How much did your Black Belt cost?

Have you ever considered how much it has cost you to get from white belt to black belt in your martial art? Are you getting value for money or do you think your club overcharges – forcing you to jump through expensive but unnecessary hoops along the way, e.g. lots of intermediate belt gradings, compulsory attendance at expensive additional courses, lots of compulsory badges to buy, expensive grading fees, compulsory uniform only available through the club at extortionate rates etc?

I think that my club gives good value for money so I decided to sit down and calculate how much it has cost me to get from white belt to black belt.

The things I took into consideration were:

1.   Cost of lessons: It took me exactly four years to get my black belt which is 48 months. I paid for two lessons per week as part of a family membership scheme.  As there are four of us training on this membership, I divided our total fees bill over the four years by four to get the figure for just my fees.

2.   Licence fees: It is compulsory for us to pay an annual licence/insurance fee to our organisation. Again, we have a family licence scheme and so I divided the total by four.

3.   Grading fees: There were 9 kyu gradings and 1 dan grading. All grading fees include the new belt.

4.   Black/Brown belt courses: These are run by our organisation and are not compulsory except for the pre-dan course. These are run four times a year and I have attended approximately nine of them.

5.   Gis/ badges/sparring mitts/sports bag: I have bought 4 gis in total and 3 badges. We only have to wear one badge on our gi which is our organisation badge. We can order gis through our instructor who gets them at heavily discounted prices. He passes these discounts onto us so our gis cost approximately half to two-thirds the website price. I have only bought one set of sparring mitts, one gum shield and one sports bag.

ITEM	TOTAL COST OVER 48 MONTHS (£)
Cost of lessons	1044
Licence fees	50
Grading fees	244
Black/Brown belt courses	89
Gis/ badges/etc	150
TOTAL	1577

So my black belt has cost £1577 (US $2525.25). This equates to £7.58 (US $12) per week!

However, I have been able to take advantage of generous family discounts for both my lesson fees and licence fees. So, since most people probably pay as a single member I have recalculated the figures below as if I were a single member of the club paying for 2 lessons per week:

ITEM	TOTAL COST OVER 48 MONTHS (£)
Cost of lessons	1776
Licence fees	104
Grading fees	244
Black/Brown belt courses	89
Gis/ badges/etc	150
TOTAL	2363

As a single member in my club, training twice a week, attending the majority of Black/Brown belt courses, buying four gis and other necessary equipment and achieving black belt after 4 years (the minimum possible) it costs around £2360 (US $3783) or, put another way, about £11.35 (US $18) per week!

I think this represents good value for money, thank you Sensei! 


Have you tried calculating how much your black belt has cost?

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Kids Karate Library...

I've recently started up a small martial arts library for the kids in our club. It's in its infancy at present having only 12 books in it! 

The idea was prompted by a request from one of the parents for some reading material for his son who is an avid reader. We were a little stumped to start with because we hadn't really thought too much about getting the kids to read about karate as well as practice it. So I had a look on Amazon and was amazed to find so many books aimed at children about the martial arts. I selected and ordered a few and set about reading them! 

When I first discussed the idea of a library with the kids they didn't seem terribly enthusiastic - not a single child brought the letter with tear off slip back that I had prepared for their parents.The next week I took the books in to show them and Hey Presto! they swarmed round me like bees to a honey pot! 

Six of the books were loaned out so the library has begun. Here are the books we currently have, some are fiction and some non-fiction:

Story books for our youngest children (Ages 6 – 9):

 The Karate Class Mystery, by Elizabeth Levy.

"The Karate Class Mystery is a book about friends who work together even when their friendship is threatened. The karate stuff is fun and the vocabulary is explained really well. If you like mysteries and karate you should read this one”.

 The Karate Mouse, by Geronimo Stilton.

