Sorry for that misunderstanding - and there was me thinking that we all had a right to an opinion, clearly not. I don't have to justify myself for being on this forum any more than you do so let's get that straight at the start - if you can't accept a newcomer putting a few inaccuracies straight then maybe it is you that needs justification for being here and not me. Just think how many people don't register on here reading bullish posts from people like you! I have nothing but respect for all on here, including you - I have not met you nor have you earned it from me, yet you receive it...why is that?

Have you trained with GKR may I ask?

RMR29 wrote:
Sorry for that misunderstanding - and there was me thinking that we all had a right to an opinion, clearly not.

What is your opinion?



I don't have to justify myself for being on this forum any more than you do so let's get that straight at the start - if you can't accept a newcomer putting a few inaccuracies straight then maybe it is you that needs justification for being here and not me.
What 'inacuracies did you put right?


Just think how many people don't register on here reading bullish posts from people like you!
Hopefully they're in the majority and don't absorb the opinions of people less informed. Like you!
This forum is doing just fine.
Join in, and learn.
Lose your wellfare ego.
You didn't earn it!

I have nothing but respect for all on here, including you - I have not met you nor have you earned it from me, yet you receive it...why is that?
Cos you're being a sycophantic twit appealing for sympathy from your intellectual peers?

Have you trained with GKR may I ask?
Kill myself first. LOL.

Tony Swain wrote:
I went to a GKR tournament once and saw a guy in a yellow belt. It was obvious he had done another style before because he was pretty damn quick. Instead of just being a man and entering the open division with people at his own level, he preceded to totally pan everyone in the yellow belt division and seemed pretty impressed with himself then entered the open division.

This story is a perfect example of how a little ignorance or a lot of disingenuosity can mis-colour people's opions. It also goes to show that although you may have been around GKR for 4 years, you didn't fully understand what was happening around you.

Like most styles, GKR does not automatically award you a belt equivalent to what you professed to be in another style - thus, the yellow belt guy would not have been permitted to wear say, a black belt he earned in kyokushinkai.

As a result, he would have HAD to enter tournament in his GKR grade division, regardless of his experience elsewhere. Unless it is an open-style competition, I would expect this to be the norm in any club competitions.

Furthermore, competitors are not now, nor have ever been allowed to compete in both a yellow belt division AND an opens division. The only possible way that this might have appeared to have occurred, is if the guy was fighting in the team kumite event, in which grades are not necessarily matched.

I realise that to your (then) teenaged eyes, it may have appeared to you that the yellow belt was not "being a man" by entering a division according to his grade, but he was bound by the rules of the club. Perhaps he would have far preferred to enter the opens?

I also realise that to your limited perception at the time, his contact may have seemed gratuitous or excessive, but if he came from a full contact karate background, he may consider himself to have been very restrained. And I think that he had every right to be angry at an opponent who deliberately knocked him out in a non contact competition, even if he did accidentally make contact first.

The NAS competitions have made it glaringly obvious how hard it is to move from a contact style to a non-contact competition.

It's plain as day, that your youthful eyes at the time, projected all kinds of negative connotations onto this man's behaviour which were not supported by the facts. GKR is far from perfect, but I wonder if your other anti-GKR comments are equally reliable, not least your suggestion that you were ordered to become a sensei to progress past brown belt.

This is not standard GKR practice, and perhaps far from being the bullying actions you took it to be, your RM or sensei was paying you the complement of trying to persuade you onto the team?

And whilst we're on the subject - I have encountered many styles where one must do at least some teaching to become a black belt. I think it adds a vital dimension to a martial artists' development, forcing them to thin for themselves and others, rather than being just another black belt mirror of their sensei.

"Go Kan Ryu Karate, You bring shame upon karateka "

Really? That's like saying Harold Shipman brings shame upon doctors. Is their reputation so flimsy? Are you ashamed because a lot of 25 year olds are drunken yobs?

I don't see the global martial arts community walking around, heads hanging down, saying, "If only it wasn't for GKR, we could have been something."

I think you need to take a few less melodrama pills, appreciate that your small world view of karate then was not the entirety of GKR, and just move on.

Like you said elsewhere - and I have heard this said so very many times before - GKR inspired a lot of people to get serious about martial arts. Many of them are not training with GKR any more, but that's cool. It's just great that they want to train.

