Spirit At Choice

I always thought of it as short for "Master of XYZ Martial Art." I never thought of it as my Master.

Welcome! You'll find that McDojo means different things to different people. I think Sohan did it justice, though. Essentially it boils down to "selling" belts above providing quality instruction. Some people also label dojos teaching multiple arts, and dojos that are part of a chain, as McDojo.

The only instance of someone getting the boot that I am aware of involved theft of intellectual property.

The dead give away is not his reference to learning from aliens... There are people who will want to believe that. The flaw in his logic is revealed when he admits that emphasis is on super-human strength and not technique. He freely admits that GCD techniques are exactly like basic blocks and strikes of Earth-based martial arts. The kicker is that if we all acquired super-human strength via GCD, we would be equally matched, therefore the person (being?) with the best technique would be the one to triumph in a match. So not teaching/drilling technique is illogical. He admits on his site that he doesn't teach his students: "Actually, I don't really have to teach them." "In contrast to Earth-based martial arts, Grand Celestial Do doesn't involve repeatedly drilling punches, kicks, elbows, ect. Rather, these self-defense maneuvers are already programmed into our minds when we are born as part of our survival instincts. Grand Celestial Do teaches us to tap into that part of the brain which hold these instincts - in the central motor cortex, and the self-defense maneuvers happen on their own. It is ridiculous to drill what we already know."

Have you tried Craig's List? I've seen several offers of private martial arts training (often in exchange for various types of domestic help like gardening). You might give it a try... caveat emptor, and all that.

Way to go! Very nice to meet you. Welcome.

You are making miss Guzel Izmir. I have been several times, but not in years... You're putting me in a mind to make some baklava tonight.

Merhaba. Hos geldin! (Hello. Welcome!) Sprit At Choice

Way to go! How cool is that?

Welcome! I need to rent Rent... I've heard it's good.

Glad to have you!!! This is a great place to be.

Hey there. Welcome!

Hey there. This is a subject that I've been very interested in. I can tell you the ones that most interest me, but I can not give you a review since I haven't moved on buying any yet. Rape Escape has three levels of instruction and is based on Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. $99.99 for all three DVDs, or purchase separately for $39.99 each. The Bao Way is a system designed by Bao Ngo, the Successor of Style in Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts. You can see clips at the website. It uses scenarios to teach personal safety, aerobics routines to ingrain self-defense moves into muscle memory, and it also has suggestions for partner work. $49 for set of two DVDs.

I would rather see a manditory program on presonal safety than on martial arts. There is so much garbage out there on both subjects that it makes it difficult to know how one would even begin to incorporate either. But I firmly feel that youngsters need to know how NOT to have to defend themselves more than they need to know how to fight. Granted, there will always be psychopaths among us. Knowing personal safety skills or martial arts skills will not protect us. But I think violence would be more greatly reduced by an education in personal safety than in martial arts. I think martial arts is a good path to go down (naturally, since I study), but I think it has less value than street smarts. A curriculum that teaches kids the common sense of avoiding dangerous and potentially dangerous people, and how to identify a potentially dangerous person, is more likely to be used in real life than the knowlege to take out a dangerous person's knee. An in depth course that explores what leads to violence (such as, being with violent people) would be beneficial, and IMMEDIATELY useful. Unllike, say, thumb escapes (something a person can learn in 2 minutes) which may take months of practice to make truly useful. It seems to me that way, anyway.

Here is a very long, but interesting article from No Nonsense Self-Defense out of Colorado. I specifically noted the differentation between "legally defined self-defense" and what some martial artists teach as self-defense techniques. It would beinteresting to do a state-by-state research project. I also got a little piqued by his reference to Bunkai as being a cult tactic... anything can be abused, but he didn't specify that Bunkai has it's legitimate uses. A non-martial artist wouldn't know the difference based solely on this article. No Nonsense Self Defense: Martial Arts Cults

Interesting. I can see how that might be an excercise of ego restraint. I'm sure it gets more intense as one advances and invitations to test come farther and farther apart. Let's take this to e-mail. See my PM to you.

I am at Komokuten near Seattle. This will be my first IATC. I get to watch my teacher test for godan. I've been wathcing her do her kata work in preparation; it's really awsome. Back to your original question: I did not know we are not supposed to ask about testing. I've never asked, but testing doesn't seem to be at all mysterious. Is not asking a Cuong Nhu policy, or is that just the world-of-martial-arts. My friend who did Shotokan for a while said testing was never mentioned by students, ever. Often the instructors will make comments like, "You better have that figured out for your xyz test next month." Another lady mentioned that an instructor had flat out said, "You're not testing this month; you're not ready." So it never would have occured to me that testing is a verboten topic. My instructor told me a funny story once: She said that one mom "promoted" her own kids. These kids showed up at class with stripes that mom had bought and sewn on. I guess some people just get a little over eager.

In Weight Watchers, one of the little sayings they have is: I've never heard anyone say, "I got fat because I ate too many vegetables." A very simple way to stay full/comfortable without eating too much of the more calorie dense and fatty foods is just to increase your vegetable portions while decreasing bread, meat, etc. Good luck.

Black Belt Blonde: I will look into iron supplements. I am a regular blood donor, and I know I tend towards anemia because of a lack of iron-rich foods in my diet. I've been turned away at the blood bank several times, and usually have to have my blood spun to determine my iron level since I nearly always fail the simple test. Greenbelt Girl: Thanks for the tip on the oils. I'll look for those. Are they applied straight, like a salve? The arnica comes in an ointment base, oils just sound messy.

What happened with the testing? Did you get an answer? Are you going to IATC in Gainesville next month?

I'm sure thankful for all the hard work that represents! Thanks for a great site!

jaymac, the bruises are not so bad. I am not concerned about medical problems. Arnica works like a dream to prevent and diminish bruises. I'm not particularly vain, but with warm weather heading in I was starting to think about more open clothes, and I always have at least three bruises going on my arms, plus I often get bruises around my collar bone and upper chest from getting grabbed and pushed during grappling. They might look, erm, suspicious to people who don't know my hobby. And no one would ever believe I do karate because I am so unfit and overweight. (Lost 50 lbs, so far though-- 50 more to go!) So, it really was a rather idle inquiry. I'm delighted it became such a serious and interesting topic.

I knew that, but I didn't really make the connection. I am overweight, heading out of my thirties, and unfit, so I just pop the Advil as I'm heading out to the training floor, because I *know* I'll need it. Maybe I'll switch to Tylenol. Is Tylenol an anti-inflammatory too? Time to hit Google!

Ha, ha, ha! I start chanting, "You've got to BE agressive, BE-BE aGRESsive!" striking harder on the accented syllables. One time I got caught chanting out loud, and Sensei (who had come up behind me) says loud enough for the whole dojo to hear, "You can't just *say* it, you gotta DO it!"

We often do "conditioning" exercises to strengthen bones and build callouses. I'm getting tougher skin on my striking knuckles; I can only guess if my bones are truly getting stronger. My question is about bruising. I am fair skinned and frequently come away from energetic training sessions with bruises. I use arnica sometimes to stave off a really nasty bruise I feel coming on, but usually I just ignore them. The question: If you can condition skin to get tougher, and you can condition bones to get tougher, can you condition the blood vessels? Will I bruise less as time goes on?