Shorinryu Sensei

VERY good thread, and I'm looking forward to the responses. Obviously, since sensei means "good teacher", a sensei must be...a good teacher! So, what makes a good teacher? Obviously, good and varied knowledge of his subject is essential. You can't teach it to others, if you don't know it yourself. I saw a dojo once where there were three instructors working with the class...They were 4-6th Dan black belts and they argued constantly in front of the students about how to do certain techniques..that is NOT good teaching! Also, they had to refer to a manual constantly on how to do the techniques. Those techniques weren't that complicated (or it didn't seem like it to me anyway). A good teacher needs to be patient and understanding. He can't be "perfect", but rather has to be very good, but can accept the fact that he/she makes mistakes also, and can laugh at himself. I'm almost perfect myself. I have that "walk on water" technique just about down pat, but still getting my ankles a bit wet, (that's a joke, in case you weren't sure) A good teacher must lead by example. You can't tell the students one thing, then do something else himself. A good teacher should be able to explain concepts in various ways, because everybody learns in different ways, and at different speeds. That's all that comes to mind at the moment. I'm sure there's quite a bit more, but I think these are the main points.

That's exactly how I test.

Sorry...this is pretty accurate I guess I get a bit wordy sometimes when I start talking karate.

A 14 year old 3rd Dan? Dang..I think I have more time in just tying my belt than that kid has been alive! I know there's nothing "wrong" with it..legally..but I'm sorry, I will always have problems with young kids with black belts. And 14 isn't THAT young for a BB, but for a 3rd Dan? I'm sorry...I just can't handle that. I knew a guy in Great Falls, Mt..a self-promoted "Master" of TKD (since deceased) that promoted a 6 year old to black belt. When he told me that, I just shook my head in disbelief.

Oh..no question on that..I've seen it many times also. I had a brother/sister in class, he was 8 and she was 6..best young students I've ever had! Benjamins??? What's that??? I've never liked contracts and don't use them, but I understand the reason they are used. Yes, you must be in a commercial school (trying to make money at it), thus the contracts and taking younger kids. I'm in a home dojo and not trying to make money off mine. I have in the past though, and taken just about anybody that had a pulse and could walk, or wheel in the door!

About a year after getting my shodan, my sensei moved to Minnesota and basically, quit teaching at that point. The senior student of the dojo, Pat W., was a Nidan (2nd Dan) and I was just below him as a shodan. Pat had no interest in teaching the class, and our instructor was his best friend, so he quit the arts immediately and never returned. Very sad really, he was very talented. I was left with a few choices. 1. Take over the existing class and teach it as a shodan (my sensei was a sandan). 2. Quit the arts like Pat did. (wasn't an option to me) 3. Change systems. The only other systems available were TKD or Hawaiian kempo. Both of those sensei's went out and got drunk often and beat up people randomly...PASS! lol So, I took over my sensei's class for about 5 years, then moved to where I am now. I was totally on my own for about 9 years, not knowing ANY other sensei of this system in the United States.

Hey..congrats to all you recently promoted people!!! Now, get the heck off your computers, and start practicing that new kata!!!

I used to teach kids (I don't any more) as young as 6, but advised the parents when they signed them up that (IMO) between the ages of 6 and 8 are "iffy" as to whether or not they will be able to do what I ask them to do. I make sure they understand this, and also advise them that if I don't feel their son/daughter is ready, I will tell them so and they can pull them out of class. Some kids you will know within the first couple of classes how they will do, others can take up to two months. Personally, any kid younger that 6 years old I would consider it to be babysitting (always exceptions of course), and you're taking kids that young for the money. Which is fine, if that's your thing..but not me. As for belts, my personal philosophy is that I don't give black belts (junior or otherwise) to someone younger than 16..and they have to be a MATURE 16 year old at that. Not all 16 year olds are at the same maturity level by any means. I think the perfect age for a person to start training is around 14-16 years old. But any age is fine.

Well, I'm sure you know how it's sometimes quite difficult to explain things over the net, but essentially, we don't rotate our shoulders with punches, and thrust our hips forward with kicks. Naw, I donb't yell in class...but yes, the word "relax" enters into the class fairly often. I have one student, a nikyu (2nd brown belt) who's been with me quite a while, that just can't get his body to lossen up. He's my age *50) and muscular, and just plain stiff! It's not a matter of stretching I don't think, and I just can't seem to find a way (short of getting him drunk perhaps) to loosen up. Suggestions would be appreciated.

