scottnshelly

What is the difference in time lapse between belts for a student that only goes to regular classes and a student that only goes to private lessons, in your experience? I’m no stranger to teaching private lessons, but that is usually done as a supplement to regular classes. I’ve recently had an opportunity to teach two students with no prior experience through only private lessons. Their progress seems to be quite quicker than previous students that attended only or mostly group classes. We usually go for three hours, once or twice a week; I know that makes a difference as well. I’d estimate we’ve done roughly 20 lessons. We haven’t done any belts or rankings yet (they’re there for the learning, not the belts) but if I took them to any similar styled-dojang within 100 miles they’d be able to pass as orange belts easily. At the rate they’re going they’ll be at blue belt within 6 months, brown belt within a year and black belt before 2 years; this is very fast compared to my previous students who train for at least 4 years for black. I think part of it is the longer sessions, part is the one-on-one (more like one-on-two), part is the superior teaching methods (I’m awesome) and part is that they are retaining information well and practicing hard. Is this a common pace for private lesson-exclusive students?

I agree about varying the type of situp. This also applies to pushups. I can think of at least 13 different ways to do pushups. I know there are more, but here's the ones that I pulled off of the top of my head: 1)Regular 2)Close grip (make a triangle with your forefingers and thumbs in front of your chest) 3)Wide grip (wider than regular) 4)Feet elevated (put your feet in a chair) 5)Inverted (upside down against a wall) 6)Backwards (face up) 7)Knuckle 8)Fingerprints 9)Fingertips 10)Two knuckles 11)Clapping (clap your hands together on the up-stroke) 12)Superman (hands further out, above your head) 13)Opposite of Superman (hands closer to your waist than normal)

Depending on the instructor, this may even be a great way to lose the unwanted pounds. Do you know if this school is with an association? WTF, USTU, ATA, ITF, NBL, etc. This could make a difference in seeing comparisons from your previous experience.

Scenario 1: The instructor teaches only techniques. The student learns about the other 99% of the fighting arts on his own after 30+ years of training. Scenario 2: The instructor teaches techniques and everything that he learned or picked up. Then the student knows everything that he's learned on his own, plus what his instructor learned, plus his instructor, etc. Which student would be better off? I think it would be hard for any one to argue that scenario 1 would be better. In the first scenario he's only learning on his own. In scenario 2 he still learns at the same rate on his own, but also learns what his instructors before him learned.

Martial Arts Teaching Tales of Power and Paradox: Freeing the Mind, Focusing Chi, and Mastering the Self by Pascal Fauliot. Karate Dojo: Traditions and Tales of a Martial Art by Peter Urban These are great books for anyone who is interested in the stories behind the Martial Arts. These books are particularly great for Instructors. They go great with Secret Tactics by Kazumi Tabata (see also: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=244847#244847)

If one of the requirements is to clean, that might be factored into the tuition fee. Who's to say that if he abolished the cleaning requirement that the tuition wouldn't go up to make up the difference. If he suddenly loses all of that help, he'll probably have to start paying someone to clean it. That's going to come out of the pocket of the students. I've never minded cleaning a dojang. Someone has to do it, and if it's not a public place (school gym, YMCA, church, etc.) the burden is going to either be on the Instructor or the students. Either the Instructor will have to pay a janitor or the students will sacrifice half an hour a week. I think this practice is more common these days as an alternative to paying tuition, but it's not hard for me to imagine a dojang where cleaning is factored into the tuition.

It’s great to take a break from the formalities of class every once in a while. One school that I taught at had a Black Belt night every Saturday night. It was by invitation only and didn’t have any structure of any kind. We just kind of paired off and worked on whatever we needed, discussed teaching/training methods and ended every night with some vigorous sparring – the type that can only be done with other consenting adult Black Belts.

I loved that book! I can't remember where I put it though. Might have to go searching for it. Anyway, to clarify for those who haven't read it, the purpose of the story was this, when he asked how long it would take, the master gave him a figure. When he asked what if he trained really hard, this illustrated to the master that he had completely missed the point, and would therefore, never become a master due to focusing on the wrong things. Thanks Jiffy. I knew someone would know what I was trying to say. That is a great book, a perfect compliment to The Karate Dojo by Peter Urban and Secret Tactics by Kazumi Tabata.

At some schools it can be a probationary or conditional Black Belt. In order to advance to the full rank the student can be required to fulfill some prerequisites such as teaching a predetermined amount of classes or completing some other obligations. It depends on the style, but depends more on the organization or Instructor. The best way to find out would be to ask the Instructor or a high ranking student in the class.

Never underestimate doing the basics. Most students learn a lot of new techniques in the beginning, then the amount of new techniques start to slow down. Now you must work on perfecting those. The fact is, there aren't enough techniques for you to learn the amount that you learn the first year, every year. Perfect them. If you are getting bored with training and there is no chance of advancing any time soon, slow down a little. It's the journey, not the destination. Your Instructor will promote you when you are ready (usually regardless of where the rest of the class is). If you are at yellow, that is where you belong in your Instructor's eyes. To say that you deserve to be a higher rank or deserve to learn more or should be working with higher ranks is disrespecting your Instructor and his experience. Your enthusiasm reminds me of a story that I recently read in Martial Arts Teaching Tales of Power and Paradox by Pascal Fauliot. The student asks the Instructor how long it will take him to become a Master. The Instructor says 30 years. The student asks how long it will take if he practices really hard and often. The Instructor says never. I’m paraphrasing here; I’m sure someone can give a more accurate portrayal of that story.

