bushido_man96

Welcome to KF, heva, and welcome back to the martial arts!

Oh, yeah! I totally did that one time, only, unfortunately, I do remember. The only bad thing about doing this to yourself in class is that you can't really express how you feel at the time!

Cool. Good deal for you! It is amazing the knowledge one can garnish from someone with so much experience.

I don't know why, but every time I here about someone doing ninjitsu, I get this really doubtful feeling about it. Like maybe someone has studied MA for a while, has mixed in some weapons training, and is calling it nijitsu. I just get a really negative feeling about it when I hear it. Don't know why; probably just need to educate myself on the subject more.

Believe me, if I did not live in such a restricted area, I would. But, where I live, there are 2 MA schools in town, and the other just does not interest me. However, if I ever have to move to a more populated area, with lots of options, you can bet that I would be looking around. I also constantly read books and try to find different ways to do things. I am reading an ebook on Applied Karate right now, with the goal in mind to develop workable bunkai for the forms system that my current style uses. I just don't think my instructor is that open-minded.

OK, here is the scenario. My wife's cousin has moved from Kansas to New Mexico. In Taos, New Mexico, her new home town, there is no Tradtional Taekwondo Association school, which is the association her and I are both with. She has started her own business, and has no interest in starting a TKD school on her own. She wants to continue her training, and has found an ATA school there. I know who the Master is there, and I told her that I have had seminars and testings with him, and that he is a great instructor. I think she said she is signing up this week. Anyway, here is the meat of the story. She talked to the Grandmaster of the TTA, and said she wanted to continue working out. She told him about the school she found to work out at, and he became angry with her. He does not want her changing styles. He claims it is about loyalty, I think it runs a touch deeper than that. Our GM is also the kind that does not like cross training. He says "TKD is all you need." Well, being in TKD for 13 years, and loving every minute of it, I can say that is boloney. I think it is political, and he is using his rank to try to intimidate her. I told her to go ahead and sign up with the other school. I told her that even instructors and GMs should realize that the martial arts is our own personal journey. Yes, we do need someone to help us get started, but we all finish on our own. His feelings kind of anger me, and I know that my instructor is kind of the same way. If there was a ground fighting school of some kind here, he would not let me attend it, without repercussions, like expulsion. Well, there is my long rant. I would like to know what everyone else thinks. And I also appreciate the time that anyone will put into reading such a long post that isn't in the articles section!

Welcome to KF. Glad to have you here!

Welcome to KF, Jason!

Welcome to the forums!

Just about sums this one up, doesn't it!

Looks like he moves very well. How big do you suppose he is?

Gutsy... I really hate the amount of politics that one can find in the martial arrts. Frankly, I'd much rather people just be open to new ideas, rather than so adamantly sticking with stuff because that's what they do. But, I guess one can't really escape that, huh? That would be a perfect world, wouldn't it?

This is a good point here. My wife's cousin has just had an incident with our current Grandmaster. She has moved to Arizona, and there isn't a school there from our association. She checked out an ATA school there, and I told her I knew the who the instructor was, and recommended the school to her. But, she talked to the GM of our current association about it, and he got angry with her, because she was going to go to a different style. My question is, what is she supposed to do? She just started her own business, and doesn't have the time to open her own school, nor does she want to. I think it shows a lot of the politics that tend to pop up in the martial arts. Maybe I'll head to the Politics forum with this, and open up a big can of worms!

Me to I know I have already learned lots of valuable information from the individuals on this site.

First off, welcome to the forums! Now, as for learning from a DVD. Personally, since you have no prior experience, I would not recommend it. Wait until you start classes, so you don't develop any bad habits that will be a pain to fix. It will be better for you in the long run.

Doesn't sound too bad, you should be in pretty good shape. You could at a weight lifting schedule in to make for the other muscle groups, if you feel the need.

Welcome to the forums! The rank to the left is indicative of the number of posts you make, not your actual rank. It'll change in time.

no problem, I hope it serves you and your students well, and thanks for all the praise. Thank you.

Might be a good time to look for a new school, or some other alternative.

I met my wife at the dojang. Lucky me!

This is great teaching methodology. I think I just adopted it. Thanks for sharing!

Yes, yes, I second the motion. Mas Bunkai, por favor!

We use the black belt with the white stripe down the middle as our recommended belt. We call the recommended black belts 'skunk belts.'

First of all, I think your Sensei should have went to bat for you. Secondly, this is the typical political power trip that tends to happen so often in the martial arts community. You have some options, but you may not like them. 1. Talk to the former head man, and see if, firstly, you can talk to each other on a rational basis. If the two of you cannot, then the process ends here. 2. If you can talk, find out what his intentions are, and if he plans on leaving again. In my opinion, the martial arts is not a 'come and go as you please' endeavor. Stability is nice. 3. If all else fails, and you feel that you have the experience, rank, and capability, take your style and start your own dojo. This is kind of a last resort, and may sound kind of harsh, but if I got dumped by my Sensei, and was taking the brunt of persecution from the 'former' head guy, I think that my welcome may have unfortunately been worn out, and choose to leave.

Would that be like Bunkai applications? I am interested in seeing it!