Hello

Hello Shiva and Wyly, and hello there Admin. Karate is going well. Training six times a week, will get my next belt in the coming months, and while I am not in charge yet, I am eventually going to study to become a Sensei so I can teach a class.

So glad to see you here, Makedde.  I am now "openmind," formerly "sadanie."

I would have been a bit worried there, Shiva, but at least it worked out in the end! I couldn't imagine being a 7th Dan - in 30 years time, I'll see where I am, lol!
At the moment I am getting secret info on the Sensei training so I can work on the things they do. I am not allowed to attend, or watch, so they let me know what they've been doing and I can go over it and show off to them the following week. Haha!

Hey there JP, yeah I don't miss the other place at all, I haven't been there in about two weeks. I wish there was a button on this forum so you could click for new posts, instead of going forum to forum.

Hey Sadanie, whats up?

Since a couple of people have had trouble spotting the 'Recent Post' link now, I've added a link to it in the toolbar at the top.

I actually knew two 7th Dan black belts at the time. Ted, previously mentioned, was a rather rowdy person and intimidating to most people (and was that night with me but I did have friendship and mutual respect on my side) and then there was Lloyd that was a very mild mannered person. Let me share a story about Lloyd.

One night the owner of the Shot of Gold (the local rock hangout where we went) went to Disneyland along with some of the staff including the bouncers and Lloyd was covering the door. Randy, the owner of the Shot of Gold, called to check-in about 11:00 pm and was informed that three bikers in "colors" had shown up wanting it. The night club didn't allow "colors" and Lloyd had blocked their entry. Randy, fearing for Lloyd, asked what happened. Well, two of the bikers were in the hospital and one was escorted off the premises by Lloyd when they tried to force their way in. I didn't see the altercation because I was inside but those that witnessed it said it lasted about 30 seconds. Lloyd, a slightly built person about 5'9" tall and mild mannered that wouldn't intimidate anyone based upon appearance, had taken all three of them down without being touched. I understand there were broken arms and broken ribs suffered by the bikers but that was hearsay from others. I only know that two were taken away in ambulances. 

It's hard for us common folk to understand how much physical power people at this level in the martial arts have. It obviously takes years of training and both Lloyd and Ted had started their training in their pre-teen years when martial arts in the US weren't even in vogue. This was actually around the time that Bruce Lee became well known and spurred the martial arts craze in the United States.