Sohan

That's a possibility, but I can't imagine they would have done this, since their test was to be scheduled any day. I completely agree. However, my Sensei has a tendency to look on people's best sides, and this often colors his approach to those in the dojo. I don't think he was really aware of the extent of their self-centeredness. Actually, pegasi, we have no testing fees, and we only charge $30 a month. My sensei has never operated out of any profit motive in the 20 years he has run this dojo, as he is already a successful real estate attorney. I think it is more that this couple wanted to test earlier than they would have, and they feel a sense of entitlement with their training. We have another brown belt class that started a year or so after them and has caught them because them come to class more frequently and are more willing to assist, not to mention they are more supportive of dojo activities. I think this couple simply doesn't realize that progression in martial arts is often more about humility, and what you give back to your dojo rather than just what you get from it. So, considering this aspect, it is their loss, not ours. With respect, Sohan

We have a couple in our dojo that have been with us for over six years, and have learned all of their material for Shodan, which they would have tested for very soon. They seem to have a pretty good grasp on their material, but they have never volunteered to teach (it's not required, but should be) and are rather self-centered in their training orientation in class. Well, to make a long story short, they have announced to Sensei that they are quitting the dojo because they want to move in a different direction in their training. I respect one's right to shift gears and go elsewhere, but what I find foolish is training in 6 years of material just to throw it away right when the goal of every karate-ka is within grasp. Even if they are displeased for some reason with our dojo, still they could test for the BB and THEN move on. It's like spending 4 years at the university and then quitting before your last final exam. A BB follows you everywhere and opens doors that a brown belt simply cannot. In retrospect, this couple has always been "me me" oriented, and they have often gotten upset (though it has been subtle) when they have not tested when THEY thought they were ready. They prefer harder contact in training (though they whine when others give THEM a good whack or two) They have also grumbled when they have had to teach others, and are often disrespectful to other students in class, making snide comments within earshot of the other person. So, to me, it's no great loss, and I am fine with them not representing our dojo any further. But it also seems a great waste, as they certainly had potential and had trained hard for this opportunity. Really, it's probably good riddance, but geez, what a waste. What do you think? With respect, Sohan

I'm speechless. I don't know whether to be impressed or appalled. When training gets to that point, I would just prefer to buy a gun. With respect, Sohan

Perhaps had I seen the movie at the time it first came out I might have overlooked some of the sillier aspects that I am more aware of today, having gained some perspective with age. Recently I have been catching up on some movies that were favorites of mine when I was young, but today many of them seem REALLY bad--I can't imagine what made them so appealing in the first place....lol But it's the same with movies that I didn't appreciate years ago, yet think are masterpieces today, such as Krzysztof Kiezlowski's trilogy Blue, Red, White, and almost anything from Akira Kurasawa. With respect, Sohan

No. Ion TV is a separate network that is available on basic cable. They used to be the PAX religious channel. With respect, Sohan

I have to be certified in CPR/AED and first aid for my Strength Coach certification. I think every dojo should require their instructors to be certified, though I know many don't. This is a great point you bring up! With respect, Sohan

I noticed recently that Bodog Fight is having MMA events from St Petersburg, Russia, on the Ion television channel (formerly PAX) on Tuesday and Saturday night at 11PM. I watched it last week and thought the fights were pretty entertaining, though 11 is a bit past my bedtime. I definitely recommend it as a "free" alternative to PPV purchases, or at least for a different perspective on MMA fighting from the usual UFC action. With respect, Sohan

