Sensei Rick

Also, train in front of a mirror and notice any telegraph and try to eliminate it. practice over and over till you can move only the intended attack without and pre movement.

eyes decieve and hips reveal. I LOOK at everything but the eyes. profesionals never look at the eyes either, this is a big handicap IMO. Hips are a great indicator of body motion. try both and see if you can tell a difference. let me know.

I often imitate him in my classes and call my students danielsan and tell the 'CONCENTRATE, FOCUS POWER!!" How great that he had such an impact on our community.

always make your games have a martial art purpose so that the parents know that they are getting instuction at all times. They are paying for a karate class after all. A good way to do this is "buy and in". Let's use dodge ball from above. it's a fun game but not very martial art. When a student get out, let him "buy an in" by performing a number of kicks or maybe even a quick kata or any martial technique to give the game value. Your student's will practice and not even know it.

find and old beat up insttructor that has bad knees himself and maybe millitary training and let him know. He will have insight on training. my TKD instructor didn't warn us enough about joint problems and now i have many. I train my studen't with the knowledge i have now ande go to great lengths to protect thier joints so they can enjoy karate for a lifetime. good luck to you.

dump the girl. your not the same man at 22 than you are at 32. it's not fair to either of you to be bound by that. If she saw someone else, you'd be sad. this way you can remain friends and have a plesant memory. And when you go to a foriegn land, it's best to eat at the table of your hosts.

Man, i am always a day late with the good ideas. Jailhouse rock..... hmmm. Krav maga for the clink. this is just another clever package of stuff that's making the rounds. for those of you who doubt me, look at bell bottoms. I can't believe i've lived long enough to see them comeback. there probably wont be anything to darn exciting in there except maybe they film in a jail cell. wish i thought of it.

I have a Judo gi from HSU. it's a 1.5 weave i think, but i swear it's bullet proof.

Black belts are like high school diplomas guys, not a college degree that I’ve heard some people describe. Many of people graduate high school. Some get straight 'A's some got straight 'D's. They both graduated. Obviously one is smarter that the other. Does the D student deserve his diploma less? Should you take his diploma away? If he can't answer questions in trivial pursuit, does he not deserve his diploma? If a 12 y.o. beats him at a game of chess, is the D student less of a high school graduate. A black belt losing a fight is such a ridiculous analogy that I can't believe that it's come into play. Winning fight involves as many factors as surviving a car crash, and sometimes you just get lucky. You are comparing 12 y.o. BB with yourselves..... or Bruce lee or funakoshi, or I don't know. Are you comparing them to other 12 y.o. What do you have in you, as a BB that other "citizens" do not? A skill set of kicking, blocking, punching, and you can remember kata. If said 12 year old has kicked, blocked, and fought as many times as you have in 5 years, is he less of a black belt. Why is his 5 years less valuable to him as it was to you? He conditioned himself and studied these things and put his time in. Why shouldn't he have a black belt then? OH.... He's not as philosophical as you? Doesn't that really come with age? And if he has a teacher that is worth anything he probably has some stories told to him that mean very little now but will mean more to him when he is older. I have many stories of this nature that feature a "mythical" wise old instructor named Soto. Some students hear Soto stories and get what I’m trying to convey. Some though, will get them when they are older. I believe white warlock said that better than me though, lets move on. Karate isn't about being better than everyone else in the world; it's about being better than yourself. Be better than y6ou were yesterday. And when you're older, like me, you discover there are two different types of karate. Old man’s karate and Young mans karate. Other parts of you develop as other parts fail. My knees are killing me these days but my mind is stronger than ever. I don't have to do a jump spinning wheel kick to defeat an opponent anymore, a simple joint lock will do. A high school graduate knows a certain skill set. He is to go to college and learn more though, kinda like higher Dan rankings. When I see a shiny new black belt with lots of writing and characters on it, I know what I’m seeing. I’m seeing a high school graduate. When I see an old tattered belt that has worn white with wear, I know what I’m seeing. I'm seeing a high school graduate that has gone on to further his studies. How many black belts have you produced? Do you really understand your own belt enough to transfer that to another. If not, then how can YOU really judge what is a "real" BB. If so, then what are YOUR black belts like? When you try to make another person a BB, you really have to understand what one is. You find out what you DON'T know about what you THINK you know. If you have produced a black belt, how good are they. What kind of people are they. I have also seen black belt head cases. Psychotic people with rage in them. They had to get their BB somewhere. We have all seen them and we all know the inverse. A Wimpy BB that CAN’T fight. Some people get a BB and they are an ‘A’ student, and they amaze people with their skill. Others get a BB and are a 'D' student and would not amaze people with their skill. But there are many factors like in a car crash. Body type, flexibility, mental ability, and above all nature. Some things cannot be changed even with the best instruction. If the student goes to school and does the work and earns the diploma, then they deserve the certificate. Many of you post great things in this thread and many i agree with. I just think you need to see this side of the coin also.

what is your style. and what country is it's origin.

