CTTKDKing

I'm a little late to this thread but as i train with and help coach with the point sparring team and also take Muay Thai sparring classes to aid in my training, I figured i'd weigh in. I'm a big fan of the traditional martial arts but the way they are taught in most places in the US, is lacking in certain ways in a lot of schools. I view BOTH free sparring and point sparring as necessary tools if you want to be rounded (as well as grappling but we aren't discussing that here). Free sparring to work on strategies in a more "fight like" way as well as learning to take a harder hit, combos, etc., and point sparring for working on landing that precise high speed strike and learning to rapidly exploit openings. Point fighting is a bit safer and lighter contact than most continuous systems, so a lot of our lower belts try that before jumping into something heavier duty like Muay Thai or MMA sparring. This is awesome because many people in continuous fight only schools that teach traditional arts, wont spar because they are intimidated by standing toe to toe with someone and slugging it out, or they don't start it until they are like brown belts, so in my school they are encouraged to start with the point fighting and then add more in as they are comfortable. This gets them learning to use their moves in real time a lot earlier than in a lot of other schools that i've visited which means that their techniques they are using in the regular karate classes will be that much more effective, that much earlier which is quite important. It's one thing to practice something like a Kanpo defense technique in class with a person where it's pre-choreographed out but it's another at speed where the person isn't attacking in a predetermined way. All of it is useful though and can be learned from. They are just different tools on the Swiss Army knife that is the martial arts. For me, I did WTF TKD competitions for a number of years back in the early 2000's which is hard/full contact and continuous sparring but with certain restrictions, like no straight punches to the face and no grappling or take downs. Jump to the school i attend now after moving in 2012 and here i train in my school's karate system as a primary, as i mentioned above, and then i participate in Muay Thai sparring classes once a week as well as a point fighting class once a week. After years of training this way, as well as an occasional sparring match with people from our MMA team, my abilities have become extremely well rounded compared to where i was when TKD was the focus. We have a lot of MMA and BJJ guys that think karate is a waste or a joke, but for those of us that have put in the time on the mat for our karate system and practice both types of sparring, it shows and the people who are purely on the MT continuous sparring side of the coin usually have to take back their sentiments after experiencing it first hand with some of our senior belts.

Oh interesting. The only reason I'm looking is because I was asked. The form is not mine so I hadn't researched the history. I did find some traditional Iron Tessen's on a site that are made in what they claim to be the old world traditional manner, and I sent those over, but I'll pass on this information as well. Time to do some reading on this subject.

I have 2 people in my school learning a bladed fan form and they would like to obtain fans with actual blades. The closest we can find are the ones ranging from $20-$60 that are just hand fans with metal spokes. Does anyone here know where we can get fans with actual blades on them. They can be blunted but with the actual blades, they are weighted differently and will work better on this form.

I can't say if diversity has changed across the entire area of martial arts, but a close friend of mine was certified as a Sensei in our school's primary system of Sho Biyn Ju last year. She's the first female Sensei in the system nationally, but per the UMAA there are only 3 Sensei's in the system period so maybe this isn't an ideal example. I also had a friend from a previous job who started training under a female Sensei in Kenpo years back. She ran a school on the other side of CT from me, and from what I understand, she was very talented. I do not know if she's still running that school though. I've seen many female black belts but not a lot certified as Sensei's which is a shame, especially in self defense oriented styles. I feel like in some cases, people might find women Sensei's more approachable especially for those cases where someone is looking to learn to defend themselves after something bad has already happened. I know I've personally worked with several female victims of rape and assault, in this way over the years and while it worked out fine, I think they would have been more comfortable in the beginning with a woman teacher. Or maybe I'm thinking in a sexist way here, I dunno.

I was 20 years old and 418lbs but I had always wanted to try a martial arts class so despite the rough start I fell in love with it immediately. I threw up when my instructor showed me how to do a front kick and had me do 50 on each leg while facing the mirror. I threw up a few more times over that first few weeks, but I'd never felt so alive. Here I am now 13 years later, and about 100lbs lighter and holding a 2nd dan in TKD and a 1st degree BB in Sho Biyn Ju. Based on how bad of condition I was in at the beginning with the throwing up i mentioned I'd say that martial arts literally saved my life, so I'm glad I made it through that rough beginning to where I am today. I still have some weight loss I want to take care of, but the progress over this past decade and change has been life altering.