 “Mouldy mozzarella! When my friend Bruce Hyena and his super-sporty cousin, Shorty Tao, entered me in the Karate World Championship, I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t in shape, and I didn’t know a single karate move. Plus, I only had one week to train! How on earth was I going to become a champion karate mouse in just seven days?”

 The Karate Princess and the Cut-throat Robbers, by Jeremy Strong.

“The story of Belinda, the youngest and plainest of 16 beautiful princesses, who is ignored by her father and left in the hands of a Japanese tutor. Her education at the hands of this karate expert makes her into a real princess. She must then save her father's kingdom from the wicked princess.”

There are several books in the Karate Princess series by Jeremy Strong – see Amazon

 Angels Don’t Know Karate, by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones.

“Angela Michaels is new in town and she always seems to turn up when people need help. Whether she’s working as a crossing guard or teaching karate, she has a special way of appearing at just the right moment and making wishes come true. Could Miss Michaels really be a guardian angel?”

Story books (10-teens):

 Karate Kick, by Matt Christopher

“Cole Richards has been training in karate for four years. He's on the brink of advancing to his next belt level. But as he prepares for his test, new challenges come his way. First, his dojo announces a "create-your-own kata" contest to take place the same day as his belt test. Now he's torn between practicing for the test and making up a series of moves that will knock his senseis socks off. But before he even begins with either challenge, he lands in trouble with a group of local teens - and then with his best friends, too! How will Cole handle the mounting pressure?”

 Sanchin, by KA van Wyk

“Tristan Steyn has two dreams. To represent his country in international competition, and to grade as the youngest nidan in the history of his karate club. 

When be becomes involved in a violent encounter with the brother of a fellow karateka, he fully expects to be dropped from the National Team selections. But Tristan is stunned when his mentor, Shihan Dean Stander, exacts a much harsher punishment. 

Hurt and angry, Tristan goes from being bright and hard working to sullen and difficult almost overnight. But, as friends and family begin to give up on him, tragedy strikes and Tristan is forced to re-evaluate his life and show a strength of character he didn't know he possessed. 

But is it too late to redeem himself in the eyes of his mentor?”

Technical karate books:

 Karate for Kids, by Robin L. Rielly

“This is a fun introduction to studying karate designed specifically with the interests and capabilities of young martial artists in mind. Karate for Kids will help prepare them to start learning about karate and help them practise at home. This book includes thorough introductions to the history and philosophy of the techniques, what to expect in the first few classes, how to warm up and practise, and advice on setting goals. The colourful illustrations will help you practice your techniques until you’re ready to advance to higher rankings.”

 The Kids’ Karate Workbook – A Take-home training guide for young martial artists, by Didi Goodman.

“The Kids’ Karate Workbook is an engaging workbook meant to be used at home by young people who want to supplement their regular Karate or Taekwondo training. Drawing on the author’s more than 20 years of experience teaching martial arts to children, the book offers a step-by-step curriculum that traces a typical journey from first-day beginner to intermediate-level student.

Along the way, kids learn about uniforms and etiquette; practice the most frequently used strikes, kicks, blocks, and forms; and unlock the basics of martial arts physics. The curriculum is highly interactive, inviting readers to answer questions and solve puzzles. It also highlights common mistakes to avoid, answers frequently asked questions, and points the way to a deeper understanding of martial arts. The easy-to-follow text is accompanied by 150 illustrations depicting the author’s own students—real kids who are also serious martial artists. While written for youngsters, the book is equally useful for parents who want to assist in practicing at home, as well as instructors who teach children.”

Karate history:

 The Little Bubishi – a history of Karate for Children, by Andrew O’Brien.

The Little Bubishi tells the story of karate and the amazing tales of its legendary masters in an enjoyable way that is intended for children. But the story is enjoyable for readers of all ages. The legends of Karate-Do are brought to life in its beautifully descriptive stories that tell of the heroics and steely determination that embody karate history. The peaceful philosophies behind this multi-layered martial art are too often overlooked, while its graphic fighting forms more often take centre stage. Karate is explained simply, so children may gain a greater understanding of the true meaning and nature of Karate-Do. The Little Bubishi: A History of Karate for Children is essential reading for all young karate enthusiasts.

