Montana

Well, I was 23 when I started training in Shorin Ryu back in 1975, and I'm still at it. So yes, go for it!

About 20 years ago I bought 4 heavyweight gi's from Century Martial Arts. At that time they cost around $60 each as I recall, and I'm still wearing them. I rotate these gi's around so no one of these gi's gets used exclusively, and I'll be they last the rest of my martial arts life! Sure, they're stiff (they'll stand on their own when they're new) at first, but wash them with fabric softner and toss a tennis shoe in the dryer with them, and they're not bad. They wear like iron and for me, are perfect!

I attended a local tournament last weekend as a spectator, my first in about 6 years since my back problems forced my retirement from the arts, or teaching anyway. The tournament was hosted by a local "for profit" school, and basically I can sum up the entire days as...I wasn't impressed! The tournament itself was run efficiently and well I thought, but I was shocked, appaled and dismayed by the level of competency I was seeing from the competitors. Probably around 2/3 of the competuitors were from the school that hosted the event and darn near 3/4 of them were black belts. They must have had at least a dozen kids ages 8-12 running around with black belts, which is one of my pet peeves about some arts. Regardless, I have never seen, in my nearly 30 years of judging tournaments, such pathetic examples of "black belts", or martial arts in general, in my life! Oh sure, there were a few that were pretty good, but the vast majority of them were weak, slow and just plain sloppy in both empty hand and weapons kata. Sparring was...well, sparring. The first thing I noticed when I got to the tournament was all of these people running around with light weight, aluminum bo's (staffs) that screwed together at the middle like a pool cue stick. I asked one of the competitors if I could see their weapon, and it was so light it felt like nothing in my hand. I'm used to a 6' hardwood (usually oak) bo. There were also a lot of people with aluminum kama, which again I asked someone if I could look at. Talk about flimsy, lightweight JUNK! One adult black belt competed with plastic..yes, I said plastic, sai's! ACK!!! So, on to the actual competition. About 95% ofthe competitors at this tournament, both in empty hand and weapons kata, weren't worth watching in my opinion. Flash, back flips, twirls, cartwheels and basically, terrible techniqes designed for flash, not effectiveness. It's probably a good thing I didn't attend as a judge because I would have left within the first hour out of disgust. Is this what tournaments are evolving into now? Flash over substance? I sure hope not!

One thing I did was make a phone call to 752-7283 to see if anybody had that phone number already. Why you ask? Well, in Montana, where I was at the time, and in Flathead county (yes, that's really the name of the county), the vehicle license plates started with a 7 (ex: 7-12345), so if you spell out that phone number using letters from your phone, it spelled... drum roll please.... 7-KARATE! An easy way for people to remember your number I thought. I lucked out and the number was available. Don't try calling it now as I haven't had that number in almost 20 years.

Thanks!

There are ALWAYS more than oen bunkai for any given move. On this specific technique you have: 1. the obvious blocking a kick and punch at the same time. 2. blocking a punch and groin/leg strike 3. blocking a kick and doing a strike to the head. 4. or the one nobody ever realizes unless you really study bunkai, is this is also a throw. How? Imagine a punch followed by a kick (or visa versa), you block then catch the appendage, then reverse the technique (just do the block again with the opposite arms) and it turns it into a throw that basically makes your opponent do a cartwheel in place and lands them on their head. The arm goes down while the leg comes up. It's easier to demonstrate than to put into writing, but it's a legitimate bunkai of he kata. Others?

Every few years I have some school t-shirts made (I always pre-order from my students so I don't have to many leftovers). One year I did black, another red, yellow, blue, etc. They aren't fancy and usually just have the Okinawan "pinwheel" (I always forget what that's called) that you will see under my name at the left on the back of the shirt. My oldest son has a fancy t-shirt making machine, so I always get a killer deal on the shirts! My cost is usually around $5, I sell them for $10. I always get about 5-6 for myself.