I'm in the unusual place that I can actually answer this question exactly. I do hold a 2nd Dan in WTF TKD, but this past summer I got my 1st Degree BB in Sho Biyn Ju and in that system we have 39 black belts certified under my instructor in CT. The cooler thing IMO is that nationally there are 3 people with the rank of Sensei in the system and I had the pleasure of having the first female Sensei testing along side of me this past summer. for her Sensei-ship. While I was honored to do so, I was assigned to be her uki for defense demonstration and I do have to say that, I hurt more than everyone else at the test at the end. She really laid into me. Ha ha

Hey thanks everyone. Glad to be a part of this community.

Hmm That is interesting. I'll add it to my bookmarked list. If they wouldn't sharpen it, and this is something I get into long term, I might consider it for live demo with a partner.

Hello, I'm going to be studying katana sword for part of my cross training requirements for 1st to 2nd degree BB in Sho Byin Jyu and I have gotten some advice on what I should buy for my first blade for cutting practice. I'm posting here because I was wondering what all of you that have participated in this art form have to say from your experiences over the years. I've been told pretty much anything from the below linked manufacturer is fantastic for a starter blade for the money (the model called Tenchi is owned by someone I know that's been cutting with it for years). These are full tang weapons designed for dojo cutting and kata, not live reenactments with other people using live weapons. That was my only real requirement. I wanted something that'll hold up on cutting targets and that's properly weighted and balanced for kata. If we end up doing a 2 person form of any kind we will be using bokkans so live combat steel isn't necessary. I want to stay in the $200-$400 range which based on what I know now, seems reasonable. But what are your thoughts. Any additional advice would be appreciated. I've also been told that Paul Chen's weapons are nice, but I like the styling of the below better. http://www.chenessinc.com/katanas.htm

I'm curious as to why you'd think that Kyokushin is more dangerous than other forms of martial arts, and specifically for girls? We have girls on our fight team for Muay Thai in our gym as well as our karate sparring team and MMA team which is all hard contact. We don't separate by gender either as there's no reason that a (for example) 130lb female can't fight a 130lb male.

How exciting! Promotion and competition are 2 forms of tests for yourself that are both very important. Promotion tests your knowledge on your specific style, and competition tests your applied skills. Good luck on both of these endeavors. I hope you do well.

