jaymac

I hope I can still do Martial Arts at 80. What an honor it must be for you to train with such experience.

My advice is cover your own butt. You never know who is going to sue you for some "injury" they may or may not have obtained while training in your garage.

I think that a good instructor would not necessarily cater to the person who comes in and doesn't want that life long journey, but train him as he trains others. A good instructor can keep his students yearning for more. I believe a person taking classes from a good instructor would find it hard not to want to stay and continue their journey, even if they aren't interested in ranking.

In our school, it is clearly talked about the very first time a student begins class and revisited often. If they use self defense in a non threatening situation, they will be expelled from the dojo. No ifs, ands, or buts. We have only had one issue that I know of where someone was told they could no longer train because of their outside behavior.

Unfortunately in this day and age, I do not think that a person holding a black belt necessarily makes them awesome. Many people are promoted to Shodan because they have spent their time in at the dojo. Hence---"McDojo's" Don't get me wrong, there are some awesome black belts out there and even in the school I train in. My instructor I feel is absolutely one of the best, that is why I stay. What I am saying though is I have seen great black belts and great white belts and so on. Rank is individual. Some people want to be awesome. Some people just want to go to class for physical fitness. Some go just for fun. Every belt wearer is different.

I started up in MA again ( I had trained previously in Kung Fu, then years later started in Shotokan) to gain back some self discipline and build character. I didn't care about "kicking butt". I just wanted to feel better about myself. I do. I love MA and love everything that it does for the individual who will allow it. Not alot of people "get it". They come and train for a little while and leave, but when you get that few who come in and just indulge in everything about the style, you think "wow, that guy/girl is a lifer now."

I agree whole heartedly with Sensei Rick. I love that the kata I practice was taught by master before me and they shared this with their students to share to their student and ... I love practicing kata. If you practice them often, you become one with the kata and can do it without even thinking. Awesome!

I think this post is awesome because I just mentioned to someone tonight that had I not begun taking MA at the age of 9, I think my life would be different. I don't think i would have done drugs or smoked or anything, but it gave me goals then. It gave me self confidence to be somebody. Even now in my 30's, I am so thankful to have studied MA. It has changed my life.

If this is a hypothetical question, I don't think that it would really matter to me. I live in a town where there are quite a few dojo's. Most sport large trophies out front. I specifically chose a school that did not sport trophies won at tournaments because I wanted to train in a Martial Art that did not focus much of the training on competing in tournaments. Later I found that my instructor in his earlier days had competed quite a bit and won all the time. I didn't know this because he never talks about it or never displays his awards. I found this out through another high ranking black belt he used to train with. Now I am not saying that I havent ever gone to a tournament. I have and luckily always done well, but I just didn't want to focus heavily on competing.

I bought a dvd that I think was called killing blows. I don' t know why I bought it. It was interesting to watch but because I have experience in the Martial Arts, it made me think "holy crap, what if people with no experience and no guidance actually tried to use this on someone." It is very hard to learn from a dvd and not be able to have an instructor to ask questions.

Sometime padding isn't good for training because the individual isn't afraid to let strikes come in. However, if you own a dojo, many insurances state that your students must wear protective gear. There are styles that do not practice with gear, I am sure there must be a way around the insurance issue like a contract stating " if you are injured during.... medical costs will be paid by the injured...." I am not sure though.

I agree with Sensei Rick on part of his instructor comment. My instructor does not allow us to wear our belts outside of the dojo. Uniforms may be worn to and from class if you are immediately getting into or out of a vehicle. I think this individuals instructor would be livid, if he really had an instructor. It may have been some guy who trained himself without use of a dojo (internet, books, dvd's), thus not learning the respect, honor, and integrity taught by schools. Had this been my student and he continued to misrepresent myself or my school, he would never had made it to black belt because he would have been expelled from my dojo long before he had the chance. I would go as far as talking with him or his parents for awhile, but if his actions continued-----> gone!

I do think the way that she approached you could have been handled differently. She could have instead said " It might be best if you did not lean on the wall." She is just power hungry and that happens. However, getting back at her at sparring is really not a good idea. Be the mature one and just get passed it. If she continues to give you a rough time, ask her if she has something personal against you because she is being rude and talking to you as though you are an infant.

kubaton.

I honestly like to keep a kubaton. It is easily concealed and it works nice on ice on the windshield (mind you don't crack the windshield).

I like juka uniforms if they are white. Have bought a couple of black juka and although comfortable, no matter what I did, they faded too much. I like pro force. good gi. Honestly though, I have a couple of heavy weight century gi's that have outlast them all and they still look great, and I have had them for years.

tokaido is really good. It holds up a long time.

I leave the logos. They aren't really large enough to overpower the gi or belt. Actually, I hadn't ever thought of taking them off before. Maybe I should go look at one right now to decide if I should have all along

Great job. Keep us posted on how you are doing!

Is it $75 a month or every 3 months? I have been at school where they contracts, but they offered yearly contracts. Contracts really are only to protect the dojo owner so I don't have a problem with them. Do you get unlimited amount of classes for that cost? I wouldn't be concerned about the ranking, unless you were interested in ranking quickley. It seems you may have found a school that does not boast handing out black belt in 2 years. Good luck.

Black belt is really only the beginning of true learning. One is not mastered there style once they have reached shodan. I am a nidan and still cannot believe how much I have yet to learn. No I don't agree that a school should advertise that you can earn a black belt in 2 years, but that is there way of getting people in.

Maybe when you get feeling better, you may want to invest in some rib gaurds. Good luck. Oh and try blocking the strike.

I just hyper extended the knee of my kicking leg. It feels extremely weak to walk on and is very swollen. I doubt there is ligament damage, but mostly soft tissue injury. What I was wondering, what would be a good exercise to restrengthen it, and how long to get it back to normal?

I train with real weapons that are not padded but also not sharp. Seriously, what is the purpose of using sharpened weapons to train with. I am not going to use sai or kama in order to defend myself in a real life situation. I love learning about weapons and training myself to use them, but not at the expense of injurying myself or possibly other practitioner in the dojo.

Train on heavy bag or maki wara board to strengthen knuckles. Be sure when punching, that you are hitting with only the first two knuckes of index finger and middle finger and that your wrist is straight when striking. If not, you will break bones again.