OldSkoulKarateKa

I currently have 7 of their former Black belts training under me,and i have heard an ear full mostly cause they are bitter towards the ATA,and for guys that claim to be good full contact fighters amongst other claims,they can't go full contact, oh funny story,We have one of the former ATA black belts that the whole dojo has nicknamed Hi-Karate he looks like Chuck Norris from the early 70s,the first time we got ready to kumite,he asks me, where are the rest of the pads? cause everyone was wearing Karate mits,and then he told me that he wasn't going to fight until he had a chest protector,and I ask, why?...He simply replied with this profound statement......We were told by our instructors at ATA that if we didn't wear a chest protector there was a chance that a round kick to the chest would stop our heart......I uttered a long OOOOKKKAAYYYY then i gave a heart to heart on how i have never heard of anyone's heart getting shutdown by a round house with the instep and shin of the foot and how in order to flatline an individual you would need to use a technique that hits with direct force or shock if you will,such as a push heel kick or mule styled side kick{both are in a stomping motion with the heel of the foot)and a palm heel or well placed straight punch are and have been documented to be more than cappable to shut down the heart,liver,blader and kidney's,because these techniques when properly trained can and will generate more than enough direct force or shock...so what i conclude from that statement is what as they being taught.....

I guess my question is actually, "what is the test's purpose?" After years and years of training surely you know the capabilities of your students. Surely they know their capabilities. It sounds like you're being brutal simply to be brutal. Just my opinion. please no one get offended at what i am about to say. My students are very well conditioned and able bodied individuals, it is called a test for a reason,sure i push them,i push them hard,but its not for the sake of brutality,this is the same way i was pushed and im grateful to my various Sensei for their as you call it being "Brutal"or as my assocaites and i like to call it tough love.There is an old saying that I think sums it up quite well"The iron thinks it's self needlessly beat on the anvil, and burnt in the fire...However the sword looks back and understands why."sure...I could water down my test,Raise my fees and pass people just to pass them, like 75% of the Instructors and mcDojos out there but then it would not be a test,it would be a hand out.In the end it boils down to the student.my students know what their getting it to on the onset of a test,they know its a tough test, they go through with it,and pass or fail they walk away with a scense of accomplishment and pride in themselves ,if they pass they know they've earned that belt,if they fail,they pick themselves up,train harder and succeed.but then again unless you've ever had to truly earn your rank or be truly tested,I wouldn't expect anything I've just typed to make sense. Each instructor has a different philosophy on how or what should be done at a testing. There is nothing wrong with making a test physically difficult. However, not everyone pushes it as far as you like. I am not saying that I don't like your style...as a matter of fact, if I lived nearby, I would even give it a shot. I like to see how far I can push myself. Some instructors like to focus more on material for testing purposes, like forms, self-defense, sparring several rounds, and board breaking. Does this mean that they are not earning their rank? I don't believe so. I don't think it makes it look like a hand-out. I see a lot of instructors like to have some distance running involved as a part of their testings. I don't, because I don't teach the students how to run, I teach them TKD. If they want to run as a supplement to their training, then that is great. It will benefit them in the long run. However, I won't hold it to my students as a testing requirment. Different strokes for different folks. Neither is necessarily wrong, just different approaches. In my opinion, students earn their rank in class, sweating every day, giving their all, working as hard as they can, showing drive, determination, preservation, and a willingness to learn. the testing requirements i grade by, are based on endurance both physical and mental,self defense,kumite, kata and bunkai, board breaking,ground fighting, in short everything they have learned and gainned under my instruction and guidence, as an added bennefit i currently retain every black belt who has passed my test,and even the brown belts who have failled are mostly all there,like in the PT the guys are used to doing 50 of every thing,they know everything on the test,and if they fail,it is not my fault,its theirs because they are still thinking in Can't dos not can do,and its T-totally a mental thing that they can and will over come,one of the main reasons i push,and put them in a stress filled situaition is because if they cant handle stress in a controlled environment what makes them or me for that matter think they can handle stress in an uncontrolled atmosphere,such as the onset of a street fight,or the onset of a bar brawl{please keep in mind that if you can operate in a stressful atmosphere you have a better chance of talking the other person down or if it comes down to it protecting you self or others),there are black belts in karate have a habbit of not being able to operate under stressful conditions and then blame everything in their environment, on their failure such as,"I was worn out"."I wasn't feeling good" or "my body just froze up"basicly consider it a proactive measure.

