Montana

Exactly!

Exactly! If you only have one way to generate power you will be limited. Different methods makes you a more rounded and effective fighter imo.

In my branch of Shorin Ryu anyway, anything above 7th Dan is honorary. As long as they strive to get better, Both in the art and themselves.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh yeah I have! I used to be friends with a "gentleman" that was the head and founder of the AKKA (American Korean Karate Assoc) based out of Great Falls, Mt. Essentially, he was a TKD 3rd degree black belt that decided to self-promote himself up to 9th Dan, and start his own system and association. He was a nice enough guy and we became friends, and he put on fantastic well run tournaments! Long story short, a year or so after he elevated himself in rank he was on my neighborhood (about 250 miles from where he lived) and dropped in to watch my class. At the end of the class he stood up in front of my class and gave a glowing, flowery speech about what a good sensei I was, how proud they should be to take classes from me...yadda yadda yadda. Then he whips out a 3rd Dan certificate from his association in TKD (which I've never so much as had one single class in) and hands it to me. He advised me that this certificate is as good as any his association gives and nowhere on it did it say honorary or such. I was flabbergasted to say the least! Interesting to note, after the students had left and we went out for a beer to talk, he asked me "Since I gave you a 3rd Dan in my system, can you give me one in yours?" He was collecting certificates from various people in different systems to hang on his dojo walls..I guess to add credibility to what he was doing. I thanked him for what he had said to my students about me, and the "honor" it was to have him give me a 3rd dan in "his" system..but said I was not comfortable giving him ANY rank in the system I teach (it's not MY system afterall) without taking classes from me. Then I added..."Do you want your certificate back? lol he said "No..." but was clearly disappointed. He died friendless (very long story there) and the AKKA, as far as I know, went with him.

I'm 6'6" tall and weigh around 250 lbs (not sure how many stones/rocks that is) and 62 years old currently. I have had recurring back issues for many years before I started training back in 1975 and just dealt with it as best I could until it got to the point that a hard right kick would throw my back out for WEEKS! That, and arthritis in both of my knees is when I decided to retire from the arts after 30 years.

First of all..congratulations on your promotion! I think I got my 9th kyu back in the spring of 1975...lol. As to all of your questions...those are questions only your instructor/sensei can answer..we can't because we don't know you or how your class is run. We don't have a clue how your testing works either..so ask your sensei, or a senior student.

The minimum age requirement is designed to keep people from achieving overly high rank for the time that they have had in their given art form. For example, I have seen people in their EARLY 20's that have 6th and even 7th Dan ranking. Granted, they maybe have started training when they were 4 and have nearly 20 years in the arts..but maturity level (IMO of course) is well below that of someone sporting that sort of ranking that had as much, or more training to reach the same level, and was in their 50's. Rank is just a method of gauging what experience and training you have done in an art. But think about it for a second. I have personally seen a 3rd Degree black belt that was 12 years old. He was good, yes..but would you take classes from a 12 year old? Or would you take classes from a 3rd degree black belt that was 25+ years old? Assume that both had the same amount of time in the training. The time in grade (minimum time requirement) is for "seasoning" in that rank. It's meant to prevent people from progressing IN RANK faster than their skills and maturity develop. Personally, I wouldn't ever consider taking classes from a person with high rank, but young age. They may know the moves, but doubtful if they have the understanding of what they are doing outside of a physical movement they learned to mimic. But I'm an old fossil and stuck in my ways. And by the way..."Age and treachery will ALWAYS overcome youth and skill!"

I can't tell you where it came from, but I can tell you it's definitely NOT from Shorin Ryu. It goes totally against all the shorin ryu principles..such as not exposing yourself while being attacked. if one of my students blocked like that, he's get an earfull from me! lol

I've only trained in one system, and that is Okinawan Shorin Ryu Matsumura Kenpo Karate and Kobudo. I find it's about as complete a system as there is (in my opinion of course) for what I looked for in a martial art. Why did I start in Shorin Ryu instead of another system? I've told this before on this forum, but in a nutshell, there were only 3 different martial arts available in small town Montana back in 1975. The TKD and Hawaiian Kenpo instructors were well known bullies and bar room brawlers that went looking for fights frequently, and encouraged their students to do the same. That, IMO, was not what I thought the arts were all about. Then I found, thru a friend, a Shorin Ryu Sensei in town that was fresh out of a tour in the Navy on the island of Okinawa. I loved the philosophy, found the techniques to be practical and make sense, and the longer I was in it, the more my love for the art grew.