I enrolled in a BJJ class for one month in January of this year. I had to stop in February due to my work schedule (I work in a holiday driven company and Valentine’s Day is our 2nd biggest). I decided after Valentine’s Day not to go back for several reasons. I had only been there one month, never talked to the Instructor other than about money and never felt like I was part of the group. I received a voicemail on my lunch break in June or July from the Instructor. It was very impersonal and sounded scripted. He just asked when I’d be back. It sounded like he was coming up short on rent and needed my $50. I was a little put off by this. It was very aloof and maybe even a little rude. A well written letter or card (or even email) would’ve been nice, but now I surely won’t return just because of that voicemail.

If you dojang is large with a wide variety of different colored belts, this might work: All students stand in line, and do the first form. Then those that know the second form do that, those that do not repeat the first form. Then those that know the third form do that, those that do not start over from the first form. The white belts will end up repeating the first form about 10 times (which is good for them) while the upper belts get an opportunity to go through all of their forms. This also provides a small amount of distraction to the students while they perform, which will help their concentration at the same time. Another benefit to this is it gives the underbelts some exposure to the advanced forms so they’ll have an idea of what it looks like when they get there.

I don’t have any awesome street situation self defense stories, so I’ll share a comical story. All of my real confrontations have ended before any fisticuffs could ensue. When I was in 9th grade, I used to wear my dad’s martial art school’s shirt to school. The name of the martial arts school was Kick It Martial Arts, so the shirt said Kick It real big across the back. One day, I received a punt-style kick to the hind-end while walking down the hall to class. I turned to see this senior standing there; he said “your shirt said ‘kick it’, so I did.” This guy was huge: 8 feet 2 inches, 450 pounds, benched 1200 pounds and could palm a medicine ball; and apparently he was smart enough to take instructions from t-shirts. I waited for a couple hours until the “funny” wore off for him, found him in a hall and returned the kick. I’m pretty sure we both came off of the ground. He turned around to hear me say “it was funny when you did it, and just as funny when I did it.”

Ed Parker, Morihei Ueshiba, Ashida Kim, Musashi, Sun Tzu, Bodhidharma, Chang San-feng, Mas Oyama, General Choi Hong Hi, Wang Lang, Jhoon Rhee, Matt Hughes, James Lacy, Masaaki Hatsumi and Mike Chat. That would be one long conversation!

Astronomy Picture of the Day http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/

And the famous palm strike to the nose, sending the "bone" rocketing through the skull, destroying the brain thus killing the other person instantly. Even if someone discovers that I train and the length of time that I have trained, there is still someone that thinks he can teach me a wrist lock or choke hold. I had a teacher in High School that heard about my training. His brother took a few lessons from someone... well, you know the story. But still, he would try to impress me with some white belt moves. If it was easy, everyone would be black belts.

If I was trained well enough, I would pick a chain whip. If I was facing a non-edged weapon, maybe a cane.

I chamber whenever possible and try to do all of my chambers the same. On almost any front leg kick that I do I bring my front knee straight up and then pivot as necessary. This allows for some surprise factor for the opponent. He sees the chamber and then gets a front kick, a little later sees the same chamber but receives a roundhouse, then later a crescent kick. There are situations in which a straight legged crescent would do better than a chambered, but I practice with the chamber to be better prepared.

why do you say the backfist can do more damage when you also state the jab is stronger? Some practitioners have only developed speed (not power and accuracy) in a jab. The same practitioner might use a backfist with devastating speed, accuracy and power to a vital point (temple, behind ear, jaw). In this scenario, the jab is probably used more frequently to open better targets, distract the opponent, break the rhythm, set up combinations, establish control, etc. The backfist, in this scenario, is used in moderation only when a vital target is open, in an attempt to knockout or do large amounts of damage to the opponent. Again, this will vary depending on the fighter, situation, practicing methods, etc. This is just one of many possible scenarios. For someone that spends more time on the jab, to develop power and accuracy (in addition to speed) the jab will be more successful that an undeveloped backfist.

My Instructor used to always say "You're shot but you're not dead." when we were tired and wanting to quit. This seems to have stuck with me a little. I at least think of it every once in a while.

Congratulations, indeed.

Welcome.

I haven't been to Stillwater in a while. The last time I was there Brian Hurst was the best Instructor in the town. I'd recommend giving him a try. Superior Karate Taekwondo & Fitness Kickboxing 1911 N. Boomer Rd. Stillwater OK (405) 624-1133 Bryan Hurst bhurst@superiorkarate.com

They both have their pros and cons, which will vary based on the proponent. Pros for Jab: slightly more power, possibly faster, straight line attack Pros for Backfist: possibly more damage, less orthodox/less predictable, more versatile Cons for Jab: fairly limited on targets (front of the face/body), targets are generally hard spots (with exception of nose) Cons for Backfist: a miss will leave you more open for a counter, more motion involved, often not practiced as much as jab. These are the pros and cons for me, as I see them. Figure out which of these apply to you, modify them to fit you and think of some that I left off. Then weight them. Then see if any of them are correctable.

This is a short, fictional story that I wrote to illustrate my five steps of a confrontation: avoid, prevent, dissuade, control and end. Frank first avoids confrontation by taking an alternative route. He then tries to prevent a confrontation by speeding past. After that didn’t work, he tried several methods of dissuasion. Once the confrontation was initiated, he gained control. As soon as he got control, he ended it.