Jan.8nd 2011 snowing outside so no running today
Morning: 5,000 meters rowing
TacFit joint mobility routine for 30 min. stretch bands, and form roller.
GHD situp/ab roller 5 sets each. 10 reps.
Kettlebell snatch speed warm-up 100 reps
Barbell Sumo deadlift
Kettlebell long cycle press:
Karate instructor arrested for selling bogus black belt certificates.
That’s the headlines in my local newspaper, tells of a local Korean Karate instructor was selling his schools black belt certificates to thoes who paid , but is now in the local jail, captured on his way to Florida with his ill gotten gains or retirement fund. Now the funds can be used for lawyer fees. Talk about fast tracking his students!
This is nothing new in the world of Karate training which now has been marginalized to an after school fitness class. All you have to do to get a black belt is pay a hefty fee each month for 2-4 years and you get a series of colored belts( more testing fees) until it turns black. Now we have 8 year old, killer black belt roaming the halls of our grade schools. Just kidding! Can you defend yourself after you are “belted”? I doubt it, no more than a similar very fit person of the same age and size not taking karate. As with college certificates, you can go on the internet, pay a fee and get the “sheepskin/cert.” to hang on your wall to impress your friends or better yet go into business so you can cash in.
Karate over the last 40 years, since I got my black belts, has become more user friendly, so instructors who have schools can make a living at their art. Back in the 60’s when I was training, a karate instructor rarely used his art as a full time profession and trained the most serious people nor did he care if you stayed. The wanted you to obtained a high level of performance so you could actually defend yourself. The instructors were mostly idealist poor, but today, the store front karate school has to put a dollar value on all services to stay in business. Believe me, there is nothing wrong with that new business model as long as you, the consumer understands what you are getting for your money.
My personal experience teaching Karate was limited. I was employed by a large commercial school, which was rare at the time. The head instructor made the assistant instructors “tone down” the aggression we were taught training overseas in the military. He would always say” the American public will not stand for our level of intense instruction we received to get our black belts” if you want to stay in business. He was right, as I opened my own school for a few months and went from 30 students to 2 in less than 6 weeks before closing shop and hanging up my black belt for good. It was not because I used them as human punching bags, it as the intense prep of the body to perform the movements. Your body and mind has to be as strong as possible if you want to defend yourself! A year or two of intense high quality karate workouts each day may not enable you to kick ass, but you will become a walking, talking, muscle chart.
There are good schools teaching karate or other martial arts each day that maintain high standards and provide expert instruction. But just like any other service, check the credentials of the school and ask around especially those who have being going to the training how well they are doing. Don’t go to take up a martial just for self defense, but more to learn another culture and a fun form of fitness.
2 comments:
Hi,
I begin on internet with a directory
I experienced the same. Started with a chinese "karate" school that was the real deal. A year or so later, the school moved to a bigger location and became in effect a cookie cutter machine. It was shortly after that that I left. But I remember those early days fondly!
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