To me, the martial arts are all about self-defense and improving your ability to do so, and making your self into a better human being. Self-defense is all about improving your ability and increasing your chances of saving not only your life, but the lives of others if you so choose. Sport martial arts is playtime and has little relevence to self-defense. It's a game to test your skills on a given day as compared to the skills of another in a controlled environment with rules, referee's and judges that can stop the contest at any given point if they determine the rules are not being followed. Do they have similarities? Of course they do, but their end goals are different. The martial arts goal is self-preservation, whereas martial sports goals are to win trophies and recognition.

What I was referring to was that you had earned a brown belt in Shotokan "more than 15 years ago", then what after that? Private training? What's that? Re-runs of the Green Hornet? Look, the way I see it, you took what...2-3 years of Shotokan some 15+ years ago and have been dinking around with this and that ever since forming "your own system", and now you're asking for our blessing essentially so you can go out and teach others your new and improved special art? Sorry, but that's exactly how I'd define a McDojo, and I wouldn't encourage, nor endorse it.

Funny, I just posted a reply to a thread in the karate section which might apply to my opinion on this thread. http://www.karateforums.com/mcdojo-are-you-one-vt40659.html

Ball of the foot first. It gives you more "grip" to the floor than the heel and is a little harder to get swept. The heel has no "grip".

ZenDoRyu? Gotta love Google. Looks like it's an offshoot of George Dillman's organization...so IMO, beware!

I've been teaching classes since September of 1978 and I realized early on that few people are willing to make the commitment to training in the arts to become really good martial artists. Oh sure, you get your students that show up for classes 2-3 times/week and while there, train hard and do well, but I'm talking about REALLY making training a commitment on a daily basis. Commitment to training in your chosen art shouldn't be a 2-3 days/week, but rather should be something you do daily if you really want to be good at it. Daily training outside of class doesn't have to be 2 hours of basics, kata and drills, but rather can be something simple. Every now and then I ask my students..."How much training have you done this week?" Most wilol say "Ive been to very class this entire month!" or such. Which is GREAT! "But, how much training have you done outside of class?" As an instructor, I can tell a difference between those students that train outside of class, and those that train only in class. Especially in the early months of training, it really shows from class to class in the improvement in their technique, speed and power. Martial arts training needs to be a daily routine at some level. Run thru a kata when you get a few minutes. Practice your basics (wax on, wax off) as you go about your daily lives. Just to give you an example of outside training I do on a daily basis: I work in an office building (my really job that pays the bills) that has 3 floors. Due to the design of the building when I get to work and leave for the day, I generally take the elevator instead of the stairs. If I'm alone in the elevator, which is the norm, when the doors close I will run thru a kata sometimes, or other times assume a stance and whip out as many punches, blocks or kicks as I can before the elevator stops at my floor. At home (this drives my wife nuts as she has no interest in the arts) I habitually turn lights on/off at the wall switch with my feet while doing a slow, well controlled front, side and sometimes back kick. I will walk from room to room doing blocks, kicks or punches. I will spontanously do a spinning back kick, backfist or elbow, concentrating on my technique and stance. My wife leaves for work about 30 minutes before I do. If I'm ready to leave but still have a few minutes, I will run thru a kata or two before I walk out the door. Doing anything along that line will improve your overall martial arts ability and keep your mind and body sharp and prepared. Thoughts?

Exactly my point.

At a ripe old age of 58, I've probably broken, sprained or jammed all of my fingers at one time or the other and yes, believe me, it hurts! The thought of grappling with someone with a broken or severely sprained finger isn't pretty, and would certainly stop me if my opponent continued to attack the damaged digit. The thumb would be the best, but trust me, any finger is good. Especially if your opponent grabs you and you have access to prying out a finger and give it a good twist or bend. Short of being on drugs and not feeling any pain, I think it would successfully stop most people from wanting to continue, especially if you're still yanking on that finger AFTER it breaks!

