Mr. Mike

welcome to the board of the Martial Arts forums that I visit, this one is the most mature by far...not overrun with kids wanting to know about chi balls and tekken-like combos

Chinese Kenpo, IKCA pre belt white yellow orange purple blue green brown black then 1st through 9th degree...the 10th degree is generally only given to the grandmaster of the system, which currently is Master Sullivan and Master Leroux.

you can use trickery and feints, but i wouldn't spend too much time trying to outsmart somebody...I've found that in sparring, you can do only three things to win, attack, attack, attack. What school in Mil do you go to? Is it Dukatz's?

while I'm not quite as decripit as you guys, I do have the same issues...up til two weeks ago, I was the only adult on the leadership team. The rest are high school kids and two twelve year olds. Needless to say, I get alot of flack. There is a new member of the team who is about 10 years my senior and we always joke about being the 'sweaty old guys.' I see the lack of respect in sparring, but mostly amongst the newer students...the more experienced ones just plain know better and respect the wisdom. There is this one kid in particular that had to always try...we were at the hotel for the tournament that we were attending the weekend of the 19th of March, and he started making Bruce Lee noises and tap sparring me in the lobby. Well I simply waited for him to kick and lifted my leg...too bad for him. He looks at me and says "yeah, but I can still drop you." WHAT?!?!?! How's that for disrespectful? He was acting serious about it too. So, I told him " the only place you could drop me is off at the Diner across the street for lunch maybe!" Alot of students are having a problem with his cockiness...the ladies decided to stop going easy on him during sparring...he isn't checking his power...yada yada yada...man, I could go on for hours about this kid, but won't...he'll humble himself. Anyway, I hear the lack of respect for age thing...totally.

ahhh...more kenpo, just what the doctor ordered...welcome.

I would highly reccomend videotaping yourself. I keep tapes of all my competitions, and they are a great source of learning. other than that, I think everybody else covered it all.

man, that is awesome! Best of luck. I'll be in your boat in the next two years or so.

My night job is nursing, and when one of the nurses found out about my being an instructor, she said "you do karate, huh? DO some...karate something...karate that desk!" umm...yeah

run with the hapkido program if you like it...I've done some hapkido, and it's pretty decent stuff.

I think that's a pretty decent idea, but I wouldn't want it mandatory...places too much emphasis on the belt.

IKCA Chinese Kenpo white yellow orange purple blue green brown black then on to 9th degree.

chinese kenpo

we give 8 free lessons just for walking in the door. That way they can test drive the system so to speak. Hey, if they don't like it, they won't want to be there, and if they don't want to be there, we don't want them there.

when I walked into my current school, I was told to forget everything I had learned thus far...after spending countless moons there, I know the instructor was right. Keep the faith and do your best.

What is iaido? Iaido is the art of reacting to a surprise attack by counter attacking with a sword. An in-depth reading of the Japanese characters for iaido is: I = being, AI = harmony, DO = way . "The way of harmonising oneself in action”. The Iaidoka (a practitioner of iaido) wields a sword: not to control the opponent, but to control himself. Iaido is mostly performed solo as a series of Waza. The Iaidoka executes various techniques against single or multiple imaginary opponents. Each Waza begins and ends with the sword sheathed. In addition to sword technique, practitioners require imagination and concentration in order to maintain the feeling of a real fight and to keep the Kata fresh. In order to properly perform the waza, Iaidoka also learn posture and movement, grip, and swing. Iaido is never practised in a free-sparring manner. Iaidoka practice to prepare for a surprise attack, where an immediate, efficient solution to the problem of aggression is necessary. Therefore, the technique is highly refined. Every unnecessary movement is cut away. Technique is simple and direct. The training method is aimed towards development of the practitioner’s every mental and physical resources. Iaido is an authentic martial art that proved its martial values in a time of constant battle and warfare, that was preserved and passed on directly from teacher to student over generations in an unbroken lineage for 450 years. Iaidoka developed the mind towards an ultimately peaceful, harmonious, and active state ready to react and deal with any life situation. What is Kendo? Kendo, is the art of Japanese fencing. "Ken" or tsurugi is from the character meaning sword. The character for "Do" or michi includes the meaning way or path which translates as "The way of the sword". A path in life which is followed through the training of kendo. Kendo, the Way of the Sword is the art of Japanese Samurai Swordsmanship. It is rooted in the traditions of Budo, the Martial Way. It is both exhilarating and demanding to learn. and the only thing I can dig up about Tate is that it is either a vertical elbow strike and is found in Karate and jujitsu. Any searches of 'Tate Fighting System' only bring up a sega game of nightshade which is very inconclusive.

count me three

you're never too old to start!!! welcome!

