wheeze

I mentioned this once but I too, am diabetic and have high blood pressure. I know my limits but I have increased my training and follow my doctors advice with medication and diet. I feel much better and am more energetic. My cholesterol level dropped 150 points and I am still dropping weight (100 pounds and still going) My wife says I have more endurance If you older guys watch your physical health you will see a difference. We can show those young whippersnappers we still have it! Now if I can find my upper bridge..... wheeze

Hi, This guy is a fine fellow and walks in humbleness. I, myself, do not train with him anymore but my kids do. My concern is for the injuries I have been seeing lately. They really pound on each other. (not my kids but the adult class.) Just yesterday I saw a friend of mine limping into practice with a severely sprained ankle and a brace on his knee. I teach shorin ryu mma but I consider safety paramount. Maybe that is what is bugging me about this. (The safety issue) Then again maybe I am making to much of it. wheeze

Recently a friend of mine went out to Iowa to become a certified instructor under one of the U.F.C. MMA guys (I believe it was Shamrock. I am not sure.) He paid 2000.00 dollars for the right to get beat up for a week by a U.F.C. instructor. I told him I would have beat him up for half the price and saved him gas money as well. His school is now a certified school and his tuition went up after he got back. Twice a week now he has training U.F.C. style. (guys are starting to get injuried ) How far should one take mma? If this is in the wrong place please move it... Wheeze

Hey, I teach kids and we go 45 minutes. A rule of thumb is for each year a child is they are capable of 1 minute of attention. So if a child is 4 years old he/she can handle 4 minutes of instruction and focus. On average I teach for 5 minutes and allow them a 2 minute break. I break the training up into games and races. For instance I use relay stations where each kid is told to perform a technique. If they do it right they run to the next station and do another technique. At the end I have set up a long tunnel (I bought it for my kids but they never used it) that they love to crawl through and play in. In order for them to go and play in the tunnel they must perform all the techniques given to them correctly. (I setup 3 stations) I also use motown music (keep it clean) and we stretch and exercise to it. They love doing the twist with chubby checker! It takes alot of planning but you can do it. wheeze

I still have my quickness but my reflexes ain't what they used to be. Incidently I just had a physical and I didn't do bad. I grappled and sparred guys in thier 20's up until this last year. Stopped because my wife got tired of me crawling through the front door with bloody lips and noses.

Hey everyone! this is a very interesting thread. My daughter studies 2 disciplines including judokwon mma and Tae kwon do. She has been in judokwon since she was 8 and is now 13. She will receive her jr. black belt this year. (black belt with white strip) I have really stressed to her the importance of humility and her conduct around others. I allow her to teach in my school. Shorin ryu mma) I allow her to teach based on her technique, form, discipline, interaction with others, ability, and knowledge. I allow her to do this also based on the recommendations of her Judokwon instructor.

I was talking with my wife the other day about aging. I noticed as I get older my reflexes are slowing down. I have as of late have allowed my daughter to teach more. Mrs. wheeze says that I am still quick but my over all speed and agility is less. I recognize my limits and are adapting to them. Does anyone else notice the wear and tear on your body as you get older? I still teach the basic kicks but my daughter teaches the more flashy kicks. I read a article by Chuck Norris where he started using stunt doubles on Walker, Texas Ranger because his body could not handle some of the moves required to film a action scene. I still spar and grapple but I have toned it down. As a matter of fact I recently decided not to grapple with those 20 something guys as I was getting injured more and more. What do you think? Should us older geezers temper our training or try and push beyond our limits risking injury? wheeze

our school is a outreach of the church we are apart of. we have three classes. adult, beginning class (ages 4 thru and a advanced class (ages 9 - 16) they are small classes which i like as it is easier for me to give each more attention. i have revamped the curriculum and include the following.... orange belt - basic technique green belt - advanced technique red belt - basic grappling/free style wrestling/jui-jitsu blue belt - close order combat/sparring/grappling purple belt - pressure points and choke holds brown belt - more grappling and advanced jui-jitsu combined with karate black belt - street fighting/with more grappling/jui-jitsu/karate/and detailed study of body language and situational ethics placing the student in street situations. I include kumite, kata, and self-defense. I encourage my students that running or walking away from a fight is not being a coward but a wise choice. We promote according to ability. we charge very little and have street kids coming in now. If anyone has any suggestions on curriculum i am all ears!

