kiddy/fatty blackbelts (RANT)

tradrockrat said:
Well, let this be the last post from me on this subject. Obviously I am doing a poor job explaining myself. What I was trying to illustrate is that "fat" has nothing to do with it, except in that it CAN be a symptom of the real issue. That is why I said there is fat and there is FAT. I mean that one is a result of age, accident, infirmity, injury, what have you, the other is from laziness and sloth. This difference is perfectly clear to anyone who sits through a single class session when researching a school. This is my point.

A few examples - Sensei Hopkins, a personal friend recently passed away. He was in his 80's, and he was a master of jiu jitsu and a master teacher. He was slow moving and looked every day of his age, but he could still do knuckle pushups, and earned a blackbelt in the ABA shortly before his death, testing better than men in their fifties. You wouldn't know that until you saw him teach, but when he did it was unmistakable.

My instructor for most of my life - John Collins. He was overweight, two plastic knees, but walked everyday, trained as much as he could, and I have never met a better teacher of Bando - bar none. There was a time when he wasn't able to walk because they were replacing his knees. We trained in chairs together and developed some intreresting python (grappling) entries out of a seated position. He never stopped training.

Another MA teacher (no name this time) nearby where I lived was a high level blackbelt. He sweated walking up stairs, sat when he taught, didn't demonstrate techniques unless the student was absolutely lost, and weighed almost 400 pounds. His students were very sloppy, but he promoted them anyway. Now he knew TONS of facts and tecniques - talked about them all the time when people should have been training - but honestly, would you train with him? In the five years he used the same facilities I trained in, I never once saw a student stay with him to BB.

These are people that I have trained with and around. It seems that several people have been unable to get past the word "Fat" in my posts, and that I simply have been communicating poorly. For that I apologize. But in fact, the super fit "dancer" who really doesn't teach substance is also someone I would avoid.

And for my last point, I'd like to state that I absolutely understand the power of good teachers and their abilties to teach. Teaching is the highest calling in my opinion, and a great teacher can do more for his / her students than perhaps even you all understand. They can literally save lives and "souls". And, in fact, this is WHY I'm so adamant about a teacher living his / her word. If you're going to demand something from your students you had better walk the walk with them! If you don't you may be doing more harm than good, and that's literally a blasphemy to me. "Do as I say, not as I do?" I don't think so! I guarantee it doesn't work, no matter how much they know, and no matter how talented a learner you are. Martial Arts are a physical pursuit, a Martial artist should always be working to the utmost of their physical abilities.
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I understand what you are saying but it really has nothing to do with fat, you are saying you are against sloppy instructors who no longer practice there art due to laziness and are just riding off what they once achieved years ago. People don't have to be fat to represent those negative attributes at all, and as we have all agreed you can be fat and carry none of those negative attributes. We should also agree that you can be of a slighter build and still represent exactly what it is you are against, if you do agree with that then the fat element becomes pretty much irrelevent to what it is you and i are against.
 
I have had a fellow instructor (who is no longer teaching at our school) who was only 20 years old, and was already living in the past. He constantly boasted that he had won many tournaments and said he has won national tournaments. he also said that he recieved a back injury during one of the matches from a roundhouse kick to his lower back. after taking about 2 years off, naturally he was greatly out of shape. He was a good kid's instructor on some notes, but he was criticized for only wanting to spar with lower belts, (not including me, he was a 3rd degree I was a 1st) He took only one adult class but only half of it.

what i am trying to say is that once someone gets to a certain level, (even if he has had an injury) he already took on what I see many instructors do, they stop challenging themselves and sit in the groove of everyday laziness. and only at 20 years old!!!

btw, he had already recooperated from his injury, but still decided to stop his training. (but told the children how hard he trains and how hardcore he was)

I don't even think he was a valid 3rd dan blackbelt, I spoke to his Sabumnin via e-mail and he told me he was only a reccomendation belt! but thats another thread.
 
ed-swckf said:
I understand what you are saying but it really has nothing to do with fat, you are saying you are against sloppy instructors who no longer practice there art due to laziness and are just riding off what they once achieved years ago. People don't have to be fat to represent those negative attributes at all, and as we have all agreed you can be fat and carry none of those negative attributes. We should also agree that you can be of a slighter build and still represent exactly what it is you are against, if you do agree with that then the fat element becomes pretty much irrelevent to what it is you and i are against.
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This is how I read it too. I don't understand where the offense was made. Here is how I interpreted the original post as opposed to the way Savage did (no offense to Savage):

there are many schools out there that seem to promote children at a very fast rate. there are some schools that I have seen that children as young as 8 years old have attained a black belt!! this bothers me very, very much.

