ShoriKid

1/19 2.25 run 1/20 12x2:00 rounds on the bag, hands only

3 years and a month to reach shodan, training an average of 5 days a week. Had a nidan as a training partner that a lot of that work went in with as well.

An instructor has every right to make a living and a good one too. If they are honest about what they are offering, I don't have a problem with them charging higher rates if the quality of instruction and area and facilities dictate as much. I don't know where the idea that a martial arts instructor couldn't charge for their services. But I'll be hanged if it isn't one of those things that just won't go away.

KI International, that's the one. Thank you for the information John. I've been looking at their line. The Mugen, I expect to be a quality gi, but I have no experience with their base line. I would really like to look into helping the adults in our dojo get a gi with embroidery. While I'd like to go with a local shop, they don't seem up to the task of doing any work not in English. That and I really need a good gi. My "new" Iron Man is pushing 8 or 10 years old. The "old" one, younger people are driving cars. The Piranha gi I picked up last spring has shrunk horribly, 2 sizes in the top at least. The pants not so much. KI's base gi, the Mugen and Ronin are my top choices at this time. KI International caught my eye with their in house embroidery and the price point isn't too high.

This is a good thing to do. It never hurts to present a full accounting from multiple people. You had better not do anything rash....without me! We sort of had someone try to step in on our dojo when we were at our old location. I wasted a class talking to the guy outside of the front door. Never invited him in. He was dropping hints about all of his rank and experience and how much he could show us. Gave off a bad vibe and didn't want him stepping foot on our floor.

It sounds like you handled this with more grace and composure than I may have been able to muster. This "Godan", by the sounds of this, is a lot of things I'm not allowed to say on these boards. Pushing his way into the class when he clearly was an instructor, or even an active member of the dojo is a big no no. If he was traveling through and stopped by to train at the old dojo he was part of and was invited to lead the class that night (and he'd behaved himself) it would be okay. That you all stayed as long as you did, a mark in your favor. Don't feel for a second that you were in the wrong. And after you added the incident involving your daughter, I would be speaking to the head instructor. In part as a student who was put in a bad spot and then as an angry father who isn't going to tolerate my child being in the same room when this guy is on the floor.

After the season we just went through in college ball? Doesn't sound to odd. I think a black belt should have meaning. It should be difficult to obtain. It should be a mark of skill and ability. We're tiny. A handful of guys training and trying to improve. However, the students at our dojo will have a black belt that means something when and if they earn it. To me they aren't beginners and I sure don't want others making the assumption they are.

See, I hear that the "Black belt is just the beginning" from so many martial artists and I shake my head. Yes, we all know that training can be a life time pursuit and you'll never stop improving if you keep training. However, a black belt should actually mean something. It should contain the bulk of the syllabus, good ability execute the material, maturity of the practitioner etc. There are tons of folks I see arguing for the divorce of skill and expectation from the black belt. Why? Does it absolve the instructor from pushing the students to achieve high levels of skill. Does it cost the school students and income because it takes so long to reach black belt? Does it cost people in self esteem because they can't promote quickly enough? I've been conflicted on this one for a long time. I've been an advocate of a black belt meaning something, a mark of skill and ability. Not something you just get for hanging around and being marked a slightly experienced beginner. Is it wrong that I expect a black belt to be a skilled martial artist who can convey a system?

Hey, happy birthday you two!

I've been looking at picking up one last gi (for now) and looked at the Karate International uniforms. I know they aren't top of the line, but appear to be serviceable. If you order direct from the company they do embroidery work. Anyone have any experience in dealing with KI, their uniforms or their embroidery quality?

The ups and downs of the grind bushido_man96. The mental aspect of wrestling is at least as important as the physical technique. Glad to hear he came back against the kid in the second meeting.

Dojo challenges are a good way to get hurt, especially if you win. Nahh, you just have to keep a clear line to the front door!

Don't sweat it Anne. We all have those days. I've got ones where I'm verY "err, grrr, hit, elbow, smash! People bad!" And then I get a little rest or some coffee and all the world is right again. Contact now and then is better than nothing at all. I've run across a lot of keyboard warriors on some other forums who claim to train 4-6 hours a day and always spar full power, full contact. Any one who claims they always spar full contact is either selling a line of bull stuff, or they hit like an eight year old girl. Pro boxers, kick boxers, MMA fighters etc only go hard once or twice a week and they are well padded when they do. Too much contact means unneeded injury. All that does is cause loss of training time. Life of excess on either side of the training spectrum is bad for you. Moderation in all things. Mostly.