Books that teach karate values:

 Facing the Double-Edged Sword – The Art of Karate for young people, by Terrence Webster-Doyle.

From the author:

Martial Arts can be a way to peace!
I wrote this book to help young people understand the psychological or mental side of the martial arts to complement the physical training in self-defense. I feel that it is vitally important to create a mental framework for resolving conflict peacefully without the unnecessary use of physical force. I think that giving young people nonviolent alternatives to conflict gives them creative and healthy options to avoid potential harm. Giving children only physical self-defense skills gives them the false impression that they can resolve conflict peacefully. What I call "Mental Self-Defense" needs to be taught so that children can cope with conflict before they have to revert to the use of physical skills. This is very important in today's world where there is so much violence, especially considering the recent school violence. I have been in the martial arts for 36 years and know that what I have written really works! 

 Martial Arts Masters: Black Belt Warriors for peace, by Terrence Webster Doyle

This book will help teach young people such important values as courtesy, kindness, honesty, order, respect, and responsibility. It can also help parents, teachers, counsellors, and school administrators who are looking for effective ways to help young people resolve conflict peacefully.

 The Way of Martial Arts for Kids, by Kris Wilder

A reader’s review:

“Written in a personable, engaging style that will appeal to kids and adults alike, this collection of short vignettes touch upon a variety of experiences one might have as a student of the martial arts. It illustrates the many opportunities for learning and growth, not only on the dojo floor but in school and at home. Many of the stories offer simple actions for kids to try out so they can put what they read to the test in real life.”

 If you can recommend any other books suitable for children I'd be very keen to hear from you.....

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Don’t let the need to be non-sexist get in the way of facts!

I read a couple of interesting comments over on John Cole’s blog Kojutsukan. The post was called Women’s self defence – fighting with facts. The two comments were from a woman and a man respectively. Both commenter’s were clearly of the opinion that there is no place for sexism in martial arts and that instructors should not make comments to women about their ability to execute certain techniques that they would not also make to a man (see John’s blog to read the comments).

On the surface of it this sounds like a fair-minded approach to take.  A non-sexist approach. Alas though, it does not take facts into account.

Fact 1: women are not all the same, either physically or mentally

Fact 2: men are not all the same either

Fact 3: men and women are definitely not the same!

There is no point burying these facts under an agenda of sex equality. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, different body forms, different psychologies and therefore different training needs.

I am not going to be offended if my instructor said that a technique won’t work well for me or needs to be adapted in such-a-such a way because I am small and relatively weaker than a training partner. It is a fact; no offence is meant or taken. I would take it to mean that my instructor is treating me as an individual and tailoring my training accordingly; not regarding me as a weak female.  Likewise it would be ridiculous to make the same comment to a larger male because it wouldn’t be factual or applicable.

One of my regular female training partners is about six feet tall (I’m 5ft 3) and therefore heavier than me too. This makes her naturally stronger than me but it also makes her slower than me. Psychologically she is more afraid of getting hurt than I am. Due to these differences between us techniques that suit her size/ build/psychology don’t necessarily suit mine and vice-versa. We are both women but we are not the same so I would not expect to have the same comments levied at me that are levied at her (unless it applied to both of us).

Men and women of equivalent height and build will still not be the same. The man will be stronger because the androgens in his body will naturally build greater muscle bulk. This is a fact and needs to be taken into account by instructors when analysing training needs. It may not be necessary for that man to adapt a technique because of his height/weight unless the differential between him and his partner is very large.

My point is that we shouldn’t take comments/feedback made to us by our instructors to be a reflection on our gender when they are in fact intended to be a reflection on our individuality. If we are told something won’t work well because we are small or weak it’s not personal, it’s not sexist - it’s factual. I’d rather find out in training that something won’t work for me than in the street!

