bushido_man96

That looks like a fun drill, and they really seemed to be enjoying it. Kids love to play, and they learn though play, so the best mode of teaching is to teach through play. But its a fine line to walk in getting the kids to play in a controlled, constructive manner, or collapsing into a goof-off session. This week, I worked with our 4-7 year olds on balance, and I used it as an opportunity to teach a jump front snap kick. One drill I would have them step their back leg up to the front, then chamber the front leg and hold it, before kicking. Then I worked up to them standing with one leg knee up for chamber, then have them jump and switch their feet. From there, it was simple to add in the kick with the jump switch portion of the drill.

I don't think that the term "soke" is necessarily synonymous with a specific rank, like 10th dan, but it does appear to denote stature or position in a hierarchy.

6/25/2015 Department DT Training: 2:00 - 3:00 pm. Worked on choke defenses again for review and just getting more reps, and also pistol disarm from the front. TKD: Palgwe 1 and 2, and Choong Jang x2, then a good stretch. My left knee really didn't enjoy Choong Jang. Taught Little Lions Class: 5:10 - 5:40 pm. Finished week on balance, and also reviewing control, working a lot of jumping front kicks, from one leg up, then switching and kicking. We did this with and without pads for targeting. Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Basics, forms, and one-steps. 6/26/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 140x5, 185x5, 205x3; work sets: 254x5, 252.5x5, 254x5. Kendall and I were switching out some of the fractionals for our sets, and I forgot to put them back on mine for my 2nd set. Push Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 70x5, 90x5; work sets: 117x5, 117x5, 117x5. Power Cleans: 99x3, 99x3, 99x3, 99x3, 99x3. Power Snatches: 70x2, 70x2, 70x2, 70x2, 70x2.

You could ask to look at the insurance plan. But that aside, look around online at companies like Century or AWMA to see how the same gear stacks up in price. If its TKD, a chest protector and the headgear tend to be the more expensive pieces. It could be that the insurance policy has approved the gear that he sells, and therefore covers sparring with his gear, as opposed to whatever anyone else would walk in with. But that's just me spitballing.

All good points, Bob. Thanks for the reply. The groups that we become part of really mesh us together as units. You mention the LEO's, which I agree with. An army unit also comes to mind.

An update here. Kendall just completed our local FHSU Tiger Wrestling Camp this past week, on Wednesday finishing with a takedown tournament. He went 1-1 in matches, against bigger and older kids. He was pretty passive in his first match, though, and hopefully we can work on it. He said he had a pretty decent time at the camp, and talked to me and showed me some of the stuff he learned, which is what I am always looking for with a camp like that. It was the 2nd year he attended the camp, and I think he will go back next year, too.

Very nice video, especially the focus on the transitions. Thanks for sharing it!

Initially, I got into the Martial Arts for the self-defense aspects. As I continued to train, though, it grew to become the physical challenge of performing more and more challenging techniques, especially kicking techniques. I'm a lot like tallgeese, though, in that with my line of work, I always keep the idea of the combative aspects of the Martial Arts in mind when training.

Congrats, Iceman! Way to hang in there!

Good questions. If the style you did is a part of a nationwide organization, like the JKA or something like that, then your rank should be recognized by another school within that organization. If this is not the case, then you need to start trying to find out if there are any instructors that your instructor was associated with, and see if they would be willing to allow you some leeway in attaining some if not all of your rank, and moving upward.

Personally, I try to avoid the titles myself, Mr. is just fine with me. I also try to avoid the title of Mr. even outside of the class setting.

Hopefully he recovers well!

I agree with this. Most people can get away with carrying a pocket folding knife, and if hunting, fishing, etc, a good fixed blade knife can always be handy. Sticks are readily available in many forms (as an LEO, the collapsible baton or ASP comes to mind), and I understand that many of the Filipino stick/knife arts transition pretty seamlessly from their stick, to knife, to their open-hand system. A cane is also legal to have on you at all times, and would be worth while to train, if you can find instruction on it. I would also proffer this idea: why not train with a handgun? Many states offer conceal-carry courses, and if you do some digging in regards to local ordinances, open-carry is a very viable option, as well. All food for thought.

I think he also has books on Sai, Bo, and Tonfa. You might check into them, too.

I agree with your post here. $45 a month for classes is a good deal these days. Our school charges more than that, and testings get more expensive than you've mentioned for yours, especially at the higher black belt ranks, but those are controlled by the HQ school, not ours. I also agree with you that if you believe you are providing a quality program, that there is no reason that a school owner should not allow himself to be compensated for the work put in to run things. An MA instructor shouldn't have to work another full time job just to run a dojo for no profit another 20 to 40 hours per week.

