bushido_man96

Ah, I apologize. I misunderstood what you were getting at. To me, that doesn't make much sense, but, to each instructor their own, I guess.

I don't think this is the case. I've seen some 10 year olds with very good motor skills. Our kids are always running and moving, and in better shape than I ever have been.

5/8/2013 Now with my schedule changing, I get to teach a different class, and the instructor is letting me continue to have the leeway that the class on Wednesday is designed for, and not just sticking with traditional class routine. So, I took advantage. I'd been wanting to do some side kick work, and did so today. Once we got to the side kick portion of basics, we did the regular side kicking drill down the floor twice, like always. This consists of students in a sitting stance, stepping back leg across and in front of their front leg, side kick and then down, advancing one sitting stance length. The tricky part is making sure they don't overstep, turning their body forward and not keeping it sideways, making too much work for them to turn back into proper position. So, after that, I put them in a back stance, and had them bringing the back leg up for a back leg side kick chamber. I had the students keep the leg tight and bring it forward like a front kick chamber, then turn their bodies to the side by pivoting to the 90 degrees on their base leg, so the front kick chamber now faced to that 90, as well. From there, it was bringing the leg back down into another back stance, moving one stance length forward. No kick yet. I focused on landing controlled, as well. From there, I went back to the sitting stance method, and worked on only chambers as well, foot tight to the knee. Up and down the floor. Then, I added the kick, focusing on pivot with the base leg to get the hip into the kick, and good drive. Then I went back to the back stance method, added the kick, focusing on pivoting the base leg, and making sure the chamber was around before the side kick went out. Otherwise, it becomes a round kick. The kids responded very well, and I was pleased with their efforts. Overall, a lot of good ground covered there. Form review came next. I had one blue belt that was struggling with low rank material, but everyone else was spot on. I also debriefed each student that went to tournament, and asked what they learned. If they sparred, I asked what they learned when they won, and when they lost: The low blue belt teenager we have said from the match he lost, he learned he needed to keep his hands up better. I asked about the match he won, and he wasn't really sure, and gave me that funny "how do I learn from someone I beat" look. I asked, "what did you do to win?" He said he was aggressive, and the other student was really defensive and didn't attack hardly at all. Too tentative, perhaps. So I informed him that he did learn something, and although you may not notice, you do learn from all your matches. Our high blue belt girl said she learned she needed to move sideways more, and not back up all the time. After forms, we sparred, and I worked in with the kids, working on some of the things they mentioned for improving their sparring.

We do both. I'm not sure you could say we teach primarily one thing or the other. We try to teach them situationally for what response you're looking for. As a rough set of guidelines we use a lot of palm heels and brachial strikes to the head and neck while we focus more on punching, kneeing, and elbowing on the torso and extremities. Again, just generalizing. I'll try to get some knife work on video and get a link up for you on it. Like I said, we got it from Prof. Harris and it's FMA based. Very focused on training method, flow and repetition compared to most things I've seen. It's a partner drill so both parties have a knife in hand, you should have seen the fireworks that ensured from the LT level when we wrote that into the lesson plan. It took some discussion to explain the philosophy of pared training for repetition sake to them. We managed to get the okay though and it's been really well received to date. Cool, I'd like to see the knife drills. I'll bet there were some raised eyebrows when that was mentioned. But, its great they gave you the benefit of the doubt and trusted your judgement. I look forward to seeing the video. 5/8/2013 30 minute walk. Taught TKD: 6-7pm. Basics up to side kicks, then I did some drills to emphasize proper side kicking, and making sure students weren't cheating their side kicks into round kicks. Form review after that, and a bit of a tourney debrief with those that went (more on this in the What did you teach today? thread in Instructor Central). Sparred, and since there was an odd number of kids, I worked in and sparred them. They wore me out, too. 5/10/2013 30 minute walk. 5 pistol draws. 5/11/2013 5 pistol draws. 5 Taser draws.

I've been doing MAs since 1993, and I've been pretty well out of shape that whole time I see this question posed often, and more often with those who are trying to get back into the arts. They want to have all their old stuff down before they come back. I say forget that, you're just giving yourself an out. Come back and re-learn as you go. There's no shame in that at all.

Kicking should be just as safe as punching. If you feel the need to avoid tearing skin, then some tape or cloth padding should be all you need. Punching the bag is great for developing some strength, as you get the resistance not available when doing basics in the air, or forms. You can work your techniques as you would in basics on the bag, or do more free-form work doing combinations and the like. Change it up, and enjoy your routines.

Its never a bad idea to enter a tournament at any rank. Its a great learning experience, and you should be paired with those of similar rank and experience. Go learn and meet new friends.

