 Greetings everyone all the masters of the dojo verse welcome back to art of one dojo and another live stream we did a live stream last week and We had a really great response We got some great viewer engagement and we've wanted to start doing some more of these on the streams because we actually like talking You guys we like to see where your thought processes are the topics You want to talk about because we steer the channel based on the response that we get and the interest and topics that we get and So far you guys have been just absolutely wonderful and supportive So today we're doing another live stream We got a lot of stuff from the work. So in addition to more live streams We are nearing the end of the gojuru with the history of gojuru episode We're looking at November 2nd as early state for that. So we've been really busy on a lot of back-end projects We're excited to tell you about a lot of it. We have some more interviews in the works We have the more history episodes in the works and so today We're just gonna give it a couple minutes for people to get in here But today I just wanted to talk about belt ranks because we've had a lot of questions about belt ranks and the importance of belt ranks and Really, how should we approach this topic because there are so many points of use when it comes to Classes and belt ranks and the black belt and any of the numerous colors that lead up to it And we've covered this topic, you know and quite a few episodes, you know different pieces and different aspects, but I thought today would be a great opportunity to have a You know a live discussion a little bit of a platform to talk about it. Hello, Bill Taylor. I am doing wonderful today. Thank you How are you doing? So so what we're gonna do is we're gonna cover some questions and these are questions have been selected we put out a call for questions last week and This is some of the ones that came up and we figured they were related So we're gonna kind of group them together. So we're just gonna give another minute or two for people to come into the chat but Yeah, we had a really this year has been interesting because we've been doing more interviews of some of you have seen and And welcome Kelly. Thank you. Welcome to the chat So yeah, we've done a lot of new things this season and we're there's so much that we're still trying to do Like so we've got a bunch of interviews in the works We've put out a few and we've got some more history episodes in the works the goju ru one Like I said is our big one that we've been working on this past year It turned out to be a bigger project than we expected, but we're happy the way it's shaping up we've had some great people involved in it and We're just really excited to present it to you. So mark your calendars right now our release date for that We are aiming for November 2nd. So just right around the corner But onto today's topic today's topic. We are going to talk about belt ranks their place in karate You know the pros and cons are they even necessary and how to address people's attitudes about them So our first question actually comes from Matthew Thompson and he asked What advantages and disadvantages do you see with the belt system? And do you think that it's possible to master the skills of a system without obtaining the corresponding master rank? I think that's a fantastic question and there is a Lot of ways we can answer this First part. I think I want to answer the second half of that question first is a possible to master the skills of the system without obtaining a rank 100% absolutely yes because that belt really means nothing more than the time that you've put into your curriculum in your dojo it is just a material marker and Can you master a system without the belt rank? Of course because many arts do it You know boxing doesn't have any belt ranks for Muay Thai and if you really look at it The karate belt as we know it this colored belt has been around hundred hundred twenty years Maybe so you have all the history before that for people master their arts so the belt rank is a relatively new invention in the martial arts and There's a lot of mystical along with it like this Even I'm guilty of this when I was growing up in first training that The belt was this mystical thing You know you think back you look at the old movies You're like oh wow these belts have been around for you know ages and hundreds of years and all the masters had it No, it is a modern invention you know the G girl Kano the founder of judo he started the belt system and Let's debunk the big myth right now people recite this all the time I've had this conversation even just recently There is the myth that belt rank started from wearing a white belt and as the practitioner Practiced more and it got dirty the belt will get darker and darker and darker and darker and it was stained to darker colors Until it got to black belt as romanticized as that idea sounds and it sounds like something that could be viable It's not it's a myth for a few different reasons one is if you look at any practitioner Who has worn their belt for any extended amount of time? Especially brown belts black belts and look at the like B to J You've got blue belts and purple belts someone who's worn their belt for a very long time The belt is actually lighter in color belts don't get darker. They get lighter and Especially if you've got a belt that's made of silk or satin or something a little bit nicer quality belt It's gonna shred and like black belts will eventually turn white over time just because they fall apart so the notion that Belt started as white and then they just got dirty until they got black It sounds great, but it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense because belts fade and also that too Unless you're physically rolling around in the dirt There's really no reason for that white belt to turn black and I know there's a mystique about whether you should wash your belt or not You should wash your belt if you've got a belt and it's black from dirt you should wash it, but Yeah, so that's that's a very popular myth and the other thing too is White belt wasn't even the first belt rank that was ever used the black belt was the first belt Jigoro Kano looked at the Japanese swim teams and they were really big with the swimming competitions The most proficient swimmers would get a black armband to wear on their arm And all that said was they have they have reached a level of proficiency that they were experts They obtained the skills at what they do so he liked it that notion and he applied that to the martial arts So when he had students that reached a level of judo that he felt was a proficiency or you know An acceptable level or you know showcase your skills. He gave them the black belt So the white belt was not even the first belt the first belt was black belt So you either had no belt or black belt and as things went on You know, he had to do it then the color belt started coming in usually it was white brown and black Now what's interesting though is I have heard people talk about stories when they were training Students that used to dye their belts That wasn't uncommon and this might be where some of the myth might have come from I have talked to practitioners and I have heard some Kemple practitioners that trained with a Parker You know back in the 50s and 60s said that they got their white belt But when they were promoted to yellow belt or orange belt they had to dye their own belt that color and in every time they got a belt promotion they would just dye their belts and That makes more sense to me because there's no reason why you can't dye your own belt and with Kempo and with many arts the belt colors get darker as you go on so it would be easier to dye the belt but As far as the whole idea that belt started as a white belt and turned black over time It's just as awesome as that sounds. It's just not true so What do I think about the black belt that's color-faced usage and its philosophy? I like the way it looks. I mean honestly Like you said certain black belts if you get like a good quality black belt it's going to shred over time and You look at the old karate masters like the real old school legit karate masters Their belts are almost completely white. They've just got little slivers of black left on them That's somebody who has spent time. It doesn't necessarily mean skill You know nothing about the belt says skill or a guaranteed skill But it means that person's put in some time and I do know people who like to get their black belt They like to tie it and untie it tie it and untie it try to get that worn look personally I think that one look was really cool. It's kind of just like showing age and experience So I was the philosophy behind it I just think it just as long as you understand what that belt means and stands for I think the philosophy is great, you know, it is a milestone to achieve It is it's showing that you have completed a base part of your curriculum and that you are considered to be an expert in your material Does it mean you can fight doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win everything? No, of course not because there's too many variables in play and there's too many standards across different arts a black belt One art does not necessarily equal a black belt on another art so to kind of Go with this question So what are the advantages and disadvantages we see with the belt system? and I want to bounce some ideas off of you guys because I know what I have seen just from the years I spent teaching children and Chasing belts now as younger and seeing people who chase belts I think there's both the disadvantage and advantage to the system and The disadvantages I think there's too much importance put on it And I think that's one of the things we have especially in the West here in America It has become monetized. It's become a marker. It's been the selling point and people You know tend to go to school and they look at that belt rank and that's their goal. That's their goal It's like it really shouldn't be your objective to get a belt all that belt means is a marker in a curriculum and The best way I can really the best analogy I can think of a belt the belt ranking system would be like think of grade school You know, you've got your first grade second grade third grade fourth grade You know elementary school and grade school is broken up into specific grades And there is a certain amount of curriculum within that grade When you pass a grade all that means is you've been through that curriculum and you've passed it with satisfactory marks Some people get A's some people get B's and C's it doesn't mean you're you know Just because you pass the third grade doesn't mean you're an A student doesn't mean you're smarter than anybody else It just means that you've put your time in and you've completed that curriculum To me the belt system is the same way and a lot of people Unfortunately fail to see it that way They think that they because they get a black belt or because they get a brown belt that they're advanced They're unbeatable or they should be considered masters. No, it is a curriculum marker You've just passed this grade you're on to the next grade now whether you're a student B student C student That's entirely up to you in the work that you put into it So a lot of disadvantages come from this discrimination between belts and especially with different systems Like I said, there's no standard, you know A blue belt in Kempo is not the same level as a blue belt in Kyokushin or a blue belt in a jujitsu class that they are completely different levels and There's not a lot of standardization We all pretty much assume that the beginning ranks, you know, you've got your white, yellows, oranges Those are pretty much deemed the beginning and advances around the black But you've got that middle area. You got your purples. You got your greens. You got your blues Sometimes you have half belts. Some systems use more colors. Some systems use less colors But it's rearranged so when I think there's the disadvantages I think there's too much importance placed on belt ranking sometimes Where is it an advantage? Let's see what you guys think. What other disadvantages are you guys looking at with belt ranks and the systems? And we got a few people in here now, so I'm glad to see everybody who's in here. Let's talk about this So tom lineman says yeah on that topic I feel a first degree in some styles is not worth the same thing as it is in other styles And I think that's perfectly fine as long as it's understood Colors make it easy to divide class up between newer and advanced students when necessary to Yes, and that's where I was going to go with the the advantages of in a classroom setting The belt is a tool. It's a wonderful tool, especially with children because you can group them. You can kind of at first glance Especially if you have a large class or you've got new students You can kind of see who's at what level at first glance because if you have a lot of students Or if you have insistent instructors who help out part time They might not always know each individual child or each individual student and what their skill set is The belts ranks do help that as an organizational tool I like what you asked about Yeah, exactly. You feel at a first degree in some styles is not worth the same as other styles I will 100 agree with that Each martial art has their own requirements for black belt dan rankings And I want to use presenting jiu-jitsu as a good example because you've got the average karate style Probably four to six years to get a first degree black belt. Some of them are six Like if you're in