Look at the video again in regards to the leg checks...notice alot of them not only block his kicks, but also protect Sensei Lindseys groin, while at the same time making his opponent lose balance. The change of body (side stepping) is taught in many systems, but in all honesty I've NEVER seen these other systems use it in refereeing about 20 years of tournament sparring. I competed in only 1 tournament (my students guilt tripped me into it) and I used it alot. In every instance I nailed the guy cleanly coming in, yet not once did I get a point from it because the judges didn't see that his technique missed, and mine connected. However, my opponents each time touch gloves with me and stated "You got ripped off man...". or words to that effect, becuase he knew I had him cold, but the judges didn't see it. No biggie..I still won 2 of my 3 matches in single elimination, heavy weight black belt division. One thing I've never liked about sparring is that it often has seemed to me that even glancing blows tend to get scored, and a block that absorbs or redirects most of the power, but may still glance, gets scored. The strategies of point fighting and useful self-defense are often miles apart. Agreed!

I just wanted to post this video of the late Grandmaster, OSensei Soken Hohan. It's an old, somewhat grainy video from a black and white film showing the grandmaster performing Passi Sho. At the time this video was shot, he was well into his 80's!! also, here's another excellent video of Sensei Lindsey doing what we do best...

Look at the video again in regards to the leg checks...notice alot of them not only block his kicks, but also protect Sensei Lindseys groin, while at the same time making his opponent lose balance. The change of body (side stepping) is taught in many systems, but in all honesty I've NEVER seen these other systems use it in refereeing about 20 years of tournament sparring. I competed in only 1 tournament (my students guilt tripped me into it) and I used it alot. In every instance I nailed the guy cleanly coming in, yet not once did I get a point from it because the judges didn't see that his technique missed, and mine connected. However, my opponents each time touch gloves with me and stated "You got ripped off man...". or words to that effect, becuase he knew I had him cold, but the judges didn't see it. No biggie..I still won 2 of my 3 matches in single elimination, heavy weight black belt division.

I feel your pain bro. I also have loaned out video's on the head of my system to others and never got them returned. When confronting one guy in particular (an instructor from a totally different system that wanted to see it) it darn near escalated into a full blow fist fight! Not quite..but darn close. He promised to return it to me within a week...then lo and behold..he moved out of state!!!

I used to have a sign on my dojo wall by the entrance that said: The instructor reserves the right to refuse training to ANYONE, at ANY TIME, and for ANY REASON! There were many, many people that I refused to teach for one reson or the other. Known bullies, bad attitudes, glory seekers, etc. And yes, as I've stated many times on this forum, I have kicked out a number of students, both adult and child, out of my classes for various reasons.

There isn't alot of videos of our founder, the late Sensei Kuda Yuichi out there, but here is a GREAT video of Sensei Ronald Lindsey of Bastrop, Tx that shows some very good techniques of how our system works. Note the use of body movment to the side of the attacker..it's an intrigal part of our system and is worked a LOT in class. Also note the use of his leg to block kicks..again, worked a lot in class and sparring. http://www.ikigaiway.com/2013/interview-ronald-lindsey-matsumura-seito-9th-dan-part-2/

100% agreement from me!

It will; vary from city to city, state to state, or country to country. No one here can really answer your question because of the many variables involved. In general though, what has been said already makes a good p-lace to start.

Over the years I've had some of these students, and this is what I do. First of all I warn them and explain why we need to have control. If this fails to resolve the issue, the student then spars with me...or one of my top students, who will gladly match power for power with him. He either learns and starts practicing control, or could face possibly being expelled from the class.

I've seen black belts as young as six...yes, I said 6! Total rubbish IMO.

Well, here's my $.02 worth. Bunkai refers to what the movements in not just kata, but in every movement you learn in a martial art, can be interupted as. Each and every move in a kata can have many, many different meanings. For example..what is a low block? Is it really just a block? Maybe it's a low strike? Or maybe even a throw? Now, take each of these things (block, strike and throw) and you can delve into what different types of strikes it might be used as, or different things it could be blocking, or how many throws can be done with that movement? You are only limited by your experience, imagination and training.

Oh wow..that is BAD lol

EXACTLY! That video was of a young girl wearing a black gi basically twirling 2 nunchaku around (flash, no substance) and doing backflips and cartwheels. She won the all around tournament grand champion weapons kata. Sorry, but I call poo-poo on that sort of stuff.

We kind of suspected his Sensei would have him test, but we didn't know for sure. He really just went over there to train, and at some point, his Sensei told him he was testing. Way back in June of 1978, sensei Kuda Yuichi, the Okinawan head of our system, came to little 'ol Havre, MT at the invitation of my instructor, to work with us for 3 WHOLE WEEKS!!! It was intense, and GREAT! I was a 1st Kyu bown belt and still had a few months to go for my shodan test, but at the end of Sensei Kuda's visit he called us up one by one starting with my instructor, ran us thru various things he wanted to see..and I received my shodan! It was totally unexpected.

This is a video of a 9 year old (or younger) black belt girl doing a double nunchauku kata...what do you think? I'll make my comments in a few days after everybody else gets a chance to post. *****NEVER MIND...I can't find the video now..please erase this thread...sorry

That is very similar (small things) to the Chinto I practice, and he did GREAT!