bushido_man96

This is a very good idea, and a good way to start training some higher ranked students for teaching. If I had a little bit more freedom with the classes I teach, I would consider doing this. Great idea. Really good for advanced classes. Another good idea for a black belt class that just popped in my head: tell each black belt that will be at the class to prepare an exercise and drill set or something like that, and tell them that they will have to spend 10 minutes of the class time teaching it, and helping the others to understand, and spend time correcting and directing. Man, I love this brainstorming stuff!

This is so true, and I like your ideas here. When I started teaching full time 5 or 6 years ago, I noticed that I was starting to lose a few things because I was so busy teaching and not training. So, I started getting to the school early to start working out myself. It is definitely easier to work yourself into the adult class than it is with kids, in my opionion. Also, the higher the ranks of the class, the more you can work with them, because they are a little more independent at learning.

I don't know why he didn't do any punching. And I think that TKD guys could do plenty of damage with low kicks, if they would just attempt them.

Well that would depend on the standards and expectations of the school. I realise in the west things are not as high a standard as it is in Japan in many cases, I am very sad to say (I lived there for 2 years). A child simply doesnt have the muscular abilities to performadvanced Kata as what our school expects. Today many schools are happy just to have people perform the movements in order with little consideration of the bigger picture. But that is the way of the world.... Hearing that Americans water everything down, and are not as disciplined as other cultures, don't have high standards, and yada yada yada, gets kind of offensive to me. My wife drives an hour to work everyday, puts in 8 hours, drives home for an hour, and then gets supper on the table, takes care of our 8 month old and 10 year old, and then does homework to work towards her college degree. That is work ethic and discipline. We are a different culture than the Japanese, and that is the way it is. Saying that kids are not capable of things like performing this form is rediculous. Look at kid wrestlers. Or Pop Warner football players. Oh, and the Little League World Series. Kids can perform in all of these athletic endeavors, and at very high levels. Everyone has a different level of ability, that cannont be argued. Limiting someone because one simply thinks that they are not old enough is, in my opinion, a very inaccurate assumption.

I agree that children should have the opportunity to be advanced students, if they are capable of the task. As far as having to fight 3 people to earn a black belt, I am not sure about that. Are there rules to the fighting? Do they fight all at once?

after the meiji / tokugawa (always forget which, that's why I put both) there was a time of peace. Samurai were not needed anymore. MA were taught mainly for fitness and for preservation of the art. That was the end of jutsu and the beginning of do. The wartime styles were considered koryu - classical martial arts. peacetime arts were more for enhancing your way of life, hence the term do. Yeah, that is kind of what I meant.

Alrighty, it sounds like you have a good start already. On the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I would take time to make 2 seperate workout sessions. The first, you should break down your form into segments, and work on perfecting it. Practice the segments at about 75%, until you have all of the little things down pat, like foot placement, targeting, stance transitions, and all of that good jazz. You should spend around 30 to 45 minutes on this segment work, and towards the end of it, do the whole form, full blast, concentrating on the aspects you practiced. The second segment you should do is specifically fight training. Figure out what the rules of sparring will be, and how long the matches are, and how many rounds, if applicable. Then get a partner to train with. Have your partner attack you with certain techniques, and work on countering strategies, and also work on combinations and offensive strategies. Spend about 30 minutes on this. After that, fight rounds with your partner with nothing premeditated. If you have 1x2 minute round per match, spar 3x2 minute rounds (thanks from elbows_and_knees for the insight here), with a 1 minute rest between. This will help build your fight stamina. Hope this helps, and good luck at the tournament!

That is an excellent deal. I wish our instructor would have a black belt class for advanced training, but when we do have it, it never last long. What is sad, is that between kids and adults, we have around 12 active black belts. And half of the time, our 'black belt' class turns into low rank forms review class. That is ok, but from time to time, we need something different.