kyokushin, it's six seven eight years when you look at presenting jiu-jitsu It's an average of like 10 to 15 years to get your black belt And I like the presenting jiu-jitsu system with the belts because of all the martial arts out there I feel they're the most consistent in terms of Uh, the colors that they use there's some slight variations, but it's almost always your your white Your your blue your purple your brown your black The thing though is there is such a standardization and expectation that comes with that But if you look at most martial art systems that when you reach your black belt that pretty much means you've reached your curriculum You have mastered your basics. You've learned all the individual pieces and from that point on you start to learn the deeper Applications you start to learn more more theory. You start to learn more advanced techniques You start to learn more formulation and you really start to take all your basics and make the system your own In presenting jiu-jitsu that phase seems to occur around the purple belt level And at that point too to get a purple belt in brazilian jiu-jitsu It's like a six year seven year process So I personally feel a purple belt in brazilian jiu-jitsu is the equivalent of a first degree black belt in many other arts Because at that point they've seen the curriculum They've learned the material at that point on it's them refining it put in the work hours Put in the literal blood sweat and tears getting some teaching points getting some, you know making it their own So I would a hundred percent agree with that tom. I think there is a Varian degree of What the black belt ranks stand for when you care compared to different systems? I could have a black belt in karate. Okay. I've got a black belt in kenpo I'm going to walk to shodokan school. I'm not a black belt in shodokan I'm putting a white belt on because I am not a black belt in their material if I go do a bjj school I'm not putting a black belt on because That will make you a target if you walk into a brazilian jiu-jitsu school with a black belt on and you are not A black belt in that art you are going to have a very bad day Because they will test you and if you are not at that level You're not going to pass that test So yes, and that's and that's part of the disadvantage I think there's too much Importance place on that belt rank that black belt is a This is mythical mystique thing when people join the martial arts It's like that golden chalice everyone goes after and it's nice to have that goal And it's nice to look at it as a milestone but you got to Balance that line you got to walk that final line of is that really the important thing? Or you know, why do you want that belt? Do you want it because it's just a black belt or is it because you you've achieved something to get it? Um, I'm a third degree black belt in the shell in kempel crate I'm going for my fourth next year and I've been studying martial arts for almost 30 years. That's awesome. Congratulations Once you get your black belt Going for further down levels isn't not always an easy thing some arts is easier than others, but Yeah, so we're gonna come back we're gonna come back to the the the black belt rank is how to handle that but so Yeah, so as far as advantage in school I think the belts can do a lot of good in the school because it is a marker and let's be honest A lot of people don't have an attention span, especially when you're talking with children Even though the the material might be important and It's life skills and learning self-defense when you have kids who are five six seven eight years old That doesn't always quite register with them and crate, you know learning the martial arts is really cool at first But for a child doing the same material for four or five years You know it can get tedious for them. It can get boring for them. So as instructors We have to find ways to keep them engaged to keep things fresh And I think the belt system is great for that We don't have to make them dependent on the belt or teaching that the belt is the important thing But it's still a good note of progression They feel a sense of accomplishment That they've done something and that they worked hard It's just something to show for their hard work And I think that is a really wonderful tool in the classroom Outside the classroom that belt is just a piece of cotton or cloth or whatever it's made out of It can be a piece of rope. It doesn't matter. It's material But in the classroom it does have meaning and it can be very very useful In a lot of schools and we did this when I when I used to teach for this other local Kemple school we had some kids Who started young and the younger they start the harder it is to work with them because There's only so much there's only so deep of material you can get into with a three-year-old At that point they're learning coordination and balance and just discipline and instruction But as they go on, you know, they can build on that material and we had several kids, you know going from white yellow belt You know, they were with us for a few months. They really weren't quite ready for that yellow belt They had the behavioral issues we were still working on They they were far from having any sort of the material So, you know, sometimes you will see half-ranked So if we had a kid that did really half-ranked balance and they think it's just, you know, it's a selling tool for the parents Well, it's not a selling tool if you know, we didn't charge for the belts and it was just so the kid could see some progression because A lot of kids I noticed when they earn something If they're especially if they're a troubled child and or they have a behavioral issue if they earn something Sometimes they kind of take on a little bit of extra responsibility So a kid who's a white belt who's been a white belt for three months four months in the classroom and tends to be disruptive If you point out the good things that they've done and you kind of recognize their hard work and then they earn another belt Sometimes you see that change and they're like, oh, okay It's a little bit of growing up and there's still a long road ahead of them But you do see incremental improvements and we saw that all the time And and I think the same thing too You know with you you have these troubled kids if you have you give them a responsibility in class I noticed that helps too We had a couple belt, you know, kids are like white belts or not white, but like we had just gotten their yellow belt They still had listening issues They still like to goof off whenever we had a brand new student class I would pair them up with that brand new student and like, okay, look you got a set example You got to help so and so and it's the same thing too. It kind of changed our mindset a little bit They're like, okay, it gave them a sense of responsibility and sometimes you saw an improvement in their own behavior Because now they are trying to be a role model for someone else and they were trying to achieve something You gave them something to be proud of and I think the belt system within the classroom is fantastic for that As far as a reward system and a motivational system for children, especially and honestly some adults I think it could be a fantastic thing. So as a training tool, I think the color belt system has a lot of fantastic applications and advantages So I'm personally not a fan of it, but I do understand why it's there. But if I were raising students, I'm more interested in developing skills Kids I would do a belt system adults I'll be on the fence and that's fair and that's fair because And I commend that because you're focusing on the material and adults are a lot more likely to grasp that concept It's just that kids can grasp it I just think that sometimes the belt system can be useful if you use it in the appropriate way It could just be a motivational tool. It's like giving kids stars or certificates in school Sometimes it makes them feel good and motivated enough. It's just enough for them to realize. Hey, I put in my hard work I'm recognized for that work. It makes them motivated to want to do more hard work for their next level A tool a building tool I agree with you there are so many different styles out there. I'll have the strength and weaknesses It's only respectful to wear a white belt if you're trying a new style 100 percent 100 percent if you are going to a brand new school I think that the etiquette says you put on a white belt. Do not assume whatever rank If you're going to a brand new school, I would hope that you would talk to the instructor first And a lot of instructors will tell you just wear your belt whatever rank you are just wear your belt And if they do tell you that then that's fine And but they like they might still you make make you start over at the beginning material If it's a completely different art You're likely going to start at their white belt level and just work your way back up to match where you are But never assume if you're going to a brand new school It's just respectful to wear a white belt because You could be a 10th degree black belt in karate, but you go to bjj You're not a black belt in that style and vice versa black belt bjj going to a karate school Put on a white belt because you were starting something new and someone else's house with new material And sometimes it feels good to put that white belt on again. It's kind of a reminder here like hey There's so much more to learn. There's so much more. I don't know And when I did the jiu-jitsu when I started doing jiu-jitsu and judo about three years ago Putting that white belt on it felt great. And I had that like, okay, good. I'm starting something new My first couple weeks of classes I felt like a white belt like there I would have been ashamed to wear black belt in that class just because it was such new material That it made me realize. Okay. I don't know this. This is why I'm here This is why I'm learning this and that and like I said with the hundreds and thousands of martial arts out there I think that logic applies across the board Jess Danielson, I would like to know your opinion on my question asked at the Could you please repeat the question? I did not see you post it. I'm not sure if I can scroll back to see that If you don't mind repeating that that would be great We were talking about so so those are the advantages and disadvantages of the belt systems and Yes, there are belt factories and this is a problem I think it's pretty easy to identify schools that do this but a lot of schools will use karate belts as just marketing tools And if you go to a school and they've got You know rainbow belts. They've got camouflage belts. They've got gray belts They've got weird color belts, but they've got like 20 belts in all and they're charging you 100 per test Okay, and you're you're likely looking at the belt factory not to say those colors can't be used We'll come back to the camouflage belt because I do believe there is an application for that but You can tell when a school is just trying to melt the belt system because when they hit you with a ton of Fees or they make you retest for it or they just keep handing belts up promoting students fast Faster than they should be and just keep level leveling up belts multiple color belts is a good sign that Money might be the motivation, especially if they're charging an arm and a leg for it A small belt fee I think is reasonable like a $25 belt fee or whatever because if the school's giving me the belt It's just the cost of the belt But let's get to the camouflage belt real quick because I have heard people bring this up A lot of schools Are made fun of for using that and and sometimes it can be weird My second instructor used the camouflage belt, but it was not a rank Of what he would do is he would pick out a student every week Any student who stood out from the class like really tried their hard really took on a leadership skill and really showed Great attention they became student of the week and they got to wear that camouflage belt And that camouflage belt gave them limited authority. They got to help me and they got to choose the first few workouts They got to walk around the class. They got to be a helper and it was such a wonderful tool And we saw such a change from these students too that When they got that belt they assumed a role of responsibility and they took it serious And at the end of that week they got to put in their input with my instructor to choose The next person was going to be and they would hand the belt off that person Applications like that I think are wonderful teaching tools because you're forcing kids You're taking the importance off the belt itself But you're making them focus on the responsibility and privileges that come with it Wearing a white belt in a different style shows emptying your cup for that style impurity knowledge. Absolutely 100% agree with that So let's see. What do you think of Jesse Inkamp's pink belt? I like it. He wears that pink belt a lot I like it in a couple different ways Well one also two you you will see organizations wear it in support of cancer support But that pink belt, you know It takes a strong person to wear pink and wear it proudly and I think Him doing that is a wonderful thing And there's a lot of belts that do that. There's a lot of statements you can do to do that I have known a lot of black belts that will wear white belts just because we had At my third degree black belt tests back in 2013. No 2009 We had a guy testing with this or he was no We had a seminar before the test and he came in as a white belt And I worked with him as a partner on one of these drills and I could