White Lo orange Hi orange Lo green Hi green Lo blue Hi blue Lo brown Mid brown Hi brown Recommended black (skunk belt) Black

I think thats spot on, it does not necessarily have to be a black belt, but anyone with a higher grade than yourself. After all a belt is a rank of knowledge in an art and not just 'time served' indicator. That's exactly right.

We, an update. We've been doing Greco/Freestyle practice for the past few months, and I think it is going to pay off well for him. There aren't near as many kids involved here, so he doesn't have a wide variety of training partners, and tends to get tossed around quite a bit by the more experienced kids. But, the coaches are telling him to keep his head up, and I keep it positive with him, as I think he will see lots of improvement when the Folk style season rolls back around. He's nervous about competitions, so I told him we would wait until next year and try competitions with these styles. From what I've seen, I think they will be a lot of fun.

Kids learn differently than adults do, and I'm guessing the kids BJJ curriculum is somewhat different than the adult curriculum. I think it would only be natural to have a bit different belt system for the kids.

I believe the "chi" unlocked during a kiai is probably akin to endorphins being released during a high-stress situation, or when in pain.

You have to decide when you go into a new setting if you are going there to learn or going there to teach others. If you weren't invited, then its likely the instructor there doesn't want you to teach his students, and that's understandable. I can understand having input to offer, but when an instructor is teaching a certain concept and using a certain methodology with his/her students, and you try to countermand it, that causes problems. What you were trying to do would be better suited to extra practices with the instructor, where the two of you could work different things and exchange ideas, trying his concepts vs your concepts. Let it be up to the instructor whether he wants to try some of those things with his classes or not. I've trained with the Aikido club here in my hometown, and I admit that there are a lot of concepts and ideas tied with Aikido that I don't always agree with. But, I just keep that stuff to myself, learn what they teach there, and grow from it.

I would say you have your own style, to be sure. I don't know that I would say its your own JKD style, though. I think spending a bit more time in a JKD setting would be necessary.

We don't stretch in class. We are encouraged to do it on our own. When I'm in class, I'll usually stretch after basics before doing forms, as I'm really warm at that time. I try to stretch some after class, too, and whenever I'm warm. When I was in the ATA, stretching was a part of every class, so it was strange to go to a school that didn't stretch in class at all.

Thanks for that. I see from your posts a glimpse of the methodology you use. The one I try to use is a bit different, but that's ok.

Our instructor hasn't sparred in quite some time. I've sparred him once in the years I've been with the school. He's tall and fast, which would be good for me to go against, being slow and short and round, but he has also had a lot of knee and other joint issues that have kept him off the training floor lately. My old ATA instructor and I used to spar together all the time. Before just about every class, we would spar as a warmup. Those were good times.

We have to do the whole lot for each grading and TBH your current one matters less than you being able to perform your previous ones to your current level. If a black belt can't perform Chonji (what I would consider as a TKD Kihon kata) and look like a blackbelt, then there isn't any point evaluating any of their other forma I agree completely. I was doing forms review in class the other day, and was pleased to find that all but one of the students present were doing well with the old forms, popping them out nicely, and they were looking sharp. The less review time takes, the more class time to work on stuff like sparring and self-defense. I agree. We expect our low ranks to be able to approach any of the higher ranks (even if it is just one belt higher) with any questions about any material, and be able to answer and help them out.

Thanks for elaborating on that, ps1. In my area, I never got a lot of exposure to MMA gyms, as not many sprang up around here. I do imagine there are so "Fight Clubs" out there, but I think the gyms making a name for themselves are probably going away from that, like you mention. Are there any of 'ill repute' in your area?

What do you mean, "what's with the hands?" Are they doing something funny?

Quite possibly a misused slang term, as well? Maybe he was trying to give a "nasty" connotation to his black belts?

I don't think MMA schools "beat the crap out of each other," not anymore than say Boxing, Muay Thai, or Kyokushin styles. Rather, they are learning applications very early on. As for the sensei you described, I agree that it isn't right to withhold valuable self-defense material to those who haven't achieved black belt. Its a disservice to the students.

Thanks for sharing this. I've never had experience in Chi Sao, other than what I've read. I have had some trapping training in Combat Hapkido, but its pretty basic compared to some of the complexities I've seen Chi Sao.

We have a school here that routinely calls in about out of control students. Good skills to have, for sure. Not a bad deal for those nannies, for sure, especially in dealing with paparazzi and all that. Its too bad it is necessary.

Has she researched the area yet? Do a Google Earth overview of the place, perhaps check into any crime stats for the area? Those things might help some.