Montana

Something to also consider is that getting a BB in that system will not win you any respect in the martial arts community, despite any other BB you might attain. You would always have that little stigma hanging over your head. My thoughts anyway.

Sorry, but I couldn't help myself. Unfortunately, having been in the arts some 35 years or so now, I've had the dubious privilage of seeing arts like this being taught around the country. It's sad that the public that is seeking a legitimate martial art to learn doesn't have a clue that they are being taken by people like this.

Agreed, except in my case it'd be a 12 guage Home Defender loaded with alternating rounds of O-O buck and slugs for close in defense, and my Chinese SKS with hollow points for that "reach out and touch someone" situation. Very accurate at 200 yards. Or there's always the .357, .44 mag. or the ..... But for walking the streets during a riot (which is asking for trouble), it would be just me and whatever weapon I have at hand if the situation warrants.

A very solid post!! Agreed!!!

Hand chambering is used to learn proper technique for punching, not for sparring.

Well, an "example" of my response could be (but not limited to) to leap backwards a half step to avoid the attack causing the attacker to miss, which makes them off balance and exposing their side because they anticipated striking me, then to lunge forward with a snap kick to his lower abdomen/ribs or a groin/knee kick (whatever is available) and followed up with punches. There are many other options of course including what we call "change of body", or body shifting where your front foot remains stationary and your back foot shifts away from the opponent and you simultanously (sp?) move your body, block and throw your counter strike, usually followed up immediately with low kicks to vulnerable parts of the knees, groin or lower abdomen. Body shifting is hard to explain in print...much easier to show in a demonstration, but unfortunately I can't do that. I tried to get on utube to see if I could find an example of this and it wants me to register..what is that about? I tr4ied to register and it was supposed to send me some sort of "pin number", but it failed because I don't have premium messaging on my phone. Sooo...if you want to do a search for shorin ryu body shifting and see if there's something on there about it, feel free! lol

There is no "best technique" for any given attack. What works for me and that I choose to use at 6'6" tall and 245 lbs with 35 years of experience and training, may not work for the 5' tall, 100 lb women with 6 months of training and experience. That's why different techniques are learned and practiced.

If ones a black belt and this black belt isn't knowledgeable in self-defense, then imho, that practitioner shouldn't be a black belt in the first place...imho. AGREED! 100%!!!

Hmmm..I'm wondering if "Effective Self-Defense" might be considered a legal bad idea? You can teach people and they can walk out feeling like they're supposed to be able to defend themselves, but if they get their butt-whooped by some punk on the street, they might come back and sue the dojo for false advertising, or "not as described" perhaps?

Krav Maga, BJJ and others are based and developed by people with extensive martial arts backgrounds in proven systems, not "shake-and'bake", a little of this and a little of that backgrounds. I don't necessarily agree that systems need to "evolve" constantly, because there are only so many ways a person can be attacked by grabs, hands, feet and weapons. What Bruce Lee did was to have a solid background in a viable martial art and study and train intensely other systems and then create a system using solid, proven techniques that he understood. There's a big difference there. What I was trying to state in my original post was referring to those that take a few MONTHS of one system, a few of another, etc and never really LEARN a whole system before declaring themselves a master and starting their own systems. Then they promote others and send those out to teach others a very weak system..such as "Rex Kwon Do". I'm sure most of us in this forum know of systems like what we're talking about here. Very weak systems that should die out, if there were any justice in this world. There's a big difference there.

In another forum that I visit now and then there was a thread about what makes a good sensei. One person posted that to make a good sensei, they had to be someone that was well respected "world wide", had published books and videos, been written about in Black Belt Magazine and had shelves and shelves of trophies from international tournaments. My reply to his statement was ....... BAH! When the vast majority of sensei, both in the USA and abroad, teach out of their homes, garages or gyms, don't write books and might only make videos for their own students to use sometimes, does that make them poor instructors? I don't think so! Even on Okinawa, Japan, Korea, etc, the vast majority of sensei's don't have large, commercial dojos. They teach out of their homes for the most part and don't attempt to make a living with their teachings. They have knowledge they have accumulated over many years of study and teach small classes to those that want to learn. Most don't have videos for sale. Most have never appeared in Black Belt Magazine other than as a small footnote perhaps, and most have nothing to do with the international tournament circuit. So I guess they aren't good sensei, right?

