travisty

something that i noticed recently in the last year or two at my dojo, is that there doesn't seem to have been as big of an emphasis on comradeship. i remember when i first started, at least once a week, we'd hear something like 'these are your dojo brothers and sisters, it's your responsibility to help them however you can' or 'why are you going easy on him/her he/she is your dojo brother/sister, if you go easy on them now then you'll be the reason they get hurt in real life'

now we may hear something about it every 3 months or so when we do testings. i won't lie, i love the brotherhood that was instilled in me when it comes to all of those i trained with. there's one kid, i love him like a brother (don't let him know that) even though he's a total tool (to be kind) most of the time.

how important is camaraderie or a sense of brother hood in you school? what do you think about it? i can understand some people not liking their instructor trying to 'force' them to like people, so how do you feel about teaching that during classes?

is there any where i can go to watch the old toonami? or is it possible to buy 'seasons' of toonami any where? or is my best bet just to buy dvds of the shows it played?

this little bit from the song "it's my life" sounds like a direct reference to the song "my way" by frank sinatra.

My heart is like an open highway

Like Frankie said, "I did it my way"

I just wanna live while I'm alive

'Cause it's my life

now, can anyone confirm or deny this with any certainty? if not, what do you think?

the song it may be referencing...

And now, the end is near;

And so I face the final curtain.

My friend, Ill say it clear,

Ill state my case, of which Im certain.

... Read More

Ive lived a life thats full.

Ive traveled each and evry highway;

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

Regrets, Ive had a few;

But then again, too few to mention.

I did what I had to do

And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;

Each careful step along the byway,

But more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew.

But through it all, when there was doubt,

I ate it up and spit it out.

I faced it all and I stood tall;

And did it my way.

Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried.

Ive had my fill; my share of losing.

And now, as tears subside,

I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;

And may I say - not in a shy way,

No, oh no not me,

I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught.

To say the things he truly feels;

And not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows I took the blows -

And did it my way

ok, there seems to be so many people out there that think a black belt means either mcdojo, or a bada$$ fighter of some sort.

to me those are only two interpretations of what a black belt represents.

my mother, got her black belt just about a year ago, she's in her upper 40's, and still not in great shape, and if some one where to attack her, she would probably be able to defend herself enough to run away, but i don't think she'd actually be able to beat someone up. her belt isn't representing her martial skills, it's representing the work she has put into the dojo, she has a hell of a time remembering kata, kiso, bunkai and terminology, yet she never quit, and she always keeps going, and is a great example to everyone else, and to me and obviously others has earned her blackbelt because of that.

so what does a blackbelt mean to you guys?

you guys know what i mean. i don't really wanna hear the annoying 'a belt just holds your pants up' or 'it's the skill, not the belt that matters' type of answers. the belt itself does have meaning depending on personal view, so what is it that it means to you?

i've heard some people say they do, but i always counter by saying it's just a scabbard, just because the sword/dagger doesn't have any sort of hand guard, doesn't mean it's concealed. it's like using a 'regular' sword in a scabbard as a walking stick.

but any way, am i right or wrong?

ok, so for those of you who own(ed) dojos, how many other people had keys, and were trusted w/ any time access to your dojo? what requirements did you set?

i'm just curious, as i was about to head off to do some personal training at the dojo, and that just made me wonder.

leave me some answers to come back to.

and if you don't or never have been the head instructor/owner of a gym/dojo, then i really don't care what you have to say on the subject, so don't post.

alright, so the latch assembly housing (for the bottom part of the latch) broke, just got the new one put on the motor and what not, got everything in and good, then i opened the trunk of my car, now it won't latch at all. before it was just the auto closer wouldn't engage, i got that fixed now the trunk just bounces when i try to close it.

any help?

ok, am i the only one who doesn't like that martial arts have become 'sports'?

like, it annoys me to see people wearing martial arts related clothing with out any training, such as UFC, tapout, affliction, and people say it's no different than wearing a NFL jersey to support a team, didn't the UFC start as 'put up or shut up' thing for artists of different styles? so it's not ok for the fans to act like they know what they're talking about.

the martial arts, were not created to entertain people, football, baseball, basketball, were created for the intents of sport, and entertainment. jiu-jistu, karate, TKD, hapkido, aikido, all of those where created to do serious physical harm.

is it just me, or is the categorization of sport the worst thing that has happened to martial arts?

Well, i've been trying to find a safe way to armed sparring for Matayoshi Kobudo in the dojo.

the first thing i thought of was head gear, torso protector, and the gloves that cover the fingers as well as the hands and wrists, but i think wearing all that would be uncomfortable, and now i'm wondering are there weapons made for kumite? i'm not looking for foam weapons, something that will hurt to get hit by, but won't do as much damage as a hard wood bo, or as a metal sai. similar to how the shinai is a safer alternative to the bokken.

i have looked through the century catalog before, but haven't seen anything like that in there before, so do you guys know of anything like that?