I studied freestyle american karate in high school, after a brief stint in the army I studied TKD, and now am absolutely loving Chinese Kenpo. I chose Kenpo because that was the last thing left in town that I hadn't studied. I was considering the TKD school again, but simply cannot see eye to eye with the instructor. There is a Hung Gar school in the area, but he is exclusive and not taking any new students. So, I walked into the Kenpo school some time ago, and now am the program director/lead tester/assistant instructor. Not bad. I thoroughly enjoy what I study because it links every aspect of every art that has ever interested me. I even had the displeasure of having to use my training and can attest to its effectiveness...even if most of any art's effectiveness lies within the practitioner. Anyway, Chinese Kenpo as sanctioned by the IKCA really does it for me.

hey, troofey, you gonna be ok? they have pills for that you know

I guess I should have mentioned that I've been in my new house for abotu three weeks now. I couldn't let that continue. As for my sister...well, she knows who he is, but is the usual "but I love him, and he is changing" kinda person that is so typical of these situations. I thank everybody for their comments/thoughts, that does meant alot, even if you guys are just fonts with neat names at this point I was mostly concerned because I knew the correct way to act, but chose to try to escalate the situation with violence...I mena I actually wanted to take all of my family's aggression out on this putz in one fell swoop. Needless to say, he has been sweet as pie to my face since this, even if he does talk hella crap behind my back...again, typical. So the scenarios flashing instantaneously happens to you guys also? I've been in situations in the past, but not so many since high school, and I'm quite a few summers past that In the past, I never had anything like that happen; just had the adrenal responses, and the "well, here goes, just hope for the best" kind of attitude. This more or less put a whole new spin on the 'combat readiness' mindset. I was always prepared before, but not like this. I almost cannot explain it...I had a singular goal, my reflexes seemed to sharpen exponentially, and I was going to dominate without regard to consequence. Well, enough macho talk...my daughter is out of harm's way...for now anyway, she is maturing quicker that I seem to be ready for...maybe just my over-protective nature Again, thanks for the replies, thougths, comments, and yes, even the prayers, even if you don't think you should say it Mr. Mike

I guess mine would go Parker, Sullivan/Leroux, Paul Metz, me. Not too watered down...I do the 55 technique system, but all the principles are indeed there. IKCA to be exact, but still very definitively Chinese Kenpo.

I practice/instruct Chinese Kenpo as taught by Masters Sullivan and Leroux who were taught by Mr. Parker himself, under the association of IKCA. What a long way to say that I do Chinese Kenpo, huh?

hey, I get to be one of those!!! IKCA here...good to see ya. oh yeah, neat name

About a year ago my sister came to me and told me that she was sick of being used as a punching bag...her husband is the abusive type. The guy is a convicted rapist, and she married him...well says something about aspirations I guess. This jerk duct taped his ex-GF to a refrigerator and beat her and raped her repeatedly for two days straight. But, it's all a misunderstanding to hear him tell it...it always is, isn't it? So I ended up moving in with my sister because he went back to jail for beating her. We found a decent sized house for her two kids, my two kids, and us to live comfortably. They started working things out so I allowed him to move back in, with the understanding that he would go to anger management, marriage counseling, and that I would let his parole officer know his activities every step of the way. Anyway, things got progressively worse, as they have a habit of doing when you throw a redneck hick into the mix. One morning, about two months ago, my 8yr old daughter was getting ready for school as she usually does every morning around 7am. Well, he gets all bent and starts shouting obcsenities at her and gets her balled up in the corner crying while he yells the F word repeatedly at her, calling her a lazy slob and all kinds of other crap...I flew up two flights of stairs in about one second. I told him to back the hell up and he started laying into me, which is suprising, because he knows that he shouldln't mess around with me(not to toot my own horn or sound tough, but he knows that I instruct IKCA Kenpo Karate in the evenings). Anyway, contrary to how I know I should act, contrary to what I know I should have done, I just wanted to take him apart. I advanced and slapped him in the head hard enough to make my hand hurt. He looked at me and said, "I'm calling the police!" I told him, "Go ahead, I'll tell them how you were cornering my 8 yr old daughter and bullying the crap out of her, then I'll call your PO and let her in on a few choice things!" Anyway, things kinda calmed down. What had me scared is that I know that I should not have acted like that, and I know that I was a bit out of control, but I was out of control, with clarity, if that makes sense...It all flashed before my eyes exactly what I would do to him given every possible scenario. The gist was advance, strike body mass, take knee, go to throat, throw over the stair rail...that more than anything calmed me down. I went to my instructor and told him about it and told him that it kinda scared me into calming down. He said that I was coming along fine, and that fear is what will help keep me in check. I feel horrible because I teach non-violent intervention and here I was trying to be violent. Maybe it was because my baby was involved, but I still hsouldn't have done that...either way, I have never experienced that mindset before...like I said, I wanted to take him apart, and every possible way to do that was flying around in my head...no matter what attack he would have used, I would have owned him. We've sparred a couple of times, and he is the typical streetfight/slow-roundpunch kinda person...still... comments? thoughts? has anybody had a similar experience, and is this the way it usually goes, flashing through your mind like that?

I know exactly what you mean...most things just slide off! My greatest acheivement comes every time I go to class, or get promoted, or do anything that gains me even the least of praise. I was told by members of my family that I would never do it...EVER! Here I am.