I guess my question is actually, "what is the test's purpose?" After years and years of training surely you know the capabilities of your students. Surely they know their capabilities. It sounds like you're being brutal simply to be brutal. Just my opinion. please no one get offended at what i am about to say. My students are very well conditioned and able bodied individuals, it is called a test for a reason,sure i push them,i push them hard,but its not for the sake of brutality,this is the same way i was pushed and im grateful to my various Sensei for their as you call it being "Brutal"or as my assocaites and i like to call it tough love.There is an old saying that I think sums it up quite well"The iron thinks it's self needlessly beat on the anvil, and burnt in the fire...However the sword looks back and understands why."sure...I could water down my test,Raise my fees and pass people just to pass them, like 75% of the Instructors and mcDojos out there but then it would not be a test,it would be a hand out.In the end it boils down to the student.my students know what their getting it to on the onset of a test,they know its a tough test, they go through with it,and pass or fail they walk away with a scense of accomplishment and pride in themselves ,if they pass they know they've earned that belt,if they fail,they pick themselves up,train harder and succeed.but then again unless you've ever had to truly earn your rank or be truly tested,I wouldn't expect anything I've just typed to make sense.

Most of the guys in the association im over,Get their belt done in english or Japanese Kanji,one side style/ the other The Karate Ka in questions Name,or they just put their Dan stripe on the tips. but thats just what they do, its really up to though,but if I were you I'd have a heart to heart with the ol'Sensei and see what he suggests- because if you want to honor him. the only way you'll know is if you ask.

its worked before,in the real world,i went through a phase where i tested my techniques out in bars below the border in mexico,needless to say you get out of town quickly after any mexican bar room brawls if not the local 5.0 will throw it to you for being American.although i live more of a peaceful life now in my mid 20s i haven't done something like that scince i was 20.

easy...a high side block while moving in to the boxer{this enables me to block with the tricept and peri my blocking arm in an outward motion,causing me to wrap his arm in to my arm pit,at the same time my fore arm is directly under his elbow,my next move is to place my free hand on his striking arms shoulder,and place the hand on my blocking arm on top of my free arms fore arm-thus causing a figure 4 arm lock,and he then has two options: option 1, submission or option 2 Crack,snaple, pop there goes his elbow.

Thank you for the props.My Grading is very simular to how I've been Graded over the years,with the execption of the car ride and ground fighting,but it makes for tougher Karate Shodans,in recent years there have been claims that Karate is a weak art,this is due to many different reasons like: 1. sloppy Karate ka fighting in UFC until guys like st. Peirre have started popping in. 2. low grading standards in most American Dojo 3. way to many Karate-ka making Tap point fights the only fights they train for. 4. way too many Karate ka fad hopping 5. Karate ka not learning their art from historical,mental and spiritaul stand points, and these are primary reasons why I grade as my Sensei before me

Wow. That is quite a bit. Have you ever had someone collapse on you, and had to take them to the hospital? Hi to answer your question,i have never had anyone collapse on me,or had to take any of my Nuggets to the ER,my Nuggets are ready for the test when its their time,to get the designation as Nugget,you have to know most everything {like 98% of my syllabus by heart}you have to be physically ready{considering on a normal night durring PT my students do every thing in 50s,{50 push ups,50 sit ups,etc}and the Nugget has to be well conditioned"born again hard" as quoted from Full Metal Jacket.

What's the good reason? Hi the "with good reason" I dont give out black belts,ok if you've learned what we have taught you, there should be no reason you cant pass this test,A black belt exam is a general reveiw of almost everything physical and mental learned and gained durring your 4 to 6 year stint in my Dojo.This test makes for some tuff tuff black belts and to most people shockingly enough my "Nuggets" that pass are not the stongest people in the room normally the Nuggets that make the grade are the ones who pace themselves big and small body build wise,and i do have an age limit to the test 15 and up for lady Nuggets,and 16 and up for male Nuggets, everyone under the age limit can test for a jr Black belt-cause blue kids get life gaurds fired.