This ought to stir up some good discussion! You'll often see people in this form state that "it's not the system, but rather the sensei/instructor that makes a good dojo. Well, to that I say BAH! I'm not going to try to define what a good martial art is, or a good sensei because everybody has their own ideas of what those are. My thoughts won't be the same as yours (although if you were smart, you'd follow me without question! ). But back to what this thread is about. You can have a good martial art, say Shorin Ryu, Shotokan (pick one), etc, but the instructor of that particular dojo you are attending might not be all that good of an instructor. Sure, technically he can do all of the things that he was tested for at the belt level he carries, but can he teach it to others? I know some wonderful martial artists that are very skilled in their respective arts, but they are terrible teachers. They don't have the patience to work with beginners and have difficulty explaining concepts to people and understand why others don't quite "get it" like they did when they first learned it. They are good martial arts teaching a good system, but they are lousy instructors and turn out mediocre students. In other instances I know some instructors that are fantastic teachers and can teach anything to anyone! However, they are teaching systems that are, well...how do you say it nicely? SUCK! Specifically, many of these systems are ones that were "invented" by their instructors 10-20 years ago. Their instructors had a few months of training in this system, a few months of training in that system and maybe got as far as to get a brown or low level black belt in one system, and they decide to combine all of this vast knowledge they've accumulated from numerous systems into one "perfect" and all encompassing new martial art that they just happen to decide they are now a master of. So they start teaching classes to "newbies" that don't know what they're looking at, promote those people up through the ranks to eventually black belt level. These new black belts start their own dojos and off they go, teaching a martial art that is weak and based on one persons opinion that a little of this system, and a little of that system makes a good martial art, when in reality it's a very weak system. The perfect situation here, in my opinion of course, is to find a really good, and well respected martial art that you want to try, that has a good sensei that has the patience, knowledge and experience to pass on even the most subtle concepts of their martial art to others.

I've posted this before, but the way that I test is that my students know that they are being tested in literally EVERY class. They know better than to ask me to test because that tells me that they aren't ready yet mentally, not necessarily physically. I don't want students that are there for belts, but instead they are there for knowledge. When I feel a students is ready to progress to that next belt level, I will ask them in class to do a certain thing or two (or more) that I know they have been struggling with. Whether that is a kata, or certain techniques. When I am satisfied they are where I want them to be for a certain belt, I will award that belt to them at the end of the class. I've never seen a point to many hours or days of testing someone. Either they know it, or they don't, and the instructor should be able to tell that on a daily basis in my opinion. To make someone stress over a test is idiotic in my opinion because EVERYBODY stresses if they know they are being tested, and I see no benefit of subjecting someone to that. I want each of my students to work hard and do their best in each class. If I feel they aren't giving me 100%, then they don't advance. I'm well aware that 100% effort for an 18 year old is different that 100% effort from a 60 year old, and I adjust accordingly. I've been testing this way since I started teaching my first class in 1978 and I like it. So do my students, because they know that if they don't work hard and make corrections accordingly, they won't advance. I have one student, a 58 year old man, who's probably my hardest working student, but there are things that he just can't "get". Not physically, as he runs 5 miles several times/ week and can do more pushups than anybody else in the class (and they are PERFECT pushups!). Rather, he doesn't "get" some things in the realm of the concepts of the technique and kata. He's been stuck in his last brown belt (just before black) for about 5 years now, and he's ok with it because he knows full well what he's lacking to get his shodan. He'll get it some day...just when, we're not sure yet.

Various systems have various interpretations of the bunkai of kata, and like all bunkai in all traditional kata there is more than one bunkai that exists for every move. The last movements of Passai are primarily a slow sweeping motion which is feeling in the dark for your opponent, then upon touching them your first hand is reaching out and grasping their arm/coat/etc and pulling them in while the other hand is reaching for a nerve in the area where the neck meets the shoulder.

