Jiffy

I completely disagree with that. You can only condition muscles, not many of the areas that get hit. When is the last time you saw cauliflower ear on a limited contact fighter??

In Australia, just about anyone can open a school, but for those that are certified instructors, basic first aid is mandatory. For us, both of our instructors are occupational first aiders, which is the highest level available for the public. First aid training should be a requirement for any sports coach, but not conventional first aid because most first aid courses do not cover many issues that will come up as a matter of sport. A sport specific course would be more appropriate. Any instructor/coach that has no training at all is dangerous. As for the overweight instructors, I agree that they should at minimum be able to perform the requirements of the lower grades. As for the knuckle push-ups, for juniors, these are a no-no. Their bones are still forming and it will have negative effects. For adults though, no problem. It's not so much that these will increase the density of the bones or anything, it won't. It's more of a mind training excersize than anything and also helps to strengthen the wrist.

"If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. Therefore I say: Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril." - Gichin Funakoshi Sit and watch your opponent and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are. Once you have done that, relax and leave the rest up to instinct.

As mentioned Yip Man was his original instructor, but he did not stay with him for a long time. Bruce moved from school to school studying various elements. He eventually settled on a style based primarily on principles from Wing Chun, Western Wrestling, Western Boxing and Fencing.

As someone hinted at, there is only one problem with Randori/Sparring etc. The rules and restrictions mean that there are techniques that we do not use, and as well all know, when the time comes, you will react the way you have trained, so by doing Randori/Sparring, you will restrict your options in the street. I do believe though, that what Randori/Sparring adds to your ability outweighs the restrictions it places on it. Only through Sparring/Randori can you fully train timing, speed, control, target, reaction and many other aspects of the Martial Arts. Funakoshi was instrumental in the creation of sparring while consulting with Kano during his creation of Randori.

Unfortunately as already stated, if you worry about a lawsuit when defending yourself, you will not be focused on the task at hand. Our old sensei always used to say, survive the street first, survive the courts second. Essentially, if you do not defend yourself in the street, you will not need to worry about defending yourself in court, cos you might not be alive for the opportunity. With that in mind, there are a couple of things you can do to improve your chances in court. 1) Use only enough force necessary to stop the violence 2) Make sure he doesn't know who you are when he "goes to sleep for a little while" They can't prosecute you if they don't know who you are.

I agree with all of you. I think that calling your Sensei by their title outside of the dojo shows great respect. I too call those before me by their appropriate titles. All I'm saying though is that if they get upset if you don't use the title outside the dojo, that's ego. Sure, they deserve to be called Sensei in the dojo and that should be demanded, but outside of that environment, being called Sensei should be a compliment, not a requirement.

Forget the restraining order, you won't get one. I too live in South Australia and they are not that simple. You need three documented acts of actual violence or threats of a mortal nature that were both likely and achievable. After you go to the police with these, they will investigate the case and decide if a restraining order is warranted bearing in mind the likelyhood of an attack and the impact it will have on the two people and the other people around them. In your case, being in the same teams, it's not likely you will be given one without serious fights having already occured. In addition, if you are underage, they will bring councellors in before they will even consider a restraining order. So in short, forget that option. The best things you can do to start with is obviously avoid the danger to start with. If it's bad, keep away from him. Change group of friends etc, change football teams or do whatever is necessary to get out of that situation. The next thing you can do is keep a diary of any incidents that occur. Regardless of weather it is threats or actual violence, document them. You will need to document the day and time it happened, what actually happened, what the events were leading up to it and who any witnesses were. In the event it does get worse and you are trying to prove that you are not the agressor, this will give you some backup. It will also help if you eventually go down the track of a restraining order. The next thing you can do is to talk to someone in authority about it. If you talk to someone before the even occurs, it holds a lot more weight than if you talk to them afterwards. Be aware though that if you talk to a teacher or councellors about it, they are mandatory notifiers. That means that if they suspect abuse is occuring, they are required by law to notify the appropriate authorities. Hope this helps.