Dictionary.com defines test as: 1. the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial. 2. the trial of the quality of something: to put to the test. 3. a particular process or method for trying or assessing. 4. a set of questions, problems, or the like, used as a means of evaluating the abilities, aptitudes, skills, or performance of an individual or group; examination. All of these apply to martial art belt testing I think. Basically, a test is a way of evaluating what you have learned and retained, and being able to demonstrate that knowledge to others at a specific moment in time. So when you successfully demonstrate your knowledge and ability to to regurgitate taht knowledge in front of your sensei/testing board to their satisfaction, you've PASSED! Great, huh? So what's the problem? The one problem I see is that for that one exact moment of time you were able to demonstrate your retention of specific knowledge and abilities of information you were given over a specific time period. But coudl you do the exact same thing, with the exact same degree of "perfection" say...a month from now? A year? Maybe (hopefully)...and maybe not. I don't want to mention any names, but there are systems out there that once you've passed a test to attain a certain belt level, then you no longer are required to practice or test on the same material...ever! For example, in my chosen system for our first belt test the kata Pinan Shodan, the basic blocks, kicks and punches and stances, and proper walking techniques (moving forward, sideways and backwards from those stances). If I were to assume (we know what that means, right?) that my stdentsknows this material later on because he/she already tested on it, and I never look at it again as a testing criteria, and the student knows that, then chances are those particular techniques will begin to deteriorate. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely! Building your skills as a martial artist is like building a house. if your foundation is weak from the beginning, the entire structure is weak. If your foundation weakens anywhere along the way, the whole house is weak and could collapse at any given time. You must keep a strong foundation at all times and practice that foundation repeatedly for as long as you train. Without a strong foundation, everything else is weak. The testing process ALWAYS needs to include the foundation techniques and principles of your chosen art.

My thoughts exactly! If not for self-defense, then you might as well take up break dancing, gymnastics or knitting in my opinion.

Ahhh shucks. I'd like to thank all the little people that helped me be who I am today. Without them to stomp on on my way to the top, I'd have never made it. Thanks...now, where's my trophy?

Its not so much a question of 'dont work' or even 'cant work'. We can always find examples of where they have worked for people in self-defence. The question is, are they the safest, most reliable thing you can do under the circumstances? Imagine the Kyokushinkai fighter being shoved from behind by his opponent's mate just as he's throwing a kick. How much more disruptive to his balance would it be if he's throwing a high kick at the time rather than a low kick? Imagine that, instead of fighting on a clean flat mat, he's in a bar in which the floor is wet in patches with spilt beer and occasional bits of broken glass? Imagine that the penalty for going down on your posterior is not that the fight is momentarily stopped by the ref, or even that the opponent wins the match, but that the assailant and his mates close in and kick you unconscious or worse. And so on and so on. The gist of it is that the requirements of self-defence are very different from those of the sporting arena. The two scenarios require very different tactics. Mike Exactly! Good post.

Since I'm not familiar with the rules of that tournament, let me ask you. 1. Do they allow full power groin techniques? 2. Do they allow full power kicks to the knee? 3. Do they allow sweeps to the supporting leg? Basically, are there rules? If so, then they negate the premise that the martial arts are based upon. That being no rules for selfdefense purposes. Anytime you train in a class, you automatically place a ruleset on yourself. Competition is no different. As far as the above: (1) In sparring, no, but can you name any martial art that spars with full power to the groin on a regular basis? (2) Again, name one martial art that spars with full power to the knee on a regular basis. Although, since they do allow low kicks to the thigh (gedan mawashi geri), it's just a matter of target selection by that point. The same applies to attacking the groin area: it's target selection, not the technique itself. (3) Actually, yes they do. Ashi barai (leg sweep) is a popular technique among some of the more technical fighters. Ahhh..now I see the problem. You're talking from the perspective of a nice, friendly dojo or tournament sparring scenerio. Whereas I'm talking from the perspective of defending yourself on the street. There are a lot of major differences there.

Since I'm not familiar with the rules of that tournament, let me ask you. 1. Do they allow full power groin techniques? 2. Do they allow full power kicks to the knee? 3. Do they allow sweeps to the supporting leg? Basically, are there rules? If so, then they negate the premise that the martial arts are based upon. That being no rules for selfdefense purposes.

