username8517

Satoru Sayama was a pro wrestler turned successful shootfighter in Japan.

I would go with a slightly different version of Option 2. I would first tell the parents (then bring the child over and tell her in front of the parents) that you added incorrectly and that she didn't reach a yellow belt level, however her performance was above the rank she was going for (white with a stripe) and that you are going to let her keep the yellow rank as a show of both faith and confidence but she will probably not get to test the next time a testing comes up (this will basically equal out her testing for a yellow belt).

Found this interesting article Here It appears that there are some people in Brazil who are rather dismayed at the popularity Capoeira is receiving in certain aspects of it's use (as a martial art, an exercise, etc). One of the main points is apparently there are some who feel that Capoeira is more about a cultural significance above all else. But as the article points out, this has happened to other cultural aspects after becoming popular--the Japanese samba for example. So, what are your thoughts? Can a martial art be spiritual and cultural thing to one group of people and a practical and effective martial art to another? If so, is there some happy medium that needs to be met or is it all in the mind of the practioner?

Taking katas from other systems and adjusting them to how you would perfer to do it (as Shotokan as you mention) shouldn't throw you off too much. In fact this is often how and why the same katas in other systems are performed differently. For example, the katas you listed here: are known as the Pinan katas and Naihanci rather than Tekki in the Shorin-Ryu style. I've even seen the same Pinan katas done differently between the different branches of Shorin-Ryu. As to whether it will help you or not, in all honesty I can't see how it would hurt unless you overwhelm yourself with different katas or try to adapt in other techniques you're not used to performing. And it might just even open your eyes to effective technique combinations that you hadn't thought of before. If you're up to the task, I say give it a shot--as long as you take it nice and slow and give your primary focus to your Shotokan training I don't really think you'll have anything to lose.

I had a workout like this back on 2-14. I only had about a foot deep of snow & ice to deal with but I was by myself. Man I'm still a little sore.

Actually this environment exists because your sensei has allowed it. As bushido_man said he doesn't really have that problem at his dojang and when the kids start to act up in our dojo it's quickly addressed by an instructor. Perhaps you should discuss your feelings with your sensei and let him/her know that it is disrupting your training and ask if he would be a bit stricter on the talking in class. I understand you're one of the few adults in the class but you still have every right as the children to learn as much as possible in there.

I would recommend that you just follow the cirriculum as given to you. If your sensei feels that your skills and abilities warrent a bump in rank then he/she will probably let you skip a rank or two at the appropriate testing time. Also, even though you may know the same katas and techniques, they are often practiced differently between the many styles of karate--there will probably be some subtle changes to the way you've done them in the past. And if some differences do exist, don't be afraid to ask what the meaning or reasonings behind it are.

a hole

Hello and welcome

As the most senior living student of Nagamine Sensei (founder of Matsubayashi-Ryu), Taba Sensei created Shogen-Ryu ('Sho' in honor of Shoshin Nagamine and Shorin. 'Gen' meaning root or beginning) as a way to teach Nagamine Sensei's karate in the form he was originally taught.

About a month ago I had a violent cough that caused me to pull a muscle on the side of my ribcage. Put me out of commission for about a week or so--even with the painkillers.

A river

In class we only focus on those that you'll likely encounter on the street: Escrima Knife But on certain advanced training days we'll work on bo.

I'm the same way. I don't think I've ever forced myself to go to a class and then not blown off whatever stress, fatigue, hang ups, etc while in class.

I believe it's a piano

Actually I was expecting someone to throw up a video for DBZ

I'm not going to get into whether I believe dim-mak is real or whether Dillman is authentic in his Chi powers, but I do want to simply ask this: I have never seen any dim-mak/Chi attacks made against targets that were not just simply standing there waiting to be hit. Are there any videos out there that show dim-mak/chi attacks being applied against an attacker coming in at full speed?

Be careful... you don't want to blow out the walls of the gym... Oh, very true!! What am I to do? Isn't it obvious--you have to always challenge your opponents outside near a steep drop!

I wouldn't even consider pulling hair and biting to be cheap shots if I was in an all out fight. In a simple school yard fight--yeah that might be crossing the line, but not when I feel my health & safety is on the line.

This goes along with your last one (I believe)--a flame

This was almost two decades ago (man I'm feeling old now), but when I was new to MA I witness one guy going for his black belt test attempt to break five or six marble slabs (can't remember the exact amount). He did it, but also broke his hand in the process.

I've been holding off on posting in this thread as I honestly don't know how to feel about it. I think it's great that MA is starting to get serious recognition both as a lifesytle and as a teaching method. Simply by having a MA degree not only will students learn the moves and such, but it would definately be beneficial to them to learn parts of the human body and how it works through courses such as Anatomy and Bio-Physics. However I do have some concerns. One would obviously be the McDojo angle already brought up. My second would be of the styles selected, why were they choosen. For example, in their karate syllabus, if Shotokan was selected for karate, why was a Japanese style selected and why specifically Shotokan? What about those that might enjoy Okinawa Shorin-Ryu more because of the differences in stances and the way moves are executed? Same thing with TKD--why choose ITF over WTF or vice versa? Definately the potential for big time politics. Or what about other styles not represented like BJJ, Akido, Wing Chun, etc--why were those not selected? I don't know, just thought running through my head.

I don't know if I'm too keen on this logic. While I completely understand if someone wants to train in shoes (I even do on occassion). However saying that doing so is to protect your feet because they carry you thoughout life would be like advocating wearing mittens to protect your hands as we use them all throughout life to grab objects and manipluate them.

Congratulations

Hello and welcome