tell right away. I'm like This guy's not a white belt. He knows some stuff because he was strong. He was solid. He was fast He was sharp. I didn't know what he was but he wasn't a white belt Well, turns out later at the end of the class he was testing for his third degree black belt with us in the same Style of Kempo. He just chose to wear a white belt that day. He was visiting a school Even though he was in the same art. He's still put on a white belt and I think that's Awesome, and I have known black belts who do that on occasion. Anyway, it's it's a good reminder. It's a it's a good practice sometimes Um, I want to go on to the next question Jason v asked Why do some people lose interest and quit after getting the black belt and how would you keep some motivated? So they don't get bored and quit quickly after getting that black belt That is a fantastic question. And I do think that relates to the problem and disadvantages of the colored belt system in general It's a goal too many people start to martial arts looking at that trophy If you treat in the black belt as a trophy And the martial arts is a hobby once you get that trophy you're going to stop A lot of people just want to go from a to b get that belt and be done and say hey I accomplished this and there's nothing that's really wrong with that and I think that it comes down to the individual person not everyone is A diehard martial artist or a lifelong martial artist They want to learn a little bit of self-defense or they want to try something new They want to learn the culture or lose some weight get some exercise Some you know the black belt is that marker and unfortunately a lot of people think the black belt is the end And it's not the black belt is really the beginning all that means is you've just completed your basics You now understand all your basics and how they work now it's time to formulate and it Takes a person who's really committed and interested to go forward to explore that formulation And I think it's a mixture of people who don't understand that That don't understand that the black belt is just really the first rank And some people think that means you've mastered it and and we've had parents We've had so many parents in the class come up to us and be like, you know Our kid's been here long enough. We want him to test for black belt next month Kids still two belts away from his from you know from even testing and he's gone for a year and we're like no because One what kind of message is ascending your student or your your your son, but two he only has half the material He's got to earn it like everyone else so the black belt is looked at as a trophy as This end line this finish line and it really is not And that comes from the teacher, you know imparting that knowledge onto the students But you know we talked about statistics before when people who join the martial arts I would say about one to three percent of the people who start the martial arts will go far enough to get a black belt that is a major drop off and You you go to your first martial arts class you look at all the white belts and all the people in the room around you And assuming that you do stick it with it all the way through the four or five six years However, it is let's see how many of those people are with you at that day It's going to be like two or three and that's exactly what I was told and that's exactly what happened I was the last surviving student of my school I started when I started the school was about three four months old. So no one was hired in the yellow belt And that was back in 1993 and I stuck with it. I went to every test I missed a couple, but you know, I worked hard And we had new people come in old people dropped off over time We worked up to our first degree black belt Then we had a lot of curriculum changes. We had instructor changes But I kept coming back and by the end of 2015 Actually even earlier by by 2013 for my fourth degree tests I was really the last student there from the original school from the original my first saying class Because I just didn't want to quit once I got a taste of it. I didn't want to stop But if you're one of those people you're joining the martial arts and you love it and you know You're going to keep going forward. You're going to keep going with it Just be ready that most of the people around you are not they would start with you are not going to be at At the end you're going to have a different family at the end of that journey So I think a lot of people Will quit the martial arts at black belt because they don't necessarily know there's more or they've Accomplished a goal and they've they want to move on to something else and You know, it's to each their own not everyone has to be a dedicated 30 year 40 year martial artists That's just not everyone but for those of us who are we know what that means and we know what it means to go forward The gravestender asks is the belt system Americanized some Muay Thai practitioners talk smack if the school from Muay Thai has the belt system good question It wasn't an American invention, but I do think it is is Americanized in many ways because Unfortunately because of the market behind it and the way it's been commercialized A lot of arts in America realize that that's what's expected from American students And a lot of arts will adopt it for themselves There are some Muay Thai schools that not many but there are a couple I've seen that will adopt the belt system or some sort of colored ranking system You see a lot of kung fu schools kung fu does not have belt ranks their whole their ranking system is completely different It's more of a family hierarchy, you know, it's you know, it's more of a relationship system But in America you will see some schools. They'll use belts. Some will use sashes color sashes Some use colored t-shirts So yes to answer your question. I do believe The system has been taken from what it was intended for as a market in karate And it has spread it has spread around the world to multiple different arts And in America, I think it's become such a marketing tool or it's become an expected tool probably because of media And the award put on black belt that a lot of American schools have adopted the belt ranking system Just to fit along with the expectations Does it really matter? I don't think it really matters so much as long as the material is good And you're learning what you want to learn and the quality teaching But yes, I do see that trends And it's really interesting to see that how the belt system really spread. I mean it was It was a um a judo ranking system and it went through different versions and fun fact at one point in time I believe in judo early days of judo white belt wasn't the first rank There was a sky blue belt first and then there was like two degrees of white belt So it changed quite a bit. But what fascinates me is that Uh jigoro kano and the people he trained with and his friends and other martial arts masters that worked with them They adopted it for their own systems and then you started to see the different colors break out, but It's spread out through a lot of japanese arts. It's gone to brazil. It's gone to jiu jitsu. It's come to america It's come to some kung fu schools here even went back to okinawa I find that interesting because the okinawan started karate didn't went to japan But the belt system finally was way back to okinawa So the whole belt ranking system is kind of a phenomenon and a force of nature in its own right It is taken hold. It is commanded expectations It is the icon of karate when when the average american and the average person thinks of karate They think of a white gear with belts and that's just you know, the reality of it And I think and that's fine as long as we understand the real importance behind the belt It doesn't mean you can do something. It means that you have knowledge It means you've been through academic material and it means that you have accomplished Time in a system. It doesn't guarantee rank. But yes, I will agree with that that In america the belt system has become americanized or I'd rather prefer to call it commercialized because of consumer expectations I mean there are black belt degrees that's where the belt system seems, you know, yes the black belt degrees This is interesting too because this is something that's going to wildly vary Between different martial arts systems of the world um And there's a lot of okay, there's a lot of questions coming about the black belts black belts and that's actually goes into the next question too Is macurb asks does american kenpo have a time and grade requirements for the dam level? So I'm going to merge this all together. Let's talk about the different black belt ranks Once you achieve a black belt, that's your first on your first level And then you want to go for second degree third degree fourth degree Every system has a different amount of degrees 10 seems to be on average even though if you look at our arts like shodokan, you know, they didn't go above five Some schools still don't go above five Um, there are a couple arts that will go a little bit higher It will come to cover this later, but technically Technically judo has up to 12 though. I don't believe anyone has ever been awarded that rank But the way it was written or the way it could have been interpreted in the past was there could have been, um A theoretical 11th and 12th degree, but I believe that's been correct now But my point though is every every system is different So a requirement for a second degree in one art is different in taekwondo And a lot of the korean arts they tend to advance a little bit faster because there's still curriculum like And I have not trained so do correct me if i'm wrong But I do believe a lot of korean schools will have more material past first degree black belts So that way they still treat for a second third done as ranks like belt color belt lengths as you would attain them You get to present a jiu-jitsu it takes a much longer time to get it In kenpo to answer the question in kenpo. Is there a time and grade requirement? They're supposed to be there is there is a technical etiquette for the belt ranks. It's I believe it's once you get your first degree black belt You should have one year between first and second two years between second and third three years between third and fourth four years between fourth and fifth or Or something along that lines and then five years between each rank after that That's what's generally expected and there is curriculum depending on what kenpo manuals you're working from there is still belt curriculum up to fifth degree but A lot of schools don't observe that and especially when ed parker passed away And everyone split off every organization did their own thing some people rushed and gave themselves, you know from sixth seventh degree they just gave themselves a tenth degree Um, I know people who got their first degree black belt Started their own school Through in elements of another art and called it a new style and they deemed themselves tenth degree when you style Even though they still first like a move and know to have knowledge of a first degree So there's a lot of that so is there standardization? There is does everybody follow it not even close And a lot of arts are like that and a lot of arts, you know, you've got material for the first few belts but after that it is time and grade in the system And that's up to each art sometimes, you know It gets to a point where the belt ranks are honorary Based on what you give back I do believe for you to achieve like once you're done with the material You should be giving back to the art whether you're coming up with new theories Or you know, you want to go to rattle like just speaking with kenpo five all, you know Here's what I learned. Let me take the system of distraction and put my mark on it or you you write a thesis And you focus on specific combat aspects of it or theoretical aspects of it and you teach If you're giving back to the art if you are adding to the communal database of the art Then I think that earns you experience and that earns you honorary ranks and I I have nothing wrong with that And I know 10th degree black belts that don't move that much better than the color belt And I know 10th degree black belts that are extremely deadly if you were to cross them and it's everywhere in between Okay, so would you could would you personally consider someone a black belt after getting it who no longer trains? Would you consider some a black belt after getting it? Are you saying that they got their black belt and they don't train anymore? Are you asking are they still a black belt or do they get it later after they stop training? um If they get it after they stop training that's a little bit of a shady area. I don't like that as much I think you really have to Work to earn it as far as if you stop training like if you got your black belt and you stop training Do you consider that person a black belt going forward? Overall, I would say yes because they still have that knowledge They might not be in shape anymore. They might not be practicing anymore They might not be able to defend themselves or fight as well as they did when they got it But they still have the knowledge and if they're still able to impart that knowledge then technically I mean Okay, you graduate high school. You don't you don't go to college You don't do any more for their education for 10 years. Are you still a high school graduate? Yeah, you might not remember everything you did, but you still Accomplished that you might not be able to teach it Well, you might have to refresh before you go back to school, but