter of recommendation. My Instructor is a part of a large group of Instructors, so he can contact many Instructors of a similar style, maybe that's true for your Instructor. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

I downloaded and watched the special. I was impressed with a lot of it, because I've always been so interested in Shaolin - among other monasteries. I agree though, there were a few things that I found hard to swallow. I thought it was funny how they never told us a complete training schedule, but every time they showed a training session said that everyone did that for X number of hours everyday. The time totaled up to more than a day though. They also said that a Master watches over each group all of the time. It later said that there are only two Masters at the whole monastery. The things that it showed were very fun to watch, but I didn’t agree with most of the things that the narrator said. I still want to go see this place first hand though.

I have very few memories from before I started Martial Arts; I started on my sixth birthday. So, in a way, I owe everything to Martial Arts. I can't say what I would be like had I not started. I would like to think that it hasn't effected my ego in a negative way, but I really don't have anything to compare my current self to.

I am trying to get into Law Enforcement also, from what I've heard they don't really care about your previous training. If you tell them that you have 10 years of experience in every style and they wouldn't choose you over the next guy. They will teach you what they believe to be the most effective way of handling yourself on the street. The Department will teach you how they want you to detain prisoners, rather than using something that they have not approved. It all relates to liability, I think. The point is, if you get into a physical confrontation with someone while on duty and you use a Martial Art (we'll say Jiu Jitsu as that one has been suggested several times) you could get in some sort of trouble. They teach ways of detaining a subject without hurting him, rather than JJ that runs the risk of hurting someone in the process. They objective in JJ is to get the opponent to submit, usually through joint locks, choke holds, etc. The Law Enforcement's objective is to get the subject into handcuffs and in the back of the car.

I'm no expert on autism, but if he is only a lesser degree of autistic, have you tried just treating him like a regular adult? If he's always 'bugging' you, then he has some sort of attraction to you. Maybe that's really because he respects you or looks up to you. Think about how kids act when they like someone of the opposite gender - they annoy them. If he is always butting into your conversations and standing beside you, maybe he's just vying for your attention. Every time you see him, make it a point to say 'hi' to him, invite him into conversations, ask him to stand by you...give him the attention he is craving. My sister-in-law is slightly autistic, sometimes she'll get on an attention kick where she just keeps saying your name and holding her hand out as if to shake hands. All she wants is for us to stop talking to other people or watching tv and talk to her for a while. After she gets her attention, she'll go play in her room or push her baby buggy around. My sister-in-law isn't really able to speak in whole sentences, and yet she still wants people to talk to her. If this guy is able to communicate well, he probably wants to talk even more. I'm with the rest that if you've exhausted all efforts, talk to your Instructor, but sometimes he might be wondering how to solve the problem as well. See if giving him the attention that he craves works first. Keep us updated with how this plays out.

Events outside the class are a great way to build friendships and bonds with your peers and superiors. I have learned a great deal of information from Instructors outside of class. That's when you see what a true Martial Artist is like outside of class. In class you learn about Martial Arts, outside of class you learn about Martial Artists. If you feel uncomfortable going to events outside of class, don't go and be truthfull when you explain why you didn't go. No one will be mean to you about it if you are honest. (Honest is one of the positive characteristics that we learn in Martial Arts.) As for me, I went to everything possible when invited, even if it was with another school. In fact, I feel the same way that you do about every social event that doesn't revolve around Martial Arts. If I'm around people that I know and respect, I have a great time. One of the greatest memories I have of being an underbelt was at a week long Karate camp. I spent one whole night making my two Instructor's smores. I never even got to eat one, every time I made one, one of my Instructor's ate it.

I haven't competed in a couple (5 or more) years, but when i did, i carried the bare necessities: Gi, belt, equipment, under shirt, change of clothes and socks, $10 for snack bar, $100 for bribing the judges(haha), deoderant(very important if you plan to go eat afterwards) and somtimes a hand target for warming up and working with my students. Some people carried everything that they ever trained with: corner man, heavy bag, nordik trac, a suitcase full of clothes, several practice weapons (even if they weren't competing in weapons), headbands, defibrillater, a different gi and belt for every division they are competing in, cameras/camcorders, a bag for trophies, thermal blankets, flashlights, dehydrated food, a backup generator, trophies from their last tournament... well you get the point. Just go prepared for what you expect. It's better to take too much stuff and leave it in the car than to have to ask someone else that brought it.

I have developed my own style, in a sense. Style can have a couple different meanings. When I say it, I mean way of fighting, living, etc. When other people say 'style' they mean a finite number of stances, blocks, strikes, etc. So, in the sense that I have absorbed all that has been taught to me (Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Arnis, Chin Na, Kenpo, etc.) and combined and weeded out the useless, I have created my own method of Martial Arts. That can also be misleading nowadays. Some people advertise that they created a new style by mixing two or more old styles. This isn't the case for me. I don't teach a 'new style', I just don't recognize styles as much as I used to. Now if someone wants to know how to break a wrist, I would show them how. Whereas some people will teach a specific way because that is what they were told was the best way. Everyone should develop their own method by combining what has been taught. No one should limit themselves to one style or way. To refuse knowledge is the ultimate evil. I hope this isn't too confusing, i'm not that good with words.

What we have to remember is that kids don't have the ability to make most decisions or commitments. Usually if a kid under 10 is enrolled it is because their parents have talked them into it, or forced them into it. Those are the ones that don't pass on a regular basis. Then there are others that do want to learn Martial Arts, but for the wrong reasons. If a kid that young signs up voluntarily, it is probably to be like Bruce Lee or to impress their peers. Once they attend a few classes and can't do a flip kick they lose interest. The parents keep them coming though. In summation, as long as kids have parents interested in Martial Arts (for whatever reason) we will teach kids that don't really want to be there. True an Instructor should be able to get a willing student ready for a test, but not all students are willing to learn. If this is a recurring problem, it isn't necessarily the Instructor’s fault, it could be the parent’s or the student’s fault. Constant feedback, positive and negative should help the parent’s understand. Also, tell the kids (as a whole) what they are doing good and bad, then assign them ‘homework’. Make sure to include the parents. For example: ‘Your forms are looking good, but everyone needs to work on pivoting on such-and-such move at home, parents make sure they do this…’ If they fail a test, don’t progress or don’t get rewarded, then the parents will better understand why.

Yes. It is an art and pertains to fighting.

Yes, put a bucket on the ground, or on cinder blocks about navel high. The mung beans should be in a canvas bag, that also helps with the conditioning. If you don't have canvas, rather than ziplock, i would suggest another bucket. You can strike with a fist, spear hand, palm strike, back of the hand, knife hand, elbow, etc. From what i've read, when the mung beans break down they release a powder that is supposed to help heal your hands. You can buy these on the world wide web for pretty cheap. I bought mine from some rickity website for less than $20. After I break the beans all the way down, i'll move up to small river rocks.

Through conditioning and toughening. Hit your hand on something hard a couple times and see if it don't strengthen it. I don't know the mechanics of it though.