bat in a birdless village
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Posts posted by bat in a birdless village
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I think Martial arts in the U.S. costs too much to make it efficient. The U.S. doesn't seem like a good place for it at all. For example, in Thailand, there are "gyms" or whatever you wanna call them; practice places where poor people live. They practice there whenever they want because they live there and that's pretty much what they do in life. There are other ones though where people don't live, but over there it's like going to a park and playing basketball here.
But here in the U.S., you can't just "go to the park and practice martial arts" like that. Well, you could... But who does? There, many people. You can just jump right in.
Anyone have any input? Advice?
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?
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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.
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How about bo staff point fighting with pool noodles?
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Many mixed styles are excellent. Just go in, give it a try, then make your decision.
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If you read the classes, you get your first degree after 2 year, 2nd after four years. If you start out with a black belt in that style, you can test to start in higher classes, thus getting up to 4th degree i think it was, through the course of the program.
Where did you see that?
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http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp
There is the link to the university's ma program.
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I think it's a terrible idea. It's like the ultimate McDojo that covers it's tracks by giving the student's a piece of paper. 2nd degree black belt after 4 years of training? That's quite the fast track. It serves to do nothing more than perpetuate martial arts as a business venture rather than a life style.
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.
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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.
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2nd degree black belt in tang soo do, if I remember correctly.
bat
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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.
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I have never heard of him, but he sounds like a really good and well respected guy. Who exactly is he?
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.
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Being a shodan is about learning what you DON'T know about what you know.
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!
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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.
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I've founs some at popular online video websites, like google video. They were interesting and we've incorporated a few of them.
Could you post some of those links?
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See, that's what I'd like to go to. White-Yellow-Blue-Brown-Black, or something.
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.
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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.
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Four I like:
http://www.mousebreaker.com/index.php - Online games, some totally addictive!
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
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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
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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?
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Therefore a school in 2,000 to 2,500 square feet with 150 active students would be grossing $30,000 to $45,000 per month.
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?
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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.
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I don't know if they are any good, but here are a few:
Eddie Deaz's Course Drills and Games:
Kimber Hill's Obstacle Course Skills, Drills, and Games:
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.
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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.
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I do not want to go into details, but I think that American martial arts training should go to another level.
You need to go into details. Otherwise, we don't know why you believe that.
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Teaching children to tie belts
in Instructors and School Owners
Posted
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.
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