I've never been a big fan of martial arts flicks, even though I've been involved in combat arts for over 30 years. I do, however, know what I like: Karate Kid, Rocky, Enter the Dragon; even the recent flick Chok Dee: Kickboxer are what I consider pretty darned good martial arts movies. I didn't see Best of the Best when it came out in theatres, and it wasn't available at my local video store, so when I finally got Blockbuster Online, I discovered the title was available, and I was eager to finally see this film that has received such great praise. Well, I was quite disappointed. This is an appallingly bad, bad film. The casting was terrible, with some of the worst actors of our time. How Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, and Sally Kirkland ever received Oscar nominations for other roles is a mystery to me. If the Academy had watched BOB first, they would have thought otherwise. Even if you look past the simplistic plot, cheesy music, and ridiculous dialogue, there are still many absurdities associated with this film: --The coach won't let Alex go home to visit his son, nearly killed when struck by a car. What the hey??? I have had many coaches over the years, and if a coach had EVER told me that I had to make some contest a priority over the life of my son, he would have needed surgery to remove my foot from his tuckus. I nearly turned off the movie at that point. And why did Alex come back? I wouldn't have wanted to represent a coach that told me to ignore my son's welfare. --Travis Buckley (Chris Penn). First of all, the guy is too slow and out of shape to be a karate champ. Secondly, any karate competitor that behaved as he had at the qualifier would have been disqualified in disgrace, much less given a spot on the National Team. And his personality? He wouldn't last 2 minutes in my dojo with that racist antisocial attitude. He'd be out on the street with his gi in one hand and his teeth in another. --What's up with the USA vs. South Korea animosity? Since when is South Korea our enemy? I understand the personal issue between Tommy and Dae Han, but the excessive USA-USA-USA chestbeating while a guest of the host country was nauseating. I thought that Rocky 4 was about the worst sports movie in that regard, but this movie was pretty darned close. --I simply didn't understand the sudden team unity. I didn't buy the way the team pulled together at the end, particularly the way it embraced Travis, who showed no redeeming qualities during the film. Magically the team binds together after the coach goads one fighter into knocking out his teammate, tells another he is kicked off when he takes time out to visit his potentially dying son, witnesses a brutal bar fight of his athletes and not only doesn't discipline them for their behavior, but seemingly offers approval?? No way. --In the big showdown, the USA loses 3 of its 5 matches badly, and wins the last two by rather close margins, yet only loses the points battle by 1 point? --In Alex' (Eric Roberts) bout, I can understand him once making a comment like "I'm going to kick your bleep". But twice? A little over the top. Really, comments like these showed a complete lack of respect for the Americans' opponents--I even found myself rooting for the Koreans at one point. --Dae Han had one eye, but was considered the scariest fighter in his class. What doctor approved him to fight? I can't imagine any fighting commission approving a one eyed fighter to compete in a combat sport. Heck, guys get held out of UFC for WAY less than this. Try fighting someone with one eye covered sometimes and see how far your lack of depth perception gets you. This movie is horrible. I am thankful it only lasted a little over 90 minutes as my stomach couldn't handle any more. It should be listed as a comedy for the endless incidences of unintentional humor it contains. Even taking into context movies of the same decade and the social and political context as well, this film deserves a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. Even the Karate Kid 3, a truly bad movie in itself, is superior to this. With respect, Sohan

Don't feel that you have to stretch for 30 minutes at a time to gain better flexibility. It is better to stretch frequently throughout the day every day rather than to get it all in one prolonged session three or four times per week. Stretch deeper and longer after a good warmup during a training session, and stretch very lightly and for a shorter duration throughout the rest of the day when you have minimal or no warmup. Contrary to popular belief, you can stretch your muscles without much of a warmup (or any) but the initial stretches should be VERY light until the muscle is warmed up. You still derive benefit even from the light stretch. With respect, Sohan

There is a reason why in karate we are taught materials at certain levels and are told not to teach ourself materials that are outside of our current level in the curriculum. It is because, in the opinions of the senseis we trust our training to, we are not READY for it yet. Contrary to the belief of some on this thread, there is indeed the strong risk of developing bad habits and misinterpreting techniques, which could lead to injury or ineffective form. Remember, this guy is an ORANGE BELT. At Orange belt one barely has a grasp of the beginning basics, so it is absurd to think that such a student can "adapt" kata based on Shotokan techniques when they are still wearing their proverbial MA "diapers". It's like having an toddler read a passage from Shakespeare--it's possible, but not likely to be properly understood. BTW, I still haven't had anyone address my comment about Kain asking his Sensei about this first. I suspect he already knows what the response would be. With respect, Sohan

Sohan, I can see where you are coming from, but I do not think I am missing the point, rather merely debating a different one. I am not going to argue that the more training you have under your belt before branching out the better as anytime you choose to branch our or cross train the more experience under your belt (no pun intended) the better. But I do not see this as the case. I view this scenario of braching out and adapting katas from other styles no different than cross training in another style--a learning experience for the practioner. Both a different karate style and a different martial art altogher will present the practioner with a different way of looking at things (and potentially techniques but in Kain's case he would be adapting the moves to Shotokan so there's not really much of a issue there). But outright telling someone they cannot look at or practice another style until they have they have a solid foundation to work from in their original style is a little out of my understanding. Take someone who walks in off the street to and into a training facility because they want to the next MMA superstar. In the respective training facility they want to sign up for MT and BJJ. Do you think that the instructor of the school is going to tell them that they can take MT and not start BJJ for approximately the next three years (just guessing on the time it takes to get a brown belt in your dojo) because the instructor thinks they need to understand MT before they start working on their grappling skills? If one of my students came to me and said they wanted to work on katas from Shito-Ryu outside of class time and wanted my opinion I can honestly say that 1). I wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it, but since it's on their personal time I really can't say or do much, and 2). I would make it clear to them that their Shogen-Ryu kata training came first and foremost--which is basically what I intially relayed to Kain. Would I be a little more leanent if they came to me and said "I want to learn Judo" as opposed to kata from another style? Absolutely, since it would have less of a chance of corrupting their original kata as I've taught them. But I'm not going to impose any time limits on any of my students if they want to learn things outside of what I teach them. Bearich, I understand your point. But the threadstarter is not talking about crosstraining as you are referring to, rather he is wanting to take kata from other styles and adapt the kata to Shotokan principles. This is not the same as picking up some Judo throws, learning to fight someone from your guard, or developing submission skills. He is trying to do something he isn't ready for at orange belt level, and he simply doesn't have the Shotokan experience needed to do what he wants to do. With respect, Sohan

