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Post by ericjohn on Jan 21, 2006 21:00:48 GMT -5
Love the "swim". I don;t remember not being able to swim as my gandfather was a swimming instructor at the YMCA. My whole family swims from gandparents to new babies. It is an awsome work out and something you can do as a family sport or jsut for fun.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 21, 2006 20:23:26 GMT -5
Yeah,
I think they are just trawling anyway. I got too much to lose to throw it away on something like that.
Shoot, I got my share back in the day, so I ain't missin out on anything.
Later
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 20, 2006 22:31:27 GMT -5
If you were happily married for 12 years, two kids, great job, new house, getting all the things you have been working hard for all your life finaly, had a great looking wife with great sex, so your not even looking for anything extra marital.
What would you do, if college age girls were comming on to you at the gym?
More than once and you know it's not some kind of college prank or anything cause its different girls that have no affiliation with each other.
Cheerleader types. Drop dead beautiful. The kind you see on these Girls Goine Wild tapes.
All you would have to do is meet them someplace.
What would you do?
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 21, 2006 20:51:56 GMT -5
Hey Bill,
As much as is possible with the bone head of an instructor we have now. When I get my own dojo open, randori, freewrestling and sparring will be part if every workout.
Depending on what tournaments are coming up will depend on the type of sparing. I plan on having a strictly self defense cla*s also and base most of it on Krav Maga, or heck maybe even RMATA. It will have real time scenerios to give folks a chance to be under the pressure of having to defend themselves.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 20, 2006 21:14:52 GMT -5
Bill, sorry to hear about the site. I realy learned alot over there. I enjoyed reading the posts and reading about other people's experiances with grappling.
Vince, thanks for picking up the loyal members of Bill's forum. I hope you can keep a tight lock on the BS.
See you guys on the boards.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 20, 2006 22:02:20 GMT -5
I live in Mississippi and was right in the path of Katrina, although about 120 miles in shore. During the storm there was a truck that kept riding up and down the road infront of my house. It would stop at my driveway, pull down a few yard, back up, pull up, stop. Looking very suspicious to me. This went on for most of the day. The truck would go up the road for awhile but would always come back. I decided if these guys were up to no good, I needed to do something. I have a company truck, and anyone from around there who had been casing the place would know that if it was gone I would be gone. So told the my wife I was gonna pull my work truck around behind the house and see what they would do. I loaded the shot gun and pistols. The 100 mph + winds had blown the double doors open on the fron mof my house, so I had a couple of couches and some other furnature pilled up agsint them to keep them closed. I sat down on the couch with the shot gun and waited. Sure enough the truck came back. It stopped infront of the house, then pulled across the road to and open lot and parked. My wife was watching them form our bedroom window with binoculars. She was frantic to say the least. She was yelling to me that two guys ahd gotten out of the truck and were walking towards the house. I told my twin 12 year old daughters to get in their closet and not come out or make a sound unless mommy or me or a police officer came to ge them. My wife came running into the front room of the house with me. I checked the pistols and wiasted one in my back. I gave her a pistol and the shot gun. I asked her if she could see anything in their hands ans she was so frantic and panicy, crying that she couldn't remember. So I peeked out the broken front door window and saw a big guy and a skinny guy. I made notice that they did not ahve anything in their hands. I decided then that I was not going to let them get close to the house. I told my wife to stay behind the door jam and if something went bad to try and shoot the big guy first, that I would go after the little guy and try and take him out myself. I wanted her to know which way I was going to be going if something started. I told her if the the worst happended in the front yard to let them in the front door, then light their a*ses up in the front room were they couldn't run away and come back later. I mean, what else could you do. So we drug the furnature back from the doors and the wind blew them open and I started out into the front yard, when they saw me they stopped. I walked right out towards them like I knew what the hell I was gonna do. Which I didn't but I knew I didn;t want them close to the house. I hollered at them over the wind, "You guys need something!" They hollered back "No" and started walking back to their truck. I thouhgt, "Humph, good thinking, punks." I turned around and my wife was standing on the front porch with the shot gun in her hands and the pistol in her waist belt. We went back in and barracaded the door against the wind and rode the rest of the storm out without incedent.
Now the hard part was, I work for the power company. As soon as the storm let up enough I had to go to work. The wife had to talk me out of taking my family with me to our staging area.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 25, 2006 17:56:03 GMT -5
Good idea Vince,
I have had a couple of coversations with him, but he is hard to talk to. Not very open minded, does not take critisism well and has an excuse for his behaviours that you can't talk him out of.
Don't get me wrong, and I've said it before, I think this guy could be a great instructor. He just has to get over himself.
