jaymac

Yes, Century magazine and Asian World have very nice weapons displays. They are sturdy also. Go to their website and browse.

I am glad that you posted this question. Have you ever read any of the "to the editor" articles in some of the Martial Arts magazines? I can't believe how people put each other and their styles down. I think that if someone is training in a Martial Art system that they enjoy, good for them. I get tired of hearing Traditional practitioner cannot fight in a true street fight. Or UFC /mixed martial arts practitioner can beat any style. Last I remember, I don't think I joined martial arts so that I could take on a 250 lb mixed martial artist. I have trained for years and believe that if a situation ever arose, I can rely on the skills I have learned from my instructor to quickly diffuse the problem or defend myself adequately to get out of the situation. I am proud of my style and genuinely happy for those who practice martial arts and practice being a humble martial artist. I have no time for those who want to take on every other practitioner because they feel their style is superior.

I do think the first kata that you learn (and in my style it is Heian Shodan) is the most important. It is from that first basic Kata that you learn to build from in order to do other kata well. It isn't my favorite Kata, but feel it is most important. I practice it quite often, and can still see where I can make improvements on it.

I love to practice Kata. My favorite is always the one that I have most recently learned. Right now I am working on Jion. It is awesome.

My test lasted a total of 4 and 1/2 hours. I did however come in one night the week of the testing to take a written exam lasting one hour. My technical portion of the exam consisted knowledge of the style, kata, weapons defenses, self defense against punches, kicks, and all required releases, kata, and in between all of that was periods when we were doing 200 push ups, 150 sit ups, other forms of exercise, sparring, etc... My thought of its purpose was just to exhaust you. Everyone earned their right to be at that black belt testing. I know I knew my stuff, but after actually going through it, I felt I really earned it. Man, I was sore for a week!

I love hockey! I was so bummed last season, but my team The Buffalo Sabres are awesome so far this year. I hope they can make a playoff run. We have only lost 11 games and 3 of them were to the Florida Panthers Darn panthers!

rs_coble, I have had that happen once or twice in the past, where I had been put in charge of teaching and someone was being disrespectful. It unfortunatley is their personality. Continue showing a good example and behaving as you would have your student behave and you will gain respect. The individual who gave me trouble has since left and I have moved up to Nidan. You will encounter students who like to argue, or give you a tough time, but it will make you a more patient instructor. As everyone has said in this post, you learn by teaching. You even learn from students who aren't as open minded as others.

That is a tough question, but for me I probably would not participate in the seminar. I think it all depends on what kind of school you have. Ours is Traditional and meant to stay traditional. Not saying that I wouldn't want others to know about other types of martial arts because i have nothing against other Martial Arts or Martial Artist, but I take great pride in being a Traditional Martial Artist. In fact I would not stop someone from going and attending a seminar elsewhere if they wished. I just wouldn't want someone coming in to our dojo and talking down the teachings of the traditional way, and believe me it happens and I have personally seen it a couple of times at other seminars similar to the one you are talking of. I wouldn't want to confuse the students (especially kyu level students) taking the seminar into thinking "maybe I am in the wrong style." I do know that if I allowed the seminar in my school, our students in attendance would only be adults of higher level ranks. The ranks and ages of students coming in from elsewhere would be up to the person heading the seminar.

Good way to advertise is by word of mouth. It is really hard though to get that when you do not instruct kids. I know it is hard with little ones, but even if you decided to take ages 8 or 10 and older i bet you would be surprised at how much they can learn, be awesome, show respect, and bring in business. Parents love to brag about how little billy is testing for his next belt and how much martial arts has helped him in focus, respect, school work etc... And thus, you have free advertisement for the next person. If you are really against instructing kids, recruit you current member(s) to help. Have them hand out cards offering 3 free lessons. If you can get people in and they have a great time, they just may join.

I think to get back to the original topic about shotokan vs. MT, I think Jake put it into perspective. he has been taught how defend himself in any situation. he defended himself and got out of there. Good job Jake. I sometimes think that people need to look at martial arts from the perspective of "Why do i want to take martial arts, and what do I want to get out of it". Did the person who originally posted this topic want to join Shotokan or other style of karate because he wanted to learn a traditional art with a different perspective than MT, or did he want to learn an art where when he gets into a fight, he continues to pulvarize the attacker until he kills him? Everyone gets what they want out of Martial Arts and if they don't, they move on. I know I didn't join in order to go out looking for fights, I joined to prevent them.

