DWx

It's all just semantics in the end. Unfortunately the public in general knows Martial Arts = Karate. Sometimes it's just easier to say you practice Karate because most people can relate to that word. Well taking Korean Karate as an example, early Taekwondo instructors called their styles that for a couple of reasons. First of all many of these instructors did indeed learn Karate whilst in Japan and then brought it home with them. Very early TKD schools were actually just Karate. Over time they started to tweak it to make it more Korean and less Japanese so it started to change but the root and foundation was still there. Eventually it needed a new (and Korean) name so Taekwondo/Tang Soo Do etc were chosen. Over the style's evolution I think you'd struggle to pinpoint a definitive moment when the techniques stopped being Karate and became something else Also, when a lot of instructors like Jhoon Rhee went out to America, the Taekwondo name hadn't yet taken hold. What do you then tell students they are practicing? It's not Karate as in Japanese or Okinawan Karate but it's something a little bit different. It's Korean so they called it Korean Karate for simplicity.

Happy Birthday Devin! Hope you have a great day

Seems to be it's only important if you already have. It's nice to be able to claim a link back to a certain person but it doesn't mean you're good.

Welcome to KF stubbsy

I think these are important points that both students and teachers should be aware of. From a teacher's point of view, a student is not stupid or unteachable because they don't understand how you've explained it, you've just not yet hit on the best way to convey the lesson to them. Equally students shouldn't get disheartened because they don't understand, the should ask for a demonstration or a different way of explaining On the side of my regular job I tutor kids, specialising in maths and science. Over the years you end up with different ways to teach the same subject dependant on how that person learns. For example teaching fractions to kids. Some get it better if I bring in something like Lego or a bag of sweets they can physical divide up because they are better at learning through physical activity, some prefer to talk about it and go through logically, others like to use pictures and draw things themselves. Same lesson just different ways of conveying it.

I think creativity and mixing it up is key. To the bold type, it's not necessarily singing but for those that respond best to musical teaching I think you can still convey that your movements should have a rhythm; whether you are working on kata or just combinations, some students "get it" better if they can appreciate how and what kind of tempo they should be moving at.

Cool videos. You can see Zach's improved from the last set If you want my honest advice, I'm not overly impressed with her. It might be a little brutal but she's a bit of a one trick pony. Whilst it's used very well, all she has is that right leg lead. If Zach's develops the tools, he could take her out easy. is what I'd have him doing more of. OK he didn't land it successfully but if I were his coach that'd be exactly what I'd work with him on. You need to get him practicing on a target and landing it hard but stay standing. Here's a really of it in action (quite a few examples of a spinning hook or back kick counters in that video actually). was also really good IMHO. As she throws that right leg side, he should step right with his back leg whilst simultaneously throwing that hook kick to her open body. Very timely as the GingerNinja just posted this video on YouTube: I know it's TKD but it would be great to see Zach varying it up a little and maybe trying to incorporate one or two of these combos into his sparring. He certainly has the flexibility for it so I would pick a couple to really focus on and try to get him using these offensively. My criticism of Zach's would be the way he moves. At the minute he runs back and forth. I know he's trying to keep moving and work the angles more but it's not a great way to do it as it'll leave him unstable and susceptible to a well timed kick that he will run into. Again I know it's TKD (but hey its what I know) but I would have him working his footwork to be more like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYNha86CIMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9YwLxbHKMs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8BglZV52M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbiLqCJ6cLo I mean look at your coach's footwork in your other video: He keeps a nice even spacing between his feet at all times and doesn't bring foot across like Zach's does when he runs. That's my 2 cents anyway

Congrats for getting back on the mat Nidan. I'd take the flag against the National squad member as a victory, I know I would means you held your own a bit. Good luck for the next one!

Are you looking at the paid ads ps1 or "free" methods of promoting like photos and to like and share? FWIW I think the paid ads aren't much and you can run them for any length of time you like. Last time I looked it was £3/day for targeting your local area. Maybe pay a little for a weeks worth and see how it benefits you? I would offer the other side of the coin to mal103's experience and say that we've had a positive response from it. Not massive numbers but enough interest to make it worthwhile. So have other instructors I know. You do have to be very proactive with it though and post a lot of photos and statuses which you can tag people in a get on other's timelines. But then we have a good student base anyway so have a lot of people to tag etc. I guess it also depends on the demographic you want to reach too. Facebook seems very much to be a younger person thing or at least those who have larger networks and not just close friends and family tend to be younger I think.

This right here is great advice. It would be a poor reflection on the sensei and his students if a novice student was winning all the time. Right now, when sparring is still very new to you, no-one expects you to win. You don't need to win in training. Sparring is only a tool for practicing your techniques in a live format. I think a lot of people forget, senior students included, that unless you are in a competition scenario, sparring is practice time and you should be using it achieve little goals. Every bout or training session, pick out something small which you are going to work on. It could be side kicks, it could be using your angles more, to not get hit by Bob Smith's reverse punch or even just to use your left leg more this time. Then work on improving that during each spar. Doesn't matter if you get kicked in the head 20 times in the process or if you "lose" the fight overall, if you can come off the mat and say you've improved a little in your chosen area then that is a victory.

Looks like the next European event in this will be in Loughborough, not too far from where I am. If I understand it correctly you do it with a training partner? That would be my one criticism in that you can then practice with that person all 40 or so attacks and come up with a move for each rather than it being a completely random fight. Having trained with them you'll be able to pick up on what your partner is going to do really quickly compared to if you were with a unknown opponent. Your training partner can also put up varying levels of resistance or go with the technique to help you out.