This is what I have to do tomorrow, that is (I'm going for seniour red). Good luck with your test. And keep the resposes coming. Some of you have a tuff time But your building character.

I don't know how to search these forum that well yet, so if this topic has been covered, forgive me. In the company that i work for we are making changes, most of them for uniformity. Currently you need 10 kata's to achieve sho dan. I was wondering what your style is, and how many kata are required for 1st degree in your system. oh and as a side, do you have a formal test for your belt, or does your instructor decide when you are ready and then one day, grants you your rank

Hey, want good news. I've been teaching at a b&g for a while. I have about 175 students there. I don't want to tell you what I make because i have studen't here on the forums but, sensei like$ teaching saturday. All kidding aside, good luck to you

YOU could be the one that rent's space in another school. Find an upright fighting school that is ego free and mat equipped. Start building your mat collection with used gear. go for a tuition split with a cap, to start. You will not get the choice hours but it's great to start. And you can work out a deal to train his student's for a smaller fee. Remember, build slow and be consistant with your landlords. No matter how nice they are and how goood they seem to you, Write it out and sign your final agreement. I've done this for years and it's really been great. "Your" school looks good if they have bags and other things you need for training, and your clients will enjoy that. Good luck.

Hey nice too see you. I'm in arizona too. Where is dragoon. I live and teach in phoenix.

If you do this to a woman, you can really WIPE HER OUT! )

with all the great members on here, you just won the world champinships of posting,..... are you going to disneyland? way to go!!!!!

oh man, Sensei has so many... "he can't count to 21 unless he drops trow" "he's a perfect example for retro active birth control" "I have 3 ft of hair, a hunk of rock in my ear, 13 tatoo's, PTSD (post tramatic stress disorder {he was a spook in vienam}) and i'm telling you..... YOU"RE WEIRD" "Now this isn't a dictator ship it's a democracy,..... But ya have to be a 7th degree to get to vote!" And whenever he gets a complaining parent he looks at them inquisitively and asks, "Remind me, What style do YOU have a black belt in again?"....They usually sit down and shut up at that point. hmmm, Did I mention Sensei isn't Politically correct?

Sensei was in full body armor letting us attack the living daylights out of him, all of us taking out our aggressions for all the pushups we had ever done. The cutest girl in class (18 yo hottie, ya know what i mean ) was taking her turn. We were all rooting her on when one of the twins decided to make an appearance. She stopped, as we all did, with her jaw wide open and the twin waving about. Then..... Sensei hit her and said, ya think a bad guy would care about that. 22 years later and it's still the best day in class!!!!

My students are 4 to 16 years. A few of the young ones are very good at it!

Anyone interested in luck. I've beaten people that were beter than me. But beat them at the mind game. And I beat them with the luck game. True confidence. This was all in the safety of the tournament tho.... My real life things worked out well too, but I was not over matched

Available at wallmarts everywhere.

There is a counter to this technique, but it "DEPENDS" on your skill!

This one is great for kids. Since that’s mostly what I teach, here ya go. The game of nothing. This will not only train your students to focus it will become a favorite of the students and the parent alike. First you must give the rules. The game begins when I say, “the game begins now.” The game is over when I say, “the game is over”. Then you must quiz them to see if they understand. Is it over when you say, “the game is now over”? Give other options, i.e. over now, game finished. They must sit with legs crossed, eyes closed and their hands one their stomachs palms facing them; finger spread out make a triangle with thumbs and index fingers. And most important they can’t flinch. (Demonstrate flinching) They cannot move their hands for any reason. Not to scratch, wipe sweat. Etc.. No reason. When the game is over tell them they have to come to attention stance by the time you count to 3. (This is to see who falls asleep, and some actually will, they just don’t win.) After you start the play of the game, you try to get them out. I walk around the room and the student’s who peak thru their eye’s are out. I’ll wave my hand in their face, and they look at me, it’s so obvious. Then I say things to get them to move their hands. Tell them they are feeling a little itch just behind their ears and describe it in detail, make them want to scratch. I will them make loud noises to try to get them to flinch. But just a few, and make it a surprise. or tell them they are about to hear a loud bang (body shield slapped flat on the tile, clappers banging together.) and then don[‘t do it. Another way to get them out is, say the game is finished (not the key phrase “the game is over”. Let it go on till you feel it’s good enough (build their time with experience) Mine only last about tem minutes. When you finish say, “The game is over, 1,2,3” and see who is listening and stands at attention. Give rewards or praise. I put all my personality into this one and my kids and parents love it. Then I ask them to play the nothing game in the car for the ride home, it gives the parents a nice quiet trip home, and they even can use it on long car trips. Good feedback on this one, have fun with it and let me know how it works.