Zaine

I don't know about that. I've heard many stories where an old man beat a younger guy who was trained plenty of times. I suppose it depends on whether or not the old person is training, and old masters tend to continue training to some extent throughout their lifetimes.

Maybe he just ages incredibly well?

Agreed. It's usually instructor preference here, and they will hold you to the standards of their dojo and make sure you fit their requirements before you advance anymore.

I couldn't disagree with you more. The Pinan Shodan that I do has the finger tip strike to the torso, and it doesn't take a decade or two to condition your fingers to withstand a strike like that. With the Pinan, the strike is to the diaphragm, so as to knock the wind out of the opponent. A fingertip strike would also be useful for getting in between the ribs, striking a pressure point or doing a cranes beak to the sternum. It isn't just theoretical, it's practical or it wouldn't be in a kata that has been around for quite a long time. Regardless of your intentions with the above line, you seem to be assuming that a teacher who teaches this is only equipping his students with this technique for an attack to the torso. When I learned Pinan Shodan it was made very clear that this was a technique that required finger strengthening exercises. Our teachers are always going to equip us with what we need to defend ourselves, and always push us to make sure our bodies are able to handle the techniques that we do. To say that it is foolish for a teacher to teach a student a technique is not only silly, but incredibly closed minded.

It's not an eastern vs western deal but a proper training vs improper training, by which I mean how the practitioner trains. The dynamics that you're seeing is that, first off, the old people have been doing it their entire lives, it's not rare that they would have the ability to mop floor with the younger fighters. It's also that some people have the brilliant thought not to destroy their bodies to train because it's not necessary. A good deal of my generation is of the mind that they need to train, train, train as hard and as fast as they can so they can see results faster. While on the other hand, older generations know that not only are you hurting yourself by doing that, you're actually slowing your progress due to the fact that your muscles aren't being given the time to rest, and therefore grow and be productive.

I don't see why not. The mind is a powerful thing and if you trained both your body and mind to take that I can certainly see it being genuine. The body conditioning is nothing foreign no me though, they seem to be doing the same way I did.

I need to find a new school.

Welcome to the community!

He shouldn't quit though. Clearly he likes it enough to find different ways to learn it.

That sucks, but it happens. Just train hard for the next three months and you can get it next time.

I agree with this 100% As martial artists we need to focus on our own journey and not whether or not anyone else is on a similar journey. Also when you're constantly telling your friends that they need to start doing self-defense they tend to be so sick of you pushing them to it that any desire that they would have had tends to go out because they get the view that every martial artist will constantly pressure them into situations that they don't want to be in. So as a martial artist the job in my mind that I need to fulfill is to practice everyday so that I can constantly get better at the thing that I love to do.

Doing that is actually not good for you. Your body is working and you could end up hurting when you stop moving it all together after a workout.

Your right, probably adrenaline. Like with any good workout you just need a good down period where you're still moving but not intensely. I would suggest going on a walk after good hard workout.

Yeah I'm definitely with you. If it escalates to a situation that would need me to take a knife I would probably have the good mind to take it out. I clear my mind in the heat of a fight, but when I get to a point that I need to run usually something in me snaps back into a working mind (thankfully, God help me if that stops).

Sounds like a good alternative, I'll have to try it.

Not a bad way to look at it here. Agreed, that is a perfect way to sum it up.

The confusion comes from lack of clarification on my part. I mean the intensity that a body feels and not the actual level of the workout. Any new work out I start is a build up. I've seen to many people hurt themselves by diving into a new regimen without making sure that they are prepared physically for it. I usually start the build up to the next one as I am petering out with the current.

True, but I like to think of that as a last resort. I'm already perfectly comfortable with physically facing the opponent as I am.

Then don't, it really is up to you. My teacher wasn't certified officially with a Shorin Ryu association and I think I turned out to be a pretty good black belt.

Absolutely!

I agree, however, part of it is getting people in the door and this is a good way to do that. Teach how you're going to teach regardless of what anyone says. The ones that like it will stay, and the ones that don't will go, it's always been this way. However, if the thing that gets people in the door is a piece of paper, you better believe that I'll get that piece of paper.

Perfect! Master Coffman has S.M.O.K.A. that he lets people join if they prove themselves. He taught Gagne who taught my teacher. Coffman learned under Fusei Kise and Hohan Soken. A more than capable martial artist. He is probably one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) name is America for Matusumura Seito. He has a website: http://www.smoka-usa.com/ Check him out, shoot some emails to the officers, you should have little trouble getting certified if you are legitimate in the eyes of that organization. It's a great organization, and once I'm in a place to start my own school it will be the organization that I latch on to most likely.

I would say that this is true and not true. There are a lot of people who study before they jump, and rightly so, and a lot will be looking for some accreditation from some sort of organization. If he doesn't have it he could lose some students. However this would only hinder at first, until the dojo has a name for itself. Otherwise being part of an organization would do great for networking.

Absolutely it does. Shorin Ryu has an extremely structured organization. What branch of Shorin Ryu do you study?

Very true, awareness is something that as a martial artist I take for granted because it's second nature. I forget that it was something that I had to learn and train.