How Many Make It To The Coveted Blackbelt?

[dbHunterNY]

4 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

   My style mirrors that of Rocky Mariano,Chavez  and Roberto Duran. Always Forward.

 No dancing around the Bag for me- lol.

   Nope- no hand wraps or gloves.  Never a problem. 

i'm a shitty dancer but always told you have to be able to move your feet. hardest part about all of it for me was keeping your feet under ya. must be tough with strong bones in them hands sir. keep after it and it'll keep your younger than if you didn't.

[Belo]

34 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

if you take this and run with it i'm blaming brad. i'm a small office. we aint got time for six sigma. ...but no i'm sure all that stuff is useful and has a purpose. lol 

six sigma works wonders in the right setting, but I agree completely that some companies pushed it too far in spaces it wasn't needed. 

On topic, I have 2 six sigma green belts and I have a yellow belt from 9th grade when I didn't make the baseball team and tried karate. I was one of those stats that Bill mentioned where it didn't stick. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I did. But I played 3 sports, liked to hunt and fish, girls, a job and friends. Just didn't have the time to commit to it. I wouldn't say I regret quitting, but it is something I'd have liked to have completed. Thankfully my life has never placed me in a lot of harm, but to have it and not need it is a good motto to live by. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Belo

[blackbeltbill]

34 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

i'm a shitty dancer but always told you have to be able to move your feet. hardest part about all of it for me was keeping your feet under ya. must be tough with strong bones in them hands sir. keep after it and it'll keep your younger than if you didn't.

     It is a Fun Discipline.  

[blackbeltbill]

    I will say that with Martial Arts- If you do it-- You will use it.

  Use it or lose it. That sentence is extremely  important.  

[dbHunterNY]

16 hours ago, Belo said:

six sigma works wonders in the right setting, but I agree completely that some companies pushed it too far in spaces it wasn't needed. 

On topic, I have 2 six sigma green belts and I have a yellow belt from 9th grade when I didn't make the baseball team and tried karate. I was one of those stats that Bill mentioned where it didn't stick. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I did. But I played 3 sports, liked to hunt and fish, girls, a job and friends. Just didn't have the time to commit to it. I wouldn't say I regret quitting, but it is something I'd have liked to have completed. Thankfully my life has never placed me in a lot of harm, but to have it and not need it is a good motto to live by. 

normally i glance over bill's martial arts threads but more i think about this it's bringing back memories. could be that i've always been a pretty non-confrontational kid growing up but if anything it keep me from fighting more. even in college i was in situations where they deserved it, but i did nothing. it always worried me that in that setting with a martial arts background starting in elementary school and a farm boy that i could do damage that i didn't want to do. as soon as crazy ahole sees you in action what's to say he doesn't trying to pull a knife or a handgun? i've known it to go down at bars out in buffalo. also what good what it do me getting arrested because i broke some dudes arm, leg, etc.? i avoided that shit, including verbal confrontation.

15 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

    I will say that with Martial Arts- If you do it-- You will use it.

  Use it or lose it. That sentence is extremely  important.  

starting Tae Kwon Do so young it befuddles me how much i remember from a few decades ago. IMO you don't lose mechanics at all. don't ask me a list of tasks i did last week though. waayyyy less flexible, agile, and core strength. for Tae Kwon Do you had to know terms and routines to practice. I couldn't recall those to save my life. i can execute each move practically perfect. i'd be the lost little kid again that at the end of the test routine though looking confused and facing a completely different cardinal direction than the others. lol

[Belo]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

normally i glance over bill's martial arts threads but more i think about this it's bringing back memories. could be that i've always been a pretty non-confrontational kid growing up but if anything it keep me from fighting more. even in college i was in situations where they deserved it, but i did nothing. it always worried me that in that setting with a martial arts background starting in elementary school and a farm boy that i could do damage that i didn't want to do. as soon as crazy ahole sees you in action what's to say he doesn't trying to pull a knife or a handgun? i've known it to go down at bars out in buffalo. also what good what it do me getting arrested because i broke some dudes arm, leg, etc.? i avoided that shit, including verbal confrontation.

starting Tae Kwon Do so young it befuddles me how much i remember from a few decades ago. IMO you don't lose mechanics at all. don't ask me a list of tasks i did last week though. waayyyy less flexible, agile, and core strength. for Tae Kwon Do you had to know terms and routines to practice. I couldn't recall those to save my life. i can execute each move practically perfect. i'd be the lost little kid again that at the end of the test routine though looking confused and facing a completely different cardinal direction than the others. lol

They brand martial arts under self defense for a reason. For someone to say if you do it, you use it is confusing. My 2 oldest did TKD for a little while this last year. Made it yellow and may go back. Their instructor is like world champ of sorts and I promise you he isn't out there just kicking random ass in his spare time. He teaches the exact opposite, part of the kids "homework" was to listen to and respect their parents. Great guy. 