Respect is indeed earned, general respect towards others is not. Do you show your dentist respect BEFORE he drills your teeth, or after : does your doctor have to impress you with his knowledge before you let him diagnose your condition : do you talk down to a shop assistant when you ask them for help or do you give them at least some respect no matter who they are? What I have seen here is an attack on an opinion and lack of knowledge - are we not all here to increase our knowledge? I have no problem with that : I accept that there are those that see themselves above everyone else and cannot read and digest things properly - statements were made about GKR and I corrected them, it's pretty simple really. I have little knowledge of other styles yet the very person that attacks mine actually has no personal experience of mine either : I find that rather narrow-minded and pompous.

To answer another question raised (and if anyone does not understand the answer please stick your hand up), we would not do ourselves any favours as a club if we were to take money for training no matter what. As stated previously we have no contracts and therefore no ongoing subscriptions, however if someone does decide that they do not like what we do or it is just not their thing then of course they can just stop coming and we do refund anything paid - hope that answers it properly.

Mule could you tell me your name or club so that I can look you up on the NAS results boards?

Respect to all - as it should be.

And Mule your use of offensive language to me in PM's just shows me what you have NOT learnt through doing martial arts.

matb wrote:
"Go Kan Ryu Karate, You bring shame upon karateka "

Really? That's like saying Harold Shipman brings shame upon doctors. Is their reputation so flimsy?
it certainly dented Doctors reputation, also the 2 trying to Bomb Glasgow airport also added to this dent.

Are you ashamed because a lot of 25 year olds are drunken yobs?I would be ashamed if that is what most people thought 25year old people were drunken yobs. Fortunatly most people just think 25year olds are just drunken.


I don't see the global martial arts community walking around, heads hanging down, saying, "If only it wasn't for GKR, we could have been something."
probably because it has either put them off MA altogether and they quit, or they moved onto something else and learnt from their past, becoming a better MAist.


Like you said elsewhere - and I have heard this said so very many times before - GKR inspired a lot of people to get serious about martial arts. Many of them are not training with GKR any more, but that's cool. It's just great that they want to train.
It inspired a lot of people to find something decent, and a lot of them wish they had skipped the time wasting sessions and starting something else sooner.

Excuse me matb, are you saying I my opinion is totally invalid because I was younger when I saw the aforementioned violent tool in a tournament. And you are defending him?

What grounds do you have to say that?

You know what, your first post was claiming that I am ignorant and you know NOTHING about me. I am guessing you are a GKR practitioner.

Why not tell us who you are in the beginners area and also give us some credibility in your claims?

And for your information I am 24 years old and I am an English teacher employed by the Japanese government. So if you are claiming that because I am the age of yobs in England and lump in with that category then you are sadly mistaken my friend. Most people in the country that I live in right now are upstanding citizens at 25. My opinion is just as valid as anyone's and I am sorry but the "you did GKR in the past and your mind was clouded by your youth" is not going to stand up here.

Firstly I'd like to point out that I don't have any axe to grind with GKR. I do have some preconceptions of GKR, rightly or wrongly, from anecdotes I've heard and read.

RMR29 wrote:

To answer another question raised (and if anyone does not understand the answer please stick your hand up), we would not do ourselves any favours as a club if we were to take money for training no matter what. As stated previously we have no contracts and therefore no ongoing subscriptions, however if someone does decide that they do not like what we do or it is just not their thing then of course they can just stop coming and we do refund anything paid - hope that answers it properly.


Thanks for this.

Apologies if I got the wrong end of the stick, I was under the impression that GKR people came to your house and got you to sign up to some sort of contract or pay for some sort of membership prior to them seeing the club.

So the people who go door to door are just telling people about their club? They aren't selling anything or getting money from people at all?

matb wrote:


This is not standard GKR practice, and perhaps far from being the bullying actions you took it to be, your RM or sensei was paying you the complement of trying to persuade you onto the team?


Welcome to the forum

Sorry to show my ignorance but what is a RM? It's been a while since I did Karate so not totally au fait with some of the terms


And whilst we're on the subject - I have encountered many styles where one must do at least some teaching to become a black belt. I think it adds a vital dimension to a martial artists' development, forcing them to thin for themselves and others, rather than being just another black belt mirror of their sensei.


I think this is fair enough.

As long as the student is not being taking advantage of by having to teach whilst paying for the privilege, they are given support and training and also that the student actually has the aptitude to teach.

I suppose there is a wider question for all arts and not just GKR, at what point is someone allowed or should be allowed to teach a full class of students? Again I don't mean 5 minutes helping a lower grade with a form here.

In the case of GKR, the suggestion earlier in the thread is that junior grades are taking full classes? Is this true? Are there guidelines in GKR for what stage people can teach or is this decided by the club instructor?