Look at your own second and fourth paragraphs and contrast them. Seems you're looking for contact to know if something works. But, that people are mostly interested in full contact to inflict pain. Could it be that people participating in full contact sparring are just seeking honesty in what works without any theory at all? Not picking on you, just pointing out there are way more people I've met who enjoy the test of full contact than like the idea of hurting other people. To me contact has always kept us honest. It doesn't have to be hard, hard contact for someone who's trained a while to feel what would have stopped them. I know a solid strike when it lands, know it could have been trouble for me. Everyone has a plan until they get punched. If you train for defense and you never get punched, never have resistance (and getting hit solidly if not full out is resistance), your training has a high chance of failing if it's ever called on in a defense situation.

Thought I would post this one here in the general forum instead of hiding it away in the karate section so here goes. What is traditional martial arts training to you? Where do you draw the line in development or an art? Is it the methods used or the ideas contained by a certain set of instructors? Is there a time period after which it isn't "traditional" any more? Was it the 1950's, 60's, 70's? Or was it the training methods from the 20's, 30's, 40's? Can you change something and still be traditional? Can you train in more than one style or with more than one instructor and still be traditional? Where is the line between "traditional" martial arts and "modern/mixed" (not MMA in this context) martial arts? Lets here it folks, what are your thoughts?

Mental note: Never disrespect MP higher than the ground floor..

But, the key question is if you left enough material to let the edges fray.

You can be friends with your students and not compromise your ability to teach. A dojo, for me, should be a family. Every family has a hierarchy and every member knows how it works.

We just bought our TapOut shirts and train UFC now! Okay, kidding. The effect has been mostly positive. Good open finger gloves are cheaper, as are several other pieces of gear we use. Our approach to training is a lot less likely to get funny looks. Same with the sparring rules. On the down side, everyone expects an MMA gym and we have to take time explaining the difference between what we do and a fight gym. Also, marketing as anything not MMA makes getting adult students a little tougher.

The number of high school guys who were football/basketball players and worked hard for years and then never do anything after is kind of sad. Too many have a bad case of the "used to coulds". They used to could do a lot of things, but they can't any more. And what's wrong with being able to skip the weather report by the way your hands/shoulder/knees/back feel? I can tell you know that our weather will be colder and wetter in the next couple of days. Between that and the sewing, I can tell I'll have to tape my fingers to roll tomorrow night.

That's a really good point. Not many athletes go into their 40's and 50's still doing hard contact sports. Martial artists are different in that respect. I'm also willing to bet that a lot of pro football, basketball, etc. players would have similar problems if they continued on the same level of activity. I was told by a co-worker and avid football fan that the average NFL player only had a career of 5 years. May have been 3 years. Either way, most people competing at a pro level in sports are done by 30. I've seen several writers talking about pro boxers passing their "peak" at 30 and if they aren't in title contention by that point it's time to hang up the gloves. We keep pushing past that point, accepting injuries and moving on. It isn't about poor development of basics or a lack of proper warm ups/stretching. It has a lot more to do with the whole body nature of the training. I take throws, sweeps and take downs on as a regular part of my stand up training. Along with joint manipulations and locks. I get kicked, punched, elbowed and kneed from my hair line to my feet. Then I put on a thicker gi and get tossed, locked, twisted and stranged for ground work. It's rough on the body and it builds up over time.

Good work for your boy and congratulations on his wins! Keep us posted on the season sir.

As martial artists we are constantly colliding with bodies, the earth (padding only helps so much) and putting torque on joints. Stretching and warming up will help to an extent, as well as building muscle to surround those joints, but there are limits. As martial artists we also tend to continue on long after other athletes have quit the field. Pro football, basketball, baseball, hockey or boxing all are done by their mid to late 30's. Rare exception exist, but they are very notably exceptions and not the rule. Pick any professional sports team, list the major injuries of the players and then track them all for a year. You will be shocked at the injuries that pile up. When injuries have forced others in a physical activity to quit, we stick at it and the injuries show/add up.

Very entertaining and well worth the hunt imo.

Watched a prelim fight on the latest UFC from this past weekend. At 155lbs, Daron Cruickshank put on a great display of kicking technique. It lacked a lot low line kicks to the legs as it typical. It did feature some brutal round kicks to the body that struck with the ball of the foot. Which Joe Rogan called front kicks. Several front kicks to the body with the same striking surface, a side kick or two to the body and to ice the cake, a spinning heel kick to the thigh. The finisher was a beautiful head high around kick with a nice clean chamber that cleared his opponents guard nicely. He apparently has a background in TKD and kickboxing and thus the very different approach to kicking.