Another RPT Coming Up

It's Rank Promotion Test time again. It's Summer so there are fewer students overall going for their next rank, but there are more younger kids and "lower" ranks testing. My son will be going for his 5 Kyu. A little work on the history of Uechi-ryu and I think he'll do well.

It's also nice seeing the kids I helped teach in the no belt - 8 Kyu class earlier this year move up the ranks. They have definitely improved. We'll see how they do in a few weeks.

Product Review - Breakable Boards and Focus Targets

I will be reviewing products from time to time for Karate Depot. I do not receive any compensation for the reviews but do get to keep the item(s) that I review. I purchased a few things (sparring gloves) from Karate Depot before I started my blog. I was pleased with the products at the time and considered my experience to be a positive one.

I received four products this time and was able to test them out with my son and wife (she took Karate and Kickboxing for a few years). I will be including links to the products and some pictures, etc. from me.

The first two items are Rebreakable Boards by KD Elite. These are strong plastic boards that are made to be more resistant as you progress. You can purchase boards that are harder to break as your strength and technique improve. See the product description on the web site which includes a good how-to video, especially on putting them together for the first few times.

The boards are strong and you can tell the difference between the levels. I received the “White Belt” and “Yellow Belt” boards (the two easiest ones). My son, who is a 6 Kyu, was able to easily break the white board but had difficulty at first with the yellow one. There is definitely a difference in the resistance levels. He was able to easily kick through them both. My wife could break the white one, but not the yellow; she even got a small bruise on the palm of her hand. But that had more to do with her not having trained in a while. In my opinion they may not be for true beginners, not all martial arts schools teach breaking right away.

Beginners should not attempt to break these with a seiken strikes (full-fisted punches). If not done correctly, you will hurt your hand, wrist or arm. It’s better to start with an elbow or palm strike. Talk to your instructor first before trying this at home.

Seiken

I liked the rubber padding on the back of each one that makes easier to maintain your grip while holding them. I also like the fact that they are durable and from the look and feel will keep their resistance and last for years. If price is not an issue or you are buying this product for your school, then these boards would be a great option for you.

The third item is the Elite Vinyl Focus Target: Double by KD Elite. This target can be used for striking and kicking, but mostly kicking. The target is easy to hold and the wrist strap stays on and does not get in the way. The padding is good and it makes a loud popping sound when kicked hard. I’d say this target is better suited for children due to its size though more advanced students would get good some really use out of it too. The striking area is 8”x11.5” and it is well padded and feels very sturdy for its size.

The last item is the Square Hand Target by KD Elite. This target measures 10”x9”x3.5” and is a great target. It’s got thick padding and the straps are easy to get your arms through to hold it. We all had a good time striking this one over and over. I would definitely recommend this.

 I hope these reviews help you, leave comments if you have any questions.

Book Review- The Little Bubishi: A History of Karate for Children

It's been awhile but I think I have a few interesting posts coming up this week. First is my review of a children's karate book. This is a rare book topic, at least in the U.S., and Little Bubishi does a pretty good job of entertaining and teaching.

There is really nothing like this book on the market for children. The only books that I found are Karate for Kids (Martial Arts for Kids) and Karate (Illustrated History of Martial Arts).  I have not read them but from quickly glancing at them they seem too skew to an older demographic.

The editorial review on Amazon.com says that The Little Bubishi "is essential reading for all young karate enthusiasts." I wouldn't say it is essential but it does provide a wealth of moral stories similar to Aesop's Fables that should appeal to children, and they did to me as well. You could almost compare the stories to Norse or Roman versions of the creation of their peoples which morph into actual ancient history. The chapters on the Twenty Precepts of Karate-Do, Karate Terminology and Dojo Etiquette/Rules are well written for children and many adult practitioners could benefit from should reviewing these as well.

This was a little difficult for me to review. It is a children's book and I am not used to reviewing them, much less reading them anymore. So I enlisted help from the target audience, a youth karate-ka. We'll hear from him later.

The folktales that start the book are descriptive and let the imagination run wild. The morals focus on good vs. evil, and using karate with restraint, and never for offense or petty issues. The author continues this theme throughout the book and reinforces them in the final chapters on defense and dojo etiquette.

The stories also begin telling the basic history of karate. This is done concisely - the chapters are very short. The author thankfully does not get bogged down in the different traditions, styles, politics, etc. that you find in many "adult" martial arts literature.

The precepts of karate at the end of the book are a great summary of moral, martial and personal values that are prevalent in all societies but tailored for Karate and based on Japanese culture. Reading these along with proper reinforcement by the karate instructor, and parents, should help any child instill these values in his or her life.

Though this is a children's book, there are a few small things I want to comment on that caught my attention. The writing style caught me off-guard and may affect the book's success with children. It felt like the fairy tales were translated into English by a non-native speaker. So the flow of the stories, and some chapters, were choppy. Perhaps the author intended it this way for it to feels more "authentic". I could be wrong but to me and the aforementioned youth, that was not the affect.

This may be nitpicking but I could not stand the font of the chapter titles. They were painful to read. I suppose you could give your child a pat on the back for successfully reading the titles on the first try. But it was very distracting to me.

Children love pictures. Unfortunately, there aren't many in this book and compared to the cover artwork, they are very anime - think of the kids from Pokémon.

Now for the youth review. Being a typical kid, he kept it short and sweet. In fact he gave me bullet points. So here are his thoughts:

Liked

• Lots of useful information
• the stories
• Some stories are freaky

Didn't Like

• Some really short chapters

I couldn't coerce more out of him so this is what we get...

Except for a few issues not related to the content, I do recommend this as a gift to your beginner karate-ka. Read it with him and discuss the stories, reinforce the morals and let their imagination run free. Just don't let them fight a typhoon or hurricane. A rain storm created from a garden hose will work just fine.

RPT Congratulations!

Congratulations to all of the successful Rank Promotion Test candidates yesterday at AWCNF. Especially to the two newest Uechi-ryu Shodans!

Guest Blog on uTest.com

Sorry this is not for me, but my better half. She was invited to be a guest blogger on the uTest blog. Very cool. If you are interested in mobile application testing, she's the one to see.

Click here for her guest blog: "Early Impressions of a Mobile App Tester" and here for her own blog.

Poll: What Martial Art Does Your Child Study?

Walking Blindly into a McDojo

There are plenty of articles and posts that tell you what to watch out for when you are looking for a martial arts school for your children and yourself. I touched on it as well here. Though you may be following some of the guidelines, you can still unknowingly walk into a McDojo.

One of my co-workers asked if I knew of any schools in her area for her daughter. There aren’t any Uechi-ryu dojos nearby, so I asked my teacher if he could recommend anyone in her general area and gave me a name to try. I looked him up and apparently he is a well-respected martial artist with years of experience, a rather large school with a few locations, and he runs a large annual tournament.

When my co-worker went to check it out, her daughter loved it. But the staff started hitting her with a large registration fee, a uniform fee, and mandatory paid pre-training sessions which is in addition to the pretty high monthly fee for regularly scheduled classes. All in all it was about $300 upfront, not including the regular class fees. Oh, they also require a contract. ;-)

I felt really bad about it though she took it well and has since found another school that is more sane. The recommended school’s website does not list schedules, costs, etc. which is normally a red flag, but I assumed it wouldn’t be an issue based on the recommendation. That was wrong on my part. I am sure my teacher does not know how that school is run, as he was basing the recommendation on martial arts reputation, not a business model. It really irks me how these schools are run, and it gives martial arts schools a bad name. I’m just glad my co-worker didn’t drop martial arts out of consideration.