The martial degree

Hi everyone, as much as i loved martial arts, both training them and writing about them, times have changed. I also found many of my old clubs to be very top heavy, and i was forced to retire to focus on my studies. In fact i once heard that a school of Ninjutsu (under the late Glenn Morris) included getting graduate education in to one of his syllabus', even though i was told that he later took this out. Be this as it may, I am a great believer in the importance of structured learning, be it in a dojo or a lecture theatre.

Thoughts>?

John Robinson

I don't know anything about Ninjas but if by top heavy you meean experience level than yes that is what we have here. We have a kids class where new students cycle in and out. They usually get to college age then they disappear when they go to school and often don't come back. The adult class is almost all us guys that started in the 60s-70's and early 80s that were too stubborn to quit. I'm the the youngest one in the regular adult class and I am 51 and a godan who had time in grade to test for rokudan quite sometime ago.

When I was young I wanted to train to learn how to whip ass. If I was 18 right now I would probably be attracted to MMA because that is where the action is. :D

In our dojo, we are almost all Shihan, one kaiden shihan, and the instructor who has the top ranking available in the ryu (san dai kichu/hachidan). There's one brand new kid (like 12 years old) and one yondan. Average age is probably mid-30s-early 40s, although I'm the oldest regular student at 58, just a few years behind the instructor. Like yours, our dojo is mostly those too stubborn to quit. We usually take turns teaching basics to the new kid, and several of us are starting up teaching practices, but we all come together, as it is a rare opportunity to really work advanced techniques safely, with those who understand them well.