pineapple

Hi Little Bug and welcome!

Hi shOwstOOpper and welcome!

Hi Christiansamurai and welcome!

I always give consideration for people who are physically or mentally handicapped. If that student is doing his/her best but is limited strictly by their handicap (not by laziness or lack of effort), I would promote them based upon their martial arts spirit. My experience with handicapped people is that there is always one area of training that they are good in. I try to make them excel in this area.

I don't know about the easiest job but my teacher used to tell me that teaching martial arts is the best job that he ever had because what other job can you get that people treat always treat you with such respect while you are doing something that you enjoy.

Hi theBandit and welcome!

You may not have any school near you but there must be individuals that live near you that had martial arts training. Seek them out and ask them to share their knowledge with you.

You listed exercise as most important, therefore you should watch the class and ensure that the the students are pushed to the point of sweating hard and breathing hard. You'll get exercise in any class but some are more difficult than others. I may be wrong but the description of the school that you gave seems to focus on weapons so I don't think that they'll have as much focus on tournaments as some other schools. Street self defense classes in general are normally different from tournament oriented schools. Self defense is of course taught in all martial arts schools but there are schools that focuses on street techniques such as eye gouges and groin shots which is different from focusing on scoring poits. Your 4 & 5 comes with every school.

Hi Mental Wolf Person!

Every dojo has it's own focus. You must first know what you want to get out of training then seek the school that is focusing on the same thing. A dojo that is right for one person may not be right for another person. The forum could help you more if you described your purpose of training.

Hi Brian and welcome!

I see that several people have worn their belts to just a thin string. I am surprised as I have been involved in the martial arts for over 30 years and trained in numerous schools and not once see a belt that was just a string or even close to it.

If you're a black belt , you're a black belt no matter what's on your waist. Please explain how your black belt can be a thin white piece of string.????

You're too young to be thinking that you're too old!

I would suggest that you consider how much you are learning. If you are still being taught a lot, you should forget your personal differences and learn as much as you can before moving on.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE ON THE FORUM!

Hi IronWarrior and welcome!

Hi KendokaBee and welcome!

Hi cleung and welcome!

Hi Swordsmith and welcome!

The jitters are normal. I find to help with kata jitters, you need to practice, practice and practice. The more you can do the kata without any thinking, the more confidence that you will have in your performance. I had found that kumite jitters goes away with the first blow. Just go out there and have fun.

Hi Cuong Nhu Fury and welcome!

Hi tenshin_uke and welcome!

Hi Megan and welcome!

Hi Jack and welcome!