Congrats Safroot.

Have you got a link to the rules Wastelander? Looks kinda how we run our one-steps. SPot on IMHO. It's like any kind of sparring or partner practice we do in training; there's a thin line between realistic and safe.

It's nice to have some proper clarification. However I would still err on the side of caution and treat the kubotan as illegal. In my (not so informed) opinion I've always understood the law on self defense to be about intent and what would be deemed reasonable force. I think intent is what makes it illegal. If you carry a kubotan or any other weapon and intend to use it on someone to cause harm, albeit in "self defense" then that is getting towards illegal. That's how I've heard it described as before. To me, there is just a little too much room for error there. In reality you might get a little carried away and end up striking when you were going for a pressure point or causing serious damage from trying to control them. Besides, unless you are training with it all the time and are very good with it, you might just be better to use your bare fists. Hollow kubotan are specifically mentioned in the Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 141. As well as a lot of other typical martial arts weapons: https://www.gov.uk/find-out-if-i-can-buy-or-carry-a-knife

That is a good point. And of course we all know that Jigoro Kano introduced the black / white belt system. Didn't really have much of a need beforehand. Individual kyus and dans were also added later to introduce more sub levels and provide more structure.

Forgive me, but just because you have The Hierarchy as something specific, it does not mean that you don't fall into a hierarchy as well. By it's very nature having a belt rank gives structure and a pecking order by indicating one's seniority level. You said earlier: Is this not an example of rank being used to establish and maintain a hierarchy and keep a level of seniority?

Does this not illustrate my point in a way? By-laws and rules regarding promotion and other such things mean we have to maintain a hierarchical structure. It's a product of itself. It's not to say a hierarchy is bad, humans like order and structure. Really though, why must we have high dan grades? What is wrong someone being just a blackbelt, teaching a student for a number of years, then saying to said student "you've passed the criteria, you are now a blackbelt too".

In 3-step, the majority of the time we start from the low block front stance position, unless the attack is something like a kick. Then we'd start from L-stance daebi makgi. But 3-step is a little more tightly controlled. In 1-step it all tends to start from a parallel stance ready position although again the L-stance guarding block can also be used. We do also have a training practice that I guess you could say is mid way between sparring, step-sparring and self defense. We spar and take it in turns to attack each other but we can include grabs and sweeps. Defender has to avoid all attacks and then finish their opponent, I guess slighty similar to ippon kumite?? You wrote an article on step-sparring didn't you?

How so?? Well why do you need to be a nidan? Or a sandan? Or a kudan? Why not just a Blackbelt? It is a tool to distinguish you from him or from her. That you are Bill's senior but Bob's junior. Early on rank is an identifier so your instructor and others can gauge your progress on a curriculum but when you are training for training's sake why do you need to be promoted further. IMHO it's to maintain that hierarchy so that both the rank holder and their peers know where within that hierarchy they fall. I don't need to be anything except a student of the MA. Those type of things are there, and were there before I came onto the MA picture. I am what I am, but it's not because of something that I did beyond my training. No one falls into the hierarchy, they're selected via an established voting proxy. Not everyone is of the hierarchy!! We use the word "hierarchy" within Shindokan circles to only note whom lies within the Administrative Chain of Command, and not within the ranks, as you're viewing it. It's an unfamiliar term for me to see rank as you're explaining it. Before I was elected into the old Board of Regents, I was NOT part of the hierarchy, nor was I privy to anything Administrative and the like. When I speak here at KF and I use the word "hierarchy", I've always been referring to those members, those chosen few, that are part of the Administration and the like. Ok...I've babbled enough...sorry! It's seems as though you use the word "hierarchy" within Shindokan to refer to something specific? In the strictest sense of the word, everyone who wears belts is part of a hierarchy whether they want to be or not. Taking this definition: (n) a system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority Belt ranking seems to fit into this pretty well. Once getting the next belt stops opening up a new part of the curriculum for you, why do you ever need to be promoted again?

Welcome Clarisa

I think it's a very old school mentality. Essentially once you get to this level of proficiency then you can defend yourself. I do like how he says that knowing the technique is not enough and that you have to have a will and mental fortitude but I think it is important to be conscious of self defense application from the start and to develop this alongside learning the technique. It helps somewhat with visualizing and understanding what it is you are doing. With regards to sparring, sparring should not be one thing. You should have many different types of sparring dependant on what your training goal is. Some days you might want to make it very much like self defense, other days maybe more sport like. Each has a lesson to teach.

I'm borrowing that! Great simple mantra to teaching this stuff I'm surprised that TKD doesn't teach that. Hhhhmmmmm? The principle? Well yes as I described above. But not said as in "ABC". As Gareth says it's a nice little saying especially for kids to remember.

How so?? Well why do you need to be a nidan? Or a sandan? Or a kudan? Why not just a Blackbelt? It is a tool to distinguish you from him or from her. That you are Bill's senior but Bob's junior. Early on rank is an identifier so your instructor and others can gauge your progress on a curriculum but when you are training for training's sake why do you need to be promoted further. IMHO it's to maintain that hierarchy so that both the rank holder and their peers know where within that hierarchy they fall.

After a certain point I think rank just becomes another tool for maintaining hierarchy.

I'm borrowing that! Great simple mantra to teaching this stuff