bushido_man96

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!

The problem I had with the chucks is that I would hit myself in the back of the head, and then, for some reason, the chucks would just throw themselves toward the floor, in a very violent manner. Don't know why......

Oh, yeah......Brutally honest, sometimes. It is the naivety that is refreshing, isn't it? I had an experience the opposite of you. I shaved my goatee and mustache (not that it was much to begin with) when I applied for my new job, and one of the chief instructor's little girls told me that I looked so much younger. I have the curse of the baby face!

This is how it is done in our school, and in some others I have seen as well.

Yes, good point here too.

It’s great to take a break from the formalities of class every once in a while. One school that I taught at had a Black Belt night every Saturday night. It was by invitation only and didn’t have any structure of any kind. We just kind of paired off and worked on whatever we needed, discussed teaching/training methods and ended every night with some vigorous sparring – the type that can only be done with other consenting adult Black Belts. We have around 8 or 10 black belt adults at our school, and a few high brown. I would love to have a class like this, but we don't as of yet.

I loved that book! I can't remember where I put it though. Might have to go searching for it. Anyway, to clarify for those who haven't read it, the purpose of the story was this, when he asked how long it would take, the master gave him a figure. When he asked what if he trained really hard, this illustrated to the master that he had completely missed the point, and would therefore, never become a master due to focusing on the wrong things. Thanks Jiffy. I knew someone would know what I was trying to say. That is a great book, a perfect compliment to The Karate Dojo by Peter Urban and Secret Tactics by Kazumi Tabata. Are these books listed on the Library Sticky?

You make a viable point here. However, one thing that will help in a fight is the transitional phases of the stances, enabling us to keep moving and not tangle up our feet.

Nice. Good points.

Hey, that's good. I like that analogy.

When most people hear TKD, they almost always assume the Olympic stylists that just show up and do sparring drills all class long, and churn out black belts a la the McDojo. Not all schools are like this. Mine is a 'traditional' school, for what passes as traditional anymore.

Is that sarcasm I detect?... There was a black belt at our dojo who got his second dan at the same class I got my first. He didn't put his second stripe on for a month or so, and then one day, he got to class, and my sensei gave him a new belt, this one with two stripes sewn on, and told him, "Wear this - you earned it." So I guess it depends on one's instructor. Although, when I told him I wasn't going to wear rank, he said he respected that. Maybe he just likes me more...hehe No, no sarcasm intended.

I find that using the blocking-bats, with the thick, padded areas, are great for this exercise. Heck, the kids think it is fun.