scottnshelly

I've never heard of it being an insult. I only knew the cross over in the back method for long time, when i was introduced to the not-cross over in the back method, i liked it better. feels more comfortable. mark me as another vote for personal preference. I just think very highly of my belt and respect to its fullest because of the work that i did to earn it. i always take special care of it to honor it and my instructors. i don't consider a cross to be an insult, but i think it is to see a sloppy tie, or a belt drug on the floor. oh and i hate to hear 'where's my belt?' seems like i get off topic on every post, eh?

You might be in a McDojo if: It's founder is Ashida Kim. good one. i've read a book or two by him. not a cool guy

Even though i'm pretty much going to agree with everyone else, i'm still going to weigh in. In my area, we all study practically the same system, so a belt is almot interchangable. if a student earns a black belt in one school, then goes somewhere else, he's almost always allowed to keep it, unless he's from a completely different or rival school. Underbelts will mostly have to start lower or at white belt. I had two kids come to my school once from a rival school, claiming that they were green belts in thier style, however they didn't even act like white belts from my school. one always forgot his belt, the other told me that she didn't have to listen to me becuase i wasn't her instructor. i demoted both to white belt. i let them where their green belts, but made them line up in the back. needless to say, they didn't come back the next week. that sounds pretty harsh when i read that, but it didn't seem harsh at the time. has anyone else ever required a student to line up behind the white belts? or how did you discipline a student who consistently forgot a belt?

for me, the most common characteristic of a mickey mouse dojo is one that promises a belt rank within a pre-determined amount of time (and money) regardless. I've been to schools (as a visitor) that would promote to any rank up to one under the instructor for a price. also, like thaiboxerken said, if you are offered the 'opportunity' to open a school under that dojo for a fee even though you have little to no experience in the style.

soonerjohn, i was trying my hand at humor. i've lived in oklahoma my entire life. didn't mean it as an insult.

I agree. I have been a Black Belt for about six years, and I'm ready to move off to a place where no one knows me and go into a new school with a new style and start off as a white belt. I'd love to start new with the basics. If you really do have the basics down, then speak with the Instructor about it. Be tactful, not tacky though. tell him of your prior experience and don't ask to be promoted. He will watch and if you do have them down, he should let you know. If the system only promotes based on time and not skill, then i would call that a McDojo and leave.

Hudson, I know it wasn't Moo Duk Kwan; I have also studied it. I would've recognize the name. Very inferior art, that Moo Duk Kwan. good for competitions, but really, i mean, c'mon!

These guys are making the rest of us look bad. Reading this post reminded me of a couple new commercials i've been seeing on the TV lately. Have you seen the one where everyone is standing in the bathroom, looking at the running sink. they're all talking about how the water has been running all day and someone should turn it off. then at the end someone walks up and turns it off. there's another with trash and a trash can. are we standing in the bathroom complaining, or are we reaching for the faucet? what are we as Martial Artists doing about this epidemic? i personnally haven't done anything but complain, but if anyone has any ideas, or a plan already in action, i'd love to start.

See, that is one of the many lies that i have caught this guy in. One night he told me that he had studied this alleged "pai gow". it was a style of traps and locks using belts and clothes and other odd items. i've never heard of anything like it. i have studied some traps using a belt in my Kenpo class, but it wasn't it's own style. then on another night, i over heard him telling someone else that he was tied into the vietnamese mafia and like to play the vietnamese poker game called pai gow. interesting how he studied a martial art with the same name about a week ago, eh? thanks for the inputs here

Teal, you shouldn't worry about the color of your belt. Eventually, if you stay with it long enough, you'll come to realize that the color of your belt doesn't matter. I don't look at the color of anyone's belts, i look at their level of skill. I think that is probably how most Black Belts do too. If you go into a new school and tell the Instructor that you want to be a green belt - or whatever - he could take that as an insult; i would. If you have previous experience and have gone through "the basics" three times before, then advancing shouldn't take as long as someone who is new. If it does take you as long, then you haven't "gone through the basics" three times before. By the way, these "basics" that you are worried about, what are you refering to? Do you mean kicks, punches, blocks and stances? I can tell you that if you attend an actual school with a real instructor, you'll never stop doing kicks, punches, stances and blocks. If you take a computer class for two years, you can't just stop typing and go onto the 'fun stuff'. I hope that this makes sense to you, and everyone, and hope that i'm not the only one with these opinions.

