ps1

This is a potentially loaded question, my friend. You're getting into some deep political differences, more than anything. Carlos Gracie Jr. = son of Carlos Gracie: Learned Jiu-Jitsu directly from Mitsuyo Meada. Opened the first Gracie Academy (Acadamia Gracie de Jiu-Jitsu) in 1925. Went on to become the mastermind of the Gracie diet, which he forced the rest of his family to use. He acted as Helio's manager for a very long time. Helio Gracie= Youngest brother of Carlos Gracie: Learned by watching Carlos teach and is credited in making several leverage based modifications, mainly from the guard position. He was also the first Superstar of the family, fighting in many many fights. He was the "Michael Jordan" of Brazil. When Rorion Gracie (the eldest son of Helio) first established himself in the United States, he trademarked the term, "Gracie Jiu-Jitsu." Very few other people can use it, and then, only under license (I use it...luck me!). This caused waves for some of the other family members (Carlson included) because they were not allowed to use the term. Weird, I know, but that's how it is. Carlson Gracie founded "Gracie Barra (ba ha)," one of the largest and most competitive jiu-jitsu teams on Earth. Very well respected and it has equal focus on Self Defense and competition. Good curriculum and professional instructors that undergo instructor training courses. Gracie Academy (Helio) schools have a much greater focus on self defense in the beginning and are not known for competition on the large scale. Some individuals do, but this will not be the focus. Also have instructor training courses. "Other BJJ" schools: There are a ton of great schools out there today. All of them will have solid lineage and many now have black belt instruction, which is a newer development in the US due to the infancy of the art in the States. However, you really need to pay attention to what YOU want. If you want knife defense, gun defense, and alot of standing defense, you're better off going with either Gracie Academy or Gracie Barra. They still use the old school techniques as part of their curriculum. Many of the others are very specific toward sport competitions, and that's fine if that's what you want. If you have any other questions, shoot me a question. I'd be happy to help.

I would end the kick when you make contact with the body. It's bad enough that you need to practice in a way that will build bad habits. May as well make a little contact with them. Another idea is to learn to set up the kick so you don't have to go through a block. Find the angles and set up your kicks better. Now no energy will be wasted on going through arms and legs and all the energy will be directed into the target.

The 4 methods we practiced in Shotokan were: 1. Proper pace and rythm 2. Extremely fast, just remember it as quickly as possible, moves didn't need to be fully extended, just get from one spot to the next as quickly as possible 3. Do every move as strong as you possibly could with every stance being as low as you could possibly do. 4. Do the full kata as slowly as you possibly could do

I've trained in: Tae Kwon Do Shotokan Shorin Ryu Goju Ryu Poekoelan Chuan Fa Penjak Silat Kun Tao Sogo Bujitsu Aiki Jujitsu Judo BJJ Muay Thai Boxing (doesn't really apply here) In 30 years of training I've never, in any situation, been told to kick with the toes. To be fair, I only have Dan gradings in 4 of those arts

I agree. The driving force isn't necessarily to get in a cage. That's the way they train, as if they are about to get in the cage. The driving force is actually the most recent shift in the public view of martial arts. The more informed public (due to faster communication, internet ect...) is shifting the desire toward more authenticity! I don't mean authentic as in "this is real shotokan" or "this is real kung fu!" I mean the training methods are more authentic, the flow of the art is more authentic, the training is geared toward a more authentic end. When people see someone practicing a form that looks one way, doing one steps that look different than the form, doing self defense that looks different than the one steps and the form, then seeing sparring that doesn't match any of it...it feels very unauthentic. It feels hodgepodged together! When they see a method of training that matches the self defense and sparring aspects, it feels authentic. We've all seen and, maybe trained in, places like this. You do one steps (ippon kumite) that have a block and a punch ect..., then go do your "self defense" and it's a bunch of joint locks and throws with maybe a little atemi mixed in. "Why not just practice the self defense and call it your one steps (ippon kumite)? Then, the sparring doesn't look like the one steps either! It's a little like taking your kid to baseball practice and seeing him learn to throw a football, dribble a basketball, and handle a hockey puck. Then expecting him or her to be good at baseball???!!! This is what is driving people toward MMA. I'm not saying MMA is better, but there certainly aren't any mixed messages. They train like they fight and fight like they train. This is the same for other arts that have seen a rise in popularity in the last decade or so; BJJ, Kali, Silat, JKD, and Krav Maga, to name a few.

