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In RyuTe, we wear the same head gear, chest protector, and gloves used in kendo sparring. Full contact is very hard and light taekwondo/hapkido gear will not stand up to the abuse. Blows go to the gear, blows must be full power, matches go to three points or three minutes. I've been to invitationals that go to five points. Unless the blow is real solid, it will not count.

If you really want Kyusho Jitsu, take RyuTe Karate (aka Ryukyu Kempo Karate) under someone who trains under Seiyu Oyata. They're hard to find, but if you find one of his Shin Shu Ho students, they know their stuff. http://www.kushu.com/dojos.htm

Only if the Asian music really sets the mood for some really serious light contact sparring! Oh, you'll also need cool headbands and know how to fake Ki demonstrations if you want to have a successful new martial art. And never forget the glow-in-the-dark nunchaku.

Here in Kansas City, we have lots of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, and various generic and style-specific Karate schools; most dojos I've seen are McDojos. For instance, I've seen schools which say they're "Karate", but then they claim to be Kickboxing schools even though the teacher took Tae Kwon Do. Or "Karate" schools which are neither Japanese nor Okinawan, but rather some other style. I also see Tae Kwon Do schools that claim to teach Hapkido when it's just basic stuff. And Aikido that's not Ueshiba Aikido, but rather the teacher's own "practical" version which is a combination of Judo, Aikido, and Aiki-Jitsu. But the certificates say Aikido, so you're an Aikido master when you get one.... So, I guess what I'm getting at is that we have lots of schools that say one thing but are actually another thing, or a watered down version of the real thing. We do have the fortune of having a real Okinawan Karate master (Taika Oyata) living in the area, which is why we have some RyuTe schools here and there. There are a few other good schools as well.

I would say the Karate master who trains me, and his master, Taika Oyata. I'm also inspired a lot by Ueshiba.

Yes, I do. My teacher is a 6th degree black belt who trains directly under Oyata in his Shin Shu Ho system. I am currently putting all my focus into his system because it's extremely complicated and it's good.

Anko Itosu said that an hour of Karate a day will make you a master. I think this is a good amount of time if you have it.

Sai is such a complicated weapon that I couldn't imagine not having it taught to me by an instructor. When I learned the basic kata, emphasis was on perfection and controlling the weapon along with stance and shifting.

Why would I care to do that? I've got better things to do. What I'm basically saying is that when you subtract rules from the fight, anything goes. They don't ban eye and crotch contact just because it makes things more challenging. Unless you feel no pain, when you lose an eye or take a hard hit to the crotch, most of the time it's over. These are probably the two worst vital points to hit on anyone.

In my brief time sparring in Hapkido, I had to put up with things like an amateur boxer that would hit hard and take cheap shots when losing. (Cheap shots like punching me hard when I'm avoiding falling onto children behind me.) I don't like tap sparring, but if that's what you're going to do then don't tap for a while then drive one home. I started whacking underneath his forearms until they got sore when he wouldn't stop. More than once I had to deal with someone who hurt themself being stupid, which in turn made me look overly aggressive and bad. One guy tried a stupid fancy move and ended up with my elbow in his eye socket. Another kid got so nervous fighting me that he high kicked above my head and fell on his butt. Everyone looked at me like I had just unleashed dim mak on him. Needless to say, after several bad sparring experiences, I left this school. When I played by the rules and won, everyone got ugly and jealous.

We move up when we are ready. If someone has been goofing off for nine months, he won't move up as fast as someone who has trained hard for three. It all depends on the individual.

I think it's hard to judge a kata that one doesn't understand. Hence, a black belt in style A may have no understanding of what's in the kata in style B, thus they can't really pick it apart for mistakes like their own style. Likewise, there are several kata that are not very long but are very hard to do right. These might be mistaken as being more simple because they are not as long as a kata that is really long, yet easy. I think that multiple style kata competitions are usually not fair because of different emphasis and purpose in various styles.

I'd much rather do a full-contact tournament than a light-contact one. It's more realistic, bad fighting habits are avoided, and they prepare people for the psychological blow of being hit hard.

In the UFC, you can't hit in the crotch or the eye. If you're taking someone down and they're in a lot of pain, a fingernail right in the middle of your eye slicing tissue will make most people let go fast and take them out for a long time. Anyone who's gotten tagged in the crotch knows how bad that hurts. Imagine thinking you've got the guy in a really good lock and getting your crotch chomped on hard. People will bite, scratch, tear, and claw when you grapple them. Above all, concrete hurts a lot. Don't get close to a desperate losing man.

Make sure you have 20 different belt colors, with three stripes on each color. And never forget the Black Belt Club. All really cool systems that are worth the money have one of these. Only really good students can pay to join this club, and by paying you know you're good because you get a little patch that says you are. Patches are important, too. Sew on as many as you can onto your gi. Be sure to get a hakama, too, and wear the hard part in front because it looks cooler that way. You'll look like a 21st century Black Belt Club Samurai master in no time! Don't forget counting in an asian language when doing stretching and exercises, even if your system isn't asian. You'll sound asian and people will pay you.