username8517

That's not true? Oh man...I made a big mistake... You too huh? Nice post on the McDojo by the way.

What I want to know is what kind of homework will they get? Okay class, for next week's assignment you have to execute a proper head block against someone swinging a tire iron and make sure you video tape it for proof

Did anyone know there was a BotB 4 that came out in the late 90s? I happen to stumble on this one a few years ago and I must say it made the first one look spectacular.

I'll have a beer or two every now and then and I've just about given up all hard liquor. And generally the only time I'll drink is in social settings or if I'm home and not going anywhere for the remainder of the night. It's just like many have said before. It's all about moderation and knowing your limits.

This is very good advice.

I've never heard of Professor used as a substitute for instructor outside of the BJJ martial art.

I say kudos to her for training her body to be able to do what she can do. But as it's been pointed out by other posters, there really isn't anything displaying her traditional training or sparring. And because of that, I really don't put much faith into this kind of training--nothing against the girl--I just don't care for all that flash and flare.

I agree with this statement 100% But if your gut feeling is that you're not getting what you want out of the style, then you should start looking for other venues.

Personally I think even a greater amount of time should be spent on kata (for those schools that do perform kata) than 1/3 of the time. Perhaps 1/2 of the time (if not a little more), with the remaining time being spent on techniques, exercise, etc. Now before this post goes up in flames, let me make one clarification--this is aimed at the lower ranks. This is because when students are new, they may know what a punch or block looks like, but the odds of executing them effectively will be very low without risking their own personal safety. Then as they get up in rank and start getting the hang of techniques, and can execute them correctly; start incorporating more drills to develop the skills the student will need for actual fighting/defense--starting them off with basic one-step sparring and basic attack/defend drills to eventually working their way up to full speed sparring and applications with resisting opponents.

I remember seeing a documentary on Ninjas about three years ago on The Discovery Channel (it might have been the National Geographic Channel). It was basically a history of ninjas and then an interview with Stephen Hayes about how ninja's train in a modern setting. In the interviews, Hayes mainly focused on a few things. First was that ninjas were mainly used as spies over assassins and that the black garb was a misrepresentation of traditonal ninjas. One example he gave was that if a ninja was sent to spy on a neighboring emperor, the ninja would most likely dress as a palace worker and attempt to extract information that way. Second was hand-to-hand tactics, traditional weapons & tools of the ninja, and evasion techniques to avoid conflict with potential threats. And the last main point was a meditation principle that is part of zen aspect of ninjutsu. Hayes was claiming that he could effectively meditate to a state that would allow him to obtain ESP. The last bit of the show was Hayes showing how to use ninja skills in a modern setting via a little game. The game was that he had to get past two trained armed body guards and snatch the hat of the target (representing an assassination). In the end, using diversionary tactics, trickery, and misinformation, he was able to succeed. Of course he ended up going down moments after he took the hat. Overall it was an interesting show.

Karate and drugs don't mix. This commercial proves so.

Everytime I see videos like these I have two thoughts run through my mind 1). Wow, those people really train their body and push it to the limits and 2). How many of those tricks will they be able to do past 40?

a complete guess here--but a breath?

While we may differ on this, I believe this scenario is at root the same as cross training. Both cross-training and this above will lend more knowledge and experience to the practioner, which is what is needed to gain more insight into his martial arts training. As far as implementing Shotokan's principles into these other katas, I'm not too sure about. The original post stated he would be changing the moves to the closest one Shotokan has available. Whether Kain meant to imply that he was going to insert the Shotokan principles into the kata or not I don't know, but I took it at face value of simply "I'm going to replace move A with move B" and be done with that. But then again I could be wrong on that all together. But to sum it up, yes I would recommend more experience under Kain's belt before trying to work on this kata transition if it's going to be part of a continuous training method. If it's just going to be something fun to do every now and then for a challenge or enjoyment, I don't see the harm in doing so.

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.

There's a few listed on Wikipedia

To talk about perfecting a kata is truely out of the question for anyone. All we can do is strive for perfection. Any technique in and of itself can take a few years of deligent study to perfect, let alone a sequence of moves like in a kata. Many martial artists even say that even one kata can take years of focusing solely and only on that particular kata just to understand the facets of it, let alone mastering the techniques involved. So is this to say we should only work on one kata at a time if it's so important to master it before moving on to others? If not, then why do we work on other katas before we have taken years to master even the most basic ones? And since we do move on from one kata to another before the previous one is mastered, what is the harm of examining and practincing katas from other styles as long as the practioner's primary focus is one their main style? Taking it back to Kain's example, if Kain starts to work on kata from say Wado-Ryu, what are the odds that he would master or even understand the nuances of a Wado-Ryu kata over his(?) level of technique and understanding in Shotokan. Also, as Kain orginally stated, he would be modifying the moves in style B to Shotokan's closest move, which would practically negate any potential technique corruption. In closing, what if Kain's example was about branching out and working on Judo techniques to compliment his Shotokan training--would the same assessment be made about mastering his Shotokan skills first before thinking about moving on to Judo???

I think one thing that needs to be kept in mind, regardless of which way you choose to go with this situation, is the age of the children involved. Whether you choose to be upfront about the situation or not, the fact is that both the boy and girl are ages 7 & 9 respectively--these children are learning more along the lines of techniques that will improve their gross motor skills rather than actual self-defense techniques and application. Me, personally, because of this "limited" information and training they are receiving is why I would have no problem bending the rules and giving the girl a yellow belt in a situation like this. But then again, that's just me.

Ahhh, gotcha. I completely agree with you then

I would have like to see both the Lees (Bruce and Brandon) live much longer than they did. They were both superb martial artists.

Depends on the rules applied to their encounter. In a MMA match or a fight with no rules, the MMA practioner will have an advantage as the TKD practioner will probably have less ground working skills, thus if it the fight goes to the ground the TKD practioner will have a smaller chance of success. But put the MMA in a TKD sparring match and he'd be at a significant disadvantage as it's not the way he/she trains. Then again, there's always the issue of personal skill and ability, but that's a whole different factor. However, I do agree with what you are putting forth bushido_man--MMA is the closest thing we have to an all out sanctioned fight to the finish.

Yes he would be. I forget the legal term used but basically if you cause Event A (hitting the robber on the head) which causes a foreseeable Event B (gun discharging), then yes you are legally responsible for the end result (cashier being shot). However, if the cashier would have been killed in an event that would be out of the normal realm of possbilities (robber's getaway driver sees you attack his buddy and comes in guns blazing or the robber shoots at you and the bullet richocets and kills the cashier) then you would not be liable for the death. And it's not limited to an A causes B which results in C. It can be a whole string of events as long as its logically foreseeable. It would be like having your mechanic not fix your breaks on your car when he knows it needs to be done or short-cuts the repair (event A), you cause a wreck a week later (event B), two other cars slam into your wrecked car (event C), and the person in middle car dies (result). Because the mechanic could logically foresee that failing to fix your brakes could cause an accident, he/she might be liable for the wreck and all the effects (obviously depending on the circumstances surrounding the wreck to begin with)

I love when I get this question. My reply is always, "Well there still is a large amount of nerves located there. If you hit them hard enough it will still hurt." And as gzk mentioned, when I grappled with a female in the past in all the positions and guards I don't think there was ever any kind of issue other than okay, what do I need to do now between the two of us.

The only chain in my area is the headquarters for the Quest Academies (To-Shin Do).

Hello and welcome