lordtariel

Congratulations!

I think it comes down to the concept of "reasonable force" Defending yourself is one thing, but to go beyond what is necessary to get away or to defend someone is where you're really going to get in trouble. I might be justified in breaking an arm if someone comes at me with a knife, but I can't drop him to the ground afterwords and start stomping his head. If it is safe, staying and providing first aid to someone you've had to take down makes for a good impression. It's also important to try and get information from any witnesses who were around at the time. It's not such a bad idea in the dojo to roleplay the aftermath of a fight. Either getting a police officer in to talk about the procedures they go through during and after the fight or at least finding out that information and roleplaying a post fight interview with police isn't such a bad lesson.

I do think it's a bit harder for guys to deal with things than girls. Women learn that it's ok to rip into a guy if he's attacking you. Most guys are indoctrinated with the "Never hit a girl" mentality and it takes some work to overcome that. I felt really bad on Wednesday though, I was sparring with one of the girl black belts and we both hook kicked at the same time, she aimed high and I had aimed middle which ended with embarrassing and painful results. She got over it relatively quickly(I managed to pull it enough to avoid real problems) but I was flustered for the whole class despite the fact that she caught me pretty good with a front kick a little earlier and I didn't think anything of it.

Wow... so many issues to deal with at once here. First, look at the problem student's ages. Girls from 10 to mid teens? Having the attitude selector stuck on rude is fairly normal at that time in life. However, I feel there should be zero tolerance for that in the dojo. If you disrespect the people that run the dojo, you disrespect the dojo and that's unacceptable. While kicking them out might be a tad extreme, letting them get away with it is extreme on the other side of the coin. The whole payment thing is never pleasant and my advice is to be as detailed and accurate as you possibly can. It is much easier to go after people if you have dates and times recorded. I hate to say it, but most people any more feel if they make you as uncomfortable as they possibly can, then they can get away with anything. We live in an era of expected "customer servitude" not customer service. Unfortunately some people can be just plain rude when it comes to paying. I agree with everyone else that if you're really having problems with being there, you shouldn't do it. If your boyfriend doesn't like that, he needs to come to a compromise with you or just live with it, not just say "you deal with disciplining students." No offense to your boyfriend but that's a sensei's job. While you may have room for improvement, you're in a relationship both professional and personal, and that requires you to both work together, so he may need to change as well. It sounds like he's bending over backwards for his students but expects you to just suck it up. Make sure you stand up for yourself as well. I Hope things get better for you.

The cool thing about Nintendo is that their system will be able to download and play some of the 8, 16, and 32 bit games. All the wii jokes aside, it looks to be a system relying on the entertainment value of it's games, not the sophistication of it's hardware. I'm not dumping $600 on a system other than my PC no matter how good it is.

I believe it had something to do with the misconception that 'chucks tended to be popular gang weapons back in the day and that anyone that carried them was up to no good. I'm not 100% certain though. There's lots of weird laws out there that never have been repealed. In one of the cities I lived in, Tai Chi was technically illegal up until I believe the 80's because it was considered a form of witchcraft.

We run the gambit from physical punishment(as in push ups, not actually smacking them or anything ) to actually temporarily and permanently demoting them... The philosophy is if you don't act like a student at your rank, you don't deserve your rank. Usually if they shape up and act more responsible, they get their rank back. But for repeat offenders, sometimes it's permanent and they have to go through everything again.

I basically drove around and looked for all the dojos I could find. A friend told me that one of them had a good and reputable instructor, but I checked out all of them anyway. Turns out he was right. Also turned out that the best instructor was the cheapest. Kinda funny that way.

Good luck and keep us posted.

damage... lots and lots of damage. I've read that they can produce that much force, but you only get that much out of the eight or so strikes you can do, not with the twirling that the 'chucks are famous for.

Good luck in your exam. Usually the best way I've found to get my kicks higher is to work on stretches that open up your hip.

We cover philosophy from time to time, but it's more in context to life lessons. Usually Sensei takes about 5-10 minutes every class to talk about things ranging from responsibility to behavior.

I wouldn't say it was necessarily popular with the women, but we had about 6-8 at any given time though four of them were fairly serious and in it for the whole time I was there.

It took me a while when I was in judo to get over this. There's two different scenarios for it. One, the woman is a serious student. I'll grapple just as hard with one of them as I would a guy because if I don't they'll tear me a new one. When you're fighting someone serious, you don't have time to think about accidentally doing something, and if you do, they usually don't mind because it's an accident and they're too busy trying to bar you or choke you out. Then there's the giggly goof off ones. You have to be a bit more careful with them because a lot of the time they're really self-conscious. Since I'm never in a position where I'm competing with them, I usually just be a good uke and let them practice. This might not be the case with everybody but it was how things worked in my dojo.

Some of the female black belts we have might not be able to match me for strength and solidity, but they don't need to because they have the distance and timing down way better than I do. Technique and timing are all you really need.

Welcome to the forums!

I used to climb when I was younger, but haven't done it in years. I'm also into mountain biking.

When I'm sparring with a woman I don't treat them any differently than any one else. There's a couple of them in my class that can really work me if they want to. This isn't to say if someone isn't as up to speed that I won't go a little lighter, but I'd do that with kids, guys or girls anyway.

I don't get nick, so I can't watch it but I've seen the first six episodes or so on a disc that somebody gave me. You can pick up entire seasons for fairly cheap on itunes though.

Woo! .175

Welcome to the forums!

Your best bet would be to go with a MMA because usually they don't bother with kata. Judo's a great art, but can be pretty harsh on your body if you stick with it for a long time. And actually, Judo does have kata, but you rarely see it done.

I had the same issue when I was a kid with both ears. My first doctor just thought I was mentally handicapped.(That's a much nicer term than what apparently he told my parents, what he said wouldn't get through the censor. He's also the one that told my parents to force me to be right handed because I'd never get anywhere being left handed), fortunately my mom dropped him as a doctor and got a second opinion. It was discovered that I had 85-95% hearing loss in both ears. I used to get really bad infections as well.(I loved the medicine though, it tasted yummy ) I actually had tubes put in my ears to correct the issue. I still have minor issues when I get water in my ears, but my hearing improved dramatically. Having hearing in both ears is a plus, but with everything, we can adapt to changes fairly well. You might want to consider ear plugs for when you're in the shower and swimming, it makes a big difference for me.

I kind of see it this way. When you get your brown belt,(3rd kyu) It's the same as any other rank. When you get to your second brown belt,(2nd kyu) You've learned the techniques necessary for your black belt. At your third belt(1st kyu) you're focusing on getting ready to test for black, sharpening techniques, building power, improving timing, ect. This isn't to say that someone who has a brown belt isn't necessarily ready for the black belt. I've seen a couple people in our dojo jump a rank or two and be allowed to test for black belt based on attitude and performance,(on the recommendation of a panel of masters during a gasshku) but that is an exception, not a rule.

Welcome to the forums!