Zaine

Welcome to KF Les! Glad to have you here!

Blue belt was 8th kyu for me. 5th was green with one stripe. I don't remember it being particularly difficult but I practiced as much as I could, especially when it came down to testing time. When you say that you want to go to BJJ, do you mean that you want to leave Fudokan completely?

Thanks for sharing! It was a interesting to watch!

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

Happy birthday to KF! Here's to another 13 years of a great community!

Congrats! Well deserved!

Congrats Fang! Well deserved wins! Best of luck on the test, you're going to nail it!

Every generation has emotional problems, just like every generation has had school shootings. There are a plethora of documented cases of school shootings in the US dating back to the 1870s. I think the difference is that in today's world, we have access to a lot more information therefore these events get a lot more coverage from the news outlets. You're right, we don't have the same parent structure. Is that a bad thing? No, it's a good thing. The world is constantly changing and we (as parents) have to change with it. There is a lot more that we have to keep up with so that when it comes times we can explain it to our children. I would also like to add that there is no conclusive evidence (in fact, there is a lot to the contrary) that violent video games cause children to be violent. In fact, parents have a far greater influence on that. Children are able to separate the fantasy world from the real world whereas when children observe adults behaving violently they are more inclined to behave violently. I would also disagree that there is less accountability and personal responsibility with today's generation. They are just as accountable as any other generation, the difference being, again, that this generation has more access to publicity that previous generations. We hear about all the trouble kids but I would argue that there were just as many trouble kids in previous generations, we just didn't hear about them as much.

I would assign the same amount of difficultly to both. On the one hand I view blocking as rigid and solid and the on the other I feel that deflection is more fluid and loose. Either way, the transition from one to the other is going to feel as if the student is doing the exact opposite of what the other is. Blocking is a wall. A good wall lets nothing through. Deflection is a river. A river moves things caught in it where it wants.

The visiting instructor was way out of line. Firstly, if you think that an instructor has taught some one incorrectly, then you need to bring that up to the instructor so that they can either tell you (politely) that you were wrong or realize that they made a mistake so that the students can take direction from their instructor, not some stranger. I would do the same as sensei8 in this situation and ask the instructor to leave immediately. Being a Yodan he should have known better than to do that.

Congrats on your progression and upcoming test! I would suggest (to help your conditioning) doing other exercises outside of karate. If you do too much of one thing you will plateau to the point where the exercise doesn't do as much for your body as it did at first, this is why a lot of programs change up what kind of exercises you're doing after a set time period. If you're wanting more endurance, the heavybag workout is a great way to go, but don't discount a nice jog/run.

Welcome to KF! It really depends on the instructor. Some will let you keep what you have and rank you up when they feel that you are ready (which could take some time, you may find yourself learning a lot to catch up to what they would consider your rank) and others will put you at white belt. If they put you at white belt, don't be disheartened! Look at it as the start of a new journey, not a hard reset.

Happy birthday Ken!

Interesting article, thanks for sharing. I'll probably have more comments as more studies get published and this lawsuit moves forward. Personally, I like them because I think their comfortable, nothing more nothing less. I'm a fan of the minimalist style of shoe (and running, for that matter) but with these types of things you generally see a boom of popularity before you get the long term research (e.g. vaping).

For me, it was being the first Shodan in my school. I never felt that anybody really believed that I had what it took (as far as my fellow practitioners went). I was never the favorite or the highest rank but I stuck it through and not only achieved Shodan but was the first within the organization to do so. It meant a lot to me in a very egotistical, not very sportsman like way. It was a win that I could be very selfish about because I did it through hard work and I like to think that I was very humble about my victory. At least in public.

That's an awesome story Bob! Thanks for sharing! It's really good to see a community rally around anybody and let the neighbor guffaw, if they can't see the value in this then that's a pretty sad thing for them.

I noticed something similar in my training. Maybe it's the final weeding process of most instructors? Maybe it's a common perception thing? I'm more inclined to go with the former.

Progression is progression, regardless of the speed. Stop worrying about being good enough and practice at being good. Regardless of the speed at which you progress the important part of progressing through the ranks isn't wearing the next belt, but the journey to the belt. We learn nothing in our tests and everything in between.

One day you will go to class and know the terminology. My sensei stopped using Japanese in class (it's a long story) so I feel like I missed out on that part of training. As such, I can't speak to the length of time it will take. That being said, being a student learning foreign languages, I can suggest that you study and be vigilant! One day your sensei is going to shout out an instruction and you'll know exactly what they mean by it.

Most of what we do as MAists is deflecting. However, I know that I was taught that even a block can be an attack. F=MA, as it were, and if my opponent is throwing a punch with all of their power, it doesn't take much of my own force to injure their arm, or leg if they throw a kick. In fact, done correctly, a block (or deflection) can drop an opponent just as easily as a strike.

Welcome to KF! Glad to have you!

I've seen this more than brown belt for myself. I suppose there is just this feeling that after BB you're done! You've completed all you needed.

Congrats and well deserved!

Thanks for the share! I enjoyed it very much!

Just because the term didn't exist before UFC doesn't mean that MMA wasn't around and there were systems that incorporated a mixture of MA long before we thought to call it such. So I'll repeat my sentiment: When we use the term MMA we automatically think UFC, which isn't wrong, but it is still only one side of the coin. I still hold that any system that mixes different MA into one system of MA (or fighting) regardless of the intended result is an MMA. I share sensei8's view, I never shunned MMA. I can't speak for others but I always found it interesting. "The customer has no idea what they want. If they ask for it, tell em you have it. Just say anything to get them in your door." And that's a horrible way to run a business. . . .With the internet, it's a little easier for a person to do this. However, the best form of research is to talk to the experts. It's a problem if the expert is going to lie to you when you walk in the door. We all know exactly what someone is thinking when they walk in and ask, "Do you do MMA here?" If you are not running a legitimate program and say, "yes." You're lying. It's that simple. Anything else is trying to get out of it on a technicality. A person can justify a lie any way they choose. But it's still a lie. . . .There's no excuse for lying to prospects and, in the long run, it will put you out of business. You and I don't disagree here. I never claimed that this is something that one should do, I just don't blame them. I can only imagine that owning and operating a dojo (which is not a often not lucrative business) is stressful and that I understand the mindset. Will I flag them if I don't think that they are up to the standard, you bet. That being said, I think ninjanurse takes the best approach here. All in all, I think that MMA doesn't exclusively mean what we see in the UFC. If someone came in with a system that incorporate a mixture of systems (lets say a system of kung fu, a system of karate and a system for WMA) that it is MMA.