Rotating, or throwing your hips and shoulders into techniqeus is a good way to generate power...if you make contact with you opponent. We don't do that. Rather, our power is generated by the "snap" at the end of the technique. I'm not saying rotaing hips/shoulders is wrong, but it can throw you off balance and can leave you rather vulnerable if you don't land the blow. With practice and being relaxed, you can generate quite a bit of power focusing on the snap at the end of a punch, kick or block.

Oh gosh guys ...thanks for the warm welcome. I just say my piece on subjects I have an opinion on, or possible some knowledge or experience of. Some like it...and some (ahem Ben) don't. As for Shorinryu's concepts, I'm not sure what you mean exactly, but I can give you a quick idea. Keeping in mind of course, there are several "main" branches of Shorinryu, plus numerous sub-branches, so all I can speak of is what I personally do. What we are striving to do in the branch that I study, is to regress backwards to the oldest, and most authentic ways of doing shorinryu, instead of what most other systems are doing, and that is trying to improve their systems by modernizing and taking techniques from other systems into their own. Whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing..is debatable, but in our opinion, newer isn't necessarily better. For example (and there are many), the majoity of "modern karate systems" are utilizing high kicks to the head. We don't, and never will. For us, the groin is a very viable target, and what easier way to attack it than to have your opponet raise his leg high to allow easy access? The same goes for the knee and inside of the thigh. Have you ever been kicked to the inside of your thigh? The outside is protected by large, strong muscles, and a good kick there will just usually leave a good bruise and a sore muscle for a few days. But the inside of that thigh is so much more tender, and when a well placed kick wit hthe ball of the foot, roundhouse..or even the toes (yes, we kick with our toes curled down to soft targets), it can be rather incapacitating for your opponent. Shorinryu is a system that utilizes speed..I think more so than most systems. Out attacks are short, precise, and very fast. We endeavor to attack specific points of the body with specific weapons. We don't like to over commit our bodies to an atytack, such as throwing shoulders into punches, or hips with kicks. Yes, doing so lends more power to your technique, but if that technique is blocked, or you miss..you leave yourself wide open for a counter attack, which is what we want the OTHER GUY to do! lol The vast majority of our punching, kick and blocking power comes at the last part of the technique, rather than throughout the entire technique. This takes a while for people to learn and to understand, but try it yourself. Take your basic front snap kick fron a left foot forward stance. Kicking with the back leg, the majority of systems start the full power and speed the moment the back foot leaves the floor and they try to increase the speed and power throughout the entire technique until, and beyond, the piont of contact. We, on the other hand, move the back leg forward, chamber it to the knee first (but not stopping at the knee), and then at THAT point is where the majority of the power comes from in the form of a very quick snapping motion. The same premise applies to all kicks, punches and blocks. The power comens at the end of the technique, not throughout the entire technique. Odd concept possible for you to understand maybe? lol If you try it a bit on your own. Relax more than you probably are used to doing (that's import for us..relax)..front or real leg kick..chamber it to the knee fast, but relaxed, then snap as hard as you can from the knee outward (careful not to hyperextend the joint please). Try it with blocks. do you normal block, but instead of muscling and trying to get all the power from the entire movement..do it just at the last part of the technique, just before it makes contact. Try it with a reverse punch...through all thepower into the last 4-6 inches of the technique just before it twists. I don't know if telling you these thigns is going to make sense, or if you'll try it once or twice and go "Phooie!"..but it does really work once you get the hang of it, and you'll find it takes a whole lot less energy that throwing a whole body technique. Please understand this isn't a new and improved, modern idea. This is several hundred years old, and most systems have either not learned it, or forgotten it somewhere along the line. Another technique, which isn't unique to Shorinryu, but in my experiences, we're the only ones that I've ever seen actually practice what we preach with it..is called change of body, body shifting..or several other names I've heard. Basically what it entails is the shifting ofyor body away ftrom an attack, but that shifting is done at hte last possible moment, when the attackers technique (kick/punch/baseball bat) is fully commited and it's course can't be changed. Again, it's hard to explain, but I use it all the time when sparring, in a couple of street fights I couldn't afford, and my people (the few that do this anyway) that go to tournaments use it and invariably, and consistently..score on their opponents with it. A quick example. Left foot forward in a front stance. Envision (or have somebody do it) a right handed punch coming from your opponent, heading directly for your nose. You beed to wait unbtil the last possible moment to move (you'll get bonked a number of times until your timing kicks in)..and when you do move, leave your left foot in place (OK to pivot though) and shift your right foot behind you into a 90 degree turn backwards. (keep that left foot where it was though and pivot on it). At the same time that you do this change of body, through your left hand out to an open spot on your opponent, usually his ribs or throat, so that you nmake contact about the exact same time your right foot settles and stabalizes into a good, solid stance again. You are striking your opponent with 3 different energies. 1. The energy transferred to your arm by your body shifting and rotating. 2. The forward momentum of your punch. 3. Your opponents forward movement used against him. Also look at thsi point. From your origional front stance, extend your left arm out as far as it goes, liek a punch. Put a student/partner there so that your fist just touches his chest and from this point, they won't move. Now, with yoru left arm extended, do that same change of body movement to 90 degrees. You should see that your reach has extended forward quite a bit, which is the power of your body behind your punch, plus you get a lot closer to the guy as he's coming in. Did I mentionm, if you move just right, that his punch/kikc or whatever...missed you entirely??? Owwww...finger cramps here! lol Did I lose anybody..or bore you to tears??? Sorry if I did, but this is the sort of stuff we do daily in class, and why I love the art so much. I have seen other systems practice the body shifting, but have never seen anybody else actually use it when they need to. We drill it constantly, until it becomes (or try to anyway) automatic..and FAST! oen more quick thing that ocmes to mind. Out of all the different doo's I've visited in the past, I constantly see belts of all colors doing basic one step kumite, where one person piunches, the other blocks and then throws a counter punch with the opposite arm. We do that too, but only as a very basic, white belt..1st week sort of technique. We call those the "old one and two's". What we do instead..is a one---1/2---two. Take any block. Opponent tosses a pucn...you block, but instead of your counbter immediately coming from your opposite arm/hand, you counter FIRST with the blocking arm..because look where it's at? It should already be halfway to your opponent as it blocked his arm, so take that block (don't rechanger it or pull it back), and from where it's at in the block, launch a striek to your opponent from there, and THEN launch your other hands counter punch. Sure, the 1/2 isn't a real strong technique, but if you land on the nose, or most places in his face, he's flinch or duck..causing you to have a real good oppening for you #2 punch. Again..does that make sense??? Anyway...I've rattled enough for one night. Take care.