Great instuctors/teachers are humble. They don't teach down to students. They lower themselves to their students level and teach them up. An instructor has to have the personal character to transend these levels of development to bring his students up to their fullest potential, and even past his own level of understanding if applicable. You have to humble yourself to learn and humble yourself again to teach or you are doomed to fail. If you are in the business of teaching people, your success is congruent with the success of your students.
I just don't think this guy can muster that humility. I have not figured out why, yet.
But I'm hardheaded so I probably wont give up until I have attained enough rank to teach on my own.
Thanks for the advice guys.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 25, 2006 9:21:57 GMT -5
Yeah,
And he works mostly off of the beginers ignorance.
Well, he has run off all but me and my family, the kid I was talking about, and two younger kids, which he does not act a fool around. Their parents don't have clue about martial arts and as far as handling younger kids, he does fine. But then again he has nothing to prove to a kid. You would think. Our adult cla*s has been as big as 10 or 11 and our kids cla*s has had up to 15, but folks have dropped out over the past year. Mostly due to his blind repatition and dictation of the same techniques over and over again. His unwillingness to explore new techs.that do not fall in line with HIS way of thinking. Unfortunately his way of thinking is not always congruent with what I believe to be the true essence of Han Mu Do or martial arts in general.
The kid I was talking about. His mother just startd the adult cla*s. She is leagaly blind, her oldest daughter, this kids older sister has Downs Symdrome, his younger sister is the same age as my girls and I'm pretty sure the only "girl" friends she has. (my girls would make friends with a fence post if they stood next to it long enough) So the middle boy and the youngest sister have to help take care of the blind mother and mentaly hadicapped sister. I'm also pretty sure the only "fun" time they get is at the Y. I've only seen the dad a few times, he usually drops them off and goes home until they are done. This guy could make big difference in these kids life if he would quit being such an ego maniac.
What makes it work for this guy is these people have no clue. He's wearing the black belt so he MUST know about martial arts, and for all intents and purposes has a vast knowledge of martial arts.
But he lacks the character that goes with his rank. A guy his age with that many credentials should have some insight into the dynamics of human interaction. He demands repsect but does not treat people with common curtousy some of the time. It has been my esperiance that the people that demand respect usually don't deserve it and the people who deserve it usually don't demand it.
I keep going and taking my family because I like the art, (I just think this instructor does not teach it to its fullest potential) it is convenient for us as we are members of the Y and can use the facilities, I can use the mats for grappling before and after cla*ses, it is the closest martial arts cla*s to me, and I have spent too much time and money over the past two years ot give up on it.
I have also been talking to the Y manager and may be able to start using the facility to teach wrestling and Judo. I would ahve to go through their "instructor's course" to get certified. So I have a bigger stake in staying than leaving. If I can help this dude understand what he needs to do to be a better instructor, both of us will take something away from the experiance.
The guy could be a great instructor. He has alot of knowledge. He just does not have the people skills to apply it.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 24, 2006 18:22:03 GMT -5
Bill, I give him credit where credit is due. He has alot of knowledge but no practicle experiance. I have no respect for him in the way that I have respect for some of my other instructors in the past. He has not earned my respect and on the contrary has done things in cla*s, in way of hurting students with subs, talking down to them, insulting them, and just acting like a jerk, that i wanted to clobber him for.
Just as an example there is a kid in there that needs martial art's character building qualities. The kid is 14 and jsut moved up to the adult cla*s. Extemely self conscience, to a fault but his mom keeps bringin him in the hopes he will find himself some how. Well, he started to a couple of months ago. I took a special interest in him and kept after him and he started working harder and getting the techs down, and was even glad to show up for cla*s. Mr. KaratDo was just the opposite, dog talking him, calling him out infront of the cla*s, setting him apart from us to do "busy work" cause he thought he was slowing th cla*s down. All the wrong things this kid needed. He needed Mr KarateDo and us to accept him and encourage him, not tear him down and belittle him and set him apart. Well, Mr. KarateDo was using him as demostrator one night for some lower belts, I was working with the higher belts on the otehr side of the room, and looked over and this kid is crying and the look on his face tore my heart out. He was just devistated. So my wife went over and settled him down,a nd come to find out, Mr. KarateDo had was showing "handcuffing techs" why I don't knwo as it si not part of the Han Mu Do curriculum at that lower belt ranks, had thrown him, turned him to his belly, got his arms behind him, put one kne on his wrists, and the other on the side of his jaw and proceded to explain the benifits of these "handcuffing" techniques. Well, this kid could not tap cause he couldn't get his ahnds free, did not know to tap with his foot, couls say anything cause dude had all his weight down on this kids jaw. He only let the kid up when one of the other students said somehting to him. All this jerk off said to the kid was, "Don;t you know how to tap?" In a condicending way. Bill, it was all I could brother. All I could do. So my wife gets him settled down and he stops crying and about that time dude calls cla*s and sends everyone home. I was beside myself Bill. He devistated this kids confidence, even after the kid was showing great improvement and wanting to stay cla*s. I told my wife if that kid wasn't at the next cla*s we were packing it in and I was gonna call Mr. KarateDo out infront the cla*s and berait him like a Marine Corp drill instructor before we left. Fight or no fight. Well, the showd back up after all that and is still doing well, but he stays over by me most of the cla*s now.