are you still a graduate? Of course, and that's how I look at it. Yes, you're still a black belt But the quality of that training is going to vary based on that person's lifestyle and what they've decided to do with their training since then And that's actually kind of I don't know if any of you guys notice. This is a little personal journey. I'm on myself um I have Put away my fifth degree black belt for now I've been wearing just just a solid plain belt because it's gotten to the point where When I tested and I got that belt ranked it's been several years already and There's a lot of material I haven't touched and it's mainly because a lot of different life things happen You know my work schedule is through the roof like you guys wouldn't believe We had some family issues going on in my father's health And I did a lot of teaching with children and with the children's material was really The children's curriculum was just the first couple belt ranks of the adult curriculum So that's what I focused on for so many years white You know white yellow orange. I know those very very well The brown belt stuff. I haven't touched in many years Unfortunately, and that's bad on me and I've gotten to a point. You know, I'm like, you know what I want to refresh I don't feel like I represent What I should because I worked so hard for it But now I've gone into direction and I've been focusing on this material Let me go back and remind myself what there is So this this question kind of relates to me on that. Are you still that rank after you get it later? You are But I think it's good to go back and you want you want to maintain it And you know any way you can do to maintain it Is is the better and I really respect kiokshin I know a lot of kiokshin schools because I've talked to some of you guys out here That when you achieve a black belt rank and I like this. I like this a lot Uh, I have a friend one of our viewers on here Juan. You got your awesome, sir He would tell me that his school he got his third degree black belt But it's temporary you get like a temporary belt for a year that you have to before you can get your official Belt you have to maintain like you you've got the title you've got the rank But you have to maintain that level you have to maintain that training that effort that teaching and then it becomes You know crystallized after that then you get your officially promoted belt And I like that message because the message just says is hey, you're not done You might have reached this done, but you're not done you have to uphold this When you put that black belt on you're representing a standard and it's up to you to represent that standard And whether you know whatever whatever art that is It's and even as if it's a martial art where you don't have belts But you've got if you become a disciple and kung fu or if you reach another Whatever ranking level you have it's up to you to maintain that both mentally and physically and It's hard and it's a conflict and I think it's a lot of issues come from because Some masters and some higher ranking Students get to a point of you know, eighth ninth tenth degree a lot of them aren't practicing anymore They have that knowledge they can teach it But is it fair to judge them because they can't do a jump spinning hook looks like they could when they were 20 No, I think as long as the person has Really they adjusted that material and can still impart that knowledge and can still utilize it And still give back to the community and I think they are every bit that rank is the day they earned it Some students are talented and they pick up the material quicker. That's not a lie. That is not a lie and that's Another issue and thank you for bringing it up that Douglas. Thank you for not was it Douglas? Yes Thank you for bringing it up because I like to talk about this because especially working with kids Excuse me. You can see a lot of difference in children who are adept at the material and who struggle with it There are prodigies There are kids out like people, you know talk about make fun of the karate kid Oh, these kids learn for a couple months and they're like karate masters. Is that realistic? Not really not in the way it's presented But I have worked with kids who have picked up that material like that They're unnatural at it and they have the hunger for it. We had oh my god. We had this young student actually two of them a boy and a girl and They would come to class every day and they were like white yellow belt levels And they would learn and they would just be fully intent on what we were teaching They asked us questions about why you know, they were asking us technical questions I'm talking at like eight years old nine years old They would go home And they were going up on youtube and looking up these moves on youtube and looking ahead and coming back to us and asking Mr. Dan, what is purposeful compliance? I'd be like Well, that's a concept you don't really learn until you're in the you know Few belts level ahead of you But they were looking ahead and coming back and asking us Why and how it related to what they were learning and then they were actually taken upon themselves to help struggling students Some kids and some adults can just take to it Why my instructor had an assistant Um teenage my 18 19 years old within a year He was a probationary black belt just because and I don't generally usually agree with that But in this case he took the material so well that within a year He was moving like a black belt. He was fighting like a black belt It was just curriculum, but he was able to digest it faster than a lot of other people can So absolutely there are people who can And it's a small fraction, but there are Martial arts prodigies who are just nationally athletic the material makes sense to them They can move and they understand the material and if they have that hunger Watch them go and and they're going to be a force to be reckoned with that is a wonderful point you brought up I'm still training working of cardio. Yeah You're not gonna get any better cardio training in any martial art, especially, you know rolling grappling Kyokushin sparring some of the best cardio you're going to get Kempo seems like a mix of of kickboxing wrestling and ninjutsu Studies curriculum online was good for comprehending a smaller curriculum Like shodokon. Okay. I'm not sure which Kempo you spelled it with an m So I'm not sure which Kempo you're talking about. There's a lot of different Kempo systems A lot of them are based off of kickboxing or And ninjutsu and kung fu you you're gonna find a major mix and As far as american Kempo goes at parker goes it's really it's roots come from Some kung fu arts chinese arts a little bit of japanese karate Boxing at parker was navid boxer. He was also a judoka. There's a lot of judo and I've mentioned this in the last live stream There's a lot of judo and grappling elements in Kempo A lot of it is buried a lot of it. I didn't start to discover until I was training in judo But it is there. So a lot of Kempo arts are mixed And that brings up another question too. What do you guys think? If you were training in art say kajukenbo or an art that's a mixture that's got grappling mix in it And you get a black belt rank in that art or in this mixture art So you have a hybrid art and you get a black button your hybrid art and you go to a judo school A judo only school. Do you think that black belt should translate over to that judo school or should you start over? My opinion is again, I would talk to the instructor I would probably wear a white belt to go in and let them assess where I'm at And if they feel that I'm at that level great if they feel like a midway great whatever Because sometimes hybrid systems don't have an entire curriculum. They take the best of and MMA MMA is the perfect way to look at that People are saying start over. I think I I think I would agree with that I would start over just because A lot of hybrid systems take the best or what they feel is relevant and complementary to what you're training Is not necessarily the whole system Going into judo. There's so many moments. I'm like, oh, we do this in kenpo. Oh, we do this in kenpo I can't tell you how many times was like Huh, it's something that was so foreign and it was a whole different learning curve And I think MMA is a great representation of this and this question came up in the last episode Will MMA eventually become its own art? I think one day we're going to see a branch of MMA become a style But it's because you've taken the best of moi tai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, best of boxing, some type of no karate There's disciplines mixed in there, but you look at your top and MMA fighter They might not necessarily have an entire BJT curriculum They might not have an entire karate system or an entire moi tai system They're taking the strong elements that are going to blend together for them So, yeah, so that's I think that's a fun a fun question to ask is if you if you're in a hybrid art Where should you start off going to a new school? A lot of people are saying start over I agree with that I I personally would wear a white belt to a new school and let that instructor assess and whatever they they They tell you you're at I would respect that And this is also something this is just me even if they tell me to retain my black belt Um, or even if I'm visiting a guest school someone else's school and it's of the same art My personal thing is I I know most schools line up by rank I kind of like to stand in the back if it's not my school I'm a guest, you know, I want I want, you know, they've got their senior students So this is my personal thing I don't know how everyone else feels but my personal thing is I like to kind of stay in the back with the lower range Just because I'm not going to assert myself as a higher rank in a guest school unless they tell me to come up for Unless they invite me or if your guest instructor does a different thing, but I don't I'm I like to show a lot of respect to new houses might go into just because it's not my art It's not someone I've trained with I just like to show that respect and I think if you do that They're going to notice it and they're going to appreciate it and you're going to get along better and you're going to build a better bond You could be a really bad ass white belt and that's not so bad Is it's right. That's not so bad. Is it Again, I have sparred white belts that have come into Kemple as a white belt But they're a black belt and something else and I've had my rear end handed to me Has happened more than once there is nothing wrong with being a white belt that white belt Actually, it's kind of fun. Sometimes you put on that white belt It's kind of fun to see people be like oh that realization that if you are a black belt another art and you start something new That person though is the same thing. You know, they work with you and that person goes. Oh, they're not they're not a white belt Oh, absolutely And there's some people like I said who are just natural at it You could have a black belt who's never trained a day in their life and they come to class after a couple weeks There are fighter that happens and that's awesome when that happens because you can learn from that white belt And uh, but yeah white belts, you know people look down at white belts. I know They've got the hunger and they can be very dangerous because they they're not refined yet So no, no, absolutely white belts can be a force to be reckoned with What do I think of the keto? Um, I have no personal experience in my keto So I can't really comment on it. Um, I've been spending my time lately in jujitsu like uh traditional jujitsu You stand up jujitsu and judo From what I've seen there's elements I like there's elements I don't like but I'm not going to comment because I I'm not going to pass any judgment because I have never stepped on to an akino mat. Um, I cannot Give a fair assessment of it. I think the people who do it look Beautiful doing it. Um, I hope it's applicable and I'm sure there's there's certain schools are the better than others Like any other martial art out there, but um, I just think it's one of many awesome arts Let's see What is the minimum age you would give someone a black belt to me when I teach I don't give anyone under 15 a black belt because in my opinion someone who is 10 won't be able to defend themselves against a 30 year old Excellent question sensei of shallon keppel kratte. Thank you for bringing this up I have received heated messages from this before because we've we've done topics about kids getting black belts Should there shouldn't be This is not an easy topic and there's so many things I agree with and disagree with the whole concepts When I taught at the schools I taught at we did give kids black belts, but they were junior black belts and we were very Very adamant on the specifying the difference between a junior black belt and adult black belt The junior black belt in our school all it meant was that that kid has now graduated from the kids material They understood that they had a certain level of adult material They worked on and they got their junior black belt and from that point on and that usually took them about four years On average But from that point on they um They they started the adult curriculum to work towards their adult black belt Which was going to take them probably another three four years So we do the math on that if you've got a kid who starts at five And you know, you're going to make them train eight years nine years Okay, well, they're going to be like approaching their early teens You're starting to dance