monkeygirl

Welcome to the forums! Nice to see a family man around here... of course, that could be to fend off the Dojo Bunnies

Welcome to the forums!! We need more monkeys!!!!! |)

I agree with Pacificshore. Wushu has some amazing looking weapons katas, and a variety of different weapons. They also teach open-hand, but for the most part, all of Wushu is just performance (if I understand correctly). You're not really going to get the self-defense or combat benefits. If you're still interested in that, KungFu may be the way to go. My dojo only teaches nunchaku, kama/kusarigama, and bo staff. Long before I started, they taught sai. We're trying to get into sword, and I want to learn the kung-fu fan. (speaking of which, monkeyninja, where's my tape? ) However, since you mentioned availability, I would suggest looking at all the different schools in your area. Find out what weapons they teach, if any. You also want to find out whether or not weapons training is a special privelige, and if so, how is that attained? When do you start weapons? Then, if possible, check out a few classes. Take a look at their weapons "experts" and have them do a kata/form that is taught to the class. If you really want to be finnicky, have them also show you the very first kata that you would learn. Have this done for each weapon. Then, watch some regular classes to get a feel for their open-hand training. Do this for each school in your area, and compare! (You may want to bring a notebook) You'll get some funny looks and it may take awhile, but at least you'll have the best training you can get.

Fortunately I've never had to deal with racism in my dojo. But then again, all the students (except one african-american girl) are white. Like that one comedian says: Let's just keep mixing the races 'til we're all one grayish color!!

I can do a 540, a jump-inside crescent kick (one of my faves), a kip up (with hands), back whip-up (but I bonk my head on the floor.....owwwww), tiger dive, headstand to handstand. Plus some various basic rolls and jump kicks. I'm working on a forward handspring, but I keep putting too much weight on one hand (used to cartwheels) and twisting halfway through. I would love to learn an aerial...without breaking my neck.

Well, in a perfect world, I would do Wu-Shu. However, I live in a sleepy town in Southern Pennsylvania. All the schools are TKD, karate, lots of pretty generic stuff. I know you can find Pa Gua somewhere around here because I have a friend who's taking it. Oh and BJJ or Capoeria would be cool...be like Eddy Gordo from Tekken!

Welcome! Nice name, hopefully it won't stay true for long.

1. She has to yell because she's on the Demo Team. Like it or not. 2. Even if there were any Tai Chi places around here, her dad would freak out. 3. My instructor assigned ME to have this chat with her, figuring it would be better coming from a girl than one of the guys...and I'm the only other girl! 4. Emotion CAN be faked; actors do it all the time My point is, my instructor is always talking about how we're actors and actresses and must make it LOOK real. We use loud and fast-paced music. Yelling loud is a must.

OK this isn't really answering your questions but I had an idea... People are always complaining about the YMCA's martial arts programs. Try starting out there! If you can run a martial arts program for them (if they don't already have one they're happy with), then you'd probably be getting paid without having to pay rent, pay for insurance, etc. The problem is: You won't be the boss. The YMCA will. And if you ever want to move out of the Y, you probably can't do so and take your students with you. Maybe you can work something out. If you don't decide to do this, and you go on your own, you have to think about how much you'll charge. About $100 enrollment is OK, because it will include the gi. (which means you need to have something set up with Century/Ikon/AWMA for gear orders eventually) Then about $50 a month is good. You probably don't want to deal with the money yourself...a billing service would be good. However, I've dealt with APS and PPS and...no offense but they kinda stink. They screw stuff up all the time, double-bill people. For a good one, email mcbethsbilling@yahoo.com I'm pretty sure that's the email. Since your instructor wants you to open this dojo, s/he should be helping you, referring students, etc.

I have a friend who is a 15-year-old ex-ballerina of 8 years. Now, she is on our dojo's demonstration team that I'm a member of. She's very quiet. She has beautiful technique, and has all the other parts down: stances, etc. Now she needs intensity. Basically, she needs to yell louder and really get into it. She could be such an awesome martial artist if she just had this one last piece to the puzzle! I've tried to counsel her on this a couple times, and I know she's trying very hard. Her yells are getting louder than before, but they're still barely audible. She's asked me what it meant to be intense, but I didn't really know how to explain it. The problem is, I've rarely ever seen this girl get angry, and I've NEVER seen her be loud. My question is: How do I get her to be intense? What can I do? I've thought about calling to her from across a parking lot, just to see if she would yell back. Problem is, I think she'd just walk over and talk