Wildbeast, you should just check out the school. They probably have a trial membership. I agree with meguro, if you like it, join as a white belt and enjoy your training. I know that when we get new students, it can become somewhat troubling when he/she has to constantly say, "well, when I trained in " _______" we did it this way. It blocked their ability to learn something new and almost all situations that person left because they felt they weren't learning anything. Some advice, I started in this program with a Black Belt in Kung fu. The only person who knew about it was the head instructor and only because he had asked me if I trained before. I chose not to ever talk about it, not because I didn't enjoy my previous training, but because I wanted to really learn this one without boasting about previous ranks or knowledge of the martial arts. It has worked well for me. Good luck!

It may be a good idea if you enjoy the style you are taking, to talk to your head instructor. I am sure he has great insight to the style he is teaching. Good luck in your journey.

I have been working hangetsu for almost a year. I will learn a new black belt kata in January, but do not know which one will be shown to me, could be jitte or gankaku. Looking forward to learning a new one though.

I have a couple of iron man gi's. I thought the size ran a little larger than the rest of century's uniforms. I usually wear a 3, but think that I could have easily gotten into a 2. Other than that, it washes and irons nice.

I don't know if there should be organizations to govern these types of martial artists, but I do have to say, it amazes me to what is being considered as Martial Arts anymore. Just my opinion I guess (and we all know what opinions are worth )

Wow I am not a member of the ATA but what ever happened to recieving rank because ones knowledge, technique, and experience in one's style was exemplary. I put alot of time and training at my dojo and am glad that my instructor has not ranked me because I was able to bring in students. I have tried to not ever get caught up in the McDojo discussions, but this posts has made me extremely glad to be part of a traditional program.

I have to say that I think it is great that you are doing this with your kids. They will love it and you will too. Martial Arts is a great confidence and self esteem booster. I wonder about this style though. Shotokan and TKD may compliment each other but what would you call this. I mean, Shotokan is a traditional Japanese art and TKD is Korean art. Does the instructor have a name for the style or is he ranked in both styles and incorporating both in his teachings. It is definitely an interesting concept. Good luck to you and your children and enjoy your training.

I have studied 2 seperate styles of martial arts. I have learned that teaching yourself a weapon is not a good idea. Having an instructor who can guide you through weapons techniques and proper handling of a weapon is ideal. I don't know what style of Martial arts you take, but there are alot of good schools that teach weapons. I do not currently take Kung fu ( belong to a traditional Shotokan school) but when I did, we learned alot about Bo and was shown many wonderful Bo Kata. Check it out.

Wow, alot of posts on this subject. My favorite holiday is Super Bowl Sunday I know it is not nationally recognized as a holiday, but it is the day I look forward to all year. Since my team doesn't have a chance ------> Go Colts!

I just heard about this last night. I can't believe that Sly is going to do another movie. He looks good for his age and all, but come on. Did anyone see the Contender. I loved that show. I am really sad they aren't doing a second season. Anyways, Sly was looking pretty rough during that series.

In our dojo, it is a practice to try and compliment any individual that is trying hard, like "I can tell you must have been practicing", or "Your snap kicks are improving." you can always find something to compliment. A compliment is usually followed by rei and "Domo"

lol human typhoon! I am so afraid of spiders. Just the other day in our dojo, a dust bunny that gathered hair went rolling past and I thought it was a spider. I immediately became sick to my stomach. As for weird mirror things, did anyone ever see the movie candyman. it was a horror flick that basically if you said candyman in the mirror 5 times, this maniac killed you. Yep, i had to test it out. Now I knew that this crazed man would not appear, but I was actually a little scared when I got to the last audible "Candyman". Needless to say, no scary man. Thank god

Wow, everyone has great suggestions. Another to just add to the list for the first situation, quickly grab anything, skin, flab, groin. This may distract him enough to free your arm or get him off of your legs.

Most schools offer a trial membership. Talk to the head instructor about this and try the class instead of watching it. This might help you make a good decision on whether this is the right school for you. Good luck!

I agree with ramymensa about martial arts bashing. I truly believe that anytime an individual decides to do something awesome for themselves like join a martial arts program, they should do so with an open mind. I hold rank in two different styles of martial arts. I have learned good from both. My passion is with Shotokan, but will always be open minded to other styles. keep in mind, most schools provide a trial membership, so even if you take a few classes, you aren't binded by a contract to stay. If you are truly interested in martial arts, try a few classes at different schools and choose the school that you truly enjoyed everything about. You never know, it may be a Tae kwon Do school