Agreed! I remember the days of early Ninjitsu in this country with Stephen Hayes....not pretty in my opinion. A whole lot of B-Ninja movies at that time, and a whole lot of phony "we dress in black and say we're ninja" schools popping up all over the place. I found one dojo that quite literally had pasted fire cracker wrappers hanging on the walls as certificates. No kidding! What you need to do is look at the shools, take some free classes, talk to the instructors (they'll all tell you they''re the best by the way), see how the classes are run, costs for uniforms, classes and tests..and do they use contracts? Kind of take it from there. I imagine your parents will need to get involved, and so they should be since they're paying for it, plus they have to pay the medical bills if you get into some shoddy dojo that is totally crap and frought with poor instruction.

As I said, a test is a test because it's a test. It doesn't make you better, it looks to see how good you really are. You might be great in class when only you, your partner and your sensei/sempai are looking, but when everyone in the room is watching the heat is on. It's closer to a real situation. That's why it's done. I disagree. Having your peers or higher ranks watching you is nothing like what you'll experience in a real fight. Sure, both are stressful, but totally different kinds of stress. In a test you're concentrating on your form, technique and trying to not forget your kata! Whereas in a fight you're concentrating on your opponent and surroundings (or should be anyway).

I've been looking through old topics today and came across a couple that I thought might be worth refreshing again. Enjoy! Being nearly 60 years old, and having spent almost 2/3 of my life in the martial arts, makes me think of some weird things now and then. Do you fear your Sensei? Do you fear the head of your system? Do you fear your seniors in the class? These people have the ability to teach you many concepts and skills, and that's what you're there for, right? Of course you are. Yet these same people have the ability to withhold that information from you by denying your advancement, feeding you only little tidbits of information in small doses, or if you dare to challenge them in what they teach you, they have the power to expell you from their classes altogether. Doesn't this instill a bit of fear into you to behave correctly, according to their rules? Does the forced practice of saying "Yes SIR!" to their question, or face corporal punishment (such as pushups) instill fear in your to answer "correctly" or be punished? I don't know about you, but I hate pushups. What makes these seniors, these higher ranking members of the same system that you are practicing, any better than you are? What makes them demand that you treat them in a God-like fashion? That their every utterance is law and that when they say jump, you have to ask "How high Sir?" Maybe I was spoiled as a student. My origional sensei, fresh from learning the art from the head of the system in Okinawa, asked us to either call him Dennis or sensei in class, and outside of class it was just Dennis. Not Mr. Miller. Way back in June of 1978 the head of our system, 7th Dan (at the time) Kuda Yuichi Sensei travelled from Okinawa at the invitation of my sensei to train us for 3 weeks. There was no bowing and scraping or kissing his...hand. We bowed in to him at the beginning and end of class, and called him sensei, or Sensei Kuda. He hated being called Master. After class, ALL students were invited frequently to have dinner with him in Dennis's home, or we went out and all had a beer together. Sensei Kuda was the most peaceful, gentle and unassuming person I had ever met, but also one of the most talented martial artist I will have ever known. About 15 years later, I had the opportunity to train with Sensei Kuda again in Seattle for a week. Amazingly, Sensei Kuda remembered me immediately, approached me and shook my hand and said "I'm happy to see you are still training." He was now a 9th Dan head of the system. How many of the heads of your system would even acknowledge your existence, let along greet you like a friend you hadn't seen in years? Alas, Sensei Kuda passed away in 1999. I never feared him, nor Sensei Miller, or any other ranking sensei in my chosen system that I've had the opportunity to meet. They have my respect because of their knowledge, and because they treat me as an equal, regardless opf what belts we hang around our waist or certificates hanging on our walls. We are all just people on the same path to learning.

\ What is a belt test exactly? Think about it. Isn't it a procedure to see what you know, and how well you know it? Does making a person write papers or test for hours at a time in front of intimidating higher rankis make you any better than minutes before the test?? Does doing a kata to music make you a better martial artist? This gives me an idea for a new thread in General Martial Arts...stay posted! lol