Thanks! With respect, Sohan

Bearich, respectfully, you're missing the point. Kain is an ORANGE belt in Shotokan. What does that take, 6-12 months tops to achieve? An orange belt has no business "branching out" by adapting katas from other styles. He hasn't been training long enough to understand what he is doing. And as for trying other styles, he will have much better perspective to work from when he is a brown belt. In my school, we are welcome to cross-train in other MA's, but we are required to wait until preferably brown belt, when we have gained sufficient mastery of the existing material taught in our system. I highly doubt at Kain's current rank that he will possess the knowledge, experience, or understanding to be adapting kata from other styles to his current style. It's silly to think he would be "branching out" -- he likely doesn't yet even have a good grasp on his existing style! And as I stated earlier, if he asked his sensei about this, he would likely get the same answer I am giving. With respect, Sohan

Own a franchise? Definitely the Chicago Cubs. Always a loyal fanbase and great support regardless of the level of play on the field. I'd buy them just to take on the challenge of finally winning a Series. With respect, Sohan

Go Braves! With respect, Sohan

I think he meant single hand. Typo. With respect, Sohan

Just my two cents worth.... An orange belt needs to be concentrating on the existing materials taught by his instructor. I highly doubt that Kain has perfected his (her?) existing material to the point where he can consider experimenting with other styles' katas. IMO, until he is brown or preferably black belt he needs to focus on the materials that he is taught to the best of his ability, doing many repetitions over and over, and once he has developed the skill and understanding that only time and hard work can provide, then he will have achieved a level of perspective to "adapt" other kata. Kain, though I applaud your desire to better understand karate, at orange belt you simply don't know enough about your style to "adapt" other kata to Shotokan. Ask your sensei what he/she thinks, and I'll bet you get a similar answer. In fact, you should have asked him before you asked us. With respect, Sohan

I can't believe this topic has extended to 43 pages. With respect, Sohan

Continuing training might improve things, but what have the benifits been upto this point? And how long will it be until he gains some skills he can apply? Im guessing your son had confidence previous to the attack, was doing well in training etc... Yet he couldnt do a great deal to save himself when it really mattered. Im not saying his training is a waste of time, has you would be aware there are many benifits to training other than self defence skills, but if that is what your after then there may be something more suitable for him to be doing. I agree intimidation is a large factor in self defense situations and in your sons situation in particular. I have a question for you that relates to this: How many times in training has your son been forced to deal with a situation similar to the one he faced at school? How many times has he taken part in a scenario from start to finish including the verbal onslaught followed by realistic aggression towards him leading to physical attack? How many times has the scenario been played out in class with all parties displaying real energy? And dont limit this to your son, how many times have you been placed in situations during training that you would most likely be faced with in real life? If these things arnt addressed in training and you cant deal with it under controlled circumstances, then ofcourse it will be intimidating and you will have no idea how to deal with it other than sitting there getting beat on. Start working the situations and feel the energy in training then all of a sudden the confidence you have is real and the intimidation isnt something new. Just some things to consider. I couldn't agree more. As well-meaning as many schools are, there are too many karate students who are woefully unprepared to handle real-life scenarios because of a lack of situation-specific preparation. Even in our own Okinawan karate dojo, I try to step away from the regular curriculum from time to time, accepting its limitations, and try to teach my kids to handle themselves in situations that are more realistic and applicable. Though our curriculum teaches good long-term fundamentals, most children cannot grasp technique as well as adults do and must learn to protect themselves with more immediately relevant methods. A well-trained child shouldn't have that much difficulty fending off two untrained attackers of similar age and size, though of course every situation is different. I have seen a few children in my own school that have experienced schoolyard success against multiple attackers, and I credit it directly to the fact that they have had challenging situation-based training. (No, I didn't chase them around the dojo with a rubber knife!) Kez, I hope things go better for your boy soon. Get those kids expelled--and pursue legal action regardless. With respect, Sohan

Once the shin heals, spend a couple sessions kicking a heavy bag each week to condition your shins. Start very light and keep the workouts brief initially, maybe just 5-10 kicks per leg, and gradually increase the number of kicks until you can do >100 per session. Professional Thai boxers typically do >500 per session DAILY and they have rock-hard shins. With respect, Sohan

Nice job, Ace! With respect, Sohan

Urlacher is a good football player, but he needs to learn when to keep his trap shut. In this video clip the renowned MMA fighter Bas Rutten talks about how Urlacher recently challenged him to "step outside" after a misunderstanding at a charity event. It's quite amusing how close Urlacher came to having his bodyparts rearranged. Bas discusses how he managed the situation at 3:41 of the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5QFOZc8AaM With respect, Sohan

I don't know about that. I'd take the WCL over a Tim Sylvia bout any day of the week. Don't forget that K-1 kickboxing is more popular than Pride MMA worldwide. Kickboxing is a very exciting sport if marketed properly, and it may be found in the long run to be more palatable to the general public than the brutality of MMA. With respect, Sohan

This is so true, as I've learned the past few years. A belated happy birthday both to you and Bushido! With respect, Sohan

Well, it's certainly not about sitting on an internet forum asking others what life means. If you want to learn about the meaning of life, get outside and live it. With respect, Sohan