Montana

From my own experiences, this can be very true. Both myself and my origional sensei tried to give free classes after we both had been charging for several years. In both instances, the class size dropped well below half of what it was when we were charging for classes (no contacts were ever used) within a month or two and only the really serious students came on a regular basis. American mindset is "You get what you pay for" quite often. As to quality of instruction in the US, well, several high ranking masters in Okinawa said a number of years ago that it wouldn't be long before you'd have to travel to the US to find true Okinawan karate-do. Not all instructors and systems in the US have gone over to the dark side for financial gain vs quality instruction. I've been teaching classes since 1978 and except for a 3 year attempt, which wasn't very successful, have never tried to make any money at it other than to cover expenses.

*tsk*...bunch of kiddies in here! 30 was...oh wow...24 years ago for me!

If you have a webpage, I'd sure love to see it.

Something you are missing here is that karate, and other "traditional" martial arts aren't designed for fighting in a ring. They are designed/geared for self-defense purposes, and that is an entirely different sort of thing. The training involved in them is different, and the objective is different. I've seen it in the UFC where a traditonally trained MA takes on a UFC trained martial artist, and gets his head handed to him. Yet take that same traditional MA and put him on the street in a fight against an average attacking individual, and they are in their element. I've been there. Apples and oranges people. Both look similar, but each has different methodologies.

One of the sensei I've studied under is married to a Thai woman. They go to Thailand once/year to visit her family and he has a brother-in-law that teaches Muay Thai and has his fighters competing often. One thing this instructor told me is that a serious Muay Thai fighter has a very short "life span" in the sense of serious competition, as the training is very rigorous and it's very hard on the body. Most are totally burned out in their late 20's to early 30's.

Has anybody stopped to consider that maybe she might be just be really cute?

800 kicks? Per leg??? Using leg weights while kicking is a really BAD idea. You're asking for a really serious injury.

If you mean "studied", as in actually taken classes in that system, then: Shorin Ryu Matsumura Kenpo Karate/Kobudo--32 years, 7 months. (If it works for you, why take something else?) I haven't "trained" in any other systems, but I do study them.

You need to take into account your behavior and attitude prior to taking the martial arts. If you're an aggressive, abusive individual prior to joining the arts, then it's possible they may become more aggressive and abusive. But I also believe a lot of it has to do with the instructor and the art itself, that you can go either direction. Become more aggressive, or more mellow. An example in my area is a San Soo class taught by an 8-9h Dan instructor. He teaches pure aggression to his students and encourages them to get into fights to test their skills and techniques. Pure rubbish if you ask me. Another instructor locally teaches aikido. He is just the opposite.

You guys are gonna hate this. When my students are tested, they don't even KNOW they are being tested. Basically, they are tested through my observations each and every class. When they are where I want them to be, they are awarded the next belt. No written tests, no verbal tests..not real formal testing procedure at all. It all comes down to daily training and what I see them doing. They either know the material to advance, or they don't. The way I look at it is a belt is a belt...big deal! What color belt you wear is just an indicator of what work you have done, nothing more. It doesn make you smarter, tougher, faster or stronger...it's just an indicator. Like ribbons on a soldiers chest...it just says "This is what I've done."

There's some good advice (and some not good advice) so far, so I'll toss in one little technique that worked well for me against an experienced TKD guy that wanted to kick me in the head really bad one time. We don't normally use wide, low stances, but knowing this guy was itching to kick me in the head, I assumed a low, wide side stance and sure enough, his leg went up and here comes his foot...right for my fully exposed head! Prepared for this, I dropped to the ground on my side and launched a side kick straight into his groin...totally exposed and unprotected. It was a perfectly clean shot that caught him by surprise. After that, he pretty much gave up trying to kick me any higher than my mid-section. Afterwards (this was a state tournament championship) he came up to me and said that nobody had ever done that to him before. It takes practice to get the timing down so that the kicker is totally committed to the kick when you do this, but do it once and it really makes those kicks come down and used less often.

I prefer white gear myself. Of course with the red marks from leftover blood from last months tournaments "victims". OK, just kidding...I don't do "gear", and I don't do tournaments. We do get some blood now and then though.

45 minute classes? How much do you pay to train there?

The only "Unforgivable Rule" I really use is...If you start a fight, verbally or physically, and I find out about it...you're done...period!" Of course, someone molesting a child, beating a spouse, etc...they're gone too. I don't need to tell people that. I used to have a sign over my desk that said I reserved the right to teach whoever I want, whenever I want, and also to NOT teach whoever I want for whatever reason I wanted.

Find an Okinawan school...50/50 hands/feet, grappling, weapons..and should be a real good workout for you. I'm partial to Shorin Ryu for some reason.

Each system varies in their requirements for rank advancement, and that can vary from dojo to dojo. These are the "guidelines" we use. They are by no means set in stone, but guidelines for a minimum amount of time in each rank before being able to advance. I've never seen, nor condone, skipping ranks in our system. 10 kyu - 7th kyu: Minimum of 2 months in each rank. 6th - 4th kyu: Minimum of 3 months in each rank. 3rd - 1st kyu: Minimum of 4 months in each rank. 1st Dan - 2nd Dan: Minimum of 2 years rank. I've rarely promoted anyone earlier than this guideline. The lower kyu ranks (10-7th) can be done easily enough, but I expect more hard work and effort with each belt advancement. If I see it, they advance, if not..they don't. I've had one student that has been a 3rd kyu for over 8 years now. He's reached a plateau and just can't seem to get past it.

Not for sure, but guessing...maybe Okinawan Te?

Same with me, but no cat stances.

I seriously doubt if you will EVER see any celebrity enter UFC, Pride, etc. Why? Think about it for a moment. They make how many MILLIONS of dollars to be an actor (even a bad actor) in a series, why would they jeapordise their face or limbs, not to mention their actign career, competing for a meager few THOUSAND dollars in prize money? Would Van Damm (however you spell it), Segal, Norris, Jet Li or any other martial arts actor enter the UFC/Pride? Nope...not going to happen. They have to much to lose, and little to gain.

Not really "one" technique, but a combination of techniques all rolled up into one movement and done very quickly and simultanously. IE: Attacker attacks (isn't that what they do? ), and all at the same time I sidestep, parry/grab with one hand, punch with the other and low kick to knee/groin area. That's pretty much the way we like to do things.

The groin area, certainly. But also the inside/outside of the thigh, inside/outside/back of the knee, stomach, ribs...all are "soft" targets and can bet kicked with the instep without hurting your foot. The shin is for more closeup techniques generally. Ball of the foot is to get around an arm, or to penetrate more into the torso.

Depending on the situation...such as at a friends gathering and meeting somebody new...if they ask me to show them something, my favorite thigsg to do is right from where I'm at, launch my fastest backfist (my personal favorite) and just touch the end of their nose, or damn close to it. Their eyes go VERY wide, and they don't say much else. Kind of depends on my mood and the situation I guess.

Hmmm...actually, that's pretty darn good stuff there. To tell the truth, as some of you know anyway, Shotokan had never really impressed me before watching that video. I was definitely impressed at the speed, timing and good techniques there though. Good stuff!

Actually, I do something similar to this that works a lot of the time...throw both of my hands in the air and KIAI real loudly then front snap kick...startles the hell out of them. You can't do it often, but now and then it really does work!

Question: Why does the instructor feel you need to have a black belt before helping him out in class? I see no problems with a green belt helping.