Not a complete list of my books, but these are the ones that are rarely on the book shelf: Tao of Jeet Kun Do - Bruce Lee Sun Tzu (aka the Art of War) Bubishi - translated by Patrick McCarthy Mind Manipulation - Dr. Haha Lung i've been trying to build on my collection. i appreciate this thread, now i know what is valuable information. i read a book or two by Ashida Kim. Has anyone else wasted their time/money on this quack?

I often got picked on because of my Martial training in high school. so i usually don't bring it up. But i agree, when you're with your dojo, it's hard to talk about anything else; that's what you have in common. I don't think that anyone should have to censor themselves around others. As long as your group isn't making threats, or talking very loudly, no one should be eavesdropping on your conversation. If someone does, then they deserve a beat down. As far as rednecks go, it is an idiot. i heard that the term redneck comes from them being hot headed, and flying off of the handle quickly. so their necks turn red, because they get mad at everything that isn't them. people of other races, religions, towns, high schools, anything. i have seen some redneck indians though.

Thanks, I have read a couple of Lee's books, so i am vaguely familiar with the concept of no style. I was mainly curious as to his claim of having a direct line to Bruce Lee and learning from the only authorized instructor. It's one of my biggest pet peaves to hear someone blab on and on about the Martial Arts and never say one correct thing. I guess it was also hard for me to grasp the concept that someone of importance could move to Oklahoma. Being a native of Oklahoma, i know that there is a very limited selection of Martial Arts around. Mainly Americanized Tae Kwon Do. Maybe i should look this Dill guy up and see what he's teaching and how it compares to what i've read and seen of Jeet Kun Do. I would be interested in hearing what others have to say about this Dill guy. thanks agian,

Some how this guy at work has found out about my Martial experience. i usually keep it under wraps because of the attention that it causes. He was started telling me about the Martial Arts that he has studied. At first he studied something called Pai Gow (sp?), then something with a Mu or Mo. Recently he told me that he studied under the only person with written consent to from Bruce Lee to teach Jeet Kun Do, Gary Dill out of Oklahoma! I know that most of Lee's schools were in California and Washington, so how likely is it that anyone from there ended up in Oklahoma? He is pretty knowledgable on most topics, so i know that he's at least read a lot on Jeet Kun Do. usually i can tell someone's rank (plus or minus one) by watching them walk or move. this guy reminds me of a white belt. Any one heard of this alleged Gary Dill out of Talequah, OK? Is there really only one person authorized to teach Jeet Kun Do? Thanks

Thanks for the info. I knew a little of the history of TKD because my instructor's instructor was Korean. The school that i attended kept very true to tradition as much as possible. Maybe that's why they liked to imply that TSD derived from TKD.

I have studied Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do for a long time, and i agree that Tae Kwon Do's poomses do have a lot of Japanese influence. At an advanced level, i even learned the Korean rendition of a Japanese Black Belt kata. I can't recall the name of it, or which one at the time becuase i quit forms altogether about 3 years ago. I had always understood that TKD came before TSD, though. I always heard it as TSD was a branch off of TKD. Have i heard wrong?

i disagree with markusan. i think that his movies - while fun to watch - didn't portray the actual Bruce Lee. i have read a couple of his books, and he was a very good philosopher. he did have a lot of Martial knowledge and was a great teacher in great shape. I think it's a shame that he tried to make it so big into acting. That's where he got his cockiness and stuff.

I think all practical weapons for our current day and age can be summed up in three weapons: Short staff - a.k.a. escrima, warpin stick, etc, knife and cane. who carries a long staff, sword, sais, nunchakus, oar, etc?