[quote="hajime" pffft! and it doesn't stop when you get older either. I still can't help looking at women of all ages under 30 Well, at my advanced age of nearly 51...I look at gals from 18 (legal) up to mid-50's! lol I tell my 37 year old fiance that hte day I quit looking...just dig a hole and push me in! Right now, I have one foot in the hole, and another on a bana peel. OK..getting off the subject here...sorry mods.

Hi All! I've been visiting this forum for maybe 2 months now and have started some threads and commented on others, so I guess it's about time I actually introduced myself and said "hi!" Some background on myself. I'm a 50 year old male (51 later this month ) and have been involved in Okinawan Shorinryu Matsumura Seito/Orthodox/Kenpo Karate and Kobudo since January of 1975. With the exception of one TKD class while in the Army, this is the only system I have studied, although I do watch many other systems and have taught quite a few seminars to other systems. I have been teaching my own classes since 1978 and love the art that I do. I feel, for me, it is the most well rounded martail art there is. The Ultimate Art? No, but what is? Short of nuclear weapons, there is no sure way of ensuring anything is going to work. I run a pretty relaxed, first name basis class and am pretty approachable as an instructor and person. I really do not like the boot licking that some systems practice, nor the militaristic way some run classes. Not to say it's bad, just I don't personally care for it, nor would ever want to join a class like that myself. I live in beautiful northwest Montana in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, where the air and water are clean, the people are generally friendly, and everybody carrys a gun or rifle in their truck! lol I like this site so far, and enjoy a good discussion and sharing of information. Paul