that gray area of should they be black or not Can I would you say a 10 year old defend themselves against a 30 year old? Defend define defend yourself. Are they going to go fists up into a sparring match and take on a 30 year old? Not very likely If an adult comes up and they grab them Are they going to be able to do something to break the hole and get away? Very possibly if they've been taught well if they've got their reflexes um Defense in terms of they're going to beat up a 30 year old. That's not a very realistic scenario Although I have worked with some 12 and 13 and 14 year old students Who were built like adults? We had a 12 year old in class He was as tall as I was and he had muscles and he was strong Is he going to put up a fight for 30 year old? You better believe it Dude, I was a little apprehensive sparring him because he hadn't refined his control yet But he had the size he had the strength and he had the skill He was he had to work on control, but he had that skill. So some kids Grow better than others and yes sometimes a 14 year old or a 12 year old can defend against an adult Depending on the adult. Of course. Are you talking about the 300 pound bodybuilder attacking them? Probably not, but the average male. Yeah, they had a fairly good chance Again, if someone were to grab them or try to hurt them They could at least have a very good chance to get away. So in my opinion, is there a minimum age? I don't Think there should be a hard death set age saying okay 18 and no one else under I think it depends or should be judged on the individual student when you feel like they've reached that point Where they could defend themselves If if it's a 12 year old who could defend themselves against the adult then so be it if they can't do until they're 18 So be it But I do think it's important if it is a school that has a black belt program for children I think it's important to make that distinction that these are not adult black belt ranks that these are just you are graduating your Children's curriculum now you're going to the adult curriculum So what we did was in the class for these kids and we made them work for you know It's not like they just got that junior black belt one day. They had to train for a month They had to do their miles. They had to do push-ups their calisthenics They had to spar for an hour with each other or two hours They had to do two hours of techniques and goddess. It was a whole day for them. They sweat they cried sometimes they bled They fought for their junior black belt like we would expect an adult to fight for theirs So they got to wear a black belt in class But they would have then they would have a colored stripes through that belt or a colored tip to say Okay, now you're a white belt in the adult material You're starting over and then they would work for months and after each several months They would get the next color belt So by the time they got their adult black belt that they were ready for their adult black belt They were 15 16 17. They were at the age they could perform So no, I don't think there needs to be a hard dead set definitive age I do think it needs to be a range. I think anywhere from 12 to 18 anywhere in that range Only because I have seen a handful of 12 year olds who could it's not common But there's a couple out there who can do it It's got to be when you feel that student they have they have to have the curriculum for one They have to understand the academics like they have to know what they can't just memorize the moves If that student can do the moves and they understand Why they do those moves and they can formulate and freestyle and make good judgment calls and have that discipline Then how have they not earned that as opposed to anybody else if they can do it Then I think they've earned it and that's just my personal opinion I know a lot of people say there should be a hard age and that's fine for your school It's just I'm just talking about where I'm coming from I feel that black belt you're really representing your school something really important for the school master to keep in mind Yes Yes It's not just a trophy. You are Becoming a poster for that school. So however you perform reflects on that school and this was I'm going to keep details limited here. This was a point of contention With my second instructor and the school I was teaching for Um, it was not his school. I was teaching for another school We had an instructor who was a brown belt Oh, you're an assistant instructor. He worked with the kids. He was going for his first degree black belt He was working really really really hard for it and we were going to have him test with the kids They were going to get their junior black belt and he was testing for his first degree We had another instructor who was a first degree black belt My instructor came up to us and said, hey, you should give this other guy You should promote him a second degree and we went well. Why he goes because it's going to look good for the school He had not done a single technique towards his second degree black belt He had not expressed any question or interest not to say he didn't want it But he had not approached for us. He wasn't training for it But we're like But this instructor here he's going he's getting his he's got his brown belt. He's going for his black belt He is representing the school. He's working hard for it We're not going to just give him a rank just to make the school look good because you do that And they're not going to rarely represent that school. I know a guy Whose family pushed him to get ranks. He was a kid when I was a first degree black belt I was I was eight years into my first degree black belt and he was in the kids class He's a fifth degree black belt now or he wears a fifth degree black belt And it was one of the things like he jumped from school to school to school And every time I saw him at a seminar a year later, he had another degree There was some pressure there. He basically was belt chasing Can he is he a fifth degree black belt? Honestly, I don't know. I have not seen him do his material I have not worked with him. I don't know what he knows, but there's definitely belt chasing and we were getting pressure From his parents Because you're still a young man He was in his 20s We were getting pressure from his parents to promote him to six or help get him to six and like I can't advocate that because 20 years old. He shouldn't be wearing a sixth degree black belt You know and and not and there's just supposed to back to that time in grade There's supposed to be a time of grade in the system I don't know what he knew and I can't endorse someone to do that So you're absolutely right when you put a black belt around your waist You're not just saying to people. Hey, look what I did. Look at the time I put in You are representing that school and if you are not Representing it properly. You're doing a great disservice to the instructor and to the class Who promoted you or If that instructor gave you that belt and you hadn't earned it He's doing the service to you as well. So that's that's an excellent point As an instructor of a particular style, how much discretion do you have to not teach techniques that you personally consider to be impractical? Good question You have to and actually keppo is a very good Style to ask us about because there's a lot of scrutiny over The american keppo self-defense techniques, whether they're realistic or not and i'm not going to get into this now We covered this last week. So if you're interested in really learning this topic more check out last week's live stream We totally went through a learning keppo and how that's broken down But we do have techniques where you look at it and you're like Why are we doing that that's never going to work? And I had instructors and seminars who said we're going to skip this technique because it's garbage Going doing what i'm doing now going back to the material and trying to learn stuff at a deeper level I'm trying to i'm looking for that connective tissue keppo is very cohesive and when you learn your techniques There's a relation to other techniques and the material there's a lot of strings behind the system And i'm just trying to understand those strings as best as I can because i'm loving the art even more But a lot of because of doing that when i'm starting to see how one technique can relate to another technique Every single technique fulfills Something in the curriculum whether it's showing you an opposite motion or something else or it's showing you a what-if Or look here's a weird strike that you're not probably going to know But let's show it to you because that way you're familiar with it if you encounter it or here's a weird scenario The techniques that I looked at at face value before and thought that's stupid that's never going to work I now i'm looking at going Okay, I see what they're going for either this particular part is highlighting Well, what if this situation occurred or here's an alternate to this previous technique over there When something isn't practical or you consider impractical If you cannot find any use for it whatsoever, then that's your choice if you're going to teach a student or not But if it's part of the curriculum and if there's any nugget of knowledge whatsoever that could be pulled from it Take that part of it show show the technique but say hey, look this is what we're focusing on because here's what's important And here's how it applies everywhere else And my second instructor did that we he was changing the last two years I trained with him he was changing the material so much Because we come in one day and we've got Kemple techniques that have Ten different strikes in the row and they're they're weird some of them are well He came in one day and he goes okay We're going to do this technique this way and it's it's off like someone coming in for like a choke at your hand And you can you you step forward you wedge your hands forward you poke in the eyes Stripped arms down hit the kidneys through this weird hooking strike But it's a whole complicated sequence. He goes no we're doing it like this Step and hit the eyes stripped arms down and he went to a double leg takedown. He made it an MMA move And it worked fantastically But that's the thing he looked at the whole sequence and that day he's like, okay Well, we like this part. How can we change the rest? How can we implement this in this scenario and then you know a week later he changed the technique again So if there's something that you consider impractical maybe spend some time to see if you can find some practicality in it because it's it's in there for a reason most Especially if it's an older art these moves are in there for a reason and a lot of stuff has been lost in translation And a lot of knowledge. You don't always get your first time through I'm going back to wipe out material. I'm still learning things that I missed the first time around first five times around You know If you can find a nugget of information in there cultivate that nugget and if you can't find any use for it whatsoever Then maybe talk to peers in your group and see if anyone else has any ideas If it really doesn't work then that's your option to not teach it But my my my first suggestion would be if there's a technique that you feel is impractical And you don't want to teach it to a student see if you can figure out if there's anything worth Transmitting any knowledge worth plucking out of that and using it at all that would that would be my my My recommendation for that As a bjj practitioner, I understand why we train in the gi however reflecting upon my past karate training It seems unnecessary. Why do karate ka wear the gi if they don't use it for its intended purposes? A lot of it I think is tradition It's kind of weird especially again back to here in the west You act like you dress like if you're going to put on like you're going to get into a martial arts class You're going to step on the mat Sometimes just putting that gi on with the belt and tying it up gets you in the mindset Should that be the case? Probably not but sometimes that helps you kind of get mentally prepared um Gies in general are I think are good for the classroom because they don't restrict movement They let you move freely And I'm talking the karate aspect they let you move freely learn your techniques But I do believe there should be classes that do that work out in street clothes And we did that at the very beginning my instructor would have us go out in the parking lot in our shoes And we would do classes. I wish that was something we did more but I do think that real clothing should be applied at some point but as far as in the classroom setting the gi Is is is it's kind of a neutral thing to wear just that you you're not restricted in much of your movement When it comes to grappling though, that's a good good good question because um, you have an art like judo You want to wear a gi You want to wear the the appropriate gi you don't want to wear a karate gi to judo because it's going to get ripped to shreds It's not meant for that kind of tug and pulling if you wear a a Correct correctly woven gi for judo or jiu-jitsu It's really good to train with because you get you work on your grips You work on your grass and you have to worry about your uniform getting torn or your clothes getting torn But I do like the idea that sometimes that gi comes off and you go no gi You do like a like a rash card. That's a little more realistic So I think a mixture of all I think you should wear a gi I think you should have classes where you don't have a gi at all And you're just wearing rash guards to kind of