Without knowing the bunkai (IMO) of a kata, then movements of kata are meaningless. You might as well be dancing. You need to visualize what your opponent is doing that causes you to do a certain technique in the kata as you do the kata. It brings the movement alive and gives it meaning. Without knowing the bunkai and what it is that you're doing and defending against, then what's the point of doing a kata?

Actually, traditional kata DO mimic fights. The movements are based upon the experiences of the origionators of the kata on techniques that they, themselves, used in a real situation. They found the techniques effective and incorporated them into kata to pass the techniques on to others. [/u]

Bassai (we call them Passai) kata's last moves are not "cooler" because they're done slow, they have bunkai, just like every other move in a kata. The final movements in the Bassai/Passai kata are techniques done in the dark where you can't see your opponent, and are "feeling" with your feet, then reaching out with one hand and grasping your opponents wrist and applying either an arm bar, or attacking the nerves in the neck with your other hand. No moves are done in "traditional" kata because they're cool. They all have a purpose and an application.

I'd tell you about my first belt test...if I could remember back that far! Without going out to the garage and finding just the right box where my certificate is, I'm not quite sure when it was. Probably around March or April...1975. All I can remember is...I passed!

True, I seldom had parents that would sit in and watch their kids in class, and even more seldom would they ever ask me "What can I do to hep my son/daughter do better?" I had a nice seating area for parents/visitors, but about the only time I saw some parents was when they enrolled their kids. Otherwise they'd sit in their cars and wait for them to come out. Sad really. Most parents don't get as involved as they should.

Not really. The belt system had nothing to do with with students not liking to be a white belt for 10 years. The belt system was introduced to show the progression of skills (theoretically anyway) and time spent in the arts, not to gratify the students.

You sir, are 100% CORRECT! Of course there are exceptions, but the youth of today is totally into instant gratification. They have instant food (McD's), instant movies (download from the net or get them instantly from the TV, etc), instant communications (cell phones), instant "fun" (video games)...basically, everything is "right now...GOTTA HAVE IT RIGHT NOW!!!" Many martial artists today expect instant gratification. "We want our belts, and we want them now!" mentality. And it's going to get worse I suspect.

I've been in the arts since January of 1975 and have never broken a board yet. We feel that there is no point to the exercise.

Well, first of all, I'm absolutely 100% AGAINST women's self-defense classes. Why? Basically, they're a total waste of time, energy and if the women are charged for the classes, their money! Look, anybody that's been in the martial arts for very long knows that to be any good at it, you need to develop muscle memory, which is done by countless repetitions of techniques and continued practice of those techniques for basically the rest of your life! A womans self-defense class is what...once per week for maybe 4-6 weeks for an hour each time? That's not nearly enough time to develop muscle memory as is needed. And when those women "graduate" from the class with their little diplomas saying that they have successfully passed Master Joe Blows Womens Self-Defense Course and they think they can really defend themselves, but in truth they only have a false sense of security and a week from now will forget 90% of what they learned, then what good was it? I'm sorry, but I would instead encourage these women, through entry level, introductory classes, to join an actual martial arts class where they will actually learn something worthwhile and that will, in the long term, stick with them and do them good if they need it. On the other hand, I had a friend a long while back by the name of Jerry Lemm that taught an EXCELLENT 2 hour women's self-defense class. What? Only 2 hours long, and after my previous rant, it was excellent? Yes, and you know why it was excellent? Because nowhere during the entire 2 hours, did Jerry teach as much as one martial arts technique! Nope, not one! So, how do you teach womens self-defense classes, and not teach and "self-defense" techniques? Thanks for asking! You teach awareness! Little things, like pay attention to what's happening around you. Like not making yourself a target. Like not having a car license plate that says IMAQT, IM2HOT, SARAS, SUSIEQ, etc that identifies your car as driven by a woman. Also don't hang all that foo-foo stuff on your mirror that identifies your car as a womans car. It makes you a potential target ladies! Jerry's 2 hour seminar taught these women valuable self-defense techniques that would be remembered and easily used on a daily basis, not just practices a few times with a compliant partner, then never used again and useless when needed. Otherwise, good luck with the classes! lol

Well said Kruczek!

OOPS! My mistake, it should be "not" instead of to. Fixed. Thanks.