I can't speak for ALL Okinawan systems, but Shorinryu still actively teaches kobudo (the art of weapons). Technically, it is an art within an art actually, and you get ranking on weapons alone, which is seperate from rank for karate (empty hand). Fotr example, you can have a Shoday in karate, and a ichikyu in kobudo, but there are no belts for kobudo that I know of. There is also (just a little FYI here) a third art within the art called tuitte, which is the art of joint manipulation. AKA joint locks. There is no ranking in this that I've ever heard of. 3 seperate, but distinct arts within one art...and "usually" taught all together as one. Many have, yes, but which ones specifically..I don't know. I'm sure somebody will dive in here and tell you though. Actually, the broom can make a pretty useful weapon when used as a blocking device like the tonfa or sai (along the edge of the arm for example) and for poking into a persons face (either end), stomach or ribs. Not real useful as a striking weapon however. To thin and breaks easily.

OK...we'll try this one more time and see if it will satisfy you. You said "So if you have 6-months more practice, but I have 100lbs more muscle, you win? How does on quantify "skill" and how much skill compares to how much mass in what ratio?" If you want to give me a few millions dollars to put together a 10 year study, possibly I can come up with a ratio for you. As for the 6 months of extra practice, if you are a martial artist, then you should realize that 6 months of study in some styles isn't squat! While in others, it can make a world of differance. 100lbs more of muscle is a factor for some systems that rely on strength over technique...as I believe I stated before. In Shorinryu, for example, there is no emphasis on big muscles because we rely on good solid and proven technique, knowledge of the body and how to use it to best advantage, speed and accuracy. You said "For the record, many styles were founded by big ******* guys." Oh? Support this please. I'll assume you're talking about American martial arts systems? Fine, but where is THAT system founded on? More than likely, a traditional system that was origionated in the Orient..by physically smaller people. You said "All things being equal, it's the different thing that decides the outcome. Large (muscular) is superior to small." For one thing, there is no way that any two people on the planet are exactly equal. Take identical twins for example. Working out exactly the same, same weight/height and experiences. On any given day, one will win, the other lose. Boxing..take any two heavy weights for example. On any given day, a technically superior fighter maybe usually win, but have an off day and get beaten by a lessor fighter when he shouldn't have..thus you keep bookies and Las Vegas in business. You said "Don't think so? How much challenge is a skilled 9-year-old against you?" This is a purely rediculous comment. I assumed you were referring to a typical 9 year old black belt that you see around in various dojo's, thus my comments as such. You said "How can you say that and then refuse to quantify it by calling it unquantifiable? You've just argued that you cannot know what you assert to know." Talk about a sentence that makes no sense to me! Clarify it, or drop it. You said "What would you like to use as a "unit of skill". If guy A is more skilled than guy B, how can I express how much?" Refer back to my earlier comment about your funding me a 10 year study. You said "So, you assert that two boxers, with 100lbs difference in mass, and fighting each other in a street fight, their size difference would not play an important role? On what do you base this?" I stated that their size isn't as important as their skills. Take Mike Tyson for example. Not the biggest heavy weight boxer out there. I don';t follow boxing so I can't name names very well, but George Foreman comes to mind. Foreman is much bigger and stronger than Tyson..or was anyway..and I believe that htey fought some 8 years ago or more, and Tyson won. Whther it was luck, or skill..I don't know. Both are skilled in their chosen art, Foreman was bigger and stronger AND more experienced, yet lost. His size wasn't a factor. You said "So a mass difference is less important because power is a function of mass and speed? I don't understand how you reach that conclusion from that premise." There have been numerous scientific studies about this subject..and no, I can't direct you to a specific website, but you're the one that wants proof, so I'm sure you can find one if you look. Anyway, and I probably have the formula wrong here, but mass x velocity = power..or something like that. Any physics people out there? Think of a bullet...small mass, with tremendous speed..equals a lot of power at point of contact. This is also the premise behind board breaking. The same applies to a fist or foot, add speed..generate power. The amount of muscle has no bearing on it, other than the mass of the muscle, not the strength of the muscle. You said "What can you offer to establish that they (past karate masters)were beating comparatively skilled larger people? Since I've never argued that skill does not matter, what can you offer to show that size is irrellevent?" You need to ask this? Were you asleep in martial arts history class when the your sensei (assuming you have/had one) told you of martial arts coming to world, and small Oriental Masters were bouncing around everybody that came into the class? I'm sure the reading public out there can quote storys of their specific founders of their arts taking on much larger people. Didn't Funakoshi beat a much larger/stronger sumo wrestler when he went to Japan? You said "There are 9 year old (skilled) singers, painters, musicians, programmers, gymnists, writers, etc. Are you asserting that it is impossable for a 9-year-old to be skilled at a phyical art? I can easily grab an example." We're talking fighting here, not singers, painters, etc. None of the things that YOU use an an example are dealing with the suject at hand of this discussion. As for a 9 year old being "skilled" in a martial art? Yes, at a 9 year old level, he can be skilled as compared to OTHER 9 year olds, but physically comparing him to an adult? No way! That's a very weak comparison, and you're grasping at straws with it. 9 year olds aren't even close to reaching their physical prime and growth, nor mentally able to grasp the cocepts of the mechanics of the martial arts. Yes, they can mimic the movements and spout off what they have learned from sensei about why they do this this way, or that that way, but ask them specific questions, and they do not have the mental ability to grasp that complex of a concept as to the actual mechanics behind what they do. To give you some background on how I can state this, I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, and was an elementary teacher at the 5-8th grade level for 11 years. I have 243 credit hours of education classes, but do NOT classify myself as any sort of expert in this. I do however, have a good working knowledge and experience of the subject of kids and their thought processes and physical levels. I also have been an instructor of this system since 1978 and have had literally hundreds of children in my classes from age 6 and up. I also have raised two sons of my own, and now have an 8 year old, soon to be step-son. Now JerryLove, if my responses don't satisfy you, I'm sorry. I feel I have stated my opinion to the best of my knowledge, and will be looking forward to that multi-million dollar grant in my mail box so that I can further study this subject so I can answer your questions more fully sometime within the next 10 years. That, or you can fly out to Kalispell, Montana at your convenience, and I would be glad to discuss this further with you. Otherwise, I am done with this thread.