The Black Belt tests that I run are about 8 hours long,9 if you count the car ride to the second testing site. keep in mind they have to pass with at least a 95 site 1: 1. 30 minutes of straight exercise{push up,sit ups etc.} 2. 30 minutes of running. 3. 1 hour of walking the mountian{they hold each of the 4 wide stances for about 15 minutes with weights} 4. Every technique learned 25 times each side{takes an Hour} 5. All Kata{empty handed and weapon}30 minutes 6. Self defense another 30 minutes. now we take them to site 2,we offer them something to eat,we normally pick the most greese loaded thing on the menu,the testers will eat in the van on the ride to site two,ok put you self in the place of the poor brown belts that are testing,the have been pushed to what they think are their limits so far and now they have to smell ribs or bbq in a hot van with a buch of sweaty guys,if they eat they get sick if they dont eat they try not to get sick.please keep in mind we do this with good reason.the second four hours are physically draining,and by the time they get ready for kumite they are sick to their stomach,they have tunnel vision and they dont want to be there. so at this point they are testing under the worst conditions where as in a street situation75% of the time you arn't going to be at 100% ok now for site 2: 1. 45 minutes of exercise 2. 30 minutes breaking{red oak is our black belt board 1x12x10} 3. 45 minutes of Sanchin kata reveiw the Isshin Ryu version and Sanchin Ichi And Sanchin Ni of Goju Ryu, the last 5 minutes of the reveiw the black belts are going around body checking the brown belts. 4. 30 minutes of Ground fighting and throwing 5. 1 hour and 30 minutes of kumite{every 5 minutes i give the brown belts a fresh black belt,i rotate the black belts out,so when your fighting you have to keep fighting rested/water'd black belts. thats the test its hard and for good reason

Ok,First of all Iwould like to state,That I am A Karate Sensei,and I teach a class for the Local College aside from my main Dojo.I live in a small town of about 37,000, In this town we have My Dojo,and a Shotokan Dojo},A Kenpo School, A Kung Fu Academy,A Jujitsu School,and 3 TKD Shops that have Karate not TKD on their signs,go figure,One of The Karate I mean Tkd shops....cough cough... is A Karate for kids wich is an ATA school. As most of us already know.With all this said in my College Karate class one of the students is the Business manager and black belt at the local ata karate for kids,So as you can imagine we butt heads all the time,and She likes to debate with me and quickly gets very offended and Quite after she puts her foot in her mouth.Now with all of this said I will get to the point of this biography.Here are my top 5 reasons why many Karate-Ka are Anti-ATA. and this might not apply to all ATA schools but the ones ive been exposed to it is. .....Why are so many Karate-ka Anti-ATA? 1. Very young Black Belts or Toy Black Belts.averange in town is 7 for the TKD shops 2. Coined as Fad based Belt Factories.they sell the parents what they want even at the cost of not investing enough training or proper time in the student 3. The self defense is missing.Not all black belts can defend themselves and thats sad... 4. The will not compete outside of their organization,I'd say fear,The past seven ATA Black belts I've talked to and then they get cocky enough to come down and train, think my Brown belts are monsters, and gripe and moan when I or one of my guys makes contact and not even full contact 5. The claim of being"Americas leader in martial arts"They arn't my leader or really anyone i knows leader.

Well Adam,When TKD first started popping in the states,no one really knew what tae kwon do was.However they had an idea of what Karate was,because alot of Gi's had brought Karate back with them from Japan and Okinawa,So karate had somewhat good PR in the mid 50's 5 out of every 7 Americans knew that karate was an asian fighting art such as Judo and Jujitsu. With this in mind alot of Korean TKD schools started putting Karate on their signs to pull in business. Even today they still advertise Karate,even though the two arts are very different. answer your question?