Why not? Just curious. Do you have a desire to teach? Sounds like you have the experience in martial arts for sure. Is there no program in place for you to make this more accessible? Well, there are a couple of reasons. For one, I'm not the chief instructor at the school. Not my school, so I don't get to make the decisions on the curriculum. Another factor is that by and large, forms applications aren't taught a lot in TKD, except for a handful of instructors out there that really dig in and find applications on them. What I've gleaned from them is what I've researched in books by Iain Abernethy and Stuart Anslow, from which I'd start to experiment and study, if I could go that route.

6/18/2015 Range Training: 8:00 - 10:30 am. Simunitions training, doing building search scenarios, domestic disturbance calls, and suicidal subject scenarios. Good times, and some of our DT club kids got to help out being role players. Great training! Taught Little Lions Class: 5:10 - 5:40 pm. Finished up working on drills for the control stripe. Worked with doing the jump front snap kick, as well as some target pad punching with partners. Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Basics, forms, one-steps, spending time on forms review with the students. 6/19/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 140x5, 175x5, 205x3; work sets: 252x5, 252x5, 252x5. Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 65x5, 85x5; work sets: 108x5, 108x5, 108x5. Deadlifts: warm-ups: 135x5, 175x5, 225x5, 275x3; work set: 325x5. 6/22/2015 Defensive Tactics Club: 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Did some single-stick drills, and then spent time free-rolling. When I don't go with the collegiate Wrestling stud, I do a little better. Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 135x5, 185x5, 205x3; work sets: 254x5, 254x5, 254x5. Push Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 70x5, 90x5; work sets: 117x5, 117x5, 117x5. Power Cleans: warm-up: 65x3; work sets: 98x3, 98x3, 98x3, 98x3, 98x3. Power Snatches: 69x2, 69x2, 69x2, 69x2, 69x2. 6/23/2015 Department Defensive Tactics Training: 2:00 - 4:00 pm. Worked on choke defenses: front, rear, side, front with push, front against wall, rear against all, rear with push.

This will be interesting. With the games being in Tokyo, I'd be willing to bet that Karate might end up being a demonstration sport at the least. But baseball is big in Japan, as well. It'll be interesting to see which gets in.

That could be the case. I've been working more with it, trying to figure things out.

Says who? Globally; karate is still one of the most popular martial arts studied and Shotokan is probably the biggest style. K. I agree. The JKA is a large organization, with tons of practitioners. Probably the most popular style of Karate.

I agree, this is a huge consideration, one that isn't in play when experienced practitioners are conducting a demo with a cooperative uke who isn't actively trying to fight their instructor. I really like this approach, and in my time with Combat Hapkido and what I do with my defensive tactics training, is taking the opportunity to soften someone up with more reliable targets in order to facilitate our control tactics.

First off, congrats on the long run! That is great to see. I haven't been part of any anniversary celebration like this, but I do think its a great idea.

I actually haven't had much opportunity to teach forms applications to students yet. I have taken some opportunities in basics to point out some applications of basic techniques, like the knife hand strike, or the middle block, here and there, but never with a form.

Well, I'm not the CI of our school, but I'm honestly not sure what draws the students in. I think a big draw is our kids program, and we get a few kids out of each group to stay involved as they get older. Some adults like the aspect of pushing themselves, and not having to compete or fight all the time with others.

6/17/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 140x5, 175x5, 205x3; work sets: 250x5, 250x5, 250x5. I deloaded after the last session. Push Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 65x5, 90x5; work sets: 116x5, 116x5, 116x5. Power Cleans: 97x3, 97x3, 97x3, 97x3, 97x3. Power Snatches: 68x2, 68x2, 68x2, 68x2, 68x2. Now, a brief note on my current training partner's progress. I've mentioned it in passing, but I wanted to note that I started my 9 year old son, Kendall, lifting weights to build strength, using the same program I am using, the Starting Strength program that is promoted by Mark Rippetoe. I'm sure I might get some ridicule about starting my young son in strength training, and I'll gladly take on that conversation. But for now, here is a look at his progress so far: We are at about 10 and half weeks into the program. Kendall started all his lifts using a 17 lb. bar that isn't as long as an Olympic bar, but is long enough that it fit on the pins of the squat rack. We started out with an empty bar, learned technique, and then started progressively loading. Here are where he's at to date: Body weight: between 95 and 100 lbs, 4'6" tall. Squats: 93.5 lbs for sets of 5. Press: 30.5 lbs for sets of 5. Deadlift: 122 lbs for 1 set of 5. Bench Press: 45 lbs for sets of 5. Power Cleans: 32 lbs for sets of 3. For squats, deadlifts, and just now on bench press, Kendall is using a 45 lb Olympic bar for all sets, except bench press, which we use the 17 lb bar for warm-ups, and he is using an empty Olympic bar for his work sets. The fractional plate set that I got has been a huge benefit for the both of us, and has really helped me in keeping him adding weight progressively. We focus on technique a lot, and he's doing a good job so far, I think.