There must be many comments that may be levied at big strong men during training that don’t apply to smaller people so it would be ridiculous to say them to smaller people just for the sake of treating people equally.

Treating people as if they are inferior in some way when they are not is wrong. Treating people as individuals, taking their factual differences into account so that they can maximise their strengths and minimise their weakness is not wrong, its good practice.

Anti-sexism laws and attitudes have done a lot to correct the wrongs of past society but we have to be careful not to take it too far. Take the car insurance industry for example. Young male drivers are at greater risk of having an accident than young female drivers – that is fact borne out of statistical evidence. Insurance premiums have reflected this. However the European parliament thinks that this is sexist and has ordered a directive that outlaws insurance companies from charging young men higher premiums than young women. The result will be that premiums will go up significantly for young women even though they are at much lower risk of having an accident. This is what happens when you try to treat men and women the same without taking facts into consideration.

People are not all the same, whether they are men or women. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. I, for one, would like to be treated as an individual first and a woman second. So if you have any tips to give a small, slight female like myself that you wouldn’t need to give to a large muscular buddy then feel free to tell me……I won’t get offended and I won't think you are being sexist.

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A beginner's mindset....

Yesterday I read a comment left on one of my recent posts, Joint locking – how useful is it really? by an anonymous commenter, which accused me of having a ‘beginner’s mindset’. I say accused because the tone on the comment was clearly an attempt to patronise or insult me.

This is the offending part of the comment :

“…….I find this discussion rather sterile and representative of a beginner's mindset: take this question to your sensei, if he/she can't show it follow my previous advice. 

I don't mean to be condescending but from what you've written it's clear your understanding of this subject is rather limited: …….”

(This is just an excerpt from the comment; visit the post to read the entire comment)

At first I was a little taken back by the comment but after thinking about it for a few minutes I realised that being told I had a beginner’s mindset was in fact very high praise! It meant that I was open-minded, my cup isn’t yet full, I can still learn new things, gain new understanding….

Actually I don’t thing Anonymous meant that at all but he/she is wrong in thinking that a beginner’s mindset is a bad thing in a martial artist.

Maintaining a beginner’s mindset is a Zen concept called shoshin.  It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would.

Zen teacher, Shunryu Suzuki said, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.”

There are clearly many advantages to maintaining a beginner’s mind: curiosity, openness, enthusiasm, creativity…… Unfortunately, the person with the ‘expert mind’ becomes the opposite of this: – un-inquiring, closed mined, stilted, un-creative – arrogant even.

Clearly the concept of shoshin has spread far and wide. A quick google on ‘beginner’s mindset’ found articles promoting the concept on a range of activities including swimming, software production, yoga and advertising. Each of the experts in these fields was promoting the idea of maintaining a beginner’s mindset to improve one’s ability in the respective field of practice.

All I can say to Anonymous is thank you for noticing that I have a beginner’s mindset. Clearly I am still on the right path in my martial arts studies.

Do you have a beginner’s mindset?

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My Martial Art Aims for 2012...a progress report

At the beginning of the year I wrote a post outlining my Martial Arts aims for 2012. Just to show that I’m not ‘all mouth and no trousers’, as they say, and to keep me focused on achieving these aims, I thought I’d write you a progress report….

We are now a quarter of the way through 2012 so hopefully I have made some progress with my aims. Here’s a recap on what I wanted to achieve and how it’s going so far….

1.       To improve personal fitness and overcome a repetitive shoulder injury:

I had planned to produce a personal fitness programme to work on at home because this worked quite well for me when I was training for my black belt grading. However, despite buying a couple of kickboxing workout DVDs (which I thought would be a fun way of working out) I haven’t really got very far with this. I could make 101 excuses why I haven’t got a fitness programme worked out but that’s all they’ll be – excuses. Anyway, my job finishes next week and I’m going to have a lot more time on my hands so I will definitely get to grips with this aim for the next quarter of the year!