Do what I do...don't look at anyone. Look at the wall behind their heads. I find that making eye contact during the creed/oath causes distraction/giggling/mass mayhem. Start out small. This might help karatekid, but I'm not sure about Dee. This will probably only work if the day class is small. Tell your day class instructor about your problem. Ask him/her if it would be ok for you to lead the class in the oath until you get used to it. Make sure you ask the class senior if it's ok to take away his/her privelige for awhile! This goes for everyone: Ask yourself what you're afraid of. Messing up? Being embarassed? These are more likely to happen if you worry about them! But even if they do, you wouldn't be the first one. Nobody's going to kick you out, respect you less or take away your belt simply because you messed up or stuttered a bit. However, if you keep dodging your duties, they WILL begin to lose respect. Dee: there's probably an instructor watching as you warm the class up, right? Because it's your class, they already know what they need to do. They're just waiting for your command. Besides, you can't possibly screw them up for life. After you pass (*crosses fingers for dee*), keep in mind before class how many jumping jacks/pushups, etc. you'll have them do. When it comes to push-ups, just bear with it Make sure you have the class do a good amount, so you're pushing yourself, not just doing 20 push-ups (or however many) because it would be easier. To sum it all up: Nike.

Hey, I puked at both my brown belt tests (we have two degrees of brown), and I passed both times! Heck, I even threw up on my glove and then hit the guy I was sparring...with the glove! Not intentionally, of course ( ), but I still haven't heard the end of it. Make sure you practice EVERY requirement from white belt up to your belt as often as possible. You basically want it to become a habit, to where you don't even have to think about it...the instructor gives the command, and your muscle-memory performs for you. As far as speaking in front of class, I'd tell you to imagine everyone in the underwear...if I knew what on earth that was supposed to mean. What is it supposed to mean? Personally, I'd do everything in my power NOT to see my class in their underwear *shudder* Good luck and let us know how it goes!! *involuntarily shudders again*

Unfortunately I have the problem in reverse...if I smile at a guy maybe ONCE (just to cheer him up...I don't like sad students), he thinks I'm madly in love with him. Now, I'm getting students' brothers...that I haven't even talked to!! I swear all you have to do is look at them. 1 2 3 *forehead smack*

Welcome! Since you've just started karate again, I'll pull out the old corny saying...here goes: Best of luck and least of injuries!! BTW, do you still play drums? I've played acoustic guitar for over 2 years now.

I have never paid for testing...do not pay for the belt OR the certificate that comes with it! Now that I'm testing for blackbelt in...*gulp* 11 days (ugh...yeah right), I will start to pay, but not very much. $20 for a belt embroidery fee (we get our names and nicknames on our blackbelts...mine is "whammy" 'cuz it rhymes with my name), then $20 for a banquet fee. We're having this celebration thingy that everyone is invited to. It's a dinner, plus they're having a slide show of life pictures of all the testers. Then, if we pass, that's where we get our belts. Hopefully (and I really need to hope ) I'll have something to celebrate about!! So it comes to $40 for a blackbelt test, regardless of degree. It used to be $100, but that was because our instructor had to pay other instructors to come in. Now he has more blackbelts and instructors of his own to come in. The last blackbelt test (back in January I think) was the first one to be free. This next one is the first one with the $40 deal, dinner, etc. They're calling it the Blackbelt Extravaganza. But again, this'll be the first time I've paid for testing...excluding bribery, that is. j/k

.....I guess the point of this is just that sometimes there were things you'd always like to do when your instructor maybe goes a bit hard on you, you've had a hard day, or maybe you were just feeling rather goofy and something strange crossed your mind. I'd like to hear what it is lol This is not stuff you would ever actually do...at least that's not what I intended it to be. I mean, c'mon I'd never go "bonk on the head!" to my instructor!!! A lot of this had to do with the hour that I posted, the fact that my goofball brother was in the room, and the stupid ideas we come up with

lovin the rabbit suit idea

Two of my best friends are blackbelts...and are about to go for their 2nd degrees. They're 14. I'm 15, and just about to go for my 1st degree black (at the same time my friends go for 2nd, actually...12 days left 'til the test begins!). Sure, there's a lot of maturing to be done, but I could say the same for quite a few 20, 30, even 40 year old blackbelts. You mature AS a blackbelt...doesn't that make growing up even better? I have seen 8 or 9 year old blackbelts at a tournament once. They were pretty good considering their age. The ridiculous part was that they had to compete against a 13-year-old girl and my 14-year-old friend! Unfortunately they weren't all judged on quite the same scale, but that's another story...

