kenpo_fighter

People have BB tests less than 5 hours? My first degree test was about 9 hours long, most of it outside, in Texas, in August. I know that some styles don't do that for testing, and while mine was particularly rough, it just goes to show the absurdity of 6-year-old black belts. yeah, my shodan test started at 8:00 am and didn't finish until about 5:00 p.m. we did every thing from katas to kumite to board breaking and of course all the official formalities in between. i second the notion that a black belt younger than even pre-adolescence is quite absurd. not to mention, it's a slap in the face to those who were of superior strength, mind, & maturity and still failed.....3 times. it took me 3 tests for shodan to actually pass. i was almost 14 when i became shodan. i believe there should be not only knowledge of the material & knowledge of applying technique (kumite), but there should also be a level of maturity when doning a black belt. a shodan should be something you become, not something you acquire.

kyokushin kai kenpo karate waka michi ryu aikido

i'll be opening up my first dojo in about mid-july in Jackson, madison county, in east tn. i'm about an hour & 30 mins. east of memphis. don't think you'll be within close proximity of my dojo, but, if you're ever venturing out in that part of the state wouldn't mind training with you. in my dojo we train in the kenpo karate arts along with aikido. just letting you know if you're interested. kenpo_fighter

like others have stated, i don't tell "normal people" that i study the arts, not out of fear of harrassment, but of the inablity to put up with some moron's antics. just play like "superman" or "spiderman". you are a true warrior, never reveal your true identity until there is no other option.

I thought the article was well written with your point made across very clearly. Some very good points made as well as interesting ones. I can , in a way, relate to a couple of your points from my own experiences. "Why do I train?" I started studying Karate when I was about 8 yrs. in Japan. And quite honestly, I started for the same reason that every 8yr. old in the world would want to study, to learn to fight! Growing up in a miltary family & where Bruce Lee cinema & many alike was usually found on the family movie list, this only fueled my fighting ambitions. I did train for years on the possiblity that one day I may actually have to you my art to defend myself or my loved ones. Now, as I train in the Kenpo & Aikido arts, my movtivation has drastically changed. I train now, not just to protect myself, but, i train to learn the arts themselves. The martial arts has become an outlet for me to express myself physically, mentally, & spiritually. And to uphold ancient traditions that has been passed through the generations. But, I very much agree, if somebody just wants to learn to fight for the soul purpose of fighting, join the army. It kills me how these little gangster punks come off the street calling themselves a "solider". I'm like "O.M.G.!!" I usually end up telling them if they were a "real solider", they'd litterally be in the military. For that reason alone, I want to abandon all my principles and beliefs to use my arts in the "dark" way & beat them within an inch of lives for speaking such ignorance.

Welcome Shinjin!

Good luck at your test and good luck on your martial arts journey!

welcome, cheeks!

Welcome, Jae! glad to meet fellow karateka practioner! kenpo_fighter

welcome to the forums and good luck on your new journey in the martial arts! kenpo_fighter

Shodan - Kyokushin Karate Shodan - Kenpo 4th Kyu (green belt) - Waka Michi Ryu Aikido

My congradulations to you. I know the feeling of making rank. It's one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment one can feel. Maintain that student mentallity and you'll go far in your art. God speed on your journey.

Enter the Dragon Way of the Dragon Chinese Connection Fists of Fury Game of Death (but, if Bruce had been alive to finish the movie, it probably would've been better.)

i would personally see exactly what the student needs to work on in order to make rank. I would then talk to the parents, letting them know what the student needs to work on. i would also recommend to the parents that the student spend some extra time in the dojo with either myself or another assistant instructor and have the child demonstrate the techniques to the parent to get the parents involved with students training more. let the parents see where there dollars are going.

haha! well put!