AGREED! Managment should be the ones to handle this guy if he's really a problem, and the police if he gets more out of hand than management wants to deal with. You, as an employee. are a representative of Taco Bell, and as such..if you get into a fight with the guy in the store while you are on the clock and working, could be opening up the store to a major lawsuit if the gansta gets injured. Not to mention probably losing your job (this is a bad thing?). *making a note to call OSHA about a Taco Bell with unsafe working conditions...aka...wet floors!*

If you're able to kick with a wristlock applied, then the guy doing the wristlock isn't doing it correctly. Since I know you like to argue JerryLove, here's why. When a wristlock is applied it puts tremendous torque/pressure on your wrist which bends you over to try to relieve some of the torque/pressure. Raising your foot off the ground to kick causes you to either lean in to, or away from the person, which will put even MORE torque/pressue on the wrist, which in turn will cause you even MORE pain..possibly even damaging your wrist severely. And even if you were able to kick without shifting your body one way or the other, the applicator of the wristlock should be able to easily apply more pressure on the lock if he sees your foot attempting to leave the ground, and that will stop that kick very quickly. Assuming of course, he knows what he's doing. Since I'm not in Florida to demonstrate this technique to you, and apparently whomever is applying one on you that allows you to kick him isn't doing it correctly...I'd suggest that you find a school that does tuitte or aikido type techniques and have them properly demonstarate this to you.

My opinion is just that...my opinion. Nothing more, nothing less. If you don't like what I wrote, or don't agree with it...fine by me. If you do..also fine by me. I see no point in supporting my opinion other than by what I wrote. If that isn't good enough for you, I guess you're going to have to live with it. I've seen your comments to others on many other threads, and you've always struck me as someone that will pick apart anything anybody says, just for the sake of argument. I won't bite JerryLove. I've stated my viewpoint and stand by it. You can like it...or don't like it..I really don't care. (where's that darn ignor button when you need it?)