What a wonderful experience. Frustrating, for sure. But there's nothing better than realizing you will always have more to learn. You will never be bored and your art can sustain you for the rest of your days! Bask in this knowledge, don't be burdened by it.

This is common. This dropout rate is also seen early in white belt, while everything is still very awkward, and around the middle rank, when the learning curve begins to level a bit. One of the best ways to avoid this is to forecast it a bit. As an instructor, warn the student that it's coming. I tell my blue belts that they should prepare to be there for a while. They will have alot of learning to do before getting to purple. It helps. I recommend this for most instructors. You know it's coming, your job is to guide them. Tell them there is likely a plateau coming and they will need to work harder to get through it.

This is a simple formula. Where the kids go, the adults follow. Focus on the kids, really be awesome with them. Offer mixed classes where kids can train with parents. So many adults join just because they "want to earn a black belt as a family." It's far more difficult to get adults to train without the children there. I have a little more success because of being a BJJ academy. Let's be honest, from a marketing perspective, BJJ is on fire right now. So, because the reputation of BJJ is one of being "the most effective", adults do come in on their own. I used to just have "Martial Arts" written on all my advertisements. And I would get interest from Moms signing up their kids. I've started adding "Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" to the adds and have seen a big spike in adults only and Dads signing up their sons. The biggest thing you can do is to be authentic and honest about what you have and what you offer.

I feel this is a great conversation. I will speak to BJJ only. I would not teach ANYTHING, you havn't used in your real world experience. I can imagine this is fairly limited. So maybe a simple takedown, positional control and how you get the arm into a position to cuff.

Hammer: PM me your instructor's webpage. Having a presence is not enough. I can give suggestions. Ask your instructor for VIP passes to hand out. Just "telling people" to come isn't enough. They respond better when there is something in their hand. Marketing has a snowball effect. Most school owners quit before their marketing has a chance to really take effect. Facebook ads are very nice right now and are pretty inexpensive. All of this really lies in your instructor's hands, though. Send me the website and I can give you more advice.

People quit something when they no longer feel value is being added by doing it. It's that simple. With excellent black belt programs in place, that are on display (not just behind closed doors once a week), students will see the value first hand. The biggest problem is that "black belt training" often just means you learn another kata and some new ippon kumite and maybe flip around a weapon or two. For many who have spent years doing the same thing, with different patterns, there's not much value to doing more of the same. The fact is this: Many people earn a black belt and think to themselves, "That wasn't that hard." When they earn it, they feel there's no longer value in it. I apologize if I'm generalizing. That's not my intent at all. But it's the truth. If you want someone to train, they need to see value in the training. It's really that simple. When they see value in training something different, that's where they will go.

I like it!

The original art I studied was TKD. This was chosen for me by my mother. When we moved away I found Poekoelan Kung Fu. Again, this was more a choice of convenience as I could ride my bike to the place. Once I earned my second degree black belt I returned to TKD for a short time. I wanted to see if I still liked it. It was ok, but the location was horribly inconvenient and I never stuck with the art. Eventually I found a nice shotokan dojo and stuck with that training through Sandan. During that time I was exposed to a sogo bujitsu program that was outstanding and trained it for about a year. I was then exposed to Aiki-jujitsu. This was the first time I really fell in love with an art. The hands on style of it really resonated with me. After returning from war I had grown to dislike the regimented style of training in the traditional styles. So when I ran into BJJ, I was hooked. Much more laid back. Since that time, I've come to appreciate a more regimented structure again and have, to some extent, employed them in my own academy. But the alive training of BJJ and MMA (which I also trained at the same time) really resonates with me. That's why I do it.

