bushido_man96

I see what you are saying here, Bob, and I think it's a good idea as an instructor to keep things like this in mind. I've never really thought about actually being better than the students around me. Sure, I teach them, and they learn, but I view it as more of an equal partnership type of thing, I guess.

Everyone has had great responses here. I agree that self-expression is something that takes time, and comes along with training. I don't think it should be something that is forced, though. I think as we go along, our experiences and training begin to actualize themselves in different ways. There will always be a common thread, but we all interject our own uniqueness into our training, especially the longer we go. I think the important thing is to really understand something first, before being able to start expressing things differently, just for the thought of doing so. It still needs to have meaning.

Great stuff!

I've not seen it. Pretty good?

As much as I try to watch a MA movie like a fan, but I fail time and time again, the Ip Man series was, well, entertaining. They were each quite free with a lot of liberties with imagination. Not all are dubbed where you don't have to read along; I watched them all on Netflix. That's what my plan was. Maybe when the weekend rolls around, I'll view one and see.

Sounds like it went well, Danielle. Keeping to drilling is probably the way to go for the time being. Perhaps if you get some one-on-one time with some students, it would be interesting to see how and what you could change in your approach. We haven't done anything yet, but I'm keeping an eye out.

Very nice, indeed!

Most helpful! Thanks!

Congratulations, Hammer! Well deserved! And remember people, there's a shortage...so be considerate, and at least use both sides.....

3/27/2020 Firearms Training Spent about an hour at the range, just doing some extra work with our rangemaster. Fired lots of rounds from the 25 and 15 yard lines, using dummy rounds to help with the trigger control. My accuracy from that range is improving a LOT. Now, I just have to improve my speed. 3/30/2020 Strength Training (as best I can) Goblet Squats: 20 lb dumbell, 10x2. Dumbell Press: 20 lb dumbell, 10x2.

I've not watched the Ip Man series. Is it worthwhile?

Having been fortunate enough to train with you, Brian at your school, the space in doable with the 6 foot social distancing policy with the 10 person limit. Me, myself, and I, at this moment, wouldn't feel comfortable in reopening any class size, and that's mainly because I've an underlying condition...Afib, and while I've no Covid-19 symptoms, my Afib won't allow me otherwise. Good luck, if your school does move forward in that endeavour. Well, this is nixed now. Our governor issued a "stay at home" order, so we're closed for the time being.

"Weighted" kata/forms are a fun way to experience technique. It's not something I'd recommend to do a lot of, because the weights effect technique to a degree, but it can be a great change up. For an interesting experiment, do a "weighted" kata, and then after a few minutes rest, do the same kata again, and really go all-out for speed.

We did a test run with the blackbelts on Friday with Zoom. Great software, but very weird teaching to a camera and not being able to physically interact with people. Also challenging setting up the room and lighting. Lighting was not something I had considered. Good to know. Our school is in the process of setting something up, so we'll see how we approach it. Not being able to interact would have to be the toughest part about it! Sometimes the cues we give out in regards to techniques are aided by a little bit of personal contact (appropriate, of course), and missing this aspect will be a challenging aspect to a new way of teaching.

I like the idea here, very creative! I wish more of it had less Japanese terms, though; I'm not as up-to-snuff on my Karate terms as I was when I was reading a lot more.

Great stuff so far, everyone! Best of the Best is really a favorite of mine, as well. I need to find it somewhere. I haven't seen Good Guys Wear Black of ages! May be worth a look-up. Also, The Hero and The Terror might be worth a re-watch.

Our school is going to open classes back up on Monday for those who feel comfortable attending. They are adding an extra class time for our Little Lions, and are allowing attendees to wear a mask if they feel comfortable doing so. They are also eliminating sparring and one-step/self-defense practice for the time being, in order to observe the 6 foot social distancing policy, and are keeping the limit at 10, counting the instructor. We'll see how this goes, and what kind of reception it gets.

No, not that I know of, anyway. We picked up all his books along with it, so I think the gist is that we'll be assigned work from the books, and they assignments will be completed through some Google sheets or docs or something like that, and then submitted to the teacher.

If you do decide to try something streaming, Danielle, update us as to how it goes and what kind of feedback you get.

I've actually considered attempting this in the past. Right now, with thoughts of testing in the sometime future, I don't want to take on any new curriculum, but once that's passed, I've thought of toying with this idea.

So, I think we can all agree this Covid-19 thing sucks, and is seriously messing with our favorite hobby/pastime/way of life. But, if we can't go to the Martial Arts, we can bring to our home, with the likes of Netflix, VUDU, Amazon Prime Video, and all the other streaming possibilities. So, with that in mind, let's do this! Pick your favorite blast from the past, or something newer, give it a watch, and post about it here, and what it means to you, what you like about it, what you dislike, etc. I recently rewatched The Last Samurai on Netflix. I'm not a bit Tom Cruise fan, but that movie is just beautiful. I do like the Algren character and his troubled story line, and how at the end, he seems to find some peace.

I still like the idea of a technical grade, too. Best of luck in this endeavor! I'm sure you'll do great (and be very exhausted when you are done)!

Yeah, it was a high/low moment for the boys...lol. That business will start up next week for us. I went and picked up Kenneth's Chromebook this week, so we'll see how this goes.

In Stuart Anslow's Encyclopedia of Taekwon-do Patterns, he has the Global TKD Federation (GTF) forms listed, and some of those are pretty crazy long, with lots of different kicking combinations. They do intrigue me, but I honestly don't think I could do them well.

I've not done much of anything since this whole thing has started. If it keeps up, that'll change, and I'll have to start doing something at home. I don't have a lot of room for forms practice, but I can make do with a lot of other stuff.