I agree with the others..business is business. Fight back, put some of your flyers on his door! lol I ran a dojo commercially for 5 years or so, and you know what I found to be the best advertisement? Word of mouth! Get your students talking. Offer them a free months class for every new student they bring in THAT SIGNS UP AND PAYS THE FIRST MONTH FEES(that's important). Have them bring boyfriend, girfriend, sister and brothers. Aunts, uncles and cousins..friends, acquaintances..anybody! Offer family rates. Offer group rates to 5-10 from a same business, club, etc. Student discounts maybe? I tried to encourage parents to get involved by offering free classes to parents of existing students, as long as the kid was enrolled in class. Got about 8 more students that way, and they brought in some friends that PAID! I tried radio and TV advertisements, booths at the local fair with free drawings, newpapers and flyers and never had much success. But word of mouth is your BEST advertisement, because your students are talking to people, and telling how they like it. Enthusiasm spreads!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching people twirling batons...but usually I like them in parades and wearing short skirts! lol

Ahhh..there we have it! I am not here to argue, as you apparently are. I am here to state my opinion, which I already have. That you differ with it is fine..I have no problem with that. but I have no desire, nor intention of ARGUING differances of opinions.

Is it just me, or is does anybody else readinhg this get the same impression that Jerry Love is arguing, just fo the sake to be arguing, and might have a case of cranialrectuminvertus??? Sorry bud, I have better things to do than cyber-jab with you today and worry about you picking every little detail about what I say. At least make some sense before you do please. What's this mean for example? "How can you say that and then refuse to quantify it by calling it unquantifiable? You've just argued that you cannot know what you assert to know."

I used to judge weapons competitions quite a bit (still do, but not as much), since mine is one of the arts that actually uses the weapons (kobudo) in their system, as opposed to many systems that just pick them up and self-teach themselves a whole lot of bad technique. No slam intended people, but when I see a TKD black belt walk out on the weapons floor and they don't even HOLD the weapon properly, it just drives me NUTS! Anyway, the two biggest things that I look for when a person approaches me to announce their kata (this is how we do it anyway) is does the person pronounce THE WEAPONS NAME PROPERLY? If he/she pronounces them "numchuks"..or "chucks", out of a possible 10 points maximum on their kata, they will NOT get anymore than a 7 out of me. Why? Because they have, before they even began to show me their kata, demonstrated to me that they don't even know what the weapon is called. Am I a tough judge? Damn straight I am! Why does so little of a thing bother me? Because there is so much GARBAGE out there in the arts now, and I will not encourage someone, whether black belt or white, to get away with such poor performance as not even knowing what the name of his chosen weapon is. The 2nd thing I look at is how does the person hold the weapon? If he/she is holding the weapon where his/her hands are close to the cord or chain cionsistantly (now and then is OK for specific techniques), again, they will not score higher than a 7 out of a possible 10 with me. Why? Because holding the nunchaku close to the rope/chain lessens the striking power of the weapon drastically. Yes, holding it that way you can get fancier and flashier movements out of the weapon, but without power, you have basically lost all of the effectivenesxs of the weapon. OK, somebody's going to say in response..."But the judges are looking for flashy and fancy"..and yes, some do. But I, as a weapons instructor and nearly 29 year practioner of this art, look for effective, and good technique. Flashy, fancy and ineffective garbage gets marked down. Also, I admire, but ignor when the person does splits, acrobatic jumps and flips, etc in weapons competition, as this has no bearing (in my opinion) on the persons demonstration of his skills with the weapon. Sure, they look GREAT, but what does that have to do with the weapon??? Tournaments here generally have 5 black belt judges on the panel for kata competition. The center judge is normally picked by the tournament promoter as the person, regardless of rank, that has the most knowledge of that particular subject..in this case, weapons. I am invarably always asked to be the center judge in this event, not because I am the highest rank, but because I teach kobudo (weapons) as a part of my art, because it IS a part of my art. A good example was a tournament I was center judge at maybe 10 years ago. A red belt in TKD approached the judges and announced he was going to do (forgot the name of the kata) a "Numchuk kata" from his system. Already, he was scored a 7 in my mind because he doesn't know the name of the weapon. He got up and started spinning the nunchaku very nicely and fancy, but holding it right below the rope. Smoothly, he brought out a 2nd hidden pair out of his gi top and started spinning two of them at the same time. Great, but his technique was terrible! This guy put on one heck of a show, including doing the splits, a front flip, tumbles on the floor...you name it, this kid was good...except for his weapons technique! Remember, this is a weapons competition, not a gymnastics meet. Every one of the other judges (none of whom BTW did weapons as a prt of their art) scored this young man a 9..and one even gave him a 10! I, on the other hand, scored him a 7. Yep, I was boo'd a bit..which didn't bother me one bit. I stand by my principles and training. A visiting local TV news crew grabbed the kid (who won 1st place BTW, despite my score) afterwards and asked him to do it again, and it was on the local news that night. *sigh* This kid, about 17 or so, came up to me afterwards and asked me...very politlely, why I scored him so low, and I told him. "Learn to pronounce the weapon properly, and learn to use it the way it is intended to be used. Otherwise, get a twirling baton and lead a marching band in a parade." He then asked me to watch him, and the kid demonstrated some VERY GOOD TECHNIQUE with the nunchaku..so he really did know how to use them, but he readily admitted that he can't do all that fancy stuff while holding it correctly! Wow..I'm getting really long winded on this...sorry, but I'm just trying to help here. My point I guess is this. If you want to win trophies, and you go to tournaments that like fancy technique as opposed to effective technique, then do what you want I guess. I, personally, would rather be judged for good, effective technique that will do what the weapons is designed to do, and that is defeat my enemy, and risk getting a low score because of it..than to do a bunch of fancy crap that isn't any better than twirling a baton in a parade.