Also take note I require each student to maintain a C average as well as P.E. requirements. I send info sheets home with the parents addressing situations the students might find themselves in such as gang activity sex (I believe in complete abstinance as it works everytime ) drug prevention alcohol peer pressure study habits eating right exercise and more.... wheeze

here is what I put on the bully control sheet. I use bright colored paper and laminate it. The question we ask them is 'When a bully picks on you what are the steps you take?' 1-Ask them politely to stop What if the bully continues to harass you? 2-Turn and walk/run away 3-Tell a responsible adult/parent and if the bully still trys to hurt you? 4-Defend myself and run away here is the parent control card. I put it on bright colored paper and laminate it. 1-1-Parents require special handling! Training them requires you to listen and follow instructions from them. (Ephesians 6:1) 2-Show off your parents with your actions. It is your actions that decide what others think of you and your parents. Your actions reflect on them good or bad. (Ephesians 6:2,3) 3-How you speak to your parents determines how well they are trained. Speaking to them with attitude could cause setbacks. You should always listen and be slow to speak. Many times you should not speak at all. (Parents love that by the way) (Proverbs 15:4) note that scriptures are used as we are a Christian dojo. You do not have to use the scriptures. feel free to use it all or modify it as you see fit. I have more coming and as I put them together I will post them on here. future ones include.... self-control anger control brother/sister control peer pressure control and so on.... Wheeze

I use worksheets with our students. we have a 3 by 5 sheet (laminated) called Bully control that the kids are required to memorize. I also have a 'parent control' laminated 3 by 5 card. The bully control card teaches steps on how to handle bullys and the parent control cards teaches the kids how to treat thier parents. I have more but you get where I am going. In order to be promoted they have to recite each card back to me. hope this helps! Wheeze

i am diabetic but train barefooted. i do not break boards anymore with my feet as i do not want to injure them. if you are diabetic you have to be careful of how you train. i got this way drinking 8 to 10 mountian dews everyday. not the smartest thing to do.

i am taking shotokan now and there is jiu jutsu involved in it. i was surprised too. i have found the technique far different then brazilian jui jutsu and in some ways better in other ways worse. i have noticed that some of the take down techniques are complicated and require lots of practice. my only problem now is that my instructor goes through so much in one class you can not grasp much of what is taught. i teach Shorin Ryu karate and i only teach a few techniques at a time. we drill over and over again until everyone is comfortble with what they are doing. with the kids i have found thier retention of what is taught is much higher.

hey... in all my years (over 20) and as long as i have practiced martial arts i have never had one fight. the times that i was challenged i walked away and was called yellow which is o.k. with me. i train to fight to avoid a fight. i am confident in my abilities and if one wants to call me yellow fine. I'll play the part. if my family is threaten I would defend them or if a friend is in trouble I would respond. first by reasoning second by leaving w/t family or friends third I would defend myself if and only if all else fails. regardless of what some might think nobody comes out of a fight untouched. I was in the Marine Corp and many of my buddies hung out in bars and ended up in nasty bar fights. I refused to go as it invited trouble. I would have ended up defending them and myself and more than likely be injuried in the process. I am not preaching here but having read all of the comments I can only say violence begats violence. blessings....

we actually take our kids to a tournament to observe. the parents really get into it. once thier kids are involved they really like it. we just finished a local tournament and the parents were really hyped up after it was finished. i think the parents were more excited about it then some of the kids were. one of my sons got 1st place in the sparring competition and I was more excited about him winning then he was. Take the parents to a tournament or have a mini one in your dojo to show them what to expect. blessings...