Too many kids are being promoted before they are skilled enough.

there is a kid who rents mat time at dojang/jo (15, maybe 16 years old) who teaches a karate class. he is a 3rd dan blackbelt!!!

An example of a kid who was promoted too easily

this would be a little easier for me to deal with if the guy had good fighting ability, but he doesn't. it all just seems so horrible to me. I just sit there and look at his flyer and ask myself, "why?"

It's a shame that some people who obviously don't have a deep respect for the art choose to represent the art.

when i was 12, i was testing for my 2nd promotion and had to spar a kiddy blackbelt, he was about 10( not promoted at bb in our school). I put all of my skills into that match, and i really creamed the kid.

Another example of kids being promoted too easily.

why anyone want to even accept the rank of blackbelt if they know in their heart that they lack the skills?

A rhetorical question pointing out that there are people that don't have the respect that they should for the art.

another thing i see now, OUT OF SHAPE INSTRUCTORS. now i understand if a person has past his/her prime and is now having to work a little harder to stay in shape and/or has medical problems, etc. but I am seeing a vast majority of instructors who just let themselves go! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT MARTIAL ARTS. even if the instructor truly has mastered his/her art, they should still frequently practice it. I had one fellow instructor who opted not to take the adult class after teaching the kids classes, and for no good apparent reason, he rarely practiced.

It's disappointing to see so many instructors that don't even care.



I won't say anything about the breakdown of the response post, but it also seems to be a misunderstanding.

I really don't think that the original post should have offended anyone.

Sorry if I came along a little late in the conversation. I don't mean to concern myself with other people's business, I just thought that The MMA kid deserved a defense.
 
I appreciate it very much, thanks.

remembering this thread, I am STILL very much bothered by this growing epidemic about quick promotions and black belts who no longer practice.

Im sorry, but I DO NOT consider teaching as training.

sure, they say the best way to learn is to teach, but this is not the same as training IMO.

watching class is not training.
telling people to train is not training.
getting dirty with the rest of the students every once in a while is training.

I'm stating my honest opinion here, it may not be politically correct but it is just something I can't stop myself from noticing.
 
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MMAKId
watching class is not training.
telling people to train is not training.
getting dirty with the rest of the students every once in a while is training.

I'm stating my honest opinion here, it may not be politically correct but it is just something I can't stop myself from noticing.

Let me ask you a question how does what someone else do effect your training, I would say it dose'nt.
Next how is it when someone runs there school how does it effect you, same answer it does not.

So why does it brother you?
Does it brother you about tthe poverty there is here in America and the world?
Does it brother you that 35% of all childern graduating from high school read on a fifth grade level?
Does it brother you our troops is fighting a war we can't win?

Of course it does but not to the extrinct of a Instructor that does not train anymore! Well here goes Head coaches in Pro sports don't train anymore for competition and we still have respect for them but because they are teaching MA, they have to be all and mighty!

MMAKID I have always respected you and you me I hope, there is more than physical training going on in a Dojang, at some point everybody changes from the physical to more of the emotional aspect to training, please keep that in mind, That is all thank you for reading.
Terry
 
Ofcourse there are more important things to worry about other than instructors who no longer train. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

Instructors that have stopped training does not affect MY training, but it hinders the progress of the art IMO.

I understand the "all and Mighty" and for those who have stopped training because of different barriers.

but my complaint is not toward those who have become unable to practice, but to those who REFUSE to practice. there is a difference.
 
That wasn't bad, that was just sad, he didn't even threw a punch. He had no busines being in that ring.
 
The MMA kid! said:
Ofcourse there are more important things to worry about other than instructors who no longer train. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

Instructors that have stopped training does not affect MY training, but it hinders the progress of the art IMO.

I understand the "all and Mighty" and for those who have stopped training because of different barriers.

but my complaint is not toward those who have become unable to practice, but to those who REFUSE to practice. there is a difference.
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Not sure if I see it the same way.

Personally, I think every student's path is their own, even if that student is sometimes called an instructor by someone else.
 
Bigshadow said:
WTF? That was shameful on both of thier parts! Seriously, was that a real pride MMA match?
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Looked like a small local US based show. (To make it even stranger, Jeremy Horn's reffing.)
 
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