simulate some more of the clothing in my jiu-jitsu instructor He Emphasizes this so much. He'll show us the technique where we do grab the gi or we grab the the collar we grab the sleeve But then he goes don't count on that, you know, especially here in florida You know people have a lot of bare arms and if it's summer they might be sweaty They might have suntan lotion on you never know So we actually focus on grabbing more of the joint more of the actual arm themselves in the gi But we go back and forth. It's understanding What that person's wearing because if they're wearing a hoodie, well, that's basically going to be a good analog for a gi If you've trained for grappling with a gi that hoodie is going to work against them If they're just wearing nothing but a t-shirt and you try to grab them thrown by their clothing That shirt's probably going to rip before you get them where you want them So then you got to you know, you want you want to be sure you're well versed in actually Manipulating body parts and actually joints and their balance. It's it's all part of a It's all part of a complicated system and that comes with being efficient within your own art At my job those weird techniques work wonders I do security and I like the kiss method to keep it simple stupid, but the weird stuff works The weird stuff can work Especially if it's unexpected Yeah, there's been some some bizarre things that have worked out there Um, this is a third hand story My friend and his he had his instructor who said he was a a high level instructor and he worked as a bouncer And he said one time a guy got a hit off him because the guy Unexpectedly jumped and hit him with two hands out and two feet out and actually connected because he was like What the hell was that the weird stuff does work sometimes because when there's an element of surprise Or two It might be a technique or something you haven't trained against You know, if you're a boxer, you know, they know the jabs their crosses their uppercuts their their hooks They're used to that but a weird weird corkscrew something might sneak in there. Um Yeah, the weird stuff can work and that's why I like Kempo because there's a lot of weird stuff in it We have our basics is a giant toolbox you learn your hammer your screwdriver your wrench your main tools But you might have this bizarre corkscrew thing down here You're like, well, when the heck am I ever going to use that? But if someone brings that out or there's an application, then you understand how it works So Kempo tries to cram in in his curriculum a lot of different techniques and moves for that reason Just to at least be familiar with what's out there. But yeah When it comes to self-defense and fighting you want to keep it simple You don't want to do the flashy spinning stuff But every once in a while that weird stuff that flashes stuff does land and it does work It's just a matter of risk versus reward, you know You have to assess is the risk worth me trying this because if I don't land it I might be in a lot of trouble Should testing black belts be made to fail the Should testing black belts be made to fail the first attempt that's to prove humility and perseverance I see most people pass on their first and only attempt and I think it's a little lame Good question I think that really comes down to a student by student basis because you do have your students who will Dedicate themselves 100% like the kids I mentioned earlier who they had come to class every day go home Practice what they learned research ahead of time and come to class with questions to refine what they just learned You have somebody who's doing that Four or five six seven years if they can maintain that level of quality at their black belt exam If they can blow through their their their calisthenics if they can meet all the requirements of the If you can push them until they cry and they still perform Then I say they've earned it if it's somebody who thinks they've just okay It was my black will tell stuff they're casual about it. Then maybe they haven't earned it I mean the black belt it's kind of a breaking point for a lot of people And we had kids that were literally sparring The last five minutes of their tests and they were balling because they were so tired They were so sore. They might have had a bump nose or a bruise lip They were exhausted and pushed to the end of their limits But they kept going that perseverance was there if that student shows that strong perseverance and spirit and will It really comes down to is if would you be happy if you put a black belt on them with them representing your school? That's a real question. Do they uphold the standards of your school? If you think they need a little bit of work or if you think that their attitude is not quite where it should be Or if you feel if they need some humility, then yes, hold them back and let them know why and The right student will understand is they might be mad. They might be disappointed They might not want to wait to six months or a year to test again But if they continue training after that and try harder Well, then then they had some room to push then yes Then they think they have a chance to earn it again if they get mad and they rage quit Well, then they weren't going to represent your school that well anyway. So I do think that comes down to a student by student basis I don't think that should be an automatic fail the first time. That's a good way to lose a lot of students Especially those who have put in the time and effort But I don't think it's a bad thing to keep expectations and check sometimes if you feel that They're not quite where they should be or they're not quite trying as hard They should be or this is the moment they're supposed to be Presenting themselves and they're only giving you 80 to 90 percent. All right, hold them back Make them try it again. Let them know that the expectations are there Should there be a rank cap for old people? No, because it goes back to I think what we talked about a little bit earlier is A lot of the later ranks anyway are honorary and it's time and grade You can get a third degree to a fifth degree black belt in most systems just by training after that Generally speaking it should be contribution to the art So if you have someone who's 80 years old, but they've been teaching they have that knowledge They can walk up to a person and instruct a class or they can point out details that you might not have seen before They still have that knowledge They might not be able to move like the day when they were younger But does that make them any less representative of the time and effort and knowledge they put in it's academic information So no, I don't think there should be a cap for old people because Again, everyone is different. I got my butt handed to me last month inspiring by a 66 year old He has been you could tell his history. He's got twice the history. I have in training He moves like a 30 year old And fast as hell So yeah, I can see him training another 30 40 years and I would give him whatever rank He he holds if not more because he he upholds it. He has that knowledge Even if someone, you know, there's a lot of Campbell masters that are old and frail But their knowledge is there. They have earned it. So as long as they're still representing that school I don't think there should be a cap because at that point in time that the ranks are honorary anyway There's no 10th degree competition division at a tournament because that's just not a thing, you know So the other ranks it's really just a matter of respect and what they've earned knowledge wise And really what they've given back to a system because you can still be really old and still contribute You could teach you can come up with new ideas. You can still revitalize an art Even if you can't fight like you could when you were younger That's my personal opinion Yes, the black belt test should be favorable black belt test should absolutely be favorable. Yes to pick it back on what we said before They should absolutely Yeah, it's not a guarantee just the students showing up and Okay A lot of formats and we've talked about this as well A lot of times your black belt test is a formality A lot of schools a lot of teachers will be testing you ahead of time in our case in our school with Kemple We had about a month where we had to come in and do special Special classes to make sure we had our techniques to make sure we had our forms down to find anything We didn't quite have we had to prove our calisthenics when the day of the test came It was more of a final it was really more about will and perseverance than the material at that point because If we were invited or able to come into that last day of testing Our instructor knew we knew our material knew we could fight knew we were in shape Knew we could do our kata we knew the material the question was how we were handled under pressure So at that point in time when you see a lot of people who don't Fail the test I think it's that could be attributed to a lot of that because they've already most people have already passed By time they get to that day. It's just the last final step You know you walk across the country your your your 10 steps away from the building Well, you've still done the journey, you know, are you gonna get sent home because you haven't made those last 10 steps It's it's about that last little push to make sure The tester will and see how they handle everything under pressure to me It's checking the students application under pressure. Yes, they might know that technique Can they perform it or can they adapt it when everyone's watching them when they have that pressure on them? That's the test as far as I'm concerned So most students who reach that level have already proven themselves But I do think that should not be an automatic pass if they don't adapt if they freeze or if they're not quite Where they should be then yes, those tests should be absolutely favorable Again individual by individual basics basis When talking about age and ability thresholds a student should show their spirit by being forced outside their comfort zone Absolutely, and that's where Yeah, right. Absolutely A martial artist who is a true martial artist will always try to put themselves outside that comfort zone Which usually means learning something new or learning something different doing something another way You yeah, exactly It doesn't matter how old they are if they're 80 years old and they're trying something new We've had people come to class at age 70 to do jiu-jitsu and judo My hat's off to them because I know how sore I am the next day I am 42 and I'm still trying to get back into better shape I know I'm not going to be 20 ever again and I can't take the abuse I could when I was 20 But I know how I feel the next day after being thrown around for two hours Washington's seven-year-olds come on the mat They have so much respect whether they stick with it or not The fact that they put themselves out there to try it Is commendable because It's not an easy decision to take that shows that drive that shows that hunger and that is stepping outside their comfort zone and even if they struggle a lot of them have come back and Yes, stepping outside your comfort zone is something. I think a martial artist should do their whole life Once you're complacent with your material You kind of you're not trained anymore. You're not a student anymore And I think no matter what rank you are you're always a student you should always try to find something new because I don't care what system you are a master in how many black belts you have It is impossible to learn everything about every art and it's one of those things that the more you train The more you know the more you realize you don't know And I think that is the nature of the art and once you realize that then you try to accomplish that You try to go pursue that knowledge and the more of that knowledge you pursue you realize is more You don't know the more I train the more like a beginner I feel and I love it because It's humbling when I feel like I've spent all these years doing something. I'm like I suck. I know nothing I go home I write down notes and I think about What was uncomfortable and then I tried to implement that into my training I tried to think about well, why was it uncomfortable and I tried to learn that until the next time So I'll learn something new. I'm like, I know nothing that should be the cycle of a martial artist You should feel good about yourself. Yay. I know this and then you're like, I know nothing so We should always go from white belts to black belts white belts to black belts white belts to black belts that cycle should always keep continuing in my opinion What do I think about rank skipping? I think it's irrelevant in terms of colored belts That's again. It's a curriculum marker. We have students in school grade school Sometimes kids are really good and they're advanced and they might skip a grade I think it's okay as long as it's appropriate as long as that if that student Can perform the material of the of the upper belt rank whether it's a black belt Whether it's a blue belt or whatever whatever rank it is if they can perform it If they can understand it if they can repeat the knowledge And they and they can if they are as proficient at that material as anyone else that level Why not? Why make them go through the to that at that point? You can just be milking money off them off a belt test if they can do it if they represent it I see no reason why they can't be it Black belt ranks that you don't usually see Skipped ranks too much in black belt not that often it does happen a lot of times that