Congrats CTTKDKing! What did the test entail? So there are some tasks that our instructor has requested we not share with anyone but other people that are black belts in our system as they are something that only he does and offer a very unique spin on a black belt exam that he'd prefer to keep private to our school. That said, we had 2 days of closed door testing with no observers except my head instructor. After one of the tasks I wont discuss, we spent the rest of the first 2 days going through all of our curriculum belt by belt, and between each piece we had a severe physical exercise we would have to execute to whatever standard he decided. Example, we did a set of defense techniques for a belt, then ran suicides for 15 min, and then ran the forms for that same belt, then some cross-fit exercises for 10 min, then the rest of the strikes and kicks for that belt. Then 1 more physical activity and then you'd move to the next belt. You basically had to re-earn each belt from white to advance brown. You get back up to advance brown before the end of day 2 and then you do it all over again at the open door test on day 3. After you've covered the entire curriculum again with shorter intervals of exercises between on Saturday (due to time constraints), when you're totally exhausted (at about hour 3), you then get to put on the sparring gear. I had to fight 2 rounds with some of our Thai Boxers who were nice and fresh and then had to do a 3 min BJJ match with the head instructor (who's actively competing and is fantastic). It was funny because I was reaching the point of muscle failure when i got to sparring. I couldn't kick with my right leg and my abs were cramping horribly. After that it's 10 min of horse stance and you receive your belt. Also while the fight portion is happening, since i was not the only one testing, you have more exercises you're doing while you wait your turn so there is literally never a break. Saturday's portion of the test was 4.5 hours of non-stop high intensity exercise. He makes the test this hard, because he wants to test your heart. He doesn't allow people to test until he knows they are ready knowlegwise so he pushes you to a point where he wants everyone to consider quitting, and then to push through it. It also shows if you really do know your curriculum because you are so tired you cannot think. So if you can execute defense techniques and forms under this much duress then you REALLY know it. It's funny because as I went through it, I hit my breaking point on the day 1 portion due to poor choices in my breakfast, and the fact that I had a stomach bug 2 days before day 1 and the last hour of the exam period I literally was fighting through the room spinning around my head. The other 3 test candidates turned into cheerleaders, especially this 14 year old girl (going for youth black belt) that I've become friends with in there. Their encouragement got me through day 1 but as I finished, the first day it made me want the promotion that much more. In fact I hit a point where I never wanted anything more, and it might sound cheesy but i felt a fire in me on day 2 when we began and I knew the only way I'd quit is if something broke. The other 3 candidates, hit their breaking point on the 2nd day. All 3 of them had a lot of trouble on a specific cross-fit exercise that we had to do for a very long time and I turned into their cheerleader. That 14 year old girl was in so much pain on it that she was sobbing. She made it through it, and almost collapsed. I half carried her over to get her next belt. She got her bearings and pushed through it to finish day 2. Day 3 my wife, who finds the whole concept of practicing martial arts to be quite boring and off-putting, saw what we were going through and even she was screaming encouragements and getting really into it. This test was a life changing experience. I think we all shed some tears at the end when we got our belts. Was an intense experience that I think only others who've done it and maybe some of you can understand. Sorry for the long response. I waited until I got home to answer your question because I wanted to convey what it was really like. I still don't think I am doing it justice. I already had a 1st and 2nd Dan in WTF TKD, and this black belt means so much more to me than that. I'm still proud of my TKD ranks, but I KNOW what my 1st degree in Sho Bin Ju took to get. I earned my TKD black belts, I became a Sho Bin Ju black belt. Trial by fire.

Indeed. I don't plan on rushing anything at this point, but the quickest anyone has ever earned 2nd degree BB is about 3-4 years after first (and those are teachers in the school that train every morning). It's probably going to take me a while anyway simply because I'm going to cross train some in the mean time. My ground game is a bit weak so I'm thinking I might roll a day or 2 a week with our jujitsu guys to help that part of my game. I'm just not a fan of grappling so I've put it off but it's probably time. Also would like to get back into Kali if I can find the time.

I'm happy to say that after what turned out to be 10.5 hours (4.5 of which was this past Saturday) of what was literally the most physically/mentally demanding test I've ever taken this week, I came out victorious. My ribs look like someone took a hammer to them (knees from the sparring portion of the test), and I'm the sorest I've been in years, but I feel great. My instructor really makes you earn your black belt. Almost feels weird being back in work today. Ha ha.

Perhaps I should elaborate on what I meant earlier. My concern actually lies in the recovery time. The 3 days of this test this week are Monday (tomorrow), Wednesday and then Saturday is open door so our families can come watch as well as other people from the school. The days are spaced out exactly so you're on that 2nd to 3rd day, which for a 20-25 year old should be feeling a bit better from soreness and whatnot with a little stretching. I find my recovery puts me at my sorest on that 2nd to 3rd day after extreme exertion, so this test should be quite challenging. That said, I've been taking it easy today and doing a lot of thinking and reflecting and I'm feeling pretty good. I've thought about my training both ongoing and the intensive cardio I've been doing since my summer semester ended in mid July, and I literally couldn't fit any more in, without neglecting my family, even if I'd wanted to. I'm as ready as I can possibly be and am looking forward to starting this challenge tomorrow. That and I can hardly wait to start training to what comes next after black belt. Our school is structured so that you basically build your own requirements to go to 2nd degree. There are requirements that all have to do but a good 50% of your higher degrees, in our school, are entirely your choosing. I like Sho Bin Ju a lot and find it to be rounded and fit what I like and what my goals are, but it'll be very nice to tailor it even more so as I start teaching, and start my higher levels of training so that my art properly reflects me.