Now i know this will mostly be aimed towards TMAs, but there may be some only MMA gyms that teach for non-profit.

so, does your dojo teach because the instructors love it, and want to keep the art going, or is your dojo and it's instructors make money?

just curious since a certain rude member of this community thinks it's BS that a school would teach w/o profit being the goal, and i have just seen three others describing a dojo run similar to mine.

so lets hear it.

i used to be an MMA coach, and for MMA i loved doing pain tolerance classes, i participated just as much as the students, we would do things like get in a single file line, and every one would go down the line hitting everyone else (body shots) we also did a lot of shin on shin work, i got a lot of complaints and some people said they thought it was dangerous, but no one ever got hurt.

in our Goju classes, we also do a bit of pain tolerance everyone lines up shoulder to shoulder, hand either above their heads, or behind their backs, and we play a game of 'pass it on' the person on the end backfists you in the stomach, you back fist the next person so on and so forth all the way down, then you go from the other end down.

so, i'm just curious about your guys' views on pain tolerance training in TMAs and MMA classes.

maeda did not create BJJ, he taught judo, BJJ didn't come around until after 1920, meaning the art is no older than 80 years old, and probably was still more judo than what it is now.

i know the BJJ fanboys are going to come in here and start flaming and trying and what not.

now, i'm not saying 80 years isn't a while, but trying to compare it to arts that are 200+ years old is like comparing some one who has trained 6 months with some one who has trained 10+ years. they're just not comparable.

oh and it even says that when kimura came and beat the 'great' gracie, that it still wasn't a full developed style and this was in 1951 meaning only a little more than 49 years ago, BJJ was still being created.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiujitsu

i just saw some one explain jujistu as japanese BJJ...have people really become that ignorant that they don't realize BJJ is is not an original style?

i've looked around online for a little bit, but i can't find the poem's japanese characters at all.

if there's a translator site that gives character's that would be greatly appreciated

the poem (in case some one has software to translate it themselves for me)

A tiger dies and leaves it's fur.

A man dies and leaves his name.

A teacher dies and teaches death.

ps

just in case your wondering it's for a tattoo i wanna get when i have the money.

I have always been taught, that a master is someone who has nothing left to learn, and as long as you live there is always something more to learn, therefore mastering an art cannot be done until death when you have learned your final lesson.

in my organization, we have 9th degree who has been studying martial arts for 50+ yrs, and if you call him a master he will politely correct you that he still has things to learn.

so, do you guys agree that a master is one who has nothing left to learn, and if not what is your definition of a martial arts master?

I've seen this answer to a few questions (mostly in the which style is better type questions) people say "oh 'insert MA name here' sucks, learn MMA if you want to defend yourself"

how is a 'style' meant for sport better to defend yourself than styles that were the basic training for soldiers for hundreds of years? how does a 'style' with so many rules teach you to defend yourself better than the styles that teach win at any cost using any trick you have to.

i'm not saying it doesn't have it's good qualities, but in a fight where serious injury (not just a few bruises) will be the result of losing, i'd rather resort to the dirty tricks taught in my karate, than the rules i had to teach by when i taught MMA.

so to those who have given the above mentioned answer, or one similar why? and if that's all you have to say, why even answer?

Ok, I'm going to be leading class tomorrow morning, (normally i get charged w/ warm up, and a small group) and there's a guy who's ex-green beret, who is extremely obnoxious, and as an instructor, i can't be rude and just tell him to shut his pie hole (he goes on and on about what else we can do in a position, when we're talking about a single technique and things like that) other than just having but loads of push ups for the class, do you guys have any advice on how to subtly get the point across to him?

my family recently bought a building complex to expand our current business, but will only be using 2 of 3 buildings, we were thinking about renting the other one out, but i would like to try running a night club out of the last building. it's large and has plenty of open space for multiple dance floors.

So, before i am able to sell the idea to the decision makers, i'm looking for more info, links would be appreciated.

i'm 19, looking to do the management of the club, so i will need good info to sell the idea.

Ok, so i have noticed a lot of people giving answers about specific martial arts here, and then cite some other art as their source.

for example, some one asks about karate

and some one answers and cites BJJ or TKD experience as their source.

Why?

Mean i do understand that in the course of training you may pick up some knowledge of other styles. honestly i'd be more inclined to go with a post that doesn't have any source cited, than a post with a source of 'however many yrs. of irrelevant training'

Ok, i used to teach an MMA class at my dojo (quit because of personal reasons) but some one else took over, and we had a fighter (2w1l) and backstage they always went over the rules, and said no small joint manipulation, me and some others have always argued whether wrists were counted as small joints since you normally don't see them in big name leagues.

And what about a stomp kick to the knee, one of my students decided to argue the point with me because he never saw it happen on the UFC, after all a stomp kick to the knee is just a side thrust to the knee.