bat in a birdless village

The one thing I will say you shouldn't do is use those belts Century sells that have velcro behind the permanent knot or in the back. Those make me sick. bat

I agree with a lot of what you said and am now asking you: what are you going to do to fix that? I ran a school in a local park for about 2 years and did not charge anyone. I even promoted people in rank there and did not charge. Are you willing to do the same? bat

http://media.www.siude.com/media/storage/paper1096/news/2007/06/19/OtherSports/Power.Ranger.To.Fight.In.Cage-2916017.shtml It will be in the Illinois Cage Fighting Event. He has wanted to do this for a long time, but Disney (owner of the Ranger shows) has kept him away due to contractual issues. bat

How about bo staff point fighting with pool noodles? bat

Many mixed styles are excellent. Just go in, give it a try, then make your decision. bat

Where did you see that? bat

http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp There is the link to the university's ma program.

Is it really a fast track though? At a typical martial arts school, you attend class two times a week at an hour and a half each time (for a total of three hours per week). At a university, you would go five times a week for two hours a day and be required to do LOTS of written homework, which would be required for all college classes. I think it would actually work out to a 2nd degree in four years, assuming someone walked in already having a good knowledge base of the martial arts. bat

https://www.youtube.com has 39,000 martial arts videos to view right now. You would have to got here and search through them to find what you want. There are original clips of Ed Parker, Bruce Lee, the Dog Brothers, Remi Presas, Hatsumi Sensei, and everyone you can think of. Go there and type in the style or instructor you are looking for. bat

2nd degree black belt in tang soo do, if I remember correctly. bat

Those first vids are from when Chloe Bruce was a young teenager. That last one was one of many that can be found at youtube.com of her in her early 20's. She is a nice girl and I am a fan. I have emailed her back and forth at her site: https://www.chloebruce.co.uk She was a little weak as a young girl, but now she has unreal kicking power. bat

I am not being rude, but being in karate and never having heard of Joe Lewis is like being a rock and roll fan and never hearing of Elvis Presley. Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Mike Stone, and Chuck Norris were the greatest karate players from the first generation of martial artists in the US. Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace continue being the two most influential living karate people (Chuck Norris could be considered that as well, but he focused more on acting until recently). You badly need to read more about Joe Lewis. bat

Wow. That is hands down the best statement I have ever heard about being a shodan (I am not being sarcastic). I am writing that down in my ma notebook. In fact, I think that just became my tagline. Excellent statement, sensei rick! bat

I agree with one of the above posters. If you have not gotten to black belt yet, why are you thinking about starting your own school (I assume that is what you mean by "branching out")? You may be a very capable teacher, but having only a few years under your belt, do you feel now is the time to go solo? Relax, enjoy the scenery, enjoy where you are and learn as much as you can. bat

Could you post some of those links? bat

That is exactly how I came up. We went white, yellow, orange, blue, green, brown, black. There were no stripes or half ranks. In fact, my teacher's teacher broke down green and brown into three stipes each, but my teacher got rid of that and just went to 6 solid colors. bat

At what point does everyone feel that people quit training at a martial arts school the most? Of course, this will all have to do with personal experience, so you would have to explain your answer. In the 15 years that I have trained, I have noticed that orange belt (about 6-8 months of training) & brown belt (right before black belt) seem to be the 2 big dropping points. Of course more people get to orange than brown because orange precedes brown, but I think in terms of percentages of those that hit those two belts, the numbers seem to be the same. I can see why people would leave at the 6-8 month mark--that would be the time when you have seen close to enough to decide if you want to stick with it, but to quit a few months before the black belt test seems odd. I am not saying that black belt is the goal of marital arts. The goal of martial arts training is to simply lean what you can and enjoy training, but I almost see leaving a few months before your dan test almost shows a fear of completion or a cycle. Maybe people are scared to wear the black due to what others would expect from them. I don't know, but it seems to me that those are the two big quiting points. bat

That site is so cool! Have you met the online chat girl? http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/chatbot/play.php She rocks! The longer you talk to her, the more she learns. I prefer my wife, but that shows that computers could one day be an option to a real relationship. No, I am not a pervert.... lol bat

I remember about ten years ago, I watched a soap called "Days of Our Lives," which is a US soap. One of the characters was a boxer and that played heavily into the story line for a year of so. By the way, I watched it with my wife--I was trying to make her happy. Last time she or I watched that soap was probably about 7 years ago, so I don't know what is going on now. I am just glad I don't have to watch it anymore. lol bat

Has anyone here changed the number or structure of their belt or rank progression after starting their own school? By that, I mean adding/subtracting belts, changing belt order, changing belt colors, or adding stripes or sub-levels to each belt. If so, why and what did your instructor (above you) think of the change? bat

So assuming one is grossing $30,000 per month with 150 students, then they would be charging each student roughly $200 per month (which would include all belt test fees, yearly joining fees, etc). Is that about right, or is there something I am missing? bat

After you find your listings, then you need to call your local YMCA's and community centers. They will have more martial arts classes that will not be listed online or in the yellow pages. bat

I don't know if they are any good, but here are a few: Eddie Deaz's Course Drills and Games: http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&productId=84864&langId=-1&crumb=13501&categoryId=10103&parent_category_rn=10008 Kimber Hill's Obstacle Course Skills, Drills, and Games: http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&productId=84860&langId=-1&crumb=13501&categoryId=10103&parent_category_rn=10008 Kristen Alexander's youth sparring and weapons drills: http://www.centuryfitness.com/ (& then search for her name) Scott Templeton's Dynamic Dojo Games Series Titles: http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&productId=85648&langId=-1&crumb=13501&categoryId=10103&parent_category_rn=10008 Templton Kids BJJ Skills and Games: http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&productId=79916&langId=-1&crumb=13501&categoryId=10103&parent_category_rn=10008 Have you tried any of those? Like I said, I have never seen those, but would like to know if they are any good. bat

Congradulations! I have twin boys and it is nothing but fun. Once you get past the first two or three months, it is smooth sailing. I have always heard that boys are easier to raise than girls, but I don't have girls, so I would not be the one to know. Still, from my family, it seems that boys are easier. The only down side of having children is other people. Everyone wants to tell you how to raise you kids. Everyone has a better way than what you are doing. I will only give you one piece of advice: don't listen to anyone's advice. It really is trial and error. I have lots of things that I learned and would love to share them, but would never force them on anyone. People are even more intrusive when you have twins. I actually had one older lady start yelling at me when she saw that I didn't have my boys (then 6 months old) dressed identically. I had a guy in a retail store yell at me for not naming BOTH of them after me (I'm not kidding). To make him madder, I didn't even name one of them after me. The general public is made up of nutcases and idiots. bat

You need to go into details. Otherwise, we don't know why you believe that. bat