As mentioned, the problem occurs when chinese, japanese or any language for that matter is translated into English. It can only be done pheonetically and therefore, the interpretation will vary from person to person, as will the spelling. As for Jun Fan, that was a style created by Bruce Lee prior to the creation of JKD and was formed as a result of elementry study of various kung fu/gung fu styles. (Jun-Fan was Bruce's middle name)

Anyone who thinks schools are safe these days is WAY OUT OF DATE! Schools these days are generally the greatest centre for violence there is. This is not because they are poorly managed or anything like that, it's just a casualty of the situation. You have hundreds of kids, growing up, trying to prove themselves and find their place in society and then you put them in a 500m border and things are gonna happen. First and foremost, one should excersize their right to safety. This includes defending ones self. Regardless of what the "rules" are. The reason schools have the rules they do is not so you can't defend yourself, it's just that when people are faced with disciplinry action, they often lie to get out of it. Therefore, the school never really knows who started it. They can't let it go on without punishing anyone, so the only option they have is to consistantly punish both parties.

Absoloutly. I think standing locks are one of the most underated technique groups there are. I have many that work in this scenario, but as you said, it's all about the lead up.

Don't stress. If people drop out because of this, they probably weren't that dedicated to start with. Good training should take prescendence over personal in-difference always!

Obviously alcahol is counter productive to any physical advancement, however I personally believe that it's more important to have a balanced lifestyle. So... as long as it is not before class, I think that an occasional drink is a good thing. And if that is what relaxes you, all the better.

This is a common scenario where old student re-enter the dojo. If you do go into this scenario, the chances are that once you are up there with them, they will be fine and train with you as they would anyone else. Unfotunately, as others said, it could be an opportunity to test you. If you are not okay with this, don't go. If you are, then just be sure that you do not go in too hard if they are not trying to test you or if they are trying to test you, make sure you make your point. If you go in half hearted and they try to test you, you will end up in a worse-respected position than you are now. As the guys said, wear a cup, keep your hands up and give it everything you've got. Good luck and keep us posted.

I'd have to agree with Martial Arts Teaching Tales of Power and Paradox: Freeing the Mind, Focusing Chi, and Mastering the Self by Pascal Fauliot Unfortunately I feel that most of my students are not mentally/spiritually ready to receive these.

If anyone would be willing to, I'd love to get some of these. You could PM me or my email is combatdefence@gmail.com

I'm not really sure what your question is here, but I think Cathal is on the money. Personally I think someone can always learn something from someone else, but of course the more experienced the instructor, the higher the quality of instruction. Have a chat with your instructor and see what he/she thinks.

In my experience, this is not normal. Most parents are more interested in the discipline rather than the culture as a whole. Be wary of parents that have shifted their children from dojo to dojo, but with any luck, she has good intentions. You did well in answering the unusual query.

If I could give any new instructor a piece of advise it would be this. If you have the answer, give it. If you don't, then don't, but find it. What I mean by that is be honest with your students and provide them with the answers they need. If you do not know, do not make it up. They will respect you for saying "I don't know". But, if you don't know, make sure you find out and make sure you get back to them with the answer, otherwise, neither of you would have learned nothing. Teaching is a great thing, but once you have been teaching for some time, you'll relise that the biggest part of teaching your students is actually learning from them.

My lesson plan is usually whatever I feel on the day the students need most. My lesson plan is no plan.

IMHO the ultimate example of a successful Martial Arts school is one the produces quality students AND returns a reasonable profit. (note: reasonable profit, not one that rips off it's customers). If however only one was achievable, I would choose quality over profit.

Well Done, and thanks for the follow up info. Whenever in doubt, remember that your instructor is there to help you, not hold you back, so if you are not moving on, chances are, you're not ready.

For me, it was my Dad. He has been doing Karate since before I was born and I grew up watching him practise at home. As soon as I was old enough, I was in the class and have pretty much been training ever since.

Depends how detailed you want to look. Do a search... there's heaps of topics on this... Generally speaking though, they are much the same. TKD is Korean and uses Korean commands. They have different forms and the techniques will vary somewhat. TKD tends to have more concentration on kicks. Best bet though... search button.

Nice Find!! Thanks!