To get more power, increase your speed. This will help with your power. The equation for power is: Power = 1/2 Mass x Velocity squared. Therefore, increasing speed will exponentially increase your power, whereas increasing size will not increase power to nearly the same proportion. I am not saying that you should not increase your size and strenght, but I am saying that power is a direct result of speed. Get the books Speed Training and Fighting Power written by Loren W. Christensen. These books include invaluable training material that will benefit your speed and power training.

Here is an interesting article that I found about how martial arts practitioners go through certain cycles, and how they relate to quitting/changing styles. Its a good read, and hope you enjoy it. http://www.shotokai.com/ingles/essays/iao-western-alchemy-martial-arts.html

yeah, and its a serious problem. this is essentially why i stopped doing shotokan formally. i came to learn about the original nature of karate, attended a few seminars and stuff. then i asked the senior instructor at my dojo if we could practice some of it. to cut a long story short, the answer was no. also as a nidan i did a bit of instruction in classes, and it got to the point where i just couldn't do it anymore. i couldn't stand there teaching lame blocking techniques that could get people killed in a real fight. unless you're very lucky and find a school that teaches combative karate, you'll probably have to take your training outside the dojo in an informal setting as i and another guy from my old dojo have done. I don't understand why some instructors can be so single-minded; have a my way or the high way attitued towards teaching. It is frustrating, in my opinion.

Yeah, it was a site on someone's thread, looking for a place to study. I remember it, too. I noticed a lot of 'money making' opportunities on it. No worries. If it is a McDojo, I would stay away. However, sports martial arts are not bad things, so you may want to see what is offered.

I am hoping to start picking up Combat Hapkido here again shortly. I have learned a lot of the curicculum, but I want to start working on more applications.

Quote from Sohan: Hey bushidoman, congrats on the "black belt"!!!! Thanks, Sohan! I am so happy! This is the first rank I have gained in years.

That's a cool story, Killer Miller. I like the catch you used to try to get him into class. Very nice touch. Kind of along the same lines, we have several guys in my area who used to be in martial arts. Well, now they lift weights at the gym that my instructor owns. He talks to them often, and when martial arts are brought up, they talk about how they used to do it, and would like to do it again. So, the instructor tells them to come down and do it, sign up, and all that, then they start talking about how they can't because they don't have time and junk like that. I want to tell them "Hey, I am married, have two kids, and work full time on the night shift, and I still have time to get to class." Excuses, excuses.

Not quite sure what you are asking here. Can you be a little more specific?

I have never really had a problem with my feet on any surface, and I have trained on everything: wood floor, concrete, carpet, puzzle mats, etc. My instructor has some very nice gymnastic type of padded carpet that is about 3 inches thick. It is very comfortable, and has a nice amount of give. We don't do a lot of grappling, so it isn't like grappling/wrestling mats, but it does have enough give that you can practice throws, breakfalls, and stuff like that. If I remember, I'll ask him what it is exactly.

There is a guy that is a 6th dan in our system who became a pro fighter, and has been trying to do K-1. His name is Mark Selbee, and he has used his flexibility and kicks well in his fights.

Anytime.

Otomix used to have some workout pants that weren't gi pants. You might try them.

You have to look out for places like that with the word 'kickboxing' as well. If place says it offers kickboxing, you have to check to make sure that it isn't cardio kickboxing. I do feel that XMA is great for those who like to demonstrate their athleticism in an MA venue. We all have paths we can travel. For some, it is the UFC. For others, it is teaching more 'traditional' methods, and for others, it is the level of competition offered via XMA.

There are no bad martial arts, just bad instructors. That being said, go take a look at the school, and see how things run. Then, try to talk to the head instructor, and see what you can find out about him.

Yeah, it was a site on someone's thread, looking for a place to study. I remember it, too. I noticed a lot of 'money making' opportunities on it.

That sounds like it was a good time. That would be a great experience.

Exactly. I figure if the match is 3, 2 minute rounds, train 4-5, 2 min rounds. Increase the number of rounds for endurance not the length of each round. Just as E&K says, the length of each round in training determines the pace you'll be able to sustain in a match. Good point. That makes more sense than increasing the match time.