What I did last night got my point across with out doing to him the same degrading things i have seen him do to students in the past.
I know and follow traing hall etiquite. Even more than this guy, but enough was enough. And picking the smallest or least experianced students to spar with every time was too much for me.
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Post by ericjohn on Jan 24, 2006 17:50:09 GMT -5
As some of you know from Bill's forum, I've had a couple of problems with my instructor. He is a 4th degree black in Han Mu Do, which is what we are learning from him and is some other black degree in Kirokashenki (sp). He is the epitome of the cliche'ic ego maniacal karate instructor. He is always right, no art is better than his original art Kirokashenko Karate, (or something like that ) He goes too hard with the new students to try and impress them with his karate prowess, when they have no idea how to defend against him. In a word he is a thingy, that I have been hoping and praying to get to really roll with, straight grappling, no forms, katas, fitting, half speed, I mean real time "gittin after it". You guys that know the story know I have reasons for staying at the school that out weigh leaving and trying to find another school, so I have been toughing it out, biting my tongue and letting this guy act a fool for about two years now. Well, his night came last night. ;D It actually started last Thursday when he told us all to bring our sparing gear, he wanted to let us spare some before an up coming tournament. So at that cla*s we get geared up, we are going to spare, punches, kicks, throw and hold downs. No chokes or subs. So Mr KarateDo gears up too. I think, "Yeah, I hope he has nuts enough to ask me to spar." So he puts me and another guy to sparring. He's big and strong but no grappling experience at all so it was pretty much just a rowt for me the two or three rounds we rolled. So we're taking a breather and Mr KarateDo decides he wants to spar a little so guess who he wants to spar with, my wife. No nuts. All 115 pounds of her. So I told him to go ahead. Well, she's as game as any and although he can power through her like a she's a kid, he's doing a lot more huffin and puffin at the end of it all. (F'n thingy) So then he rolls with the guy I rolled with and this dude, even as green as he is, (I mean, this dude has only rolled with me 2 times and that's the extent of his grappling experience) and dude catches him in Osoto, badda bing badda boom. So they roll a time or two and it's pretty much even. Well, every one takes a break. Then the big guy ask him if he is going to spar me. Nope, cla*s time is up. What! I was livid! I said, "How about Monday's cla*s?" and the big guy backs me up so Mr. KarateDo has to say yes. YES! ;D So yesterday, we get there and he has us doing all of these strength exercises like Mountain Climbers and "Under the fence" push ups, (what he calls Hindu push ups) and squats and lunges, then we roll out for about 30 minutes. Of course he is not participating in all of the hard stuff. It comes time to gear up and it looks like he isn't even going to put his pads on, but finely does. When we all get back on the mat, the big guy asks, "You guys going first?" Mr KararteDo kinda nods and I says, "Sure thing, lets go." So it's on. We bow in and here we go. Well, he kinda comes in kicking and pucnhin but I eventually get a grip on him and he sets his feet like I wont be able to move him. He tries a couple of arms length throws but can't power me into them like the others and starts getting frustrated. So decide to take the fight o him and snatch him forward jsut to show him I can move his feet and sweep his support foot and end up in side control. He starts panicking, no nuts, wheezing and huffing and grunting and growling, so I'm just laying on him blocking his bridge and roll attempts pa*sing up a bundh of arm bar openings, and he finely gets himself struggle off his back and up to all fours. So I slipped a grape vine in and start riding him cross body. I'm looking for the Guillotine, I would have loved to caught him that but he tries to stand up reaches back around the other way, toward me. Perfect set up for a Jacobs Hook, so I rotate my hips hard and reap him around and put the cross face from hell on him and cloths line him back around so hard he makes this whining gurgling noise, falls flat of his back and ends up under my full mount. So since I can't sit up and strike or neck crank him or any other sub, I hug his face into my chest so he can't turn his head and sink all my weight on him. He squirms a bit but can't get any air and finely taps. ;D So I just got up off of him and never looked back, toed my line and waited. He got up toed his line, and bowed to me. So much for Mr. KarateDo. The rest of the night was light rolling with the lower belts and a good hard match with the big guy to rap it up. Mr. KarateDo did not have anything to say to me after that. But was not hateful. I think he learned himself a lesson about ego, grappling and what works and what doesn't in real time.
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