I have a lot of people that talk to me about joining my karate class because they want to lose weight and get in better shape, and my first reply to them is always this. "I'm teaching karate, not building "better bodies". If you want to lose weight and get in better shape, join a health club." Yes, during the course of your training, you will get in better shape, and no doubt lose weight. However, that is not the goal of my training. My system of traditional Okinawan karate came from farmers, fishermen and merchants and is designed for the common man to do, regardless of what shape they are in. Tall, short, fat or thin..EVERYBODY should be able to do this art, because that is what it is designed for, and has been for several hundred years. We do all the standard pushups and situps that everybody else does in class, but I don't require that people be able to do any set number of them. If they can do 5..great! If they can do 50...BETTER! I teach for what the art was intended, self-defense. Not for weight loss, and definitely not for sport. I can think of a number of other systems for either of those, if that's what they want. Tae Bo would be good! lol So the answer to your question on this thread...no, physical fitness is not a factor in this system. We're just a bunch of chain smokin', pizza lovin', beer drinkin' couch potatoes..that can kick some major butt if we need to (self-defense only of course)!

Like I tell my students in my class. You can "what if" a subject to death. There are so many variables involved in this general of a subject that we'd have to spend a lifetime catagorizing it. I have better things to do than spend all day doing that for the rest of my life, but here's my response to your comments. 6 months extra training isn't anything to speak of, unless your comparing a new person walking in the door to a guy that has 6 months of training. Also, the system makes a big differance whether it is based on practical techniques, or flashy, ineffective techniques. Another factor would be the learning speed of the student in question. For one thing, the amount of muscle you have depends on what art you're practicing and talking about here in the qyuestion of "does size matter". For example, in judo or most grappling arts, weight training and muscle mass is important, but in most/many striking arts, much less so. Speed and technique is much more important and "power" is generated by that speed and the mass of the object (hand/arm or leg). One of my instructors, Jimmy Lee of Minneapolis, was about 5'5" and small build, yet he generated more than enough power through speed and technique to easily, and at will, to drive me across the floor with any number of techniques. Oh? Which ones? Take karate for example, since it is the most widespread of the arts. It origionated on Okinawa. The Okinawans are a very short people generally. The average adult male is around 5'5" tall and average build. As a general rule, all karate, including TKD, Shotokan, Goju, Shitoryu, etc, came from, origionally, an Okinawan art, which was passed down from a physically small person, yet works incredibly well against larger, and stronger opponents. They utilize skill/technique and speed over raw, physical power generally. Also, unlike "sprot karate" there are no rules in a real fight where virtually every part of a person is a target to be utilized and exploited if the opportunity is available. Being skilled means that you are aware of where those targets are, and how to exploit them to your best advantage. You must be talking about those cute TKD black belts I see now and then at tournaments. Do you seriously think, because they wear that belt around their waist, that they are truly skilled??? In the true sense of the word skilled??? Oh sure, they can do the kata, they can break a board or two, they can do the techniques and fly through the air, do backflips and do the splits..but do you honestly think a 9 year old will have the maturity and the actual physical and mental processes to be considered "skilled" at any art??? Come on now..let's be serious here please.