Holland

Uniformity within ones own style is good. When people try to put their own spin on bunkai and change kata with new techniques it dilutes tradition.

Unfortunately you see this at all levels....even high ranking black belts seem to be given away sometimes. Unfortunately there is nothing anyone can really do about it. Its a crummy practice, and dojos who give out belts like candy are ripping people off in more ways than one.

Congratulations.

In our style the blocked red and white is given out at 6th dan. I think this is fairly universal. The black on one side/red and white on the other is a bit different and I have seen multiple different ways of doing this. In my dojo you can wear this belt at 4th dan, but the black is facing out, at 5th dan you flip it over. But once again I have seen different criteria for this.

Good Luck. One thing that might be good is if you can get a senior student to give you kind of a practice test...that usually helps the nerves.

I got out of High School in June of 1993, bur I am now a high school P.E. Teacher. We have nine more days with the kids, twelve in total.

The kobudo dojo I attend teaches Jo. I have learned one Jo kata and it is pretty fascinating stuff. You are constantly moving up and down the weapon in order to maximize the reach.

I went through the same thing from 1st dan to 2nd dan. (9 years in between) and it was nerve wracking. Just remember, you are more mature and have a better grip on things now. You will do fine.

Congratulations. Not as bad as you thought it would be eh?

When mine start to yellow a bit I use "Iron Out" it gets the iron out of the water and the material. Works great for me.

Find a new school. What style is this that we are talking about? Where is the closest instructor? Personally I travel 3 hours one way each friday night to train with an instructor that can promote me. I have been doing so for more than 5 years now. Its arduous, but worth it. Good luck.

All of mine are 100 percent cotton.

My condolences.

Ok...I really need to take the "Isshinryu" label off of my style information. On the weapons page, everyone always assumes that my weapons knowledge is based solely on that. I am about to test for my sho-dan in okinawan weapons in a shitoryu school. The weapons background of this instructor is Shorinryu-Shorinkan (Doug Perry), Koga Ryu, and Shitoryu. My weapons training has been relatively extensive and I have seen alot. I am not concerned with international competition...most people are not. What we are talking about is someone about to start a new weapon...perhaps with much training this person may actually do the weapon in a tournament...heck, most people never compete. But even if they do, the odds that they will be taking said weapon to an international level is almost non-existant. Meanwhile, in traditional weapons, at local and national level, I never saw Dan Glover lose with a pair of tonfa in his hands. You can either believe me or not...it does not matter. Believe it not, other people on this forum have valid opinions and are not uneducated hicks. Isshinryu is my core style, but I am also training in Shitoryu, Before said Kobudo, and have cross trained in other styles. I started training in Isshinryu in 1989. I managed to glean this gem of information at some point along the line. Actually, Isshinryu is mostly Shorinryu, as Shimabuku spent a majority of his time training with Kyan. There is of course a bit of Gojuryu and a smidgen of what Motobu was teaching in the 30's, but its still mostly shorinryu. I consider all of the above pretty "traditional." If you were trying to sound condescending and self important in this last bit, you succeeded. I am glad you joined this forum though, as apparently you are the only one who knows anything.

Most of my adult class is in their late 20's/ early 30's. I have a black belt that started when she was 50, and another black belt that is 335lbs. Both are great martial artists and if you were to ask them, both are very glad they started training. Go for it.

Keep us updated. I am interested in the new style.

When teaching kata and performing it in class I try to visualize the attacker. But on belt tests and when performing in front of alot of people I just try to look intense and concentrate on stances and doing the moves with power.

Great site. Happy Birthday, Forum.

The average person does not do international circuits and thus I always assume that a person asking is not considering things on that level. The best weapons practicioner I ever saw at a specific weapon was/is Dan Glover of Burlington NC whipping a pair of Tonfa. I have never seen him lose at any level in weapons. While he has never been into, or competed against XMA type katas, what he does as a traditional Okinawan weapons kata is fantastic. Really though, when first learning a weapon it is best to choose something you have an honest interest in training with. If you want to do tonfa, but know that kamas are "in" on an international level and decide to train with those instead, then you are making a mistake.

I do that to students at my place as well... Congratulations!

I don't do that in my school. If a student is particularly sharp I may let them cut some time off of their minimum time in rank (like doing 4 months in rank instead of 6) But even that is a rare occurance in my school.

Tonfa is a fun weapon, and if done right looks great. That would be a good choice.

I can't get my satin belt to stay tied, thus I rarely wear it. It looks nice, but geez the hassle is not worth it.

I see alot more people using sai than I do tonfa. Does your instructor teach Tekko Katas? My favorite weapon personally is the nunte-bo, but those are expensive. (200 bucks minimum) Plus many instructors do not teach that weapon. Anyhow...between the two, I would go for tonfa.

Won't affect me. I go to tournaments in North Carolina primarily and such a thing here would be ludicrous.