Just because I haven’t got my act together at home doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on my fitness. Oh no! Sensei seems to be on a mission to get us all fitter so we have been doing a lot of fitness drills and exercises during classes. We have a regular fitness binge at the beginning of class with push ups, sit ups, burpees, straight leg raises, squats, lunges, planks etc. So all is not lost with my personal fitness aim…..

Talking about doing push ups, they are a real problem for me at the moment because of this dratted shoulder injury. I have been receiving physiotherapy for several weeks now and things are improving, slowly but surely. Apparently, due to the initial injury (probably rotational cuff injury) I have been allowing my shoulder to roll forward to compensate and reduce the pain. This has resulted in the muscles in my shoulder blades not working properly and my right shoulder blade is misaligned and weak. I have been working on some exercises to correct this and things have improved. However, after a heavy punching or throwing session my shoulder is throbbing and the muscles leading up to my neck and down the right side of my spine are knotted and tender. Definitely a work in progress this one…

2.       To continue to develop and improve martial arts skills:

I think I have only missed one karate class and a couple of kobudo classes this year, so not a bad record. We have also had a couple of ‘higher grade’ classes for black and brown belts. About 8 – 10 of us have attended these and we have covered some pressure point techniques and some wave form striking techniques. Having covered them in some detail during these classes we are now looking at how they can be applied in bunkai. I wasn’t too keen on wave form striking the first time I met it, read this post, but now I am much more amenable to its merits and how it fits into the bigger picture.

I graded successfully last week in kobudo with the nunchuku, so now I will be back training with the bo for a few months and probably the bokken as well (I love the bokken!)

I have also attended a regional kobudo course. This was very interesting, not to mention painful! We learnt some nasty wrist and ankle throws using a sai, ouch! Did some bo fighting, great fun, and learned a battlefield signalling kata with a tessan (fan). I loved learning that kata and what all the signals meant – I’d definitely like to take up the tessen as one of my weapons.

My karate instructor also put on a kobudo seminar recently.  He went out to Okinawa last summer to train in kobudo with Hokama Sensei and is now teaching us some Okinawan bo and nuchuku kata. This was an interesting experience because the Okinawan way of teaching kobudo is very different to the Japanese way, particularly when taught in a jujitsu club – see my recent post: What exactly is kobudo?

For later in the year our club is planning its first gashaku (training camp) which should be fun. As well as karate training we will be free to take part in other pursuits available at the camp site such as archery, swimming, climbing etc. There will also be lots of socialising and BBQs so let’s hope the British weather doesn’t let us down!

3.       To improve teaching and leadership skills…

This is probably the aim that I have made most progress on so far. The sports leadership award course that I wanted to do hasn’t happened yet because there aren’t enough people in my area wanting to do it so the organisers have told me to enquire again later in the year.

However, I have done a lot of teaching – independently. I ran a 6 week after school karate class for 4-7 year olds at a local primary school which seemed to go okay. Most of the kids were great and made good progress in the time they had. One or two expressed an interest in carrying on with it so hopefully we will see them at the club. Discipline issues remained a problem with a couple of the boys and I tried various tactics to sort them out. I really need to reflect on these classes so that I can improve them for the next time we run such a course, which hopefully will be after Easter.

In fact my sensei and I went into a local primary school last Wednesday to do a karate demonstration and talk to enthuse the kids. We just need to wait and see how many are interested in coming along to an after school club now.

I also went along to my first Instructors training course in January. That was interesting experience training with all the senior instructors from our organisation – I definitely felt like the new girl! However it was a chance to learn firsthand all the changes that are happening to our syllabus which are quite exciting.

Looking back, it feels that I am fairly on track with achieving my martial arts aims for 2012. Of course there is no real endpoint to achieving these aims but I find that writing things down really helps me to stay focused and on track.

My latest venture is setting up a martial arts library for the kids in our club but more on that later…..

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