Primarily Tai Chi; initially Chen style, then more recently Yang style.Originally Posted by KalEl
I have encountered several different martial arts before - because I like to cross-train with people who do different styles (so I don't just get used to fighting against people who do the same style as me). As far as Karate's concerned, I have dabbled in Goju Karate and Kobudo. And I have observed some Kyokushinkai, Shotokan, Seidokan and some other non-traditional styles whose names I can't remember. In Sydney there are lots of Karate Dojos with style names that I've never heard of and have never been able to authenticate either.
That's why I went to this Sunday's class.I wanted to see what GKR was like under a different Sensei. As I said, it's harder for me now to get the time to check out every class when I'm working around work and family commitments. If I can find the time to attend another class on another day, then I will... but as it is, Friday night is the most convenient for me.
One would assume that a Sensei is a black belt and even then preferably above first dan, since "Shodan" literally means "Beginners Level." When I trained in or observed Dojos in Japan, there would often be nobody in the Dojo with the title "Sensei." Some Dojos would have maybe 1/3 of the class being black belts, but none of them held the title "Sensei" despite being black belts - not even the ones that were the instructors. The first class I ever attended in Japan; when I called the instructor "Sensei," he and the other black belts laughed and told told me that he was by no means a "Sensei," just a "captain." So it seems that it's much rarer in Japan for someone to achieve the title of "Sensei" -- which is a very honorific term that's usually reserved for someone who has achieved mastery in their field (as "Sensei" can also translate as "master").
Then again, I find that Dojos in Japan and Australia seem to run quite differently. For one thing, Japanese Dojos only have three belts - white, brown, black. A student stays on a belt for about 1 year, so it takes about 3 years to get a black belt, which makes sense, cos you don't want to spend too long before you become a Beginner Shodan.I think that because in Japan it's faster to get a black belt, it's also not as big a deal, especially when 33% of the class are black belts. One of the brown belts in Friday's class told me it may take six years of persistent training to get a black belt in GKR!
You can complete a double university degree in that time...
I think it makes perfect sense to accelerate students if they demonstrate enough proficiency. I see no point in holding students back just for the sake of "timing conformity."
Both my Chen and Yang Tai Chi teachers would often accelerate students if they showed proficiency, especially if they had prior martial arts experience. When I did Yang Tai Chi, I told the instructor that I'd done Chen style before. After we did some basic stuff, she just skipped me right past the first form and got me right into the second form. And later she forgot that she did this, and when we had some new students come along who had NO previous experience, she asked me to teach them the beginners 8 step form, and I was like... I don't know this form! I can only show them the 24 step form which would probably confuse the hell out of them!
So yeah... I'm hoping that within my 3 month trial my Senseis will allow me to accelerate through some stuff. And to be honest, they have let me progress a bit faster. On Friday I did a drill that involved Kake-uchi, and open handed technique, and both Senseis keep telling me that white belts are only allowed to do close fist stuff. I'd never even been shown Kake-uchi before, I was just told to do it -- but I picked it up easily enough.
Anyway... all I can do is keep giving Sensei 110% of my effort, which I always do... and hopefully demonstrate sufficient proficiency to convince them to push me along faster.
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