It does matter when the label not only stuck, but when it was created. It was created as a description of a sport; not as a description of other combined arts. The word "book case" brings to mind some very specific images. While someone can, just as easily, place books in a dresser, this does not change the name or label of a dresser to "bookcase." This is how language works. Words are assigned to specific things. A truck is not a car. A car is not an SUV. But they are all automobiles. MMA is a specifc sport. Shindokan defines a specific art. It's not TKD, it's not Shotokan, it's not Jiu-Jitsu. It' Shindokan. Yet all of these are facets of martial arts. I don't play golf. That doesn't give me the right to simply say, "since I don't play golf, I can use that word to mean something else." Doing so is lying, plain and simple. Whether it's lying to yourself or lying to your students or lying to make money, it's still a lie. Go to ESPN and look at the golf tab...you'll find information on Golf Go to ESPN and look at the MMA tab... I'm willing to bet you wont' find anything about tuite. You'll find lots of information on cage fighting. It's honestly baffling to me that this is even debatable for anyone. Popular use is what determines the definition of a word. Mariam Webster: mixed martial arts noun : a contact sport that allows a wide range of fighting techniques including striking, kicking, and grappling Wikipedia: MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of other combat sports. Various mixed-style contests took place throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. Oxford Dictionary: An extreme combat sport in which contestants are permitted to use the fighting techniques of wrestling and boxing but also those of martial arts such as kickboxing, judo, and karate. Popular use defines meaning. If you're teaching something that is not about sport cage fighting and calling it MMA... It's my opinion that you're misleading the people you're teaching. If you were uninformed about the popular use of the term, that's understandable. But if someone is informed and continues using it; they are being unethical, in my opinion. I should also point out that I'm not directing being unethical at anyone here. Please don't take that the wrong way. As an example of what I consider unethical: There is an instructor in my area who claims to teach MMA. He has a fitness class and teaches "ninjitsu." That is his entire experience level in mixed martial arts. His students go into amateur MMA events and always loose. His actions are not only unethical, they are borderline fraud and likely to get someone hurt. He is cashing in on the MMA craze.

Definitely different when everyone is weightless. Lol

Your experience with BJJ is clearly not very big. ALL the best in the world are small guys. There are very skilled big guys, but smaller guys rule the sport in terms of being technical and longevity in the art.

Just goes to show; it's as much or more about the individual training rather than the style they train.

Happy Birthday. Thanks to everyone that made it possible! Congratulations on another strong year, Patrick!

Congratulations

Same thing...billing and/or marketing. I've eliminated all forms of the middle-man because the money I'd pay for their services, I could've used that money for something much more beneficial to the dojo and/or the student body. As far as the grass roots, possibly you can have students, family, and friends help you with the marketing. That includes, developing the market tools as needed yourself with their help, and then distribute said items when they'd be most advantageous for you. My advice, walk away from the middle-man as often as possible. I agree with you. I've started getting some of my student on thing such as building spreadsheets that will help me track metrics. I also have some of them going around town doing some more grass roots things. I decided not to go with EFC. I just couldn't see why they were charging so much. It turns out they were just facilitating the use of another marketing company, which is just an SEO company. So that wasn't terribly useful to me either.

Thanks guys. Sensei 8. Its really not the billing im interested in. Its the marketing. I work full time and dont have time to go grass roots like i should.

Has/ Does anyone here use EFC for their billing company? The advertise that they do marketing as well. I have read alot of reviews and they seem very mixed. The BBB gives them an A+ rating. They have 80 complaints over the last 3 years. But that represents less than 1/2 of a percent of their clients. Just looking for more opinions. Thanks Also, i dont want to hear about what someone else says. I want to hear your own personal experiences; either as a student or as an owner. Again, thank you.

Certainly sounds very disrespectful to me. ANYTIME I encounter someone doing something i feel is incorrect. I usually just say something like, "Here's another interpretation of that." or "This is the way I prefer to do that." I would never look at someone and tell them their instructor is flat out wrong. That's for the sensei to tell the instructor, then for the instructor to change in the curriculum in his own time.

In the womb. In the womb is too young. I've seen places take kids as young as 2 yrs old. It all depends on the instructor and your expectations. If you expect a 2 or 3 year old to move like Jackie Chan, then you're out of luck. Most of the development at that age will be gross and fine motor skills. Not too dissimilar from an early gymnastics class. They may do some kicks and punches too, of course, but it's not for self defense ect... It's for motor development. 5 years old is plenty old enough, IMO. I take them as young as 4, myself.

Receiving my BJJ black belt from Master Pedro Sauer. It's my 4th black belt, but certainly the hardest one I've ever received.