[Jeremy K]

On 2/7/2023 at 1:42 PM, blackbeltbill said:

Sounds very much like my own Sensei- John Deblasio taught.

  Isshinru is what,I walked into back in 1982.  What Style there?

 Sensei Deblasio's Teacher was Gary Alexander.  Both Men are in the Black Belt Hall of Fame. I picked the right School all those Decades back.

Some in the martial arts community may discredit sensei Deblasio black belt because he refused to train in anything but combat boots.

[dbHunterNY]

23 minutes ago, Belo said:

They brand martial arts under self defense for a reason. For someone to say if you do it, you use it is confusing. My 2 oldest did TKD for a little while this last year. Made it yellow and may go back. Their instructor is like world champ of sorts and I promise you he isn't out there just kicking random ass in his spare time. He teaches the exact opposite, part of the kids "homework" was to listen to and respect their parents. Great guy. 

that was the number one rule for getting the boot and asked not to come back. you had to respect others and do well in school. i think that was implied as part of the tenets or whatever they're called. i don't remember anyone who got the boot because of that though.

Edited February 14, 2023 by dbHunterNY

[blackbeltbill]

2 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Some in the martial arts community may discredit sensei Deblasio black belt because he refused to train in anything but combat boots.

Jer- that was his Teacher- Sensei Alexander. 

[Jeremy K]

9 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

Jer- that was his Teacher- Sensei Alexander. 

So the plot thickens...

[blackbeltbill]

2 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

that was the number one rule for getting the boot and asked not to come back. you had to respect others and do well in school. i think that was implied as part of the tenets or whatever they're called. i don't remember anyone who got the boot because of that though.

   Indeed Respect is  also paramount.  Pushups indeed were doled out .  LOL- Check video below.

   Seriously  though 2 Things that are  vastly important  are Concentration and Focus. Both Sensei Kreese and Miyagi  talked of it in those old Karate Kid Movies.  It is something, I have taught as well. It gets more improved as you get older. That is what,I meant when,I wrote - Use it or lose it. I was talking about long term practice.  

[blackbeltbill]

 

[blackbeltbill]

9 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

So the plot thickens...

Jer there is no plot-lol. Good to hear from you.

[treeguy]

Are plots legal on public ?

[The Back 40]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:25 AM, Bolt Action said:

I'm actually glad that you posted this. We recently enrolled my 9-year-old at the local karate dojo. I want him to learn some self-defense, discipline, and was just looking for a way for him to get some energy out during the week. The sensei is a career martial artist. He's achieved the top belt in multiple disciplines. The only part I question is that while my son is brand new as a white belt with only a few months under his belt, he's already been working with nunchucks, a bow, and regularly spars. He often has no idea what the class is doing and just tries to keep up. I understand that he's in a class group setting, it just seems early to me to be working with weapons and sparring when he doesn't really have the fundamentals down.

Bolt, My intent here is not to belittle the instructor you mentioned, and I normally would get involved this type of conversation but, the things you describe sound like all the warning signs of a McDojo. 

• Instructor has black belts in multiple MA's
• Students quickly start training "weapons" 
• Attention is not given to learning basic foundational techniques
• young students are being taught joint locks and chokes.
• Are they asking you to pay for promotion testing for every "tip or belt"?

I have met a lot of these "Masters" throughout the years, They advertise that they have multiple black belts and they can teach people "self defense" realistically they teach poor technique in a form of martial arts that is not trained against real resistance. The weapons make it flashy and appealing to kids and some adults. If you are sending your child there to burn some energy and have some fun that's great but be cautious if you believe that they are going to learn real world self-defense because most don't even know what real self-defense is.

Take a look at Bullshido. you'll get the picture. https://www.bullshido.net/