Hi Steve, the GKR representatives speak to people about their needs and tell them about the club, the classes and the fees etc. If the potential student is interested enough to want to have a go then they can enrol in the club as a member. The membership fee is very low and the club often runs fantastic promotions just so people can try it out and see if they like it. If they don't then they are not tied into anything, nor do they have to pay anything. Any membership fees can be refunded, so there really is nothing to lose other than trying the club out. We do find that the majority of those that try it out stick with it for a while. As for teaching sadly there have been low grades taking full classes in the past but they have not lasted long and to the best of my knowledge this practise has been stamped out now. I recall a student that trained with me as a yellow belt becoming an instructor and then trying to teach me as a red belt...not good.

The only experience I have of other styles is Wado-Ryu - I have a student that has just come from a local 'black belt academy' as a black belt in this style. He is only 16. The first time I sparred him as a red belt (I am brown now) he was 1) worn out within 30 seconds and 2) was unable to block or counter anything that I threw at him. I told him to use the style that he knew but he was unable to do anything to match me. This is a guy taught by a karate expert that used to spar for England allegedly. Now whilst this is my only real experience of any other style I am not going to form any sort of judgement on that style at all...how could I? In life I don't believe you can ever truly comment on something that you have not done or tried yourself. But, as a GKR student and instructor I am here to learn although it seems that some on here are stuck so far up their own backside that they see fit to try and pull people apart before they have even opened their mouths - how can that help anyone?!

Tony your achievements to date astound me. As kids we are all told to respect our elders but in this case it is truly the other way around. I am 41 and look at people like you with envy. I was inspired by Bruce Lee when I was around 7 or 8 but never had the courage to do anything about it until I was approaching 40...how I wish I had taken up karate earlier! Obviously I am a completely different person to that of my 8 year old self, and also since taking up karate (albeit in a mild form as most people on here see GKR) I have changed into someone with far more confidence whilst making many new friends on the way. Martial Arts are not just about self defence they are about self improvement and if nothing else I have definately got that out of what I am doing. Tony what you have achieved is awesome. Think where you could be when you are my age. I still have so much to learn and everyone on here inspires me to seek out that knowledge.

Now I see AOL as a good start for someone who knows nothing about the internet, but I would not recommend it to someone who is well versed with it, so maybe those against GKR should view us as that...at least it is getting us involved in martial arts and like Tony we may even end up progressing to better things.

The only experience I have of other styles is Wado-Ryu - I have a student that has just come from a local 'black belt academy' as a black belt in this style. He is only 16. The first time I sparred him as a red belt (I am brown now) he was 1) worn out within 30 seconds and 2) was unable to block or counter anything that I threw at him. I told him to use the style that he knew but he was unable to do anything to match me. This is a guy taught by a karate expert that used to spar for England allegedly.

Thats pretty limited experience against what can be described as a junior cadet at best.

But, as a GKR student and instructor I am here to learn although it seems that some on here are stuck so far up their own backside that they see fit to try and pull people apart before they have even opened their mouths - how can that help anyone?!


Careful.

Tony your achievements to date astound me.

Yep Tony is a great guy

I am 41 and look at people like you with envy. I was inspired by Bruce Lee when I was around 7 or 8 but never had the courage to do anything about it until I was approaching 40

So you didnt start training until you were nearly 40? - but was an instructor by the time you were 41?

Nothing against your age there, my instructor is 46 although he has been training for nearly 30 years. Im just intrigued how you can become an instructor so soon?


Enlighten us!

Thank you for your kind words RMR29 and thanks for your recommendation Pete.

I can only apologize for your experience against the 16 year old black belt. He doesn't sound like he is from the Wado Ryu I practice though. As soon as you hit 16 in Wado Ryu Renmei a.k.a Wado Ryu Karate Do Jujutsu Kempo, you are stripped of your black belt and become a 1st kyu (many of them opt to wear white belts after this). If you are a 2nd dan which happens in veeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrry rare cases (see the "should children be black belts" thread and look at the video I posted) then they are still allowed to wear their black belt but have to go back to being a first dan. Supreme Master Otsuka then re-grades the student and they are allowed to become senior black belts (only if they are good enough).

I posted a video on this thread of two 16 year olds I train with that had their black belts removed in this way. I think the style does this to stop people getting child black belts when they are very young then quit but go through the rest of their lives claiming to be something they don't have the right to as they got it at such a young age and may have forgotten all their technique.

Sorry that was quite long winded.