I don't agree that pushups are a proper punishment for a 5 year old...that is WAY too harsh. Sit in the corner! BTW myosim, she did say 4-8 year olds...this would mean (I assume) that the class moves at a slower pace than say, 9 years old+ We have found that our normal TKD class requires a bit more attention than 6-year-olds have, so we have kind of a watered-down TKD class for them, called lil ninjas. They get special belts and everything. We have one little boy (I think he's 4 or 5) that, when he first started, rather enjoyed kicking one Assistant Instructor (benedictbm knows what I'm talking about ) in the shins, or if he could...somewhat higher. He did this a few times after class, and each time he would run away like a freaking ninja and leaver before we could catch him again to correct him! Of course, we laughed 'til we cried from trying to hide it, but we had to tell him eventually, "Matthew, we don't use our kicks and punches on people! Go tell him you're sorry!" Meanwhile the Asst. Instructor is rolling on the floor clutching his...gonads...the memory still makes me chuckle.

The only time an instructor can be responsible for a STUDENT's violent tendencies are when he/she tells the student: "Oh yeah, just beat up whoever you want to. I do it all the time blah blah blah" However, failing to tell them "We only use this stuff for self-defense" can't really be called upon...they're broken no law. The instructor should feel some sort of obligation to make sure AT LEAST the kids know that MA is for self-defense only. Whenever we teach the itsy-bitsy kids (lil dragons and lil ninjas) any punches or kicks, we always make sure to tell them NOT to use them, they're ONLY for in the dojo. We tell the kids' classes too. But 9 times out of 10, an adult shouldn't HAVE to be told. Every now and then you will get a cocky guy (or girl I suppose, though I haven't really seen any) who comes in wanting to beat everyone up, learns punches and is like "cool now I can smash my little brother even harder". Then, the instructor should make the obvious call and inform that person that they are very wrong. So to summarize: an instructor can't be sued (and if it goes through it would probably fall out on an appeal) for his students' independent actions. However, the instructor SHOULD still feel obligated to teach the kids the discipline they need.

c'mon folks!! What is the goofiest thing possible you could do to get demoted??? I need to know!!

Well, assuming you're not being sarcastic (because I'm extremely gullible and cannot determine sarcasm when typed ), it would really depend on what you want! An interesting speed drill: have a friend stand behind your target. They should be able to reach over or around it. Standing in a doorway could work for this. Have them hold a rope/string. They should swing it in a circular motion at a steady speed in front of your target. Now here comes your part: Try to punch the wall without getting hit by the string. This will improve your timing--a vital application of speed--as well as general speed. It also helps you learn that bringing your punch back quickly is just as important as throwing it out quickly. Once you get good at a single punch, increase the speed. Next, take the speed back down to normal, and try two punches. Make sure you try to pull it off in one pass of the string. Keep increasing speed of the string. Finally, try sidekicks! These work well because they are a straight-in kick. I suggest sidekicks because they are relatively easy, but really any other straight in kick will do. To make it YET harder, try using back kicks (sidekicks with a spin) or JUMP back kicks! Focusing on the timing, as I mentioned. You can also try attaching joggers' weights to your wrists & ankles when you practice. That way, when you take them off, your technique feels much faster!! Practice mostly with the weights, then practice for a bit without them. As I've said before, WHEN SEEKING THE AID OF A PARTNER, TAKE TURNS!!!! It's no fun helping someone when you don't get to try it too. Plus it gives you a nice break Let me know if you need anything more...just PM me or whatever

mastertae, that "reaper looking thing" is a kama If it has a cord/chain (and if you're really finnicky) it's can be called a kusarigama. I say primarily because kama/kusarigama are my favorite weapons! And, of course, because I strive to inform

oooooh sounds cool. Thanks!

Same here...I used to enjoy being able to take down people bigger than me (easy to do since everyone is...I'm 5'0"), if it were even in the slightest provoked. That was when I was say, a green belt. Now, I guess I've been humbled a bit. I try to avoid conflict at all costs. If my friends know that I'm a martial artist, I just tell them that fighting them goes against my ninja code (and no I don't do ninjitsu) However, in the dojo with my MA buddies is quite different At least twice a night we're rolling around or kicking at each other. Just last week I kicked somebody upside the face for touching my hair j/k he was fighting me too. But there, we're all educated in MA and we've consented to do this. It's not like we have unfair advantages (well, all the guys ARE stronger than me, but that doesn't count) such as a trained person vs. an untrained person. And, we're not bullying each other around. The moment any of us begin to bleed or cry, fighting stops Anyway, my point is you don't use your skills for selfish reasons, but you can still have fun with it. You just have to use your head.