I've seen it's been self-imposed I have different opinions about that But the upper dan ranks and black belts are usually time-based. So it doesn't really make sense to Go from a second degree to a fifth degree to skip that unless that person's been training for 30 years without ranking And they have put that level into it. That could be an exception, but What I think about belt skipping As the person heard it can they perform that again the belt is nothing but a curriculum marker Doesn't make them any better a fighter on the street if you promote someone to have them skip three belts Are they going to fight better on the street? No, are they going to defend themselves any better? No It's it's just about what they know. It's just a marker in class A fighter shouldn't think of his belt. He should think of this Will this save me in a real fight exactly because once you step out of that classroom You could be head honcho on that mat. You would have a tenth degree black belt on that mat Boss of the world the second you step out those doors that belt does nothing for you It does not protect you from anything. It is not knife proof. It is not bullet proof It does not make you able to fight everyone in the world Even a white belt can get a shot in the novice, you know Sometimes the more dangerous people to fight against are you inexperienced? So exactly a person should be training the belts are nice Belts are fun and they have their place in the classroom But a student learning the martial arts should be focused on making it work for them I agree with you 100 percent that is a fantastic point to bring up And that's why you see MMA fighters do so well because they don't have that belt The only belt thereafter is that prize belt at the end and they have to fight their asses off to get that So it's all about being efficient. They're training. They're thinking about now They're specialized training, you know a fighter going into the ring. They're focusing on the sport They're not they're not training for self-defense. They're training Specifically for their upcoming opponent. They studied that opponent. They based a strategy around that opponent They're going in with that one goal But their whole focus is not well, what rank am I in my old art their focus is on What do I have to do to win? So that is a fantastic point You wouldn't skip the okay. So tom lineman says you wouldn't skip degrees I don't think but for color belts and competitive styles. I think it's fine within reason. I agree Some students come like twice a week others come more and maybe they have more talent and put in more work time Exactly. It comes back to it's really immaterial. It's just the belt is where they are in the classroom where you feel they are in the curriculum In competitions, you you will see that sometimes people fudge ranks so they can jump into their class So if you have a student who's a blue belt like an intermediate rank And they're going to go into a competition and they want to fight the brown belts and the advanced belts They want to wear up but you want to give them that brown belt? That's up to you if you feel they can hold their own with brown belts and black belts by all means But if not, well, maybe you shouldn't skip them. It's all to each individual person After okay, so scorch 10 28 says after 30 years in the art a ninth degree Kajukin bow instructor was awarded a tenth degree by all of his black belts I think that every martial arts school should operate like that Yes, and this is interesting and this is a topic I want to explore a little bit later We've been talking to some other instructors about this It's tricky getting tenth degree black belt because of course the number one question comes up is who promoted you um to get To assume the ranks of tenth degree black belt is to accept the responsibility of being a leader Not just a leader in the school, but now you're like a patriarch or a matriarch You are now the head of that branch Everyone is looking to you to be the example And I think what you just said is the appropriate way to do it if you're a ninth degree Well, there if there's not a tenth degree to promote you Then have being voted in by your peers Whether you're other fellow instructors or your students the whole community the whole board If they are looking at you and they vote you into that level Well, that means they're asking you to be their leader They are looking up to you enough that they say we want to follow your example You are our you are our role model We want to follow your example That I think is a very appropriate way to do it. I don't like the idea of awarding yourself a tenth degree um But that gets tricky that that could have that that's a whole topic for another day, but I'm gonna agree with you scorch that's Yeah, I think every art marshal should be like that to be a grand master to be the top top top If you can't if you're not promoted by a tenth degree, and I think you should be promoted by your people But there's some caution with this I'm not gonna name any names because I don't know this firsthand, but I have heard a lot of stories told I've seen some examples online There are organizations who will promote people to grand master level So that they can be promoted to the next level up So you might have seventh and eighth degrees one to promote their master to tenth degree so that they can get their eighth or ninth That does happen and you got to be cautious with that, but to put on that tenth degree black belt I think there needs to be an understanding that when you wear that belt You are assuming the role of the leader. Everyone now looks to you You set the model you set the course of action They're following your lead the system is in your hands now at least that branch of it And if you're not prepared to take that role And be that for those people and be there for those people, you know, they're gonna look you for answers You're gonna have to teach them you're gonna have to provide them You're gonna have to represent that if you don't feel you could do that Do not accept that rank, but if you put on that rank Just and you can do that Then that's what you are you have become a master because now you have left your imprint You have left your impressions you have a phone of people whose lives you've touched and changed And they are recognizing that and they're they are now putting you to that that role of responsibility And I think it's an honor Oh my god, I mean, I can't even imagine the honor to have that So yes, I agree 100 percent. I like the way it's handled when it's handled in that fashion. Excellent excellent point Question if someone with a disability can't spar full contact but knows their curriculum and can do everything properly Good question. Good. Good. Good question This one is also tricky because it goes back to the belts don't mean anything outside the school There are people Everyone joins the martial arts for a reason and most of the time It's to improve themselves whether it be they just want to fight better They want to be faster. They want to live longer and healthier Are they trying to rehab from an injury or they want to compete or they want to be able to protect themselves? Aside from those to do it just as a hobby Most people join the martial arts in some fashion to improve themselves or improve an area of their life and It's not always about fighting and as we talked about we did this we did interview a couple weeks ago with Ian McLeod A man with a traumatic brain injury who used karate to rehab himself and did wonderful wonderful things and really came a long way I think that you set your own course and You have to follow your own milestones and your own goals and it's not always fighting because Not every fight occurs out on the street. Not every fight is a self-defense against an attacker Sometimes you're defending yourself from time from an injury from yourself and I think it's up to the instructor to really take Really look at each student as an individual and what their needs are and what their base Their base foundation they're coming from is and make a judgment of how they're going to promote Can someone with a disability achieve a black belt even though they might not be able to fight a black belt on another system That's up to the instructor I think I think it's okay in certain ways as long as they have persevered and they have pushed themselves And they have accomplished as long as they understand what they're doing and here's here's interesting too It's about knowing The curriculum and understanding all the basics and understanding what you're doing and knowing the why Sometimes in knowing the how but sometimes being able to do it might not be there So a lot of disabled people that I have seen will modify it If they can't do a particular move or maybe they can't fight a certain way If they can make modifications or they can show that they can adapt the art to cope with or get by Even that means finding new ways to get out of a situation instead of fighting them Then have they not have they not learned have they not reached that level of proficiency where they can defend themselves or they can Modify the material where they have the same understanding it goes back to the person who's 80 years old They might not be able to defend themselves the same way they could before they might not be able to move But that knowledge is there can this person disabled can they teach? You know, it's that's a really hard question My jujitsu instructor talked about how he had students come in that were missing an arm Can that person ever fight the same way as a person with two arms? No, but the techniques were modified to do one arm throws There are exceptions and I don't think anybody should be excluded from the martial arts because anyone especially someone with a disability Who steps into that mat they get more respect for me Then people who are fully healthy because they have this extra challenge And you know how much courage and guts it takes for them to get to a point where they admit They need help or they're desperate and they want to seek out some improvement and they step on that mat That person is a brother and sister in that classroom that person should still be expected to work just as hard as everyone else They have they have to work with their instructor and set their goals They have to understand their own limits understanding your limits is a big part of being a martial artist Again, I'm at a point now. There's stuff. I really want to do the stuff. I could you I can't do anymore I'm not doing the jump spinning stuff anymore. I'm feeling it on my knees I have some knee issues and I've got age related issues It's happening I have to accept the fact that there are things I will never be able to do in the martial arts as much as I want to do A person who's got a disability I can't even fathom the stuff they're going through because there's stuff Whether it's something they used to be able to do or stuff They've never been able to do they're facing real challenges and if they step onto that mat or roll onto that mat Or whatever if they come into that classroom and they put in the same work as everyone else And at the end of the day they can disseminate the information They can understand it and they can pass on that knowledge And fulfill others lives and touch other people the same way they were touched Then yes, I feel they've earned that rank It doesn't always come down to how well you can fight in the street or how well you can perform in a tournament A black belt is not a fighting mechanism. It is not a magic cape that you put on A black belt is a symbol that you have pushed yourself outside of your boundaries You've you've broken your boundaries and you've reset them and you've broken and reset them many times And you've now reached an area you're a much better person now than you were when you started You understand the world now. You understand the pieces. You know what you have to do Now the work is to really get done and build from there. So do I feel Um that they should hold belt ranks like everyone else I do And I think it needs to be an individual situation just because we all fight different battles. It's all about It's all about why you train we all have our own fights Not every fights on the asphalt not every fights in octagon We have battles every day in our lives. And yes, I think the martial arts And I'm so adamant about this and I'm so passionate about this That's one of the reasons that zack and I started this channel Is that this is a very important message that I think needs to be spread is that There's so much good in the martial arts. There's so much garbage out there on youtube and so much garbage So much hate so much politics so much. Oh look how crappy that is. Oh, here's the fake stuff. We've all seen it It's all there. That's not what we want to focus on. There's so much good That's overlooked and I don't care if it's a style that people don't like There's still goodness style because it works for someone. Maybe you don't look at it and think oh, that's garbage That's never gonna work for me. Okay. What are you doing with it? Are you wanting to ring? Okay? It might not work for you But guess what that person's got a broken back and that that style has now helped them be able to walk again Should that look be looked down is looked down upon than any other art. No, so No, I have so much respect and we have a lot of viewers who are facing a lot of physical challenges and disabilities And I am very grateful that you are a part of our channel because I think that message is even more important When people like that train because they are setting a better example