Now I'm not sure that you take karate, but I want it in. Off course I take it. Just look over there: <<<<<<<<< Karate will degenerate into pure sport if it gets into the Olympics and there will be nothing to separate it from the Olympic TKD on display. Not only that governments will start to try regulating it, and you can probably kiss goodbye to any of the self-defence stuff (Especially in the UK with our Nanny State) As you can see I take shotokan, and if you read Karate-Do: My Way of Life from Master Funakoshi you will see that he was totally against sports karate. Olympic Karate will mean an influx of the local McDojo - lots of wanna be Olympic Warriors who have no interest in preserving the traditions and ways of karate; have have no concept of Karate-do. Dropping all the aspects which won't get them any firther in their goal of winning the Olympic gold. And the stark reality? Only a tiny proportion of the people training will ever have the slimmest hope of actually making it into the Olympic team. i understand and see both points of why karate should & should not be allowed in the olympics. for those who want to see karate in the olympics....for the right reasons, it would show the world, especially "soccer moms & dads" here in the U.S. that taekwando is not the only form of martial arts that they're kid/s can sign up for. IF DONE RIGHT, the olympics can show the beauty & controlled physical aspects of karate. being a kyokushin karate practioner myself & having trained in japan myself, i'd love to show the world what i had learned in my years of training. but, if it gets too "commercialized", like AngelaG had stated, it'll fuel McDojo's nationwide & that's something i don't want to see happen. but, being a future instructor myself, i see Fox_NFLs_GG point also that we must keep & gain interest in the true dojo's in order for the school to stay in business. all good instructors that are true to the art should teach their students that there is a defined difference between "sport" & "real" karate. unfortunately, for McDojo's, all they teach is watered down karate or taekwando, taking families life savings & giving the student a false sense of confidence. leaving them with false techniques that will have no affect in on a street corner, in a dimlit parking lot, or typical convienience store robbery. i feel it essential that all true dojo's should adapt with the changing times, because they are legitamite businesses. they should also keep in touch with honorable traditions of their style; karate, real taekwando, wing chun, etc. full contact is the way that the ancient warriors of the past trained & fought. it is tradition. and it is also tradition that times must & always do change. i think it would be great to see karate in the olympics. and not that watered down "american karate". i want to see the real stuff, just like in japan. if boxing is allowed in the olympics, i see no reason why karate can't be in it.

hi, rivergirl! i completely understand how you feel, as i also, was there for the first part of my training. i started training when i was 8 yrs. old. i was a skinny, shy kid who was very self concious. i remember having to learn my first couple of katas for yellow belt. i learned the material, but when i came to performing in front of sensei, let alone the whole class, needless to say, i was petrified! i turned to my sempai (senior student) for help. we went to the same elementary school together & he was a couple grades higher than me. so, i kinda looked up to him. he told me that before you bow to begin your kata, close your eyes. take a deep breath, in through your nose, out through your mouth. invision yourself in the time of samurai like what you see in the movies. picture yourself as an invinsible warrior. and you have all these enemies around you. bow in & picture your movements in kata as your actual attacks on those enemies. basically, picture yourself in a real fight & execute your techniques as if you were really applying them to somebody. if you can focus on just that, you'll forget about sensei & all your fellow classmates. that advice would serve me well years later when i was a brown belt. i was at an all japanese karate all-region tournament in the sr. elementary division. i mustered up enough courage to run a black belt kata as a brown belt myself. given the fact that i was a gaijiin (foreigner) in a japanese tournament. because the tournament was so big, and so many spectators, sensei's, & peers looking onward, my stomach was crawlling with butterflys. but, i remembered the words of my sempai. i pictured myself being attacked and executed my kata. i went home as the all-region sr. elementary kata champion. i still use that advice to this day at the age of 25. you're supposed to lose yourself in the kata. it's as much a mental excercise as it is a physical excercise. just make sure you find your way back in the end (lol).

the term "grand master" should be appointed to you by your superiors, not self appointed.

i started sparring within my 1st week of training.

i wear my gi weather i'm in or out of the dojo. when i train outside the dojo in my gi, its like turning on a "switch" of a machine inside my head. lets me know "it's time to go to work". also, i feel like i'm advocating a time honored tradition. the many great warriors who trained before me, wore their gi's when they trained. especially in fuedal japan, where, wearing ones gi was considered an honor & not a fashion statement, like as in todays society.

wuss krackin', jordan? (no pun intended. haha)

welcome, jeff!

welcome, chaos! osu!

the females in our dojo spar with both each other and the men of the dojo. the highest ranked female loves to spar with me mostly cuz i'm the only one that'll let her go 100% full contact with me. i tell her i'm going 100% also, but, i'm still holding back on my full potential. when sparring with her, i try to practice counter strikes & my evasion techniques. she's as quick as a cat. she keeps me on my toes. personally, i think women should be allowed to spar with men, as it is beneficial to their training as well as ours. when out on the street, you don't have a say in who your next adversary is going to be.

having trained in kyokushin for 5 years, i can confidently agree on your outake on this. learning an ground fighting style would make a kyokushin fighter even more deadly. fortunately, my 4 years of wrestling in high school have proven useful in my training. not to justify this "void" in the art, but i think it's because oyama sensei focused on the "one hit, one strike" philosophy. therefore, defeating any need for ground fighting techniques.