bushido_man96

That's a good call, Bob. I'd have no problem with an older, ranked child teaching other, younger ranks. It would be a good teaching lesson, and great for the future. Also signing as an assistant on the certificates would be a good thing, too.

The important thing is to listen to what your body is telling you. There is a good book out there, called "Martial Arts After 40" by Sang H. Kim, I believe. You might check into it.

Welcome to KF!

Welcome aboard!

Good, solid posting. It is the truth, as well.

BINGO! I'll steal a baseball expression, if I may...THAT WENT YARD! Thanks Bob.

Lots of variations here, and not many answers will be the same. But, here goes my usuall stab at this. Its going to depend on what the black belt means to each style. But, I like to compare it to things like Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai, etc. You go and learn, and skill level, etc, is decided by how good you are, who you beat and who you don't. You practice lots, then have tryouts, and then the pecking order gets established (in Wrestling, anyways). Everyone may have learned the same things, but not everyone applies it equally. Yet, there is no arguement about rank, or what one should or should not be taught. Unfortunately, many Asian Martial Arts have put this barrier on, using the black belt, and defining certain meanings to it...maturity levels, etc. So now, we have to decipher what the black belt represents...knowledge? Kids can retain all kinds of knowledge, so sure. Fighting ability? Well, I don't know any kids that can beat me up, so sorry, no dice. Maturity? Hehe, I have a 14 year old who is mature one minute, and childish the next. Oh, I know adults like that too. So, flip a coin here. Thats my stake on it. And, I'm pretty sure I didn't answer the question, either. I'm not sure it really has one.

I liked Tony's post, as well. Very well thought out. I do think that simplicity is the key to success. Keeping things simple are what make them repetitive, and allow for one to gain a high level of skill in a shorter period of time.

Taller people used to give me this intimidated feeling. Being short, it has always bugged me being paired with taller guys. But now, if I know someone has some skill on the ground, that bothers me more than anything.

Bulky doesn't always mean slow. Just like anyone, you have to train to learn how to move your body and weight. Sumo Wrestlers can be very explosive, and are quite agile for big men. There are football players that weigh close to 300 lbs and can run a 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds. Bulky=slow is not a sound arguement, in my mind.

The problem comes in adults being willing to take this youngster seriously. At an age when parents are still teaching this youngster, how can one expect to be taught and promoted by said youngster? I think that is where the problem lies.

I am more of the gaining muscle and strength school of thought here. There comes a point, though, that it may be important to lose some of the fat so that the MAist can move his/her body more easily. But, I am a firm believer in weight training/strength training to improve the Martial Artist's abilities. I think that there are still a lot of MAists out there that are under the misguided belief that big muscles slow you down and render a Martial Artist inflexible. These fallacies have never been proven. I was noticing this when I started running. But, I've kept at it, and now, its just like it was before I was running. After doing leg exercises, you might want to stretch differently, because weight training the legs may not get them as warm as other activities would. Maybe after weights, get a little jog in, and get them more warmed up, then stretch. Either way, I believe after a time of sticking with your routine, it won't be so hard anymore.

6-3-10 Jogged for 15 minutes. Hit the mile 11:10, and finished with 1.3 miles. Stretched. Did my splits w/o sitting on the ground, which has suffered a bit. Felt good to stretch that way, though. TTA white and low orange belt forms. ATA white and orange belt forms.

It sounds like you enjoyed it. I am with tallgeese in that I wouldn't like to see one of my MA classes a week exchanged with yoga, but if you have the time and enjoy it, then go for it.

Thanks. I'll keep that stuff in mind.

I have started running, and I do at least a mile each time I run. If I get 3 days a week, I'm doing pretty good. I am trying to bring it up to running for 15 minutes now, and will work towards getting a mile and a half in, and add from there. Surprisingly, it hasn't been bothering my knees like I thought it would. Afterwards, I get a really good stretch, since I am warm.

6-2-10 Jogged for 15 minutes. I got a mile in just over 11 minutes, and topped out at around 6 mph. TTA white belt form TTA white belt one-steps (7 total) ATA white belt form ATA white belt one-steps (3 total) TTA lo orange belt form TTA lo orange belt one-steps (4 total) ATA orange belt form ATA orange belt one-steps (3 total) Then had another good stretch. If I keep this up, I may end up being flexible again.

It is wrong. But unfortunately, it is the Kukkiwon that has brought that image on itself. But, if one keeps his goals in mind, and knows what one is learning at the time, then its easier to focus and not pay attention to what others say or think.

I wondered if some schools still used the Pal Gwe's, or if most had just moved onto the Tae Guk's. That seems to be the trends. When my dad first started, many years ago, he did the old Pal Gwe forms.

At first I was thinking its just glorified shdow boxing. After reading you're post I think you are probally right. I think that the major downfall here is that you end up having two guys throwing all kinds of techniques at each other at the same time, without regard to what the other person is doing. It ends up becoming a continuous buzzsaw of techniques, with no rhyme or reason. If you don't have to worry about being struck by a technique, then you won't learn how to deal with it, and what techniques you can and can't do when you are jamming each other or being pelted from a distance.

Sorry Bob, but I am pulling for the Celtics here.

Very nice. Thanks for sharing that. I always get so frustrated when I jump rope.

Welcome to KF, Tim.

Not bad ideas at all, mr. obvious.

Its tough, and depends on the students' ranks. Breaking into rank groups, and having an instructor that can help with each, would be a good deal. But, it doesn't always happen that way.