than the rest of us because they're saying look I know I have limits. I know I have challenges below. I'm going to do it anyway So yes, I do believe that a person who's got a disability who might not be able to fight or spar like a black But would normally that they can still achieve their black belt because they are fighting their own fights Their own battles and thank you so much for asking that question because now you got me all wrapped up Um, but yeah, that's that's um That's where I feel on that So much disrespect for people that really don't have an informed opinion too many keyboard warriors There's too many keyboard warriors. It's so easy to criticize at your desk It's so easy to look at someone else doing something and be like, oh, that's garbage That's not the way to do it and honestly fine, that's your freedom to type that but If you're going to type that if you're going to be that way with someone Then I would expect you to put yourself a video and put yourself out there and show us how it's done better Too many keyboard warriors So, okay, we're going to wrap it up in a couple minutes to see if there's any more questions we can take In the way there are ways to deal with techniques like standing in their own position. Exactly. There's there's so many ways you could adapt something Um, okay. Look at look at superfoot bill wallis. For example, he is an amazing fighter He tore his knee up really really bad when he was young to the point it never healed right Look at his work. He's undefeated in his career undefeated and he can only kick with one leg And what did he do? Well, he he understood he couldn't kick with that leg So he adopted all his fighting. He adopted a sideways fighting style and guess what he is really really good at it Can he use both legs and both arms like everyone else? No, he's basically down a limb Has he made up for it? You betcha even now. I see this guy now I see him in seminars now and he's still a phenomenal martial artist. He's still going to kick you He's still fast. He still can get you in the head and faster than you see it coming so Exactly, so there's you just have to and that's part of that you have to find an adaptation Okay Scorch asks, um, I would love to see a video of you interviewing Kempo Joe Rebello He possesses a wealth of knowledge in the martial arts. Look, I love mr. Rebello I have had the privilege of talking to him a couple times. He is absolutely a wealth of knowledge He puts out youtube videos if you guys haven't watched him yet. Go look him up Kempo Joe He puts out like introspective He breaks down a lot of um academic topics of Kempo and they are fascinating. I learned something every time And um, I had a very distinct privilege of speaking with him last year We talked about Kempo freestyle techniques He volunteered to sign to talk to me because he was really proficient No, he spent a lot of time in teaching those and when I expressed an interest in learning the Kempo freestyle sparring techniques He reached out to me and he gave me his time and we had a wonderful wonderful talk It was one of those things I got the phone going. I know nothing But I loved it and I took so many notes Yes, if you guys have a chance to talk to her or watch anything from from mr. Joe Rebello I highly recommend it. He has an absolute wealth of knowledge. He's been there for a long time He's known a lot of the system. He holds a high level respect in my in my opinion So absolutely. Thank you for bringing it up. Um, I would love to interview him honestly Um, um, I might reach out to him that that's thank you for bringing it up. He's he's a wonderful martial artist Okay, is the history of american Kempo important for testing in my art shall in Kempo karate It's very important in order to pass the black belt test the students. He's know where they came from I would say Yes to a degree It depends on the school if it's an MMA style school if it's a more of a tournament competitive school It might not matter as much. But if you really want to learn the art truly, I think it's important to at least know Where it came from No, I mean, I don't expect the student to Be able to write a whole dissertation and the whole life accomplishments of ed parker And every aspect he went to and every knowledge of every academic model he put together But I do think you should know who your grandmaster is You should know a rough idea of your lineage what the roots of your arts are What the elements are embedded in your art in the general history I think the more history you know about your own art the better Because sometimes having that context will make things make sense With Kempo if I didn't know that parker did judo There's techniques. I look I'm like well, this stands out. This is kind of weird But by knowing that you're like, okay, I understand that so I do think that in order to pass the black belt test Yes, I think there should be generally speaking uh an overall general knowledge of the system that you're training in just because You know the more you know the better and the more you know about your art the better You're going to digest your art and and teach your art. So should it be a requirement? I think to a certain degree it should be How deep of a level I think it's up to the individual instructor Um, as long as you know the basics the where is the when is the how is and the why's You know, it's it's all about it's part of the art. It's part of history. I think I do think you should learn a level of it Okay, we're going to take one more question um Let's see. Do I have any other notes here? Well, since we were on topic, I will throw out one a little bonus thing. We had a couple of extra questions. I just wrote down Um, it's not necessarily related to the bell rings, but we've talked about so many different styles here Uh, I had two questions um One actually had three questions bill taylor asked me what got me to the martial arts and why did I choose kempo? Uh, just to answer that question quickly. What got me into the martial arts was Being a kid. Um, the karate kid was a huge influence on me I always had this fear of a kid as a kid not being able to protect myself. I was a small skinny kid and I was lucky enough not to have a regular bully, but there were kids that picked on me. There were bigger kids that shoved me When a big kid shoved me I hated I hated I hated the feeling of having my body push out of my control and not being able to respond Or not knowing how to respond that scared the hell out of me as a kid And then I see a movie like the karate kid and I see this kid. It's not An action film. He's not Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not a Chuck Norris war movie It is a kid trying to survive high school And it was a message of look anybody can learn this and there's more to it than just fighting And that really kind of planted the seeds. So as a kid, I grew up just loving the martial arts and of course, I love the action movies too, but I expressed interest when I was about 12 to my parents 13 and I wanted to train in karate We lived in Long Island at the time And they're like, oh, okay And we never really talked about it But then a year later we moved down here to Florida and my parents came up to me with a flyer We saw on the paper and they said, hey, look, here's some karate classes. You want to try it? I went, yeah, okay, sure I 14 years old, I didn't know one style from another. I knew there was kung fu and karate I didn't know about the different flavors of anything. It was a kempel school I tried it. I fell in love with it immediately. I had just seen the perfect weapon So I walked in and I saw that that just speakman poster on the wall like, oh, this is that art It was all downhill from there. I loved it And um, so yeah, so basically I got into kempel by accident It was a flyer my parents found in the paper and I wouldn't I wouldn't change anything. I absolutely love it I'm at a point now though where I I'm trying to attain other knowledge because I want to explore the history of arts I want to explore other routes and that leads us to two other questions I apologize if I pronounced your name incorrectly, but Camillo Irrubarren and Brian Walters both asked me what arts what three arts have I not done? That would be super quick to try out and we'll end this on that What are three arts that I have not tried that I would be that I would love to try out right now One I think boxing I have never done any formal boxing. We have elements a little bit of elements of it in kempel We've done some basic drills in class, but I think I would like to take an actual boxing course I think that I mean boxing I think is one of the most powerful striking arts there is And I think that could accentuate and implement itself into any art. So boxing would definitely be one Um, I am intrigued by keoxin ever since we did the history of keoxin episode I have such a level of respect for those guys Uh, the conditioning. I love the conditioning they do I love the power they do and I do think that if I could survive the training that I could implement that in my own training because I'm a big guy Um, not as fast as I used to be but I you know, I spar but there's a joke going around They call me the wall because I'll take hits but I don't move back I just absorb them and I have to be able to absorb them because I get hit so much So looking at keoxin is just how it's power driven and they don't those guys don't move back It's standing around and just pummeling forward. So I think I would that would be really interesting and hard to learn But I think I could get a lot of a lot of good instruction out of that So keoxin I would try boxing I would try and I think the third art would probably some sort of a tactical weapon or a cabuto Just to learn some sort of weapon art, whether it be knife fighting Uh, just weapon defense drills like a specialized course in defense drills Our niece and colleagues six. I think are fascinating. I would love to learn the sigh I like exotic weapons, but I just don't know how to use them. So yeah, that would be my answer So boxing keoxin and some sort of a weapon art. I think would be the first three I would I would jump out if I had the opportunity to try So, um, I think that's going to wrap it up for today guys. I thank you so much There was so much wonderful discussion and thank you to all those out there who did the highlighted messages I really appreciate you guys You guys are fantastic supporters of this channel and If you guys like these live streams, we'll do more of them. Um, I actually really enjoy talking to you We get a really good sense of engagement and where our viewers are and the stuff that you guys want to talk about and see So we try to we always try to modify our channel and our material to what you guys want I mean, there's stuff that we like to talk about and you know, we're gonna throw in fun stuff now and then but You guys are our family. This is your dojo. This is all of our dojo Let me it's one big dojo verse. We're in together and I love talking to all of you So if you guys want to do more live streams, we'll do these more often We'll do them as weekly videos or maybe a bi weekly or whatever We'll start working something out But if this is something you guys like we'll keep doing it because this is fun This is fun and you guys see me so much and um, I can't thank you enough And we'll probably do another live stream next week most likely. We'll let you guys know but um Because we're still trying to get killed uh history of gojiro done. We can't wait to bring that to you So I think we're gonna start doing we're gonna we're gonna have we have a lot more material coming and um Our goal is to spread this knowledge so many good points were brought up today about different perspectives I I think our viewers and all of you guys have some wonderful perspectives on the arts And we need to share that and we need to counteract all the garbage and toxins that are out there And let's spread some good messages about the martial arts. Let's always look for the good because there's just more good than bad and um We have a we're working is this year's been tough schedule wise Um, the gojiro has been a big heavy weight on our schedule But we we have a lot of material we have a lot of material coming It's just been a matter of us where we've been sitting down and spending a lot of time getting our ducks in a row So if you guys like it, we're gonna do more live streams We're gonna do more more supplemental videos We're gonna do more history videos a lot more interviews are coming and they're standard videos So we're excited and thank you guys for making this channel what it is I love you all. I appreciate you and we'll see you next week and some for more another So thank you so much for joining today and um I'm gonna try to go back and read you know I there's a lot of good you've got a lot of good chats that came in Unfortunately, I can't read everything so I do like to go back once the video is published I do like to go back and scan and see anything I missed because you guys give so much insight that it's just so much I can't read all at once, but um, I do try and I do try to read comments And if you're watching this and it's not live, please by all means put your comments down below in the description Or below the description. I do go back. I read almost every single comment that I can I can't always reply but I read most comments that come in So if you've got more questions or something to elaborate or want to see more topics Please leave them down in the comments below Thank you again everyone so much. Hope you have a wonderful day And we'll see you all again here next week Bye