Zaine

Be warned about Bill "Superfoot" Wallace. I took a seminar with him in 06 and, at least back then, he was a proponent of ballistic stretching. Other than that, his regimen is pretty great.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

I agree, anger in fighting, or even sparring, is incredibly debilitating. It can also cause us to associate anger with the need to fight, which causes even more problems down the line. I know everyone is different, but this isn't true for me. A little kindling can go a long way, and I spent a large portion of my life training myself to let go of the little things. I would assume for most people this is true. However, despite needing fuel to continue, it does not take much to flame up. I also find that people will find ways to stay angry out of some sadistic need to do so. People are weird.

Passion, joy, excitement, etc. It's about controlling the impact that negative emotions can have. MA can be good at teaching this, provided you have a teacher who has taken this principle to heart. It's not about never feeling anger, but about channeling that anger into something better.

Congrats! Well deserved!

The second link provided is a great read. I like the conclusion the author draws based on the information, and found myself compelled to agree with him.

Castille Armory is a great site. They are all battle ready, which means that you can use them in actual combat sparring, and they're really high quality. Their katana is a little above your price range at $465 but the quality is fantastic and it will last you as long as you take care of it. That being said, they don't come sharp, though they might sharpen it for you if you are wanting to do cuts.

Should we judge someone's worth by whether or not they take a sport MA or one that is more centered around self defense?

I can't speak for the Chinese systems, but in Japanese terminology you are an Ikkyu. Before that you were a Nikyu, and before that a Sankyu, and I think you get the idea after that. It's often just the number and "kyu." Similarly, when you get a black belt you are a Shodan. Afterwards you become a Nidan, then a Sandan, and so on. What your system uses will depend on whether or not they use Chinese or Japanese.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you! Don't worry about the bragging. We like humbleness, but sometimes bragging is a good thing, especially with some of the accomplishments you've made.

Good luck! You're going to do great!

Hey manwofear, Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

That would be correct, Seiichi Akamine's Goju Ryu Ken-Shin-Kan, and Shorin Ryu Kenshin Kan under Fuse Kisei. I would suggest 'Kenshin' is the dojo name in this respect rather than a style. It's quite a common name written as either Shinken or Kenshin it mean "true/pure- fist/blade". K I guess that in the case of Fuse Kisei the "true/pure" part of his dojo name is because he has familial ties to the Matsumora's thru Hohan Soken. That's possible. My instructor can trace his lineage to Kise, through Gagni and Coffman. There are a lot of rumors that surround the reason that Kise went to Kenshin Kan. It seems most likely that it is due to wanting to evolve the system, though other rumors exist, mostly bad. The most popular one is that Soken didn't want to hand over the system to him, and so Kise was forced to create his own system. This rumor appears to have come to being around the time that Coffman and Kise had their own falling out, so I don't lend that much credit. In all likeliness, Kise felt the need to make changes to the system, and in the end the changes were great enough that he felt the need to rename it. Can't really know without talking to Kise himself though.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Kenshin-Kan is essentially Matsumura Seito Shorin Ryu. It's currently headed by Fuse Kisei.

Welcome to KF! It's great to have you!

I'm glad everything resolved in a good manner. I think the most important thing to take away from this is that if someone has a stalker, whether it be ourselves or a friend, the worst thing we can do is handle it ourselves. Escalation via violent intervention can sometimes make the situation quite a bit worse. Not only does that put us accountable for assault, but it may trigger more aggressive behavior in the stalker as well.

If the large part of your base is Shotokan, then I wouldn't count it as your own system. Just your own style of doing a particular system. You will find that you do this anyway. As teachers, we kind of apply our own Ockham's Razor to what we find useful within the system we learn, and build upon that. It's how a system evolves, and this isn't a bad thing (but goodness would you think it is to hear some speak of it). I get that you're set on opening a studio, and that's great. I still would suggest waiting until at least Shodan (that's not so far as you might thing) and at best wait until Sandan. In the time it takes you to finish setting up everything you might be a Shodan anyway. However, in your case I would talk to your Sensei about opening a school where they have a large part in. It would be your school, but they would visit and advise you on how to run it and give you tips on how to be an efficient teacher and so forth. A partnership with your current school could also lend some more credibility, which is something that a nikyu can lack due to their rank and the outside perception of someone coming in. This way, you're teaching through your Sensei, and not just without them.

I don't see any reason to not go through the process anyway. Not attempting something because it is difficult is inviting danger. It's good that he got arrested though.

Okay, so the police have been contacted and the culprit interviewed. I'm assuming that the stalking is still happening, so can I also assume that there is a restraining order involved?

Awesome! Thanks for the information!